MEN OF VERMONT: 



AN [LLUSTRATED 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



History of Vermonters 



SONS OF VERMONT. 




Compiled bv 

JACOB G. ULLERY, ^ 

•I 

Under the Editorial Supervision of HiRAM A. HUSE. 



Brattleboro. Vt. : 

TRANSCRIPT PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

1894. , 



F 4^ 



Copyright 1894 by JACOB G. ULLERY- 



Printed by the Transcript Publishing Cosifanv, 
HoLYOKE, Mass. 

Engravings by the Process Etching and Engraving Co.mi 
New York. 



ALL BORN UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE 

GREEN MOUNTAINS, 

THIS BOOK 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 




'^ 



PREFACE 



My first idea as to this work was tliat it should he made up of hiographical sketches 
and portraits of living Vermonters and Sons of Vermont who had attained prominence 
in the political, professional and industrial affairs of their communities ; and thus, through 
her most striking personalities, bring out the record of that sturdy and aggressive Vermont 
character (for, be it remembered, the Green Hills of Vermont have developed a distinct 
character) which has made the state famous as the birthplace and home of a nation's 
great men. No native of any other state has reason to be prouder of his state than a 
Vermonter. 

Such a work had never been attempted; the only previous effort in these lines con- 
fined itself to a few only of the leaders, thus leaving, practically, an unexplored field, and 
one rich in material and valuable historically. 

As the work progressed and possibilities unfolded, the suggestion was adopted that it 
should not be limited to men now living, but that it might be made of historic value and 
interest, in certain lines, by including those who were leaders in the founding of the state, 
and those who had been its Governors, its Senators and its Representatives in Congress, 
and its Judges, since its first struggles for admission to the Union, when it was a " little 
independent republic." In the preparation of this portion of the work I have endeavored 
to secure the assistance of the men best adapted to treat the subjects under consideration, 
and how well this judgment was founded my readers shall decide. 

That it could not have been made to include all who have, in past generations, made a 
record honorable to themselves and the state, is to me a matter of regret, but also of 
necessity, as to cover the whole field would require a life's work. 

As illustration is a demand of the times and contributes so much to the understanding 
of biography, it has been made a prominent feature in all departments of this work, and 
wherever possible I have embellished each sketch with an engraving of the subject. 

In Parts II and III of the work I have carried out the original intention, excejit that 
there have been added to the Sons of \'ermont sketches of all Vermonters who have re])re- 
sented other states in the National Congress. 

I have labored faithfully and earnestly to have the work include all who properly 

come within its scope. That the work contains mistakes of commission and omission 

within the lines of its intended performance, goes without saying ; but I trust that as it 

stands it will be of interest to the readers of this day, and that it will preserve something 

of historic value for the future. 

J. G. U. 

Bratileboro, April lo, 1894. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 



Introduction, by Redfield Proctor, . . • • ■ .11 

Introduction to Historical Biographies, by C. H. Davenport, . • '7 

The Fathers, .....••■ 20 

The Governors, . . . . • • • ■ 7' 

Senators in Congress, . . . • • • .104 

Representatives in Congress, . . . . • • '27 

Introduction to Judges of -ihe Supreme Court, by Hiram A. Huse, . .160 

Biographies of Judges of the Supreme Court, . . . • i6y 

Vermont Inventors, by Levi K. Fuller, . . . • • • '9' 

Queer Characters, by Hiram A. Huse, . . . • ■ 'O^ 



PART 11. 
Biographies of Vermonters, A. I). i892-'94, 



PART 111. 

B10GR.APHIES OF Sons of Vermont, . . ■ • • • '-'75 



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INTRODUCTION. 



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PART I 



HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES. 



BY CHARLES H. DAVENPORT. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Vermont has always been a nursery of remarkable men. Henry Cabot Lodge had an 
article in the Century Magazine of September, 1891, giving analytic tables of the birth- 
places and race descent of men whose names appear in the biographical dictionaries, that 
might at first view seem to discredit this statement, for it shows no more— hardly as many 
— from Vermont, than her proportion according to population. But this calculation neces- 
sarily credited to other states, chiefly Connecticut, where they were born, the fathers of 
Vermont ; the men who made one of the most romantic and inspiring chapters of modern 
history, and whose pioneer achievements, along some most important lines in humanity's 
upward progress, were made as Vermonters and in connection with Vermont — a natural 
evolution out of Vermont conditions. It is also to be remembered that ^'ermont is one of 
the young states. It is but little over a century since her career began. As we measure 
generations, there have been only three, native born to her soil, from which men of distinc- 
tion could come in season to be counted in Mr. Lodge's computation. Making due 
allowance for these facts, and for the smallness of her population, the Vermont crop of big 
men, doing their work at home or contributed to other states, other countries and fields, is 
proportionately larger than that of any other state in the LTnion. 

The physiologist and the psychologist alike have in this field an interesting line of 
thought. There are, in the rich soil and verdure, that wrung the words " Veni Monf from 
Champlain, as he first viewed it, in the pure water and bracing air, elements and influences 
that have given a superiority to Vermont products as recognized in all the markets, and have 
made her an exceptional breeding ground for fine horses and catde and sheep, of qualities 
of genuine and stable usefulness rather than fancy value. These elements and influences 
have had a hke effect in the rearing of the human animal. On the moral and intellectual 
side, the effect of environment, especially of a mountainous scenery, is seen even greater 
than with the people of Switzerland, because of a more variegated picturesqueness ; produc- 
ing a race of sturdy, robust, original, clear- thinking and right-reasoning about man's relation 
to man, all along up the rugged heights that reach towards the eternal problems. 



THE FATHERS. 



It was said by Dr. Dwight, during the early contests, that the \ermont settlers were 
made up of L' niversalists and infidels. This was an extreme and intolerant way of stating 
the fact that it was men of independent mould and bold thought, that were attracted to 
Vermont, and that the surroundings here were such as developed these characteristics. But 
it also included a statement that is full of meaning and that could hardly be made of any 
other pioneer settlements or of any immigration not purely religious in its motives, that the 



I 8 HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES. 

men who came to \'ermont were men interested in the subjects that engage the highest 
thought of man. We find their philosophy compressed into a sentence in the instructions 
of the committee of twenty towns at Westminster in June, 1775 : "All civil power under 
God is in the people." While their ideas stood to a certain extent for emancipation from 
the narrowness and dogmatism of that time, no people ever made a more generous and 
cheerful provision for religion than they, as the events of the next few years showed. There 
was in the good doctor's bigoted exaggeration, after all, the key to much of the \'ermont 
character and development. 

Human motives, of course, played their part in the story of Vermont, as they do every- 
where. There was land speculation mixed with patriotism. There was lawlessness growing 
out of some of the reasoning about a "state of nature," in which Ethan Allen and his com- 
peers were fond of finding the roots of our institutions. There was overreaching in some 
of the contests with "Yorkers." There was some manipulation of men on their baser side 
to strengthen the cause of the new state. There was perhaps a little too much of the 
Napoleonic ideal of statesmanship in the Haldimand negotiations.* But in the aggregate, 
in the large survey that gives the little hillocks of imperfection only their right proportion, 
the early history of Vermont is one the student can leave only with admiration that 
approaches reverence, for the courage that braved the most tremendous odds, the shrewd- 
ness that mastered the most complicated difficulties, the large comprehension of basic prin- 
ciples that made the work of the fathers of the state broadest and most enduring, as well as 
of the most progressive character. 

Consider the situation. With a population of only about three hundred families in the 
beginning, and not over one-tenth of that of New York at the end, the Vermonters were 
defying the whole power of that state, fighting for their very homes, on what their greatest 
jurist, Nathaniel Chipman, always feared would never stand the legal test as titles, but 
which were indisputable morally. Then as the Revolution approached, they took the lead in 
braving the powers of the Crown. They shed the first blood for America at Westminster, 
for the issues back of that massacre were substantially those of the Revolution They won 
the first decisive victory and achieved the first lowering of the British flag at Ticonderoga. 
They entered enthusiastically and probably with a greater unanimity than any other people 
in the country, into the cause of the colonies, and they wrung from Burgoyne the tribute 
that described them as the "most active and rebellious race on the continent, that hangs like 
a gathering storm upon my left." They, or their leaders, did some important and never 
fully appreciated work in negotiation with Indians and in securing alliances, or at least 
neutrality, from tribes at the north and the west. They took the lead of all the states in 
strengthening the resources of the Revolution — Ira Allen's bold conception — by confiscating 
the estates of the Tories. They organized and largely fought the turning point battle of the 
war at Bennington. While Burgoyne's army was marching down upon their borders they 
adopted at \Yindsor the constitution of the state, the purest conception of democracy, the 
best formulation of man's rights, that the world had seen up to that time. The Pennsylvania 
constitution was the model to a considerable extent ; but this document, the work of an 
assemblage of unlettered farmers, with probably not a lawyer nor a college graduate among 
them, of men who had thought out the principles of government while at work in their fields 
or in felling forests, went far beyond the Pennsylvania constitution in its reach for great 
truth, engrafted upon the model a large number of what seemed to be the most radical 
ideas at that time, caught from across the waters the light of the mighty philosophic thought 
that was beginning to stir Europe, and produced a constitution that for its practical sagacity 
as well as its enlightened scope must command the admiration of the ages — a constitution 
that was the first in modern times to put the ban on slavery — a constitution that advanced 
beyond the thought of Penn and of the great Franklin in securing compensation for 
private property taken for public uses, in guarding the right of hunting and fishing against 

*Bonaparte said about one of his ablest antagonists : "Metternich approaches being a 
Though a caustic reference, there was a Napoleonic conception back of it. 



HISTORICAI. HIIIGRAI'HIES. I9 

■exclusive privilege, in placing the right of governing internal [jolice as inherent in the peo- 
ple, and in provision against hasty enactment of laws — a constitution under which the little 
state grew and prospered as an independent little republic for fourteen years. 

And it was all done under constantly multiplying difficulties. Not only were the Ver- 
monters at war with New York and the mother country, but they soon found New Hamp- 
shire and Massachusetts laying claim to their territory, and not only that, but plans forming 
while Congress refused to recognize them as a state, to divide them up on the line of the 
mountains between New York and New Hampshire, and secession schemes fomenting for 
the formation of a new state out of parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, while at the 
same time a large section of the people of the southeastern part of the state were in revolt 
against their authority. All the conditions of disintegration into anarchy seemed to be 
present, and it was while these were at their height that Congress, very likely with the idea 
of forcing the plucky mountaineers to submission — even while they had a regiment fighting 
for the common cause in the Continental army and were advancing the money to pay the 
troops because Congress could not, vide resolve of June 9, 1780 — withdrew all protection, 
even to the last piece of ordnance and the last camp kettle from the Vermont borders, and 
left the state defenceless before the invasion organizing in Canada. The shrewd and mas- 
terful tactics of the .-Xllens, Chittenden and the rest were equal to the emergency on every 
side. They paralyzed the schemes of New York and New Hampshire by coolly incorporating 
into Vermont portions of those states, under the names of the East and West unions. They 
kept an army of 10,000 men idle and useless in Canada through three campaigns by ]ire- 
tending to negotiate for a return to allegiance to England — about the most skillfully 
prolonged deception that history records, and they used the fact of this negotiation as a 
•club to deter Congress from taking action to crush them. They steadily fortified them- 
selves against such an attempt by judicious land grants to officers of the Continental army, 
until, when an invasion of the state under authority of Congress was discussed, Washington 
had to confess that he couldn't depend on his army for such work. From a beginning 
with the famous "beech seal" discipline of intruders on their land under color of New- 
York titles, they organized well and permanently the machinery of justice : even in their 
outlawry, while defying all outside authority, they respected and observed the principles of 
law and of the jury system, as in the Redding case. They gave an administration whose 
taxes were so low as to make the people of adjoining territories anxious to join them ; this 
was the secret of the East and West unions. They developed from their healthful sense of 
right, many ideas in legislation that are well worth the attention of history. The "quieting 
act" to finally settle land titles, which Governor Chittenden finally pushed to enactment 
over the opposition of nearly all the lawyers, led the state by the path of equity out of diffi- 
culties and confusion that were simply inextricable and insoluble through the precedents and 
procedure of law, and did it all by applying the simple rule of justice. Much attention is 
being given by publicists of late years to the Swiss system of "Referendum," as a guard 
against some of the worst evils and dangers of representative government. Early Vermont 
history contains some striking examples of the benefits of it. The most notable was that 
which disposed of the paper money question. The delusion was having a great run ; people 
everywhere were harassed with debt ; executions were thick and multiplying ; cheap money 
seemed to be an easy way out of the trouble ; legislators, taking it for granted, as they always 
do, that what appealed to the selfish interests of their constituents would be popular, were 
eager to pass a paper money bill. Nathaniel Chipman, simply because he saw it could not 
be defeated in the Legislature, proposed a submission to popular vote. The result was that 
the cheap money scheme, supposed to be so popular because people were about all debtors, 
was overwhelmingly defeated. Vermont escaped the evil which wrought such disaster in 
nearly all the other states, and in this action largely lay the secret of her marvelous develop- 
ment of prosperity in the next two or three decades. It was a fine demonstration of the 
great principle that the truth lies more safely with majorities than anywhere else in human 
affairs. 



ALLEN, Ethan.— Typical of the times, 
the people, and the conditions, were the 
character and career of the man whose statue, 
by common consent, stands with that of 
Collamer in Statuary Hall at Washington as 
the representative Vermonter — Ethan Allen, 
"The Robin Hood of Vermont," Mr. Henry 
Hall calls him, and the figure, because of its 
own proportions and of its historic settings, 
is necessarily a romantic one — Ethan Allen, 
a born leader of men, with power to inspire 
and enthuse, to sway and guide, such as the 
great leaders of history have had. A\'here- 
ever he was placed he impressed with his 
potent personality. Washington wrote of him, 
after their first interview : " There is an orig- 
inal something in him that commands admi- 
ration." It was a something whose presence 
that great commander felt, besides the "for- 
titude and firmness and patriotic zeal " and 
the other qualities that he could see and an- 
alyze — a something that left deep and indeli- 
ble lines on our institutions, though Ethan 
Allen had so little part in the formal framing 
of them. Gov. Hiland Hall truly said ; "It 
is impossible to tell what the result of the 
dispute with New York would have been with- 
out Allen's aid." Bold, enterprising, ready 
and resourceful, fertile in daring exploits, full 
of confidence in his own powers of mind and 
body, ready of wit, with a singular faculty of 
forceful epigrammatic expression, chivalric in 
bearing and itnpulse, handsome of face and 
form, remarkable for his physical strength 
and endurance, a good judge of men, a 
natural orator who could address a court or 
a multitude with equal skill and effect, pa- 
triotic always in purpose and thoroughly 
grounded in democratic faith, Ethan Allen 
was remarkably well fitted for the part he 
played in life. 

Ethan Allen was born in Litchfield, Conn., 
Jan. lo, 1737, though three other towns, 
Woodbury, Cornwall and Salisbury, have 
been claimed as his birthplace. The blood 
was Anglo-Saxon, blending with a strain of 
the Norse, and Samuel Allen, one of two 
brothers who came to Chelmsford in 1632, 
was the .American progenitor. Ethan .Allen's 
father was Joseph Allen, a farmer in moder- 
ate circumstances but of good character, and 
his mother, Mary Baker, and his three 
brothers, Heman, Hebar and Ira, filled 
leading parts in the formation of Vermont, 
as did also another for a time, Levi, who 
finally turned Tory. Remember Baker was 
their cousin, and also a cousin by marriage 
of Seth Warner. 

Ethan married for his first wife, Mary 
Brovvnson, so that there was quite an exten- 
sive relationship among the leaders of our 



early settlement. It is said that Ethan 
started to fit for college under the tutorship 
of Rev. Mr. Lee, of Salisbury, but the death 
of his father left the family so poor that 
he had to give it up. It is evident from his 
earlier writings in the Vermont controversy 
that his education had been very defective, 
but his productions show the effects of con- 
stant effort at self-improvement all through 
his maturer years. But these very lacks 
probably contributed to his peculiar great- 
ness ; for they compelled a concentration 
of reading and thought, so that his naturally 
vigorous mind thoroughly assimilated what 
it got hold of; especially his knowledge of 
the scripture embellished and strengthened 
his rude eloquence. His career could never 
have been a commonplace one. 

He was early a man of enterprise in Con- 
necticut. In 1762, when he was only twen- 
ty-five, he entered with three others into the 
iron business at Salisbury. He afterwards 
lived at Sheffield, the southwest corner town 
of Massachusetts. In 1764 he bought a part 
of a tract of land on Mine Hill, in Roxbury, 
which contained a remarkable deposit of 
spathic iron ore, and large sums were spent 
in trying to develop it as a silver mine. Ex- 
cepit for these glimpses of his business under- 
takings, in farming, mining and casting iron- 
ware, little is known of him until he came 
to the New Hampshire grants about 1769. 
He had, in the three or four years previous, 
spent much time in exploring the grants for 
the purpose of locating lands. He first set- 
tled at Bennington, but afterwards lived at 
four other places, Arlington, Sunderland, and 
Tinmouth until he settled at Burlington, where 
he died. He immediately became a leader 
among the settlers in their land controversy 
with New York. The grounds of that contro- 
versy in their historical and legal bearings 
need not here be discussed. Suffice it to say 
that the practical moralities were with the 
settlers under the New Hampshire grants. 
They had taken the lands and improved 
them under what they had a fair right to re- 
gard as good titles and grants, under the au- 
thority of the Crown. When the jurisdiction 
was decided to belong to New York it ought 
not to have carried with it any change in the 
titles of bona fide settlers and purchasers, 
and if it had not, as was at first supposed 
would be the case, there would have been no 
trouble. Such a sense of equity as that of 
Chittenden and Chipman a few years later, 
in the "quieting act" to settle titles under 
Vermont authority, would have ended the 
controversy in a twinkling. But the fact 
of their settlement and improvement of these 
lands had increased values to tempt cupidity 



and the hea\y tees which each ,a:rant yieldcti 
to the colonial officials of New \'ork,madeit 
an object to feed this cupidity. The New 
York grants were chiefly in large tracts, and 
it was in fact, as the \'ernionters claimed, 
mainly a struggle between land jobbers and 
genuine husbandmen. Allen reached the 
marrow of the controversey when he wrote in 
one of his pamphlets ; "The transferring and 
alienation of property is a sacred prerogative 
of the owner — Kings and Governors can- 
not inter-meddle therewith ; common sense 
teaches common law." He studied the sub- 
ject exhaustively, knew it in all its relations, 
collected a great mass of historical and docu- 
mentary evidence and before the end was 
reached he had written a series of pamphlets 
whose vigorous sledge hammer arguments 
had convinced the world of the justice of the 
Vermont cause, and in this way gave it the 
vitality that enabled it to prevail through 
difficulties almost unexampled. He was not 
alone in defending the claim of the settlers 
with the pen, but there will be no disagree- 
ment in according to him the chief distinc- 
tion among them all. Most of his articles 
were published in the Hartford Courant, then 
the ofificial organ of the state, as Vermont at 
that time had no printing press ; but some 
appeared in the New Hampshire Gazette, 
and a few in handbills. 

At the very inception of the controversy, 
when he had been upon the grants but a few 
months, he was selected for an agent to 
defend the New York suits against the set- 
tlers, and went to New Hampshire and got 
copies of Governor Wentworth's commis- 
sions and instructions from the King. Then 
he engaged Jared Ingersoll of Connecticut 
as counsel, and in June, 1770, appeared at 
Albany to answer in a suit of ejectment by a 
New York claimant against a settler. The 
judge, Livingston, was a patentee under New 
York grants, interested directly or indirectly 
in 30,000 acres. So were the attorneys and 
court ofificers, nearly all, and a fair consider- 
ation of the case was the last thing they pro- 
posed to permit. All of .^lien's documents 
and deeds under New Hampshire authority 
were simply excluded as evidence, and the 
verdict was against him as arranged. After- 
wards some gentlemen called on him at his 
hotel, and representing how desperate the 
case was, urged him to go home and ad\ise 
his friends to make the best terms they could. 
He coolly replied, " The gods of the valleys 
are not the gods of the hills." .\sked his 
meaning, he told them that if they would 
come to Bennington it should be made clear. 
There is a New York yarn that he promised 
to do as advised ; but the facts of history all 
go to contradict it, and the evidence is that 
he was offered land grants for himself and 
appointments to office imder New \"ork au- 



thority if he would use his influence, which 
was already recognized to be considerable, to 
support the New \'ork side. He spurned 
the offer, as he always did all through his life, 
every attempt to induce him to betray a 
cause in which he was engaged. 

Then began the long struggle between the 
two jurisdictions, not to be finally settled for 
eighteen years, during the first few of which, 
after New Hampshire had abandoned them, 
the settlers were practically without govern- 
ment, except such as they improvised for 
their towns, acknowledging no other author- 
ity and no other allegiance except such as 
they agreed to among themselves, for mutual 
protection. The sheriff of Albany county 
repeatedly came with posses of from 300 to 
700 men to dispossess the farmers, but always 
without success, doubtless because the bor- 
dering people of New York, from whom the 
posses had to be recruited, had no heart in 
the work and no sympathy except for their 
fellow-farmers whom greedy aristocrats in 
the cities were using the law to dri\e out of 
their homes. The story has often been told 
of the raid on the farm of James Breaken- 
ridge, at Bennington, and its successful re- 
pulse without the firing of a gun. Here, 
Mr. Hall says, was really born the future 
state of Vermont. Allen was the leader of 
this resistance before and after it took organ- 
ized form. When the military organization 
was formed, towards the close of 1771, and 
Allen was elected colonel, with Seth W'arner, 
Remember Baker, Robert Cochrane and Gid- 
eon Olin captains, this regiment took the 
name of "Green Mountain Boys," in derision 
and defiance of Governor Tryon of New York, 
aftersvards the Tory leader, who had threat- 
ened to "drive the settlers from their farms 
into the Green Mountains." They repeat- 
edly drove off the New York authorities. 
They protected one another from arrest. 
They took in hand and disciplined anybody 
that ventured to survey or occupy lands un- 
der New York titles. Their method was 
generally that of the "beech seal," or, as 
Allen humorously described it, a "chastise- 
ment with the twigs of the wilderness, the 
growth of the land they coveted." 

The New York government, met and 
beaten at every point, in the winter of 
i77i-'72 offered a reward of ^150 for the 
capture of Allen and ^^50 for Baker and the 
others. .Allen, Baker and Cochrane ])romptly 
met this with a counter proclamation, dated 
at Poultney, Feb. 5, 1772, reciting that 
" whereas James Duane and John Kempe of 
New York (prominent lawyers and advocates 
of New York's claims) have by their men- 
aces and threats greatly disturbed the public 
])eace and rejiose of the honest peasants of 
Bennington and the settlements to the north- 
ward, * * * any person that will apprehend 



these common disturbers shall have /[i^ 
reward for Duane and ^lo for Kempe." 

Allen's personal comment on the act of 
outlawry was this ; " They may sentence us 
to be hung for refusing to voluntarily place 
our necks in the halter, but how will the 
fools manage to hang a Green Mountain 
Boy before they catch him?" An anecdote 
is told in this connection that illustrates his 
extraordinary daring and his power to awe 
' men. Fears were expressed for his safety 
after this act of outlawry. He offered a bet 
that he would go to .Albany and to the most 
prominent hotel, drink a bowl of punch and 
come back unharmed. .And he did it. When 
he reached the city and the hotel, he alighted 
deliberately from his horse, called for his 
punch and drank it, while the word flew 
round, " Ethan .Allen is in the city," bring- 
ing a large concourse of people, among them 
the sheriff of .Albany county himself. It was 
worth S750, in those days of scarcity of 
money, to anybody that would take him, but 
they all stood gaping and wondering, while 
.Allen leisurely enjoyed his punch, walked 
out, mounted his horse, and giving a " huzza 
for the (Ireen Mountains," rode off. On 
another occasion, which Thompson describes 
interestingly in his tale of the " Creen Moun- 
tain Boys," .Allen, while hunting on the shores 
of Lake Champlain, stopped over night at 
the house of Mr. Richards. .A party of six 
soldiers from Crown Point opposite, fully 
armed, determined to arrest him for the 
sake of the reward. .Allen drank with them 
boisterously and got them well soaked, while 
he simulated worse intoxication himself, and 
he and his companions, having been warned 
by Mrs. Richards, silentlv raised a window 
and escaped. 

These years were full of adventures like 
these, the expeditions against Clarendon, to 
breakup its " hornets nest " of Yorkers, the 
raid on Colonel Reed's Scotchmen along the 
Otter Creek, the trials of Benjamin Spencer, 
Benjamin Hough, and Jacob Marsh for ac- 
cepting commissions as judge and justices 
in disregard of the order in council that no 
citizen should do any official act under New 
York authority, the offering of the Bennington 
county Yorkers' house as " a burnt sacrifice 
to the gods of the woods in burning the logs 
of his house," as ."^llen quaintly told him — 
these are only a few of the incidents that 
have come down to us. I'he size and the 
intensity of the struggle are illustrated by 
Allen's declaration, perhaps e.xaggerated, in 
a letter to Governor Tryon in 1772, that 
over 1,500 families had been ejected from 
their homes and the "writs come thicker and 
faster." " Nobody," he adds, with a recur- 
rence to first principles, " can be supposed 
under law if law does not protect." 

Out of all this struggle was evolved, in i 774, 



an interesting scheme of which .Allen was a 
leading advocate, for the formation of a new 
colony to include the grants and stretch west 
and north of the Mohawk river to Lake 
Ontario. The capitol was to be Skeenes- 
borough, now \\'hitehall, and Col. Phillip 
Skeene was to be the Governor. He had 
gone to England to urge the project upon the 
ministry when the outbreak of the Revolution 
upset all plans. 

.After the Westminster massacre a meeting 
of committees was held at that place which 
passed resolutions to renounce and resist 
the authority of New York "until such times 
as life and property might be secured by it, 
or until the matter could be laid before the 
Crown and the people taken out of so oppres- 
sive a jurisdiction and annexed to some other 
government or erected into a new one." .Al- 
len and Col. John Hazeltine of TowMishend 
and Charles Phelps of Marlboro were ap- 
pointed a committee to prepare a remon- 
strance and petition to King George in ac- 
cordance with these resolutions, but the rapid 
march of events left no taste or opportunity 
for such work. The petition was never pre- 
pared, and the resolutions were the last pub- 
lic expression of loyalty to the Crown that 
ever came from Vermont. 

The Westminster massacre occurred March 
i3> i/TSi the battles of Lexington and Con- 
cord April 19, and Ticonderoga was cap- 
tured May 10. In these opening days of 
the Revolutionary struggle .Allen was among 
the most active of the patriots. Ever the 
unyielding advocate of the rights of man and 
a foe of oppression of all kinds, the issues of 
the Re\olution were in close line with those 
upon which he had been thinking and writ- 
ing for the past five years, and they were a 
kind to enlist all the sympathy and arouse 
all the ambition of a nature like his, while 
the Westminster affair had given the subject 
a practical personal interest to him and to 
all ^■ermonters. He plunged into the patri- 
otic work with a promptness, a resolution 
and farsightedness of plans that ought to 
have made him one of the foremost men of 
the struggle and probably would but for the 
misadventure at Montreal. He early dis- 
patched messengers with characteristic let- 
ters, to win over the Indians to the side of 
the colonies, or at least to neutrality, and 
thereby he did an important service to the 
cause which did not cease entirely to be felt 
until the end of the w-ar. Many of the red 
men were induced to come to Newbury,, 
some to settle and some to enter the service 
as scouts and spies. Some were sent to 
Washington's camp and some went to Can- 
ada, where they procured information that 
was highly valued by Washington and Schuy- 
ler. But while he was doing this work, and 
even before he had fairly gotten into it,. 



Allen had entered with all his zest into the 
project for the capture of Ticonderoga. 
Even before the spring o])ened, perhaps be- 
fore the \\'estniinster massacre, the plan had 
been formed. In the middle of February he 
wrote a letter, which is still extant in Massa- 
chusetts, to Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut 
that "the regiment of (Ireen Mountain 
Boys would assist their American brethren," 
in case of war. John Brown, a Massachu- 
setts lawyer who had been through the grants 
to Canada in the interest of the Massachu- 
setts committee of safety, wrote on March 
29, from Montreal to Boston : "The people 
on the New Hampshire grants have en- 
gaged to seize the fort at Ticonderoga as 
soon as possible, should hostilities be com- 
mitted by the King's troops." 

There were simultaneously in the latter 
days of April and early in May movements 
started for the capture from both Connecti- 
cut and Massachusetts. That from the 
former state was in charge of Edward Mott, 
afterwards a major in Colonel Gray's regi- 
ment, and it started out April 28 and 29, 
enlisting sixteen men before it arrived at 
Pittsfield, Mass., where John Brown was met 
on his way back from Canada and joined 
them. Thirty-nine more men were enlisted 
at Jericho and Williamstown, and the partv 
proceeded to Bennington, where a party of 
future ^'ermonters were gathered. No one 
dreamed of any one but Allen for com- 
mander, and he, full of energy and resolu- 
tion, goes ahead of the party to raise more 
men and make sure, by throwing trusted 
scouts still farther ahead, that no tidings of 
the approach reach the fort. But when the 
expedition reaches Castleton, May 8, it is 
overtaken by Benedict .Arnold, on horseback 
and with one attendant, to arrogantly claim 
the command, and show a commission from 
the committee of safety at Cambridge, Mass. 
The dispute for a time threatened to wreck 
the project. .Arnold persisted until the men 
declared that they would serve under no offi- 
cers other than those with whom they had 
engaged. Finally, when .Allen was overtaken, 
he good-naturedly averted the difficulty by 
agreeing that, while he should command, 
Arnold might accompany him at the head of 
the attacking party. 

There was great difficulty, and partial 
miscarriage of plans to procure boats to cross 
the lake, and as morning began to dawn. 
May 10, only eighty-three men had been 
got across, while Seth Warner, with the re- 
mainder of the two hundred and thirty men 
of the expedition was impatienty waiting on 
the Vermont side. .Mien saw that no time 
was to be lost, so he drew his men up in line, 
told them it was a desperate attempt that was 
about to be made and gave all who wished 
the pri\ilege of backing out, but asked those 



23 



who were willing to follow him into the fort 
to poise their fire-locks. Instantly e\ ery fire- 
lock was poised. " Face to the right," he 
cried, and he marched the men in three files, 
himself at the head of the center file, to the 
gate. A sentry at the wicker gate snapped 
his fuse at Allen, who pursued him with up- 
raised sword into the parade ground of the 
garrison. .Allen then formed his men so as 
to face the two barracks, and ordered three 
huzzas. .Another sentry, who had slightly 
wounded an officer with a bayonet thrust, 
and been struck in the head by .Allen's 
sword, begged for quarter, which was granted 
on condition that he show the way to the 
quarters of the commanding officer. Captain 
De La Place, which were in the second story 
of a barrack. .Allen strode up the stairway 
and summoned Captain De La Place to 
come out instantly or the whole garrison 
would be sacrificed. De La Place appeared 
at the door, trousers in hand, and asked by 
what authority the demand was made, elicit- 
ing the reply, which has gone thundering 
down the generations : "In the name of the 
i;reat JehovaJi and /he Continental Congress." 
The dazed commandant wanted more infor- 
mation and began further parley, but .Allen, 
with drawn sword, and voice and manner 
that admitted no trifling, repeated his de- 
mand for an immediate surrender. De La 
Place had to comply and ordered his men to 
parade without arms. .AH were treated by 
.Allen with characteristic generosity but as 
prisoners of war. .After the capture, .Arnold 
again demanded the command, greatly to the 
wrath of officers and men, and to end the 
assumption the committee of war gave .Allen 
a certificate signed by Lldward Mott, chair- 
man, requiring him to keep command until 
further orders from Connecticut or Congress. 

The capture was made on the very day of 
the first assembling of the Revolutionary 
Congress. It was the first surrender of the 
British flag, and had a great effect on the 
spirits of the country. Lieutenant-( lovernor 
Colden, in reporting it with other misfor- 
tunes to Governor Dartmouth, found his 
consolation in the fact that "the only peo]jle 
of any prominence that had any hand in 
this expedition were that lawless people 
whom your lordship has heard so much of 
under the name of the Bennington mob." 

The capture was followed by a rapid suc- 
cession of brilliant strokes. Capt. Sam Her- 
rick and his detachment had simultaneously 
captured Skeenesboro and Major Skeene, and 
seized a schooner and several bateaux there. 
Warner with a detachment of one hundred 
men was dispatched to Crown Point, which 
he captured the same day, with thirteen men 
and sixty-one pieces of cannon. .Allen and 
.Arnold with their sloop and a lot of bateaux 
proceeded to St. Johns on the i8th, where 



they or rather Arnold who went ahead of the 
bateaux, captured the King's armed sloop 
that was cruising the lake, and Allen attempt- 
ed a land attack though unsuccessful, being 
attacked by a superior force, and compelled 
to retire with a loss of three men. 

The whole of Lake Champlain within a 
little over a week had fallen into the hands 
of the Revolutionists. With Ticonderoga 
were taken without a blow, not only a fortress 
that had cost Britain years of struggle and 
vast expenditures of blood and treasure, but 
stores of incalculable benefit to the army 
near Boston, including one hundred and 
twenty iron cannon, fifty swivels, ten tons of 
musket balls, three cart-loads of flints, a ware- 
house full of material for boat building and a 
large quantity of other supplies and material. 

Allen's conceptions were Napoleonic. He 
proposed at once to follow up his success 
with the capture of Canada, which was almost 
depleted of British forces, there only being 
about seven hundred regulars in the province, 
and where a large part if not an actual major- 
ity of the people were ready to rise in sympa- 
thy. It was a great opportunity lost. If 
there had been in Congress energy and fore- 
sight equal to Allen's the whole course of the 
war would have been changed and the geog- 
raphy of America made a century ago what it 
may take a century yet to make it. And Ethan 
Allen would in all likelihood have ranked 
next to Washington among the Revolutionary 
commanders. Allen wrote to Congress May 
29 : "The Canadians (all except the noblesse) 
and also the Indians appear at present to be 
very friendly to us ; and it is my humble 
opinion that the more vigorous the colonies 
push the war against the King's troops in 
Canada, the more friends we shall find in 
that country." 

He offered to "lay his life on it" that "with 
fifteen hundred men and a proper train of 
artillery," he would take Montreal. Then 
"there would be no insuperable difficulty to 
take Quebec, and set up the standard of 
liberty in the extensive province whose limit 
was enlarged purely to subvert the liberties 
of America." He pointed out that the only 
possible defense for the British against such 
a diversion would be to draw troops from 
General Gage in front of Washington at 
Boston, and the result would surely be to 
"weaken General Gage or insure us of Can- 
ada." Lake Champlain, he shrewdly argued, 
was "the key of either Canada or our country, 
according as which party holds the same in 
possession and makes a proper improvement 
of it. The key is ours as yet, and provided 
the colonies would suddenly push an army of 
two or three thousand men into Canada, they 
might make a conquest of all that would op- 
pose them. * * Our friends in Canada 
can never help us until we help them." 



The imagination cannot help but draw 
pictures of the results of such a master- 
stroke. The enthusiasm following the cap- 
ture of Ticonderoga, and the successful 
dashes about the Lake, gave the .-Americans 
every advantage in pushing their victory. 
The success of Allen's "political preaching" 
a few months later showed how receptive 
the Canadians were. (Even in September 
James Livingston reported "them all friends, 
and a spirit of freedom seems to reign among 
them.") And the dissatisfaction with British 
rule that has continued ever since, with the 
repeated though ill-fated uprisings to win 
the independence the people of the .States 
had secured, indicate something of the tre- 
mendous advantage it would have been to 
have these people as allies rather than ene- 
mies — a part of the new republic instead of a 
base for British operations all through the war. 
Burgoyne's expedition would never have 
been thought of. The Indian alliances with 
all their bloody work, which the officers of 
the Crown negotiated, would have been be- 
yond their reach, and all the fighting that 
was done by Indians would have been, under 
the plans launched by .Allen, on the side of 
the colonists. How much this one fact 
alone would have meant for American his- 
tory in the last one hundred years ! Allen's 
project, with proper support, could hardly 
have failed of success, because it would have 
been undertaken with advantages that were 
largely gone when the expeditions of the 
fall were undertaken. If it had failed, its 
defeat would have been accomplished by so 
weakening Gage as to make it more than 
probable that he would have been crushed 
by Washington. On the other hand, it is to 
be remembered that success would have 
meant the incorporation of Canada, with 
problems of church and state, of race and 
education, with which, as we can now see, 
our American system could not safely have 
loaded itself, besides all the other problems 
it has had to solve. .And it would probably 
have made impossible the independence of 
Vermont with its valuable additions to the 
democratic thought of the age. So we can 
see how the most disappointing things of 
history do their part in working out mighty 
results of righteousness. 

xAUen flooded the Continental Congress 
and the provincial congresses of New York 
and Massachusetts with letters and petitions 
and arguments in favor of his project and in 
remonstrance against a plan advanced in the 
Continental Congress to remove the stores 
and cannon of Ticonderoga to the south end 
of Lake George, which he declared truly, 
" meant ruin to the frontier settlements which 
are extended at least 100 miles to the north- 
ward of that place." Backed by the pro- 
tests of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New 



-5 



York, he secured the abandonment of that 
plan. In the meantime he went ahead with 
letters, proclamations and embassies to the 
Indians and Canadians to prepare the way 
for an invasion, exhibiting a vigor and adroit- 
ness that evidenced his high quality of lead- 
ership. May iS he wrote the merchants of 
Montreal, calling for provisions, ammuni- 
tion and liquors, assuring them that it should 
all be paid for and that his orders were not 
to "contend with or in any way injure or 
molest" them, "but, on the other hand, to 
treat them with the greatest friendship and 
kindness." May 24 he addressed a letter to 
the Indians, calling them "brothers and 
friends," telling them how King George's 
troops had killed some of their "good friends 
and brothers at Boston,' how Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point had been taken with all 
their artillery and two great armies raised, 
one of which was commg to fight the King's 
troops in Canada, and how he hoped the In- 
dians, as "good and honest men, would not 
fight for King Ceorge against your friends 
in America, as they have done you no wrong, 
and desire to live with you as brothers ;" 
how he had always been a friend to Indians 
and hunted with them many times ; how his 
warriors fought like the Indians in ambush, 
while the British regulars stood all along 
close together, rank and file ; how he would 
give them blankets, tomahawks, knives, paint 
and anything, and "my men and your men 
will sleep together and eat and drink to- 
gether and fight regulars because they first 
killed our brothers." The letter was most 
shrewdly calculated to impress the Indian 
mind, and its arguments were reinforced by 
sending "our trusty and well-beloved friend 
and brother," Capt. Ninham of Stockbridge 
and Winthrop Hoit of Bennington, who had 
long lived among the Indians and was an 
adopted son of one of the tribes, as embas- 
sadors to them to further explain the good 
intentions of the Americans. 

There is no doubt that if Allen's policy 
had been promptly and systematically fol- 
lowed the trouble from the Indians in the 
later years of the war might have been 
greatly avoided. June 4 he issued a procla- 
mation to the French people of Canada, 
appeahng to their sense of "justice and 
equitableness " not to "take part with the 
King's troops in the present civil war against 
the colonies," for they were fighting in a 
common cause to "maintain natural and 
constitutional rights," and assuring the peo- 
ple that his special orders were "to befriend 
and protect you if need be ; so that if you 
desire our friendship you are in\ited to 
embrace it, for nothing can be more unde- 
sirable to your friends in the colonies than a 
war with their fellow-subjects the Canadians, 
or with the Indians " "Prav," he added, 



"is it necessary that the C'anadians and the 
inhabitants of the English colonies should 
battle with one another? God forbid '. 'I'here 
is no controversy subsisting between you and 
them. Pray, let Old England and the colon- 
ies fight it out, and you, Canadians, stand by 
and see what an arm of flesh can do." ISut 
his vigorous scheme of invasion was too much 
for the nerveless control of that time. There 
was indeed at first some disposition to apolo- 
gize for the seizure of Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point, and it was not until autumn that an 
invading army was put in motion. Allen 
wrote, August 3, " I fear the colonies have 
been too slow in their resolution and prepa- 
tion." 

Allen and U'arner went to Philadelphia 
and Albany to urge the scheme on the con- 
tinental and provincial congresses. They 
were received with considerable honor at 
both places, though they were still placarded 
as outlaws by the New York government. 
The result, after long urging, was that the 
New York Congress, on the recommendation 
of the continental body, authorized the rais- 
ing of a regiment of Green Mountain Boys, 
to be commanded by officers chosen by 
themselves. .Another mortification followed 
for .Allen, for when a committee of towns 
met at Dorset, July 27, to choose a lieutenant- 
colonel to command the regiment, Seth \Var- 
ner was elected by a vote of 41 to 5. Not- 
withstanding the high merit as an officer 
always displayed by Warner, it is difficult to 
account for this action, in view of Allen's 
recent achievements, the large capacity he 
had shown and the unanimitv with which he 
had been regarded as the leader only a few 
weeks before. .Allen himself, in a letter to 
Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, attri- 
buted it to " the old farmers who do not in- 
cline to go to war," saying he was in the fa- 
vor of the officers of the army and the young 
Green Mountain Boys. He hoped, however, 
to get a commission from the Continental 
Congress, and when, in the fall, General 
Schuyler invited him to accompany the ex- 
pedition to Canada, with the understanding 
that he should be regarded as an officer, and 
have command of detachments as occasion 
required, he accepted. But this service had 
continued only about three weeks when it 
was ended by his capture before Montreal. 
.Schuyler sent him on several expeditions 
" preaching politics " and extending the work 
he had so hopefully began to arouse and or- 
ganize the people of Canada into support of 
the Revolution. He met with sweeping suc- 
cess ; the Canadians guided and guarded 
him through the woods ; enthusiastic crowds 
greeted him in the villages ; the Caughna- 
waga Indians, some of whom had been among 
the British skirmishers, sent him assurances 
that they would not take up arms on either 



side. September 20 he wrote to General 
Montgomery that he had 250 Canadians 
under arms, and that he could raise one or 
two thousand in a week's time, but would 
first visit the army with a less number and if 
necessary go again recruiting, and he added : 
" I swear by the Lord I can raise three times 
the number of our army in Canada, provided 
you continue the siege." 

All these hopes were dissipated by the 
misadventure at Montreal, Sept. 24. While 
returning to camp, as he had written to Mont- 
gomery, Allen met Maj. John Brown, the 
Pittsfield lawyer, who had in the spring made 
the reconnoitering expedition into Canada, 
and had now entered the service, and who 
was at the head of a force of about two hun- 
dred Americans and Canadians, and a plan 
was concocted .between them and their offi- 
cers to surprise and capture Montreal. Brown 
was that night to cross the St. Lawrence 
above the city and Allen below, and at a sig- 
nal of three huzzas, they were to attack si- 
multaneously. Brown, for some reason never 
explained, failed to fulfill his part. Doubtless 
some unforeseen obstacle prevented, for he 
was a brave and capable officer ; but he was 
killed at Stone Arabia, in the Mohawk valley, 
in a battle with the Tories and Indians, Ocf. 
19, 1780, and his story about the Montreal 
attack was never told. Allen crossed over 
his force of no men, according to agree- 
ment, taking nearly the whole night for the 
task, as he had but few canoes. When he 
failed to get the signal from Brown, he saw 
he was in a scrape, but concluded to stand 
his ground as he could not get off over a 
third of his force at a time, and the enemy 
would surely discover the attempt. So he 
dispatched a messenger to Brown and to 
L'Assumption, a French settlement where 
lived a Mr. Walker, who was on the side of 
the patriots, to hurry on assistance. Allen's 
hope was to hold his ground until aid could 
arrive, and Walker had raised a considerable 
force to march to him, when he learned of his 
surrender. Allen placed guards between his 
position and the town, with orders to let 
nobody pass or repass. A good many pris- 
oners were detained in this way early in the 
day, but one of them managed to escape and 
went to Ceneral Carlton in the city, who had 
made every preparation to take refuge in his 
ships, exposed the weakness of Allen's force, 
and so brought on an attack in the middle of 
the afternoon, before assistance could arrive. 
Carlton marched out with a force of about 
five hundred men, chiefly Canadians and 
residents of the city, and including only 
forty regulars. Allen's force was made up 
of only thirty Americans and eighty Cana- 
dians, but he was in a well-selected position, 
and he defended it bravely and skillfully for 
an hour and three-quarters, until nearly all 



his Canadians had deserted him, when he 
finally surrendered with a force of thirty-one 
effective men and seven wounded, on being 
assured good quarters for himself and men. 

Schuyler and Montgomery both com- 
mented severely in letters and reports on 
Allen's rashness in making the attack single- 
handed, and this \ievv was excusable with 
the information they had at the time. They 
knew nothing apparently of the plan of con- 
cert with Brown, or how surely it would have 
succeeded if Allen had had the co-operation 
he had a right to depend on. They only 
knew the consequences of defeat, which were 
so disastrous, putting "the French people 
into great consternation," as Warner wrote, 
and "changing the face of things," as a Tory 
wrote to Covernor Franklin of New Jersey 
(the son of the great Benjamin Franklin). 
"The Canadians," he added, "were before, 
nine-tenths for the Bostonians ; they are now 
returned to their duty." 

But no such excuse can be urged for the 
historian, Bancroft, who, writing with all the 
knowledge of later years, charges that Allen's 
officers opposed the project, but that he 
"with boundless rashness indulged himself a 
vision of surprising Montreal as he had sur- 
prised Ticonderoga." Even Go\'. Hiland 
Hall was not fair and full when he said the 
attempt was due to Allen's "ambition to dis- 
tinguish himself, and add to the laurels won 
at Ticonderoga." The truth is that the at- 
tack instead of being a reckless exhibition of 
Allen's vanity was planned after a full con- 
sultation, on the united judgment of all the 
officers in both commands, and it only failed 
bv one of those military accidents which can 
never be provided against, in Brown's fail- 
ure to co-operate. Carlton practically ad- 
mits this in his report when he shows how 
poorly prepared Montreal was for attack, 
and how he was on the point of abandoning 
the city when he learned from the escajsed 
prisoner of Allen's weakness. The effect of 
the failure on the Canadians only shows 
correspondingly how beneficial the effect of 
success would have been. The people were 
wavering, chiefly to be on the winning side, 
inclined to the American side, perhaps, but 
fearful of the consequences if the British 
prevailed. What was needed above all else 
was to impress them with confidence of 
American success. Delay had dimmed the 
eclat of Allen's victories on Lake Champlain, 
but another brilliant stroke, like the capture 
of Montreal, would revive it, powerfully im- 
press an imaginative people, and draw them 
in great masses to the American standard. 
Allen and Brown had, in their intercourse 
with the people, learned the importance of 
such a stroke, and hence the enterprise. 

Allen's "narrative" of his captivity gives 
us all the information we have of it and it 



27 



was full of exciting and characteristic inci- 
dents. He had just handed over his sword 
when an Indian rushed u]> and attempted to 
shoot him. .\llen instantly twitched the 
ofificer to whom he had handed his sword 
between him and the savage. Then another 
"imp of hell," as .Allen described him, at- 
tacked and Allen only saved himself from 
being murdered by twitching the otificer 
around him with such swiftness that neither 
of the Indians could reach him or get 
aim at him without endangering the officer. 
He keep this up several seconds until 
another ofificer and an Irishman interfered 
and drove the Indians away. .Allen then 
walked with the officers to Montreal, meet- 
ing in the barrack yard (ieneral Prescott, 
who, when he learned that it was the Colonel 
-Allen of Ticonderoga fame, broke into a tor- 
rent of abuse, shook his cane over .Allen's 
head until the latter shook his fist and as- 
sured the general that it would be " the 
beetle of mortality" for him if he struck. It 
would have been interesting to see this af- 
fair to its conclusion, but other officers 
stayed its progress by reminding the enraged 
general that it would be inconsistent with 
his honor to strike a prisoner. Then Pres- 
cott, according to .Allen's narrative, ordered 
forw-ard a sergeant's command to kill the 
thirteen Canadians who were included in 
the surrender. Allen's magnetic boldness, 
as so often in his career, here served a use- 
ful purpose. He stepped between the e.x- 
ecutioner and the prisoners, opened his 
clothes and told Prescott to thrust the bayo- 
nets into his breast, for he was the sole cause 
of the Canadians taking up arms. Prescott 
was of course thrown into a quandary ; he 
dared not execute a man of .Allen's promi- 
nence, in violation of the capitulation, and 
dared not carry out his brutal purpose 
against the prisoners in the face of such a 
man's protest. Allen had evidendy calcu- 
lated on all this; his "recklessness" usually 
had calculation behind it. .As he says : "My 
design was not to die, but to save the Cana- 
dians by a finesse." Prescott, after a little 
hesitation, replied with an oath : "I will 
not execute you now, but you shall grace a 
halter at Tyburn." 

Then began Allen's two years and eight 
months of captivity, most of it filled with the 
most brutal abuse, but relieved with a few 
gleams of soldierly magnanimity. He was 
first put on board the ship of war Gaspee in 
the harbor and kept in irons six weeks. The 
leg irons he describes as weighing thirty or 
forty pounds with a bar eight leet long, 
and so heavy that he could only lie on his 
back. He wrote to Prescott and Carleton 
protesting against such usage and contrast- 
ing it with that he had accorded to the 
prisoners he took at Ticonderoga ; but with- 



out eliciting a reply, though he was finally 
transferred to another shij) where he was \ery 
generously treated. The imjjression that he 
always made on manly men was illustrated by 
the conduct of Captain Littlejohn, the com- 
mander of the latter ship. The captain swore 
that a brave man should not be treated like a 
rascal on board his ship ; he refused to keep 
.Allen in irons, and gave him cabin fare with 
the officers. So far did this friendship go 
that when Littlejohn was challenged to a 
duel he accepted Allen's offer to act as his 
second, going to the field in disguise, on 
.Allen's pledge of honor that whatever the re- 
sult of the duel he would return to the ship. 
But this mark of confidence was prevented 
by the interference of other British officers 
who at the last moment settled the contro- 
versy without fighting. But this ])olite treat- 
ment lasted less than a fortnight when, on 
the appearance of Arnold before Quebec, 
.Allen and the other prisoners were placed on 
board a merchantman, the .Adamant, and 
shipped to England.- Their treatment under 
the inspiration of a junto of Tories aboard 
was most villainous. Thirty-four of them 
were confined, hand-cuffed, in a little room 
20x22, so dark that they could not see one 
another, filled with vermin and an intoler- 
able stench, denied an adequate supply of 
water, where suffering from diarrhcea and 
fever they were compelled to eat, sleep and 
perform all the offices of life. .Allen had a 
fight before he would go into the filthy in- 
closure. He first protested against it as a 
disgrace to honor and humanity, but was 
told that it was good enough for a rebel, that 
anything short of a halter was too good for 
him, and that a halter would be his portion 
as soon as he reached England. In the 
course of the dispute a lieutenant among the 
Tories spit in his face. .Allen, hand-cuffed 
as he was, sprang upon him, knocked him 
partly down, pursued him in fury to the 
cabin where the lieutenant, thoroughly 
frightened, got under the protection of a file 
of men with fixed bayonets. .Allen chal- 
lenged the man out to meet him in hand- 
cuffs as he was, which the cowering fellow 
would not do. But the soldiers finally forced 
.Allen at the point of the bayonet into the 
hole. 

.Arriving at Falmouth, in England, he and 
his men were shut up tor a few weeks while 
the ministry decided what to do with him. 
He was a subject of general interest. Bets 
were laid in London that he w-ould be 
hanged. Parliament debated the question. 
Crowds of people came to see what, up to 
that time, was the most romantic, and, be- 
cause of what he had done, the most feared, 
figure of the Revolution. He often, while 
walking in the spacious parade of the castle, 
would stop and harangue the crowds assem- 



28 



bled to see him, telling of the impractica- 
bility of Britain's conquering the colonies, 
expatiating on American freedom, and im- 
pressing all with his boldness in such talk 
while the question of his execution was still 
under consideration. It was a part of a 
shrewd game of bluff, .\nother part he 
humorously details in telling how he " came 
Yankee " over the prison authorities. He 
asked for the privilege of writing a letter to 
Congress, which the commander of the 
castle granted after consultation with a su- 
perior officer. Allen wrote in this letter of 
his ill-treatment, how he and his companions 
were kept in irons by General Carleton's 
order, but urged Congress to desist from 
retaliation until the results of the treatment 
of himself and companions were known, and 
then that the retaliation should be, " not 
according to the smallness of my character 
in .America, but in proportion to the impor- 
tance of the cause for which I suffered." 
The letter, of course, went, as expected, 
straight to Lord North instead of Congress, 
and its design, as .Allen says, was " to intimi- 
date the haughty English government and 
screen my neck from the halter." Another 
thing that helped him is that there was an 
attempt to win him back to the British 
cause. This fact has been found by B F. 
Stevens in official correspondence in the 
British archives at London. An "officer of 
high rank," whose name does not appear, 
was sent to him to represent that the injuries 
he had suffered from New York arose from 
an abuse of an order in council, and if he 
would return to allegiance to the King he 
should have a full pardon, his lands be re- 
stored to him, he and his men sent back to 
Boston, and he placed in command of a 
company of rangers ; but if he refused, they 
must all be disposed of as the law directs— 
a delicate way of intimating that he would 
grace a gallows, .\llen onlv makes a brief 
allusion to this incident. 

But the event shows that he spurned the 
bribe and dared the government to do its 
worst. His bold demeanor won the sympathy 
of liberal-minded people. He learned after- 
wards, he says, that there was a move for a writ 
of luil'eas corpus to obtain for him his liberty. 
In consequence of all this, it was determined 
in cabinet meeting, Dec. 2 7, to get rid of the 
problem by ordering Allen and his associates 
to be returned to America as prisoners of 
war, and he was, Jan. 8, i 776, placed in irons 
on board the man-of-war Solebay, Captain 
Symonds, where he again had to undergo 
harsh and brutal treatment. When the fleet 
rendezvoused at Cork some benevolent gen- 
tlemen in that city undertook to supply the 
prisoners with the necessaries which the 
ship's officers denied, and sent aboard com- 
plete outfits of clothing, with sea stores. 



meats, wines and liquors, most of which 
Captain Symonds promptly appropriated, 
swearing that the "damned American rebels" 
should not be feasted by the "damned rebels 
of Ireland." A few guineas of money from 
his generous friends, however, did remain 
with .Allen, and his conclusion from this af- 
fair and his other experience was that as a 
people the Irish "excel in liberality and gen- 
erosity." He tells of a characteristic encoun- 
ter he had with the captain sometime after 
they left Cork. The purser was ordered not 
to sell to Allen some medical supplies of which 
he was in need, and when .Allen remonstrated, 
saying he was sick, the captain replied that it 
did not matter how soon he was dead ; he 
was not anxious to preserve the lives of 
rebels. Allen again contrasted, as he was 
fond of doing, the treatment of their pris- 
oners by the Americans, and argued that as 
the English government had not proceeded 
against him as a capital offender, English 
officers had no right to, but as he had been 
acquitted by being sent back as a prisoner 
of war he was entitled to be treated as such. 
Furthermore, it was not policy for them 
by harsh usage to destroy his life, for if 
li\ ing he might redeem one of their officers. 
The captain retorted in a rage that the Brit- 
ish would surely conquer the rebels, hang 
Congress and the leaders, Allen in par- 
ticular, and retake their own prisoners, so 
that his life was of no consequence in their 
policy ; besides it was not owing to the hu- 
manity of the Yankees, but their timidity, 
that they treated prisoners so well. This 
was really the prevalent idea up to Burgoyne's 
surrender. Allen's reply was that if they 
waited until they conquered .America before 
they hung him he should die of old age, and 
in the meantime he would like to purchase 
of the purser with his own money such arti- 
cles as he really needed. .Allen came off 
first best in the argument as he usually did ; 
but he did not get the permission. The 
fleet proceeded by way of Madiera to Cape 
Fear in North Carolina, where the prisoners 
were all collected and put on board the frig- 
ate Mercury, Capt. James Montague, who 
was even more bigotedly brutal in his treat- 
ment. He e\ en forbade his surgeon to ad- 
minister help to any sick prisoner, many of 
whom were suffering with scurvy, and cut 
their food down to barely a third of the usual 
allowance. Allen shared equally with the 
rest, though the men offered him more. 
From Cape Fear they went to Halifax, ar- 
riving about the middle of June, where Allen 
managed to secure some alteration of their 
treatment by sending a letter of complaint 
through a sympathetic guard to Governor 
.Arbuthnot, who ordered them transferred to 
the Halifax jail. Allen, however, there suf- 
fered severely from jail distemper, for which 



29 



he found a remedy in raw onions, which the 
other prisoners used to advantage. In Octo- 
ber they were sent on board the Lark frigate, 
bound for New York, Captain Smith, who 
drew the first tears of his captivity from Allen 
by his kindly and cordial treatment, inviting 
him to dinner and assuring him that he 
should be treated with respect by the whole 
crew. Smith, it appears, had before got him- 
self into trouble with some of his superiors 
by his vigorous protests against their inhu- 
man conduct towards the prisoners. Allen 
expressed, as best he could, his gratitude at 
this unexpected kindness, and his fear that 
it would never be in his ])ower to return the 
favor. 

Smith replied, like the hearty tar, the true 
soldier he was, that he had no reward in 
view ; he only aimed to treat his prisoner as 
a gentleman should be treated ; but this, he 
said, is a mutable world, and one gentleman 
never knows how soon it may be in his power 
to help another. This came true sooner 
than he ever knew, for while the ship was 
skirting along the coast, one of the prisoners, 
Captain Burk, formed a conspiracy with an 
under officer and some of the crew of the 
ship to kill the captain and the principal 
officers and take the ship with ^35,000 
sterling in the hold, into one of the Ameri- 
can ports. They laid the plan before .Allen 
and urged him to enlist the other prisoners 
in the design. Allen refused absolutely and 
showed what a sorry return it was for the 
chivalric kindness they had received. Asked 
to remain neutral, he gave emphatic notice 
that he would fight by Captain Smith's side 
if the attempt was made, but he assured them 
that if they would give up the project he 
would respect their confidence and keep the 
secret, guarding their lives with the same 
honor as he would Captain Smith's, and such 
was his power over men and their faith in 
him that the matter rested right there. 

In November the prisoners vvere landed 
in New York, where he was placed on parole 
and remained for eighteen months in com- 
parati\e comfort himself, though he tells a 
harrowing story of the way the private sol- 
diers were treated. He exerted himself a 
good deal to alleviate their condition, but 
with little success. He held Sir William 
Howe personally responsible for these cruel- 
ties and in his "narrative" in his extravagant 
style denounces him and James I>oring, a 
Tory, and the commissary of prisoners, 
especially, as "the most mean-spirited, cow- 
ardly, deceitful and detestable animals in 
God's creation below, and legions of infer- 
nal devils, with all their tremendous horrors, 
are impatiently ready to receive Howe and 
him with all their detestable accomplices 
into the most exquisite agonies of the hottest 
regions of hell fire." 



( )f the thirty-one men captured with him 
two died in imprisonment, three were ex- 
changed and all the rest made their escape 
at one time or another. It was while at New 
York that the second attempt was made to 
seduce his allegiance, by an officer who came 
to his lodgings, told him that his fidelity, 
though in a wrong cause, had recommended 
him to General Howe, who wished to make 
him colonel of a regiment of Tories ; pro- 
posed to send him back to England to be 
introduced to Lord George Germaine, and 
probably to the King, and return with Hur- 
goyne ; he should be paid richly in gold, in- 
stead of rag money, and receive for his ser- 
vices in reducing the country a large tract of 
land in Connecticut or Vermont, as he pre- 
ferred. .Allen replied that if by fidelity he 
had recommended himself to General Howe, 
he "should be loth by unfaithfulness to lose 
the general's good opinion : besides, I view 
his offer of land to be similar to that which 
the devil offered our Saviour, to give him all 
the kingdoms of the world to fall down and 
worship him, when the poor devil had not 
one foot of land on earth." 

Allen was e.xchanged May 3, 1778, for 
Colonel .Alexander Campbell, and after two 
days of courteous entertainment at General 
Campbell's headquarters he crossed New 
Jersey to Valley Forge, where he was enter- 
tained by Washington for several days and 
received marked honors from Putnam, (lates, 
Lafayette, Steuben and all the officers and 
men who were heroically maintaining the 
country's cause in its very darkest hour. He 
wrote a letter to Congress offering his ser- 
vices to the cause in any capacity where he 
could be useful, and then proceeded to l^en- 
nington, going most of the way in company 
with Gates, who treated him royally, and 
everywhere being received with acclamations 
by the people, and reaching home Sunday 
evening. May 31, where the expressions of 
love and enthusiasm could not be restrained, 
even in that orthodox populace, and cannon 
boomed welcome from the people, who had 
long supposed him dead. Fourteen guns 
were fired, one for each state and one for 
Vermont. His brother Heman had just died 
at Salisbury, Conn., while he was on his 
journey home. His only son had died dur- 
ing his captivity. His wife, in feeble health, 
and four daughters were in Sunderland. 

He at once asserted his old powers of 
leadership. .Another characteristic incident 
introduced him to it. David Redding had 
been convicted of treason and sentenced to 
be hanged. .\ rehearing was petitioned for 
on the ground that his conviction was a vio- 
lation of the common law, being by a jury 
of six instead of twelve. Governor Chitten- 
den had granted a reprieve to June 11. The 
populace, very bitter against Redding, was 



30 



disappointed, angry, and threatening to take 
the law into its own hands, when Allen ap- 
peared and cried : "Attention, the whole 1 " 
and he proceeded to explain the illegality of 
the trial, and told the people to go home and 
return in a week, and they should " see a 
man hung ; if not Redding, I will be." The 
crowd obeyed. Allen was appointed attor- 
ney for the state at the next trial, and he 
secured Redding's conviction. 

He was selected to write a reply to a pro- 
clamation of clemency issued by Governor 
Clinton the February previous, in which the 
New York (Governor charged Vermont's 
wrongs to the British government while 
New York was a colony, and offered to recall 
the outlawry act, to revoke all unjust prefer- 
ence in grants, reduce the quit rents to the 
New Hampshire basis, make the fees of 
patents reasonable, and confirm all grants 
made by New Hampshire. Allen's reply, in 
a pamphlet, was skillful, and made clear the 
impracticability of what seemed and doubt- 
less was intended to be a fair proposition. 
He showed that as a matter of fact most of 
the New Hampshire and Massachusetts 
grants had been covered by New York pat- 
ents and that as a matter of law it was impos- 
sible for New York to cancel her former grants, 
and cited the opinion of the lords of trade 
to that effect. Many people had been eager 
to accede to Governor Clinton's terms, but 
Allen's argument was so strong, the rights of 
self-government so well stated, that the tide 
of public opinion was completely turned. 
Probably it prevented a dissolution of the 
state government. Here again, as well as 
in the initial stages of the controversy, was 
it true, as his best biographer, Henry Hall, 
says : " But for him the state of Vermont 
would probably never have existed." 

He was three times sent on embassies to 
Congress, first in August, 1 7 yS, with reference 
to the trouble with New Hampshire over 
the "Eastern union." He performed the 
delicate duties with great tact and reported 
strongly advising the dissolution of that 
union and saying that unless it was done "the 
nation will annihilate Vermont." He was 
again sent in i 779 with Jonas Fay, to defend 
the new state's action, and to show Congress, 
as they wrote July i, 1779, that they were 
"willing that every part of the conduct of the 
people we represent should at any convenient 
time be fully laid before the Grand Council 
of America" but considering all the embar- 
rassments of the country "would be far from 
urging a decision * * until you can have 
leisure to take it up deliberately." The third 
mission was with Fay, Stephen R. Bradley, 
Moses Robinson and PaulSpooner in 1 780 to 
defend Vermont's case against the claims of 
all three of the adjoining states, and the 
duties were performed with skill and address. 



He was also, ( )ct. 19, 1799, appointed 
agent to wait on the Council and General 
Court of Massachusetts to negotiate for an 
abandonment of the pretensions which the 
latter state had raised to jurisdiction o\-er 
Vermont, and to secure her acknowledgment 
of Vermont's independence. He was, in 
October, 1779, though not a member of the 
Assembly, appointed chairman of a commit- 
tee, ■ consisting of himself, Reuben Jones, 
Nathan Clark, and John Fassett, "to form 
the outlines of a plan to be pursued for de- 
fense before Congress against the neighbor- 
ing states in consequence of a late act of that 
body." He was repeatedly appointed on 
legislative committees when not a member. 

He was elected to the Legislature from 
Arlington, though his "usual home" was in 
Bennington and his family lived in Sunder- 
land, and he was allowed to act, though he 
refused to take the oath expressing belief in 
the divine inspiration of the Bible and pro- 
fession of the Protestant religion. 

His military service after his release from 
captivity was confined entirely to his own 
state. Congress gave him the commission of 
brevet brigadier-general, but did not call him 
into the field. Perhaps the reason was the 
suspicion of his loyalty that soon became 
rife. The third effort to seduce him was pub- 
licly known before he knew it. The l.egisla- 
ture made him major-general and comman- 
der-in-chief of the Vermont militia, and he 
held the position for two years, but no active 
service was required except to guard the 
frontiers. In February, 1 780, Col. Beverly 
Robinson, a Virginia Tory, wrote him a letter 
alluding to the Vermont feeling over its treat- 
ment by Congress and inviting a negotiation 
with the British. The letter was delivered to 
him on the streets of Arlington in July. Allen 
showed it to Governor Chittenden and the 
leading men of the state, and it was decided 
to pay no attention to it. The next March, 
however, while the Haldimand negotiation 
was in full progress, Allen sent the letter, with 
a duplicate which Robinson had impatiently 
forwarded, to Congress, with a long screed of 
his own, well calculated to impress Congress 
with the idea that it was running a great risk 
of driving Vermont to the other side by its 
unjust treatment. He said he was confident 
Congress would not dispute his sincere attach- 
ment to the cause of his country, though he 
did not hesitate to declare that he was fully 
" grounded in the opinion that Vermont had 
an indubitable right to agree on terms of ces- 
sation of hostilities with Great Britain, pro- 
vided the United States persisted in rejecting 
her application for a union with them ; for 
Vermont of all people would be the most 
miserable were she obliged to defend the in- 
dependence of the United States and they at 
the same time claiming full liberty to over- 



turn and ruin the independence of Vermont." 
He closed with the characteristic words : 

" I am as resoUitely determined to defend 
the independence of \'ermont as Congress 
is that of the United States, and rather than 
fail, will retire with my hardy (Ireen Moun- 
tain Boys into the desolate caverns of the 
mountains and wage war with human nature 
at large." 

The Haldimand negotiations are more 
fully discussed in the sketch of Ira Allen, 
whose consummate shrewdness conducted 
them to success. Ethan Allen was in the 
secret of them all, and at the time had to bear 
more of the suspicion and odium than any 
other man, but his part was chiefly that of 
counsellor, with very little of the active 
work, 'i'here is reason for believing that he 
told Washington all about them in the begin- 
ning, and that the policy of protecting Ver- 
mont by fooling the British had the tacit 
approval of the country's chieftain. There 
is no chance for reasonable belief that .Allen 
ever tor a moment contemplated treason to 
the -American cause ; he had twice spurned 
offers when far more alluring. He was con- 
stantly and carefully looking after the arms 
and equipments of the state, to keep her in 
the best condition for defense. In Decem- 
ber, 1780, even while the charges of treason 
were getting loudest against him, he was ne- 
gotiating with Governor Trumbull of Con- 
necticut for two tons of powder, to resist an 
invasion from Canada. He offered, .April 
14, 1 781, when there seemed to be a chance 
that the British could no longer be kept off 
by diplomacy, in a letter to Governor Clin- 
ton, his own services and those of two other 
Vermont ofificers to defend New Vork against 
their cruel invaders. 

The only question is whether in his deceit 
of the British he went beyond the lines of 
honor. The worst piece of evidence is a 
letter written to Haldimand, June 16, 1782, 
and closing with these words : "I shall do 
everything in my power to render this a 
British province." The letter was unsigned, 
but it read very Allenish, and has generally 
been believed to have been written by him. 
Allen, as commander of the Vermont army 
in 1 78 1, concluded a truce with the British 
forces while the negotiations were in prog- 
ress, and he got the northern parts and 
frontier of New Vork included in it. He 
reported these doings to Colonel Webster 
and General Schuyler, and warned the latter 
of a project to capture his person, assuring 
him that the "surmises of my corresponding 
with the enemy to the prejudice of the 
United States are wholly without founda- 
tion." Captain Sherwood, who came to 
Allen's headquarters at Castleton as an en- 
voy from Haldimand, reported .Allen as bar- 
gaining hypothetically for himself and for 



the state, but the rejjort of his terms con- 
cludes with this significant condition: "If, 
however, Congress should grant \'ermont a 
seat in that assembly as a separate state, 
then these negotiations to be at an end and 
be kept secret on both sides." 

P>ut the wildest reports of his treachery 
flew about the country. Some of them e\en 
represented him at the head of British troops 
in Canada. The feeling grew at home and 
finally focussed in an arraignment before the 
Legislature in No\ember, 1782, for miscon 
duct in the armistice. This is what appears 
in the "(iovernor and Council" minutes as 
the "Captain Hotchkiss Resolutions." The 
record is very meagre. Fay and Bradley, 
who were on his staff at Castleton, testified, 
and apparently con\inced all that nothing 
improper had been done. .Allen resigned 
his commission, evidently deeply hurt that 
after all he had done for the people he 
should be subject to such suspicion : that, as 
he said, "such false and ignominious asper- 
sions" were entertained against him for a 
moment, and he indignantly left the house, 
declaring that he would "hear no more of 
it." The Legislature appointed a committee 
of two to express the state's thanks for .Al- 
len's services, and then accepted the resigna- 
tion which .Allen had offered "because there 
was uneasiness among some of the people on 
account of his command," but he patriot- 
ically said he would ever be ready "to serve 
the state according to his abilities," if ever 
necessary. 

The next spring he was chosen general of 
the brigade of militia, but refused to accept, 
though with a repetition of his promise to 
serve the state in an unofficial capacity in 
case of need. In December, 1781, when 
New York attempted force to get control of 
the state, .Allen was present with the force of 
\ermont militia that defeated the project, 
not nominally in command, but evidently at 
the request of Governor Chittenden, as his 
account against the state for that service was 
allowed. 

The rest of his days were passed in j^ri- 
vate life, but with recognition on every side 
as the leader of the state. In i 782 he was 
called to the field, as he had been two years 
previously, to quiet the rebellious "Yorkers" 
in Windham county, and when his party was 
fired on by ambushed men in (kiilford he 
walked into the town on foot and gave his 
famous warning that unless the inhabitants 
of the town peacefully submitted to the au- 
thority of the state of Vermont he would 
"lay it as desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah." 

When Shay's rebellion was started in 
Massachusetts, messengers were sent to him 
offering him the chief command, but heccm- 
temptuously refused it, orilered the messen- 
gers out of the state, notified the Massachu- 



ALLEX. 



setts authorities, and also exerted himself 
vigorously to prevent the insurgents from 
making Vermont a place of refuge. Though 
so long posted as an outlaw, though a leader 
of revolutionists and a discourser on human 
rights through all his active career, and 
though seemingly so recklessly extravagant 
in his talk, he was always the friend of law 
and order. His revolutionism was only 
against what was so plainly wrong as to be 
in ethics and morals illegal. 

In 1787 he moved to Burlington, where he 
devoted himself to farming. He died, Feb. 
12, 1789, at the age of only fifty-one, while 
on his way home from South Hero, where he 
had been for a load of hay, and had spent 
the afternoon and evening previous, at the 
invitation of Col. Ebenezer Allen, with a 
party of old friends. On the journey his 
negro attendant spoke to him several times 
and received no reply, and on reaching home 
he was found to be unconscious with apo- 
plexy. He died a few hours later. He was 
buried with military honors, and his remains 
rest in a beautiful valley near the Winooski. 
The Legislature in 1885 ordered a monu- 
ment to be erected over his grave, a Tuscan 
column of granite 42 feet high, and 4 1-2 feet 
in diameter. A commanding statue of him 
designed by Mead, of Vermont marble, 
stands in the portico of the Capitol at 
Montpelier. Another by the same great 
sculptor, of Italian marble, is in the Capitol 
at Washington. The earliest statue of him 
was modeled by B. H. Kinney, a native of 
Sunderland, back in the early fifties. It was 
pronounced by aged people who had seen 
him, an excellent likeness, but it is still pri- 
vate property. A fourth statue of heroic 
size, designed by Peter Stevenson, was un- 
veiled at Burlington, July 4, 1873, ^.nd sur- 
mounts the Allen monument. 

Allen's first wife was Mary, daughter of 
Cornelius and Abigail (Jackson) Brownson, 
of Woodbury, Conn. The earlier historians 
used to say that she died in Connecticut 
during the war, but on the authority of a 
remembered statement of Dr. Ebenezer 
Hitchcock it is now believed that she died 
in Sunderland about 1783 from consumption, 
and was buried in Arlington. Some verses 
in her memory, the only attempt at poetry 
Allen ever made, were published in the Ver- 
mont Gazette of July 10, 1783, and are well 
worth preservation, for his recognition, how- 
ever skeptical he may have been himself, of 
the sublime power of the Christian faith in 
his wife : 

Farewell, my friends; the fleeting world, adieu, 
My residence no longer is with you; 
My children I commend to Heaven's care, 
And humbly raise my hopes above despair; 
And conscious of a virtuous, transient strife, 
Anticipate the joys of the next life; 
Yet such celestial and ecstatic bliss 
Is but a part conferred on us in this. 



Confiding in the power of God most high. 
His wisdom, goodness, and infinity 
Displayed, securely I resign my breath 
To the cold, unrelenting stroke of death. 
Trusting that God, who gave me life before, 
Will still preserve me in a state much more 
Exalted, mentally beyond decay. 
In the blest regions of eternai day. 

No Stone was ever erected to her memory. 
She bore Allen one son and four daughter's. 
The son died at the age of eleven. Two of 
the daughters died unmarried and one mar- 
ried Eleazer W. Keyes of Burlington and the 
other Samuel Hitchcock of Burlington, and 
was the mother of Gen. E. A. Hitchcock. 

Allen was married a second time, Feb. 9, 
1784, to Mrs. Frances Buchanan, the widowed 
daughter of Crean Brush, the Tory, the man 
who had led in the New York Legislature in 
passing the act of outlawry against him and 
procured the reward to be offered for his 
head. The story of this marriage is romantic 
and again illustrative of Allen's rough-and- 
ready audacity. Mrs. Buchanan, who was 
twenty-two years his junior, and a woman of 
grace, culture and fascination, was living with 
her mother in the house of Stephen R.Brad- 
ley at Westminster, where she frequently met 
Allen with other leading men of the state, 
and a sort of friendship, that was still half of 
antagonism, grew up between these two 
strong and original natures. Its character 
may be judged from a remark to John Nor- 
tin, the ex-Tory tavern keeper at Westmin- 
ster, who one day said to her : " Fanny, if 
you marry General Allen you will be queen 
of a new state." "Yes," she retorted scorn- 
fully, "if I should marry the devil I would 
be queen of hell." 

But early that February morning Allen 
drove up with a span of dashing black horses 
and a colored driver. It was during a 
session of the Supreme Court, and the 
judges were at breakfast. He declined an 
invitation to partake, saying he had break- 
fasted, and passed without ceremony into 
Mrs. Buchanan's part of the house, where 
he found her in a morning gown, standing 
on a chair, arranging some glass and china 
on the upper shelf of a closet. After a few 
moments' playful chat, Allen said : "Well, 
Fanny, if we are to be married, now is the 
time, for I am on my way to Arlington." 
"Very well," she replied, descending from 
the chair, "but give me time to put on my 
Joseph." Allen led her into the room where 
the judges, having finished their breakfast, 
were smoking their long pipes, and accost- 
ing his old friend, Chief-Justice Robinson, 
asked him to tie the knot. "U'hen?" said 
the judge in surprise. "Now," replied 
Allen. "For myself I have no great opinion 
of such formality, and from what I can dis- 
cover she thinks as little of it as I do, but 
as a decent respect for the opinions of man- 
kind seems to require it, you will proceed." 



The ceremony reached the point where 
the judge asked Ethan if he promised to live 
with Frances, " agreeable to the law of 
God." "Stop ! stop !" cried Allen, and paus- 
ing and looking out of the window he added : 
"The law of (lod as written in the great 
book of nature? Yes! Goon!" Without 
further interruption the service was com- 
pleted, the bride's trunk and guitar case were 
placed in the sleigh and the pair driven 
across the mountain to the general's home. 
By this second wife there was one daughter 
and two sons. After his death the daughter 
entered a nunnery in Canada and died there. 
The sons were Hannibal and Ethan A., and 
became officers of the United States Navy. 
The latter had a son, since well known, C'ol. 
Ethan Allen of New York. 

Little that Allen wrote has been preserved 
to the present day. Among his works, besides 
those mentioned on pre\ious pages, was 
his " Vindication of \'ermont and Her Right 
to Form an Independent State," a forceful 
argument of one hundred and seventy-two 
pages, written in 1779 and published under 
authority of the Governor and Council. In 
1779 also appeared his "Narrative" from 
which his biographers have all got most of 
their material. In 177S appeared his "An- 
imadversary .Address" in answer to Governor 
Clinton ; in i 780, "Concise Reputation of the 
Claims of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and 
New York to the Territory of Vermont," which 
he and Jonas Fay had prepared with much 
care ; and in i 782 a " Defense of the Eastern 
and Western Unions." In 1774 his most am- 
bitious pamphlet on the New York contro- 
versy appeared, a document of over two hun- 
dred pages and an exhaustive discussion of 
the historical aspect of the case, showing that 
prior to the royal order of 1764 New York 
had no claim to extend easterly to the Con- 
necticut river. In 1784 he brought out the 
work on which he expected his fame to rest, 
his "Oracles of Reason," printed at Benning- 
ton, which he called a " Compendious Sys- 
tem of Natural Religion " and consisting as 
he described it in a letter to St. Johnde Cre- 
vecoeur of "the untutored logic and salHes 
of a mind nursed principally in the moun- 
tain wilds of America." It was a volume of 
four hundred and seventy-seven pages, an 
infidel work, denying the inspiration of the 
scriptures, but energetic in its expressions of 
veneration for the being and perfection of 
the Deity and its firm belief in the immortal- 
ity of the soul. It was laid a good deal on 
the same lines as Paine's "Age of Reason," 
without Paine's caustic style of debate but 
with a larger and healthier view of things eter- 
nal. There was a presumptuous tone to it that 
greatly marred it, and yet much of high ideals, 
of humanitarian sentiment and of insight 
beyond things material to things spiritual. He 
had all his life been in the habit of jotting down 



his thoughts on these subjects, and indeed 
the work was planned in his youth, and there 
is reason to believe that some of it was the 
contribution of Dr. Thomas Young, one of the 
ablest men of his times, an influential friend 
of N'ermont in later years and the intimate 
of Allen in his Connecticut days. Both de- 
lighted in batding against New I-^ngland 
orthodoxy, then wrote in conjunction, and it 
was agreed that the one that outlived the 
other should publish their stuff. Allen left 
his manuscript with \'oung, on going to Ver- 
mont, and on his release from captivity after 
Young's death obtained it from the latter's 
family, and elaborating the material as he had 
leisure, finally published it. But it was a 
failure, and a great disappointment to him. 
The sale was limited, and a large portion of 
the fifteen hundred volumes burned in the 
printing office, and it brought on him an op- 
probrium much like that suffered by Paine. 

There have been two theories about Allen, 
one that he was a hero, the other a humbug, 
and about them has centered a vast deal of 
discussion, but all of it fragmentary, without 
a view in its wholeness of his work or char- 
acter. That there was a big streak of hum- 
bug in him is indubitable, and the anecdotes 
of himself that he tells with most relish are 
those where he made the humbug work. He 
was overfull of faith in himself, to the point 
of vanity and bombast at times. He was 
often a heavy drinker, and that fact may ex- 
plain many of the things that showed worst 
in him. He was also, as Disraeli said of 
Gladstone, in the habit of getting "intoxicated 
with the exuberance of his own rhetoric" 
— and blasphemy. But after making 
every allowance, there is no denying his 
greatness — the greatness of his influence on 
liis times, of the work wrought out by the 
force of his personality, of the results of 
what he achieved, as well as attempted, but 
missed, by the fault of others, and of the 
greatness that was the foundation of it all, 
the ideals above and beyond self that guided 
him. He was too big-minded to ever be 
mean. 

Once when sued on a note he employed 
a lawyer to have execution stayed a short 
time. The lawyer, as the easiest way to do 
this, denied the signature. .Allen arose in 
court in a rage and shouted : "Sir, I did not 
employ you to come here and lie. The 
note is a good one, the signature is mine. 
All I want is for the court to grant me suffi- 
cient time to pay it." 

Another court anecdote, not so creditable 
and perhaps to be accounted for on the in- 
toxication theory, Cdadstonian or alcoholic, 
was at the trial at Westminster, in May, 
1779, of the thirty-six Yorkers who had 
rescued two cows from an officer who had 
seized them because their owners had re- 
fused to do militarv dutv on the frontier or 



34 



to pay for substitutes. Three had been 
discharged for want of evidence, and three 
more because minors. .Mien, who was there 
by order of (jovernor Chittenden, with one 
hundred soldiers to support the court, heard 
of it and strode into court to warn it not to 
let the offenders slip through its hands. 
With hat on and sword swinging by his side 
he began to attack the lawyers. Chief-Jus- 
tice Robinson said reprovingly that the court 
would gladly listen to him as a citizen, but 
not as a military man in military attire. 
Allen threw his hat on the table and un- 
buckled his sword, exclaiming, " For forms 
of government let fools contest ; whate'er is 
best administered is best." Then, as the 
judges began whispering together, he added, 
" I said that fools might contest, not your 
honors, not your honors." Then he told 
how he had come fifty miles to support the 
prosecution of the " enemies of our noble 
state," and some of them are escaping " by 
the quirks of this artful lawyer, Bradley ;" 
and " this little Noah Smith," the state's 
attorney, " is far from understanding his 
business, since he at one moment moves for 
a prosecution and in the ne.\t wishes to 
withdraw it. Let me warn your honors," 
and turning to Smith he said, " I would have 
the young gentleman know that with my 
logic and reasoning, from the eternal fitness 
of things, I can upset his Blackstones, his 
Whitestones, his gravestones and his brim- 
stones." 

The military quality of his theological 
views in the heat of dispute was shown in his 
retort to John Norton, the Westminster tav- 
ern keeper, who said regarding the then new 
theories of Universalism : "That religion 
will suit you, will it not, (General?" 

Allen, who knew Norton to be a Tory, re- 
plied scornfully ; "No 1 No I for there must 
be a hell in the other world for the punish- 
ment of Tories." 

In 1778 he complained of his own brother 
Levi as a Tory, charging that he had ])assed 
counterfeit continental money and under the 
pretense of helping him while a prisoner on 
Long Island, had been detected in supplying 
the British with provisions. He stated that 
Levi had real estate in ^'ermont and peti- 
tioned that it might be confiscated to the 
public treasury. For this Levi challenged 
him to a duel, but Ethan retorted that it 
would be disgraceful to fight a Tory. 

The eccentricity of his vanity was illus- 
trated while he was on his way to New York 
after the capture of Ticonderoga. He stop- 
ped at Bennington and went into the church 
where Rev. Mr. Dewey was fer\ently thank- 
ing the Lord in his prayer for that victory 
for our arms. Allen got impatient as these 
thanks to the Giver of all good were pouring 
up, and shouted : "Parson Dewey !" No at- 



tention was paid to him, but the thanksgiv- 
ing still went on. "Parson Dewey !" again, 
and again no stop. "Parson Dewey "' Allen 
thundered the third time, springing to his 
feet as the minister opened his eves in as- 
tonishment. "Parson Dewey, please make 
mention of my being there !" 

Another anecdote, out of the many that 
have come down, gives a glimpse of his 
make-up on several of its sides. While he 
was on his way to England as a prisoner, 
and in irons, he discovered that the pin or 
wire that fastened one of the handcuffs was 
broken, and he extracted the pieces with his 
teeth, unloosed the bolt, and then freeing 
that hand soon had the other and his feet at 
liberty. He replaced the irons before his 
keeper came in, but was able afterwards to 
liberate himself at pleasure. One day the 
captain ordered him to be brought on deck 
in order to make sport of him, and as 
though to frighten a land lubber, said there 
was a probability of the ship's soon founder- 
ing, and asked ; "If so, what will become of 
us, especially you, Mr. Allen, a rebel against 
the King?" "My !" replied Allen, "that would 
be very much like our dinner hour." "How 
so?" "I'd be on my way up just as you 
were going down." The joke was theologi- 
cal, but founded on the fact that .Allen was 
allowed to come on deck only when the 
captain went down to his cabin to dine. 
But the captain was mad, began a regular 
tirade of abuse, and promised that "all the 
rebels will soon be in the same situation as 
yourself." Ethan's choler also arose, and in 
a twinkling, raising his hands to his teeth, 
he had the pins and bolts unlocked and the 
irons thrown o\erboard, and while the crowd 
stood paralyzed with astonishment, actually 
seized the captain and threw him headlong 
on the deck ; then turning to the affrighted 
crew he declared in a voice of thunder : "If I 
am insulted again during the voyage I'll sink 
the ship and swim ashore." 

He had the fondness of a superior mind 
for the companionship of able men. His 
early intimacy with Dr. Young was only the 
forerunner of many hke it, and one of the 
pleasantest was that with the cultured St. 
John de Crevecoeur, French consul at New 
York, and after whom he procured St. Johns- 
bury to be named, as well as Danville and 
Vergennes after other eminent Frenchmen ; 
and great men, both of his and latter times, 
have always admired him, even if they 
didn't like. John Jay, found his writings to 
be characterized by "wit, quaintness, and 
impertinence." 

The Englishman, Col. John A. Graham, 
who wrote a series of letters from \'ermont 
in the last century, found Allen to be an 
"extraordinary character," possessing "great 
talents, but is deficient in education ; in all 



his dealings he possesses the strictest sense 
of honor, integrity, and uprightness." 

"A character strangely marked by both 
excellences and delects," is the verdict of 
Jared Sparks, whose biogra])hy finds him 
"bra\e, generous, consistent, true to his 
friends, true to his country, seeking at all 
times to ])roniote the best interests of man- 
kind." 

Governor Hall, in his study of him, was 
impressed with the extent and accuracy of 
his political information, and with his style 
of wTiting, as one to "attract and fix atten- 
tion, and inspire confidence in his sincerity 
and justice." 

Judge D. F. Thompson's summary at- 
tributes to him, "wisdom, aptitude to com- 
mand, abihty to inspire respect and confi- 
dence, a high sense of honor, generosity, 
and kindness." 

Z odack Thompson finds in him "un- 
wavering patriotism, love of freedom, wisdom, 
boldness, courage, energy, perseverance," 
but too much "self-sufficiency and personal 
vanity." 

WARNER, Seth,— The ablest soldier 
of Vermont's youth, was, like nearly all the 
leaders of the state's formative period, a 
native of Connecticut, being born at that 
part of Woodbury then Roxbury Parish, 
and now Roxbury, Conn, May 17, 1743, 
and he returned there to die, forty-one years 
later. He early joined the movement to the 
New Hampshire grants, which were begin- 
ning to be settled after the close of the 
French and Indian war, and were soon to 
become the Eldorado of New Kngland agri- 
culture. He came to Bennington in 1765, 
and being a skilled botanist, though he had 
had only a common school education, and 
an ardent huntsman, the life was just of the 
kind to delight him ; judging by his circum- 
stances, these pursuits absorbed more of his 
energies than the more prosaic work of 
farming. He was once or twice a member 
of the conventions of settlers, though he 
had little ambition to play a political part. 
But his quasi-military operations were always 
useful and in demand in the controversy 
with New York. His residence in Benning- 
ton was less than a mile from the New York 
line, and outside of the settlement, and yet 
despite the indictments and heavy rewards 
offered, the Yorkers never succeeded in cap- 
turing him. Once a New York ofificer, 
armed to the teeth, found and attemjated 
to arrest him. Warner attacked and wounded 
and disarmed the man, but with the spirit of 
a soldier spared his life. Warner was, in 
I 77 1, elected by a convention a captain of 
one of the companies in the regiment of 
(Ireen Mountain Boys organized to resist 
New York authority, and the story of its 



WARNEK. 35 

wild, rollicking and romantic work is very 
much the same as to Warner's part as any 
of the other leaders. He was prompt and 
eager to go with his comrades into the revo- 
lution, and to join the expedition to Ticon- 
deroga. He was left with the rear guard, 
the bulk of the party, on the east shore of 
the lake unable to get across, at the time 
of the capture of that fortress, but he was 
sent the next day with a detachment of men 
to take Crown Point, which he accomplished 
successfully, the fortress surrendering at the 
first summons, with two men and sixty-one 
good cannon, besides a lot unfit for service. 
He earnestly seconded .-Vllen's eftbrts for an 
invasion of Canada, going with him to 
Philadelphia and Albany, to urge it on the 
Continental and provincial congresses. It 
looked for a lime as if the controversy be- 
tween New York and the people on the 
grants was to disappear in the enthusiasm 
over the capture of Ticonderoga, for not 
only were Allen and \Varner cordially re- 
ceived when they appeared before the Pro- 
vincial Congress, but they were both willing 
and eager to lead troojjs raised under New 
York authority, and the Congress passed a 
resolution authorizing the raising of a regi- 
ment among the lately rebellious people to 
be commanded by officers chosen by them- 
selves. .Allen in his impulsive generosity 
wrote to the Provincial Congress : "When 
I reflect on the unhappy controversy which 
has many years subsisted between the gov- 
ernment of New York, and the settlements 
of New Hampshire grants, and also con- 
template on the friendship and union that 
hath lately taken place between the govern- 
ment and these its former discontented sub- 
jects, in making a united resistance against 
ministerial vengeance and slavery, I cannot 
but indulge fond hopes of reconciliation. 
To promote this salutatory end, I shall con- 
tribute my influence, assuring your honors, 
that your respectful treatment, not only to 
Mr. Warner (Seth Warner) and myself, but 
to the Green Mountain Boys in general, in 
forming them into a battalion, are by them 
duly regarded, and I will be responsible that 
they will retaliate this favor by wholly haz- 
ardizing their lives, if need be, in the com- 
mon cause of .America. I hope no gentle- 
man in Congress will retain any precon- 
ceived prejudice against me, as on my part 
I shall not against any of them ; but as soon 
as opportunity may permit, and the public 
cause not suffer thereby, shall hold myself 
in readiness to settle all former ilisputes and 
grievances on honorable terms." But the 
land jobbers evidently got in their work 
soon to check this flood of good feeling. 
For when the regiment had been raised and 
Warner elected its colonel — much to the 
mortification of .\llen — the New N'ork gov- 



36 



ernment neglected to give him his commis- 
sion, for it appears by General Montgom- 
ery's note book that after the regiment had 
reached Canada and joined in the operations 
the General appointed him colonel, and re- 
quested him to be obeyed as such. The 
New York Congress had not only withheld 
commissions from the regiment, but had 
asked the Continental Congress to do the 
same, and the demand was several times 
afterward repeated. January 20, 1777, the 
New York Congress adopted a report declar- 
ing that "The said Seth Warner hath been 
principally concerned in riots, outrages and 
cruelties against the former government of 
this state, and is otherwise utterly unfit to 
command a regiment in the Continental ser- 
vice," and insisting that it is absolutely neces- 
.sary to disband the regiment and "recall the 
commissions given to Colonel \Varner and 
the officers under him ; as nothing else will 
do justice to us and convince these deluded 
people that Congress have not been prevailed 
on to assist in dismembering a state." But 
no attention was paid to the demand, although 
New York was profuse in promises to raise 
extra troops enough beyond her quota to 
make up for the disbandment of this regi- 
ment, and yet it was but little more than 
a year after this that New York was relying 
on Warner and this regiment mainly for the 
protection of her own frontiers — an arduous 
and exhausting service which Warner cheer- 
fully rendered, and in which really he lost his 
life. 

When the invasion of Canada was finally 
begun in the fall of 1775, Warner and his 
Green Mountain Boys joined it within three 
days. Montgomery promptly sent him with 
a part of his men to the St. Lawrence and 
vicinity of Montreal to watch the motions of 
the enemy. With three hundred men he 
repulsed Carlton when the latter attempted 
with eight hundred men to join McLean and 
raise the siege. Warner watched the British 
as they embarked from Montreal, permitted 
them to approach very near the south shore 
and then poured a hot fire into them, throw- 
ing them into disorder and compelling a 
retreat. It was well and gallantly done. 

After repulsing Carlton and maneuvering 
McLean back to Quebec, he erected a 
battery at the mouth of the Sorel to com- 
mand the passage of the St. Lawrence and 
block up Carlton in Montreal. Carlton 
managed to escape down the river to Que- 
bec, and Montgomery took possession of 
Montreal Nov. 13. But General Prescott 
attempting to escape with a number of 
armed vessels loaded with provisions and 
military stores, was captured at the mouth 
of the Sorel with one hundred and twenty 
men. Warner also commanded at an action 



at Longueil in which Z^Iontgomery com- 
mended his bravery and prudence. 

November 20, as the regiment had served 
only as volunteers and was too miserably 
clad to endure a winter's campaign, Mont- 
gomery discharged it with peculiar marks of 
respect. But the gallant boys had hardly 
got home when General Wooster wrote 
Warner, telling of the desperate straits the 
invading army was in after the repulse at 
Quebec, and the sickness and desertions 
from which it was suffering and urging him 
to raise a body of men and hasten to their 
support until relief could come from the 
colonies. " Let them come," (ieneral Woos- 
ter wrote, " by tens, twenties, thirties, forties 
or fifties, as fast as they can be prepared to 
march." Eleven days afterward the valiant 
and energetic Warner was again marching a 
regiment northward. The men had become 
habituated to turn out at his call, they had 
unbounded confidence in his vigilance, pru- 
dence and courage, and they loved him as 
few officers are loved by their soldiers. He 
was affable and familiar with the humblest 
private without sacrificing any of the dignity 
necessary to command. 

The campaign was an extremely distress- 
ing one. The troops, even the freshly-armed 
Green Mountain Boys, lacked comfortable 
clothing, barracks and provisions. ^Vhen 
the retreat was made, A\'arner was placed in 
command of the rear guard and did good 
and skillful service in covering the retreat, 
picking up the wounded and distressed, and 
keeping generally only a few miles ahead of 
the British advance, who pursued closely 
from post to post. He brought ofl^ most of 
the invalids, and with this corps of diseased 
and infirm, arrived at Ticonderoga a few 
days after the main column. 

July 5, 1776, shortly after the final aban- 
donment of Canada, Congress resolved, on 
a report of the board of war, to organize a 
regiment of regular troops for permanent 
service, to be under command of officers 
who had served in Canada. Warner was 
appointed colonel of this regiment, which 
was raised chiefly in Yermont, and Samuel 
Safford lieutenant-colonel. Warner was at 
Ticonderoga with his regiment through the 
whole of the remainder of the campaign of 
1776, and did some efficient service in pro- 
tecting that post. 

In the 1777 campaign, with its invasion 
by Burgoyne, \\'arner went to work with his 
accustomed activity to meet it. He issued 
a stirring appeal to all Vermonters and wrote, 
July 2, from Rutland to the convention at 
Windsor, that an attack was expected at Ti- 
conderoga, and urging that all men who 
could possibly be raised be forwarded at 
once. "I should be glad," he said, "if a 
few hills of corn unhoed should not be a mo- 



37 



live sufficient to detain men at iiome." He 
reached Ticonderoga with 900 men, mainly 
Vermont militia, July 5, in season to assist 
in its defense, but St. Clair and his council 
of war resolved to abandon the post that 
night, before ?!urgoyne's investment was com- 
pleted. Warner was again placed in com- 
mand of the rear guard. He was overtaken 
by Fraser, in command of the 15ritish ad- 
vance, on the morning of July 7, and the re- 
sult was the well-planned and splendidly 
fought, but most unlucky, battle of Hubbards- 
ton. Warner had about t,ooo men, consist- 
ing of his own and Colonel Francis, and 
Colonel Hale's New Hampshire and Massa- 
chusetts regiments. The British for cenum- 
bered rather more, besides Riedesel's in- 
fantry and reserve corps following three 
miles behind. Hale got detached and was 
captured, and Francis fell while charging for 
the third time at the head of his regiment. 
Still Warner fought on with the utmost gal- 
lantry and with skillful dispositions and had 
the battle nearly won when Reidesel's rein- 
forcements arrived. Warner himself was 
surrounded with a small party at one time, 
but fought his way out. Only when defeat 
v\'as evidently overwhelming did he give up. 
There is a story, not supported by incontes- 
table proof, however, that he then gave an 
order not found in any tactics, for every man 
to take to the woods and meet him at Man- 
chester. He himself safely conducted a re- 
treat with a small remnant to Fort Kdward. 

The historian, Bancroft, is even more 
imjust than in his strictures on Allen at 
Montreal, when he says that Warner had en- 
camped at Hubbardston contrary to St. Clair's 
instructions, and calls the fight a rash one. 
St. Clair had ordered him to keep the British 
in check while the main army made its 
escape. Besides, it was a good opportunity 
for St. Clair, who was only six miles distant, 
at Castleton, to turn upon the pursuing 
column and crush it. Burgoyne, with the 
rest of his army, was on the ships in the 
lake and beyond supporting distance. War- 
ner would have made the day victorious but 
for the arrival of Riedesel's reinforcements, 
and successfully resisted them for a time. 
.And yet Riedesel had three miles to march 
while St. Clair would have had only six. 
When Riedesel arrived with his three C.er- 
man batallions, Fraser took him by the 
hand and thanked him for the timely rescue. 
If Warner had run for Fort Edward without 
fighting, as Bancroft seems to think he 
ought, it would have reversed the conditions 
and given the British a chance to beat the 
Americans in detail, and very possibly St. 
Clair would have been unable to reach 
Schuyler with a single soldier. 



Warner arri\ed at Manchester a few days 
after with about one hundred and fifty effect- 
ives, where he maintained a bold front until 
the New Hamjishire men had time to rally, 
and it very likely saved the stores at Ben- 
nington from a descent by Riedesel from 
Castleton. He adopted, in agreement with 
Stark, the plan of arresting Burgoyne's ad- 
vance, harassing his Hanks. Schuyler con- 
sented to it most reluctantly and only after 
he found that Stark would not obey his 
orders to join him in Burgoyne's front. 
Washington approved these tactics which 
Warner had inaugurated, and it was ob- 
viously the only thing to do in the pres- 
ent junction, because it would compel 
Burgoyne to weaken his column to guard 
points in the rear, while time was the one 
thing necessary to gather and organize a 
sufficient force to arrest his progress in the 
front. Schuyler, after he had assented to the 
plan, did his best to make it effective, send- 
ing Warner $4,000 and an order for whatever 
clothing he could procure at .Albany. The 
result was not only a gain of over a month 
of precious time, but to make the Benning- 
ton expedition for supplies a necessity for 
Burgoyne. 

Warner was with Stark two days before 
the battle of Bennington, .August 16, 1777, 
aided in planning the attack on Raum's in- 
trenchments, and rode about the field with 
the General early in the fight. The battle 
was planned and fought with a degree of 
military talent that would have done no dis- 
credit to any service in Europe, and Stark 
in his official report expressed his particular 
obligations to \\'arner, "whose superior skill 
was of great service." Warner himself had 
hurried on at the first tidings brought by his 
admirable scouting service of the approach 
of the British to capture the stores which had 
been accumulated at Bennington to be for- 
warded to Ticonderoga. But his regiment had . 
so large a number off scouting that it couldn't 
start on the r4th. but had to wait for the 
parties to come in. The next liay they 
started under command of Major Stafford, 
but owing to a heavy rain it was midnight 
before they arrived within a mile of Benning- 
ton. Their ammunition was wet, and a 
considerable part of the next day was e.x- 
hausted before they could get to the scene 
of the battle. They arrived, however, most 
opportunely, just as Breyman had come with 
reinforcements for the British, after the day 
had once been won by the .\mericans, who 
were now scattered about gathering up 
plunder. It was by Warner's earnest advice, 
and against Stark's first impression, that the 
fresh troops were at once thrown against 
Brevman, instead of retreating to rally the 



38 



whole army on a new line. Warner jnit him- 
self at the head of his regiment and pushed 
the fight with a fire and dash that made the 
Americans irresistible as soon as the other 
troops coidd be formed in line and brought 
into action, and swept Breyman and his bat- 
talion off the field in complete rout. War- 
ner's brother, Jesse, was killed in the battle. 

Warner was with Gates throughout the 
rest of the campaign, and after the surrender 
of Burgoyne he was in constant service along 
the Hudson and elsewhere. He commanded 
an expedition to Lake George I^anding, by 
which the vessels in which Burgoyne might 
have escaped, were captured. In. April, 177S, 
he was ordered to .Albany, leaving the state 
without protection. Schuyler sent him on a 
particular command into Vessop's Patent, 
which he executed with skill and address. 
It was not a field for brilliant achievements, 
but for vigilance, energy and cool judgment 
in guarding against Indian incursions, watch- 
ing the Tories, gathering information, and 
protecting communications. His bravery 
and military capacity came to be highly re- 
garded by the officers of the Continental 
army. He was wounded from an ambush of 
Indians in September, i 7S0, when the only 
two officers with him fell dead by his side, 
and with his constitution undermined by his 
constant exertions and exposures, he returned 
to Bennington toward the close of the war a 
dying man, with poverty to crown his mis- 
fortunes. Never a business man or thought- 
ful for money matters, he had taken no in- 
terest or part in the land speculations that 
made most of the Vermont leaders wealthy. 
The proprietors of several towns had voted 
him land as a reward for his services, but 
most of it was sold for taxes and he never 
got any benefit. The neglect of his affairs 
and other tax sales while he was fighting for 
his country had nearly used up what little 
possessions he had, so that before his death 
his wife was forced to appeal for charity to 
the helpless Congress. In 1777 the Legisla- 
ture had granted him 2,000 acres in the 
northwest part of Essex county, supposing it 
would be valuable, but he never realized 
much from it. 

Colonel Warner was not at any time in the 
secret of the Haldimand negotiation, but 
like most people belie\ed that something 
wrong was going on between the British and 
the Vermont authorities and was very indig- 
nant about it, becoming estranged from his 
old associates on account of it. He went 
with a Bennington committee to .Arlington, 
in 1782, to protest to (iovernor Chittenden 
against the sending of prisoners that had been 
taken in war to Canada and threatening to 
raise a regiment to overtake and bring them 
back. There was quite an altercation, and a 
reply from the Governor, substantially telling 



him to mind his own business, that Colonel 
Allen's regiment which had taken the prison- 
ers was able to protect them, and that there 
would soon be seen a generous return of 
prisoners from Canada — which proved to be 
the fact. 

Colonel Warner returned to Roxbury, Ct., 
in the summer of 1784 and died there Dec. 
26, of that year, at the age of forty-one. He 
w-as long sick abed : mortification began at 
his feet and continued by slow progress up 
his body. His last few months were clouded 
by fits of insanity. The burial was with 
all the honors of war. There was in the old 
days a pleasant story that Washington re 
lieved the homestead of a mortgage for the 
widow ; but it was a fiction. 

The record is insufficient in the words of 
the inscription on his tombstone, to 

'* 'I'ell future .iges wh.^t a hero's done." 

For Seth Warner's career was one of deeds 
done, not words written, and his modesty 
made his reports few and short and free 
from any recounting of his own achieve- 
ments. He always appeared to be satisfied 
with being useful and manifested little solici- 
tude that his services should be known or 
appreciated. So it came about, as he was 
never much of a pen and ink man, anyway,, 
that in the latter part of his service, while he 
was on detailed commands, we have very 
few particulars about him ; but he was about: 
the ideal soldier, with cool courage and 
perfect self-possession, at all times resolute,, 
energetic and sound of judgment, inspiring 
his associates and his command with entire 
confidence, courteous and frank in bearing 
and with a character that was given a strong 
and steady fibre by the high and patriotic 
purposes that animated him. 

Hon. S. D. Boardman of Connecticut, who- 
as a youth often saw him, describes Warner 
as of "noble personal appearance, very tall, 
not less than six feet two ; large-boned, but 
rather thin in flesh, and apparently of great: 
bodily strength ; features regular, strongly 
marked, and indicative of mental strength, 
fixedness of purpose, and yet of much 
benevolent good nature, and in all respects 
both commanding and pleasing. His man- 
ners were simple, natural and free from any 
kind of affectation, at once both pleasing 
and dignified." .Additional descriptions tell 
of his sparkling and beaming blue eyes, his 
beautifully arched eyebrows below nut- 
brown hair, and a forehead broad and intel- 
lectual, indicative of a sound and reflecting 
mind and a strong and well-balanced man- 
hood. He bestrode a horse with rare grace 
and dignity. 

The state of Connecticut has caused a 
neat and substantial monument, a granite 
obelisk, about twenty-one feet high, to be. 
erected over his grave. 




CHITTENDEN. 

C: H 1 T T H N U H N , THOMAS.— I'he 
"Washington of 
Vermont," her 

firstgovernor,for 

nineteen years, 
shaping her ad- 
mi nistrat ion, 
shares with the 
Aliens the honor 
of the successful 
birth of the new- 
state, and in him 
was the intlis- 
pensable com- 
p 1 e t e m e n t of 
their talents to 
carry it through 
the niulti]5Hed 
perils of its youth. John I.. Heaton in his 
"Story of Vermont," does not exaggerate 
when he says that Chittenden should "rank 
with Adams, Hancock, and Morris among the 
great men of the Re\ olutionary period : for 
he was one of the wisest and purest," and it 
cannot now be seen that he made or sanc- 
tioned more than one serious blunder, 
though his task was one of the most difficult 
that e\er confronted a leader of the people. 
This plain, hard-working farmer, equipped 
by Crod as a statesman, came to \'ermont and 
assumed his work at the age of over forty 
and in the full maturity of his mind and 
powers. He was born at East Guilford, 
Conn., Jan. 6, 1730, the son of Ebenezer 
Chittenden, and descended from a family that 
came from Cranbrook, England, in 1639, and 
of whom one, Moses, was an officer in 
Cromwell's own regiment. The Chittendens 
were of Welsh origin and the name comes 
from the words Chy-tune-den or din, signify- 
ing a castle in a valley between mountains. 
Crittenden is another form of the name and 
the great Senator John J. Crittenden, of Ken- 
tucky, was closely related to the Connecticut 
and Vermont family. A brother of the (Gov- 
ernor, Bethuel Chittenden, was the first Epis- 
copal minister of Vermont. His mother was 
a Johnson, and cousin of President Johnson 
of Columbia College. 

Thomas Chittenden's father was a farmer 
of only moderate circumstances, and there- 
fore the boy had only the meagre common 
school education of those days. He worked 
on the farm until he was eighteen, becoming 
quite noted as an athlete, and then shipped 
as a sailor on a voyage to the West Indies. 
England and France then being at war, the 
ship was cajitured by a cruiser; he landed on 
one of the islands moneyless and friendless, 
and he reached home only after much suf- 
fering and fully satiated with sea life. 

At the age of twenty he married Elizabeth 
Meigs and removed to Salisbury, where by 
his industry and frugality he soon acquired a 



cHrrrENDEN. 



39 



com])etence and became a leading man of 
the place, rejiresenting it in the colonial .Vs- 
sembly six years, and being colonel of a 
regiment of militia. His large business 
judgment saw the opportunities of the virgin 
land in Vermont, to which the spirit of emi- 
gration and adventure was then directed, and 
in 1774 he came to Williston, on the (hiion 
river, where he purchased a considerable 
tract of land, settling with his family and a 
few others when there was scarcely a family 
or road in that part of the land. He was 
pushing improvements on the ])lace when 
the retreat of the American army from Can- 
ada forced him, in the spring of 1776, to 
abandon it, first taking his family to .Slassa- 
chusetts. But he soon bought a farm in 
Arlington, to which he removed, and re- 
mained there, with short stays at Pownal 
and Danby, until after the war, when he 
returned to Williston, which was his home 
until his death. One of his reasons for 
locating in .Arlington was to cpiell the Tory 
power which had then become seriously 
troublesome there, and this, in conjunction 
with the .'\llens and Matthew Lyon, he did 
vigorously, but, as Hon. David Read says, 
with "sagacity, humanity, and sound discre- 
tion," until nearly every royalist was dri\en 
out of town or persuaded to remain in sub- 
mission. From the beginning he had entered 
zealously into the struggle of the settlers with 
New York and the mother country. He was 
appointed first president of the committee 
of safety at Bennington, was a member of 
the first convention of delegates that met at 
Uorset, Sept. 25, 1776, to consider the inde- 
pendence of the state, and at the Westmin- 
ster session was one of the committee that 
drafted the declaration, and assisted at the 
Windsor convention in framing the constitu- 
tion. He went to Philadelphia with .-Mien, at 
the opening of the Revolution, to learn the 
disposition and intentions of Congress, and 
generally to procure intelligence and advice. 
He was chosen one of the council of safety 
by the Constitutional Convention, and at 
once became president of that body, and 
was unremitting in his attention to its duties, 
which combined the legislati\e, judicial, and 
executive powers of government, throughout 
that summer. 

Perhaps he cannot be said to ha\e been 
the first to see the o])|)ortunity to end the 
New York controversy by erecting a new 
state ; but he was one of the foremost in ad- 
vocacy of the idea, and indeed, by this time, 
this sagacious, cool-headed, thoroughly i)rac- 
tical and dignified gentleman had come to be 
universally recognized as the representative 
man of the settlers : the one to mould and 
weld into practical shape the results of the 
tremendous power, as a popular leader of 
agitation, of Ethan .Alien : thebrilliant fertil- 



40 



CHl'ITENDEN. 



CHITTENDEN. 



ity and financial resourcefulness of Ira Al- 
len, and the shrewd and patriotic endeavors 
of Carpenter and Warner, the Fays and Rob- 
insons and the rest. So, naturally, he was 
elected the first (".overnor, taking the ofifice 
March i, 1778, and being regularly re-elected 
until March, 1797, except in the one year of 
'89, when, owing to issues which will be later 
explained, Moses Robinson defeated him for 
a single term. He was undoubtedly best fit- 
ted of any man in the state for the position 
and its duties. 

He steadily pursued the policy of inde- 
pendence, and he made the Haldimand 
negotiations (more fully treated in the sketch 
of Ira .Allen) a chief club with which to 
maintain it. He wrote a spirited protest 
against the proposal, on which New York 
and New Hampshire were figuring in 1 780, 
to divide the state upon the mountain line 
between them. He likened it to the iniquit- 
ous division of Poland, told about the new 
state's maintenance of posts in the northern 
frontier, and that she was at liberty " if 
necessitated to it," to offer or accept terms 
of cessation of hostilities with Clreat Britain ; 
and " if neither Congress nor the other states 
will support her in independence, but devote 
her to the usurped government of any other 
power, she has not the most distant moti\e 
to continue hostilities and maintain an im- 
portant frontier for the benefit of the United 
States, and for no other reward than the un- 
grateful one of being enslaved by them." He 
acted in December of the next year with 
General Enos, Ira Allen and William Page, 
as commissioners to New Hampshire, to ac- 
commodate matters with that state and save 
the effusion of blood in a conflict of author- 
ity in the East Union. 

When called upon by Stark for an explan- 
ation of St. Leger's letter, expressing regret at 
the killing of an American citizen, he made it 
direct to Washington. This is another of the 
many pieces of circumstantial evidence that 
Washington was in the secret of the Vermont 
intrigue with Haldimand. On transmitting 
the resolution of Congress of August 7, 1778, 
preceding, requiring as an indispensable pre- 
liminary to her admission as a state, that Ver- 
mont give up the territory of New York and 
New Hampshire, which she had incorporated 
into her own lines under the name of the 
East and the West unions, Washington had 
inquired by verbal message if the people 
would be "satisfied with the basis of inde- 
pendence suggested, or whether the people 
seriously contemplated a British dependen- 
cy." Washington was certainly inclined to 
take the Vermont side. He wrote guardedly in 
transmitting the above message that he would 
not discuss the rights of Vermont's claim to 
independence but take it for granted that it 



was good "because Congress by their resolve 
of .-Vugust 7, imply it." 

In one of his letters he asks : " Would it 
not be more prudent to refer this dispute to 
New York and Vermont than to embroil the 
whole confederacy of the United States 
therewith? " 

Even if Chittenden had in good faith at- 
tempted a British connection he would have 
been morally justified. For after the new state 
had been cheated by Congress — as all Xer- 
monters believed and as A\'ashington prac- 
tically admitted in advance, in his letter 
about the resolve — into abandoning the 
unions on the broken promise, in effect, that 
it should then be admitted to the confeder- 
acy, and had ignored the offer of union and 
aid in the "protest" of 1780, the Governor 
did the utmost, as the "protest" suggested, 
to get the neighboring states to act in con- 
junction with \'ermont against the British. 
He sent circulars to New Hampshire, Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut and New York, pro- 
posing a union with the first three for pur- 
poses of defense against the invasion which 
would surelv be made from Canada the next 
spring, demanding as the only condition that 
any claim of territory in Vermont should be 
relinquished. Massachusetts assented to this. 
Connecticut made no response, though 
understood to be favorable. New Hampshire 
paid no attention to it. The New York 
Legislature w-anted to agree to it, recog- 
nizing the benefit the state had had from the 
military activity of the Green Mountain Boys 
and the likelihood that the plan would make 
Vermont instead of New York soil the scene of 
the next campaign, but Governor Clinton 
only prevented the passage of a resolution 
of assent by threatening to prorogue the 
Legislature. In such a situation, abandoned 
by both Congress and the other states to her 
own resources, believing, as there was every 
reason to do, that the purpose of it all was 
to crush her, what was there for Vermont to 
do? Absolutely nothing but to throw her- 
self into the arms of the British, or adopt 
the policy of tergiversation that was adopted. 
The fact that the latter was the course 
taken is of itself sufficient proof of the pa- 
triotic Americanism of the ^'ermonters. 

One of Chittenden's letters, Nov. 14, 1781, 
after the British had returned to Canada, 
shows his purpose : "The enemy were man- 
oeuvred out of their expectations and then re- 
turned into winter quarters with great safety, 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
the prophet : 'I will put my hook in their 
nose to turn them by the way whence they 
came, and they shall not come into this city 
(alias Vermont) saith the Lord.' " 

Another evidence of it was afforded by a 
circumstance in October of that year. I'he 
New York government, comparatively imbe- 



CHIITENDKN. 



CiU'riENDEN'. 



cile in a military sense, because of its large 
element of Toryism and its aristocratic con- 
stitution, ne\er hesitated when in danger to 
call for help on the Green Mountain Hoys, 
whom it persisted at all other times in regard- 
ing as "rebels" against its authority. So 
when Carlton made his raid from Canada 
and captured Forts Ann and George, Gov- 
ernor Clinton again appealed to Chittenden 
for aid. The latter replied that the state's 
militia was up north, but he would immedi- 
ately forward some he expected from Berk- 
shire. The fact is that at this time and on 
repeated other occasions, as Clinton officially 
acknowledged, the Vermont troops rendered 
prompt and valuable service to New York 
when she needed it, and New York's return 
was to procure ^'ermont's being left entirely 
xindefended, when invasion was organized 
against her. 

Governor Chittenden wrote to Washington, 
Nov. 14, 1782, that they would join the Brit- 
ish in Canada rather than submit to New 
York, though there were no people more at- 
tached to the cause of America. 

With Chipman and Lewis R. Morris, he 
was a commissioner in 1791 to negotiate the 
admission of the state into the Union. 

He died, August 25, 1797, at the age of 
si.xty-eight. For several months previous he 
had been unable to perform the cluties of his 
office, and in July he had issued an address 
to the freemen announcing that he would not 
be a candidate for re-election, and invoking 
Heaven's blessings on the state and people 
to whom he had devoted so many years of 
service and whom he had seen increase from 
a band of a few hundred to a population of 
over 100,000 people. Many descendants 
have borne his honored name, and it is said 
that they all bear the stamp of his physiog- 
nomy, so strong has been the personality to 
show through generations. One son, Mar- 
tin, was congressman and Governor ; another, 
Truman, was councilor and repeatedly Dem- 
ocratic candidate for Lieutenant-Go\ernor, 
and he and still another son, Noah, were 
judges of probate. One daughter was the 
wife of Gov. Jonas Galusha, another of Mat- 
thew Lyon, and another of Col. Isaac Clark : 
" Old Rifle " in the war of 1812. 

The character of Governor Chittenden is 
best expressed by a statement of the work 
done by him. He was a genuine Yankee in 
his mental make-up, with its strength and 
activity, its practical rather than theoretic 
knowledge, its keen and quick perceptions, 
its great tact, its penetration of the designs 
and character of men, its " almost unerring 
foresight, unhesitating firmness and sound 
judgment," as Governor Hall says. But he 
was more. He had that quality and poise of 
mind that constituted so much of Washing- 
ton's greatness, that habit of hearing all the 



e\idence and considerations before reaching 
a conclusion, of seeking a full view of all sub- 
jects however complex, of divesting himself 
of ail influences except that of duty, which in- 
spired confidence even to the point of vener- 
ation, which inevitably evolved a dignified 
demeanor, and which made tiiis plain, unlet- 
tered farmer who could hardly write a letter 
in straight Fnglish, one of the great men of 
his time. He grew in statesmanlike stature 
as his opportunities widened. 

While so keen a judge of human nature 
that bad men could rarely deceive him, he 
did not fail to bestow his trust where it was 
worthy ; he did not make the mistake of 
smaller minds, because he saw so much of 
evil and littleness in the world, of losing faith 
in humanity in the aggregate. The crown- 
ing element of his success was that he knew 
and utilized the good in men. 

He was plain and simple and kindly in 
manners and ways of living, his dignity be- 
ing that of moral and intellectual rectitude 
entirely, not of affectation, fitting him with 
his long residence and his close acquaintance 
with the work of the people, for the long 
pojiularity he enjoyed. There is a story told 
of a visit of some high-born dames from 
.\lbany to the chief executive's home at Ar- 
lington that gives a glimpse of the genuine 
democracy of those days in Vermont. When 
the hour for dinner arrived the Governor's 
wife went out to the piazza and blew the 
horn for the men at work in the fields. " Do 
you have your servants eat at the same table 
with you?" inquired the visitors, doubtless 
with some elevation of noses. " Yes," re- 
plied Mrs. Chittenden, " but I have been 
telling the Governor that we ought not to, 
that they have 10 work to much harder that 
they ought to eat first." 

He was always of remarkably equable 
temper, and it is related of him that when a 
neighbor. Colonel Spofford, had induced the 
Legislature to appoint a man justice of the 
peace whom the Governor thought unfit and 
had opposed, and came to him to triumph 
over the success, the Governor replied plac- 
idly, " Well, well, Spofford, I am glad of it 
on the whole ; Smith will make a better 
justice than I supposed, and / always hoped 
he would." The sure way to rouse his wrath 
to the depths was to abuse Ira Allen. It 
was his appreciation of and faith in .\llen 
that brought him his only political defeat, in 
1789. The Legislature in 1783 authorized 
the disposal at a specific price, of the " flying 
grant" of Woodbridge (apparently High- 
gate), w^hich had been forfeited for non-pay- 
ment, and thirty-five rights in Carthage 
(Jay), to raise funds and provide supplies 
for the survey of town lines and cutting 
roads in the northern part of the state. No 
sales were effected under this resolution, but 



42 



CHITTENDEN. 



CHirrENDEN. 



Allen, as surveyor-general, went ahead with 
the work, advancing some §4,000 for it, as 
it ultimately appeared, from his own funds. 
Governor Chittenden, at the meeting of the 
Governor and Council at Arlington, July 
12, 1785, when unfortunately only half the 
Council were present, gave Allen a paper, 
signed by himself and seven members of the 
Council, stating it as their opinion that if 
Allen advanced the money he should have 
the lands " at the price mentioned." Allen 
was defeated for state treasurer the next 
year, and called on Governor Chittenden to 
deliver to him the charter of Woodbridge in 
pursuance of this paper, and it was done. 
The next year, in 17S7, Jonathan Hunt, of 
^'ernon, procured from the Legislature, by a 
vote of 36 to 13, against the protests of 
Allen, a grant of the same lands, and organ- 
ized a fight in the Legislature and secured 
an investigation. A committee, headed by 
Stephen R. Bradley, reported that the Gover- 
nor had converted the state seal to " private 
sinister views," and that the charter was 
fraudulent and ought to be declared void. 
.■\ bill to this effect, modified somewhat, 
passed and went into effect, and such a 
storm was raised that C'hittenden failed of a 
majority at the next election, and as a ma- 
jority of the Legislature was against him, 
Moses Robinson was chosen in his place. 
Allen got out a statement " To the Impartial 
Public " about the case, but it was published 
too late to save the election. But the report 
of the commission in 1790, to adjust the 
state's accounts with Allen, showed that he 
had actually advanced the money for the 
state, and the people were satisfied that 
though there had been technical irregularity 
there was no fraud or wrongful intent in the 
matter, and the (xovernor's old popularity 
returned to him with renewed strength. 

Chittenden's bearing when the storm was 
at its height was one of admirable dignity. 
When the count was completed it was his 
duty to declare Robinson elected and after 
assurances that he had sought to discharge his 
duty " with simplicity and unremitted atten- 
tion " he said : 

"Since I find that the election has not gone 
in my favor by the freemen, and that you, 
gentlemen, would prefer some other person 
to fill the chair, I can cheerfully resign to him 
the honors of the office I have long since 
sustained, and sincerely wish him a happy 
administration, for the advancement of which 
my utmost influence shall be exerted." 

And the Legislature could not help re- 
sponding that the people "felt a grateful 
sense of the many and good services he had 
rendered them "^"and wished for him on his re- 
tirement from arduous labors "all the blessings 
of domestic ease." 



His wise and foresighted benevolence 
twice had a chance to show itself in provid- 
ing food for the people, first at .Arlington, 
where the disorders of the times and the leav- 
ing of their unharvested fields, had brought 
danger of a famine, and afterwards, after the 
war at W'illiston where early frosts had done 
great harm. The Governor's granaries were 
full, and they were freely emptied for the bene- 
fit of his suffering neighbors. .At .Arlington 
he visited every family periodically, took an 
account of the provisions on hand, and by 
impartial and disinterested distribution saw 
to it that no one perished for want that hard 
winter. At \Villiston, so one historian says, 
men came from scores of miles away through 
the snow to draw food on hand-sleds for their 
suffering families. When they offered pav or 
security his reply was that he had no corn to 
sell to those who were hungry. The only re- 
striction was that they should leave enough 
for seed. And the tale has been handed 
down in many a familv how thev would ha\e 
starved that "cold winter," but for the corn 
of " Old Governor Tom." 

The high quality of his statesmanship was 
shown in the "betterment" and "quieting" 
acts of 1781-86, legislation that was perfectly 
novel in character yet so clearly founded on 
the principles of natural justice that several 
other states have since imitated it. The 
idea was his in origin, and it cut the way 
with equity through difficulties that were 
simply inextricable in law procedure. And 
it was done after a long fight against the op- 
position of nearly all the lawyers of the state, 
who were unable to see beyond technicalities. 
When the state go\ernment was formed, land 
titles were in woeful shape, owing to the long 
time since the grants by New Hampshire the 
unsettlement and insecurity that had come 
from the controversy with New York, the 
lack of any office or place of record, and the 
general custom of not passing title deeds to 
purchasers. There was pretty nearly noth- 
ing by which to determine ownership. Lands 
could be sold without the preliminary of pur- 
chase as well as with it, and there were 
manv men who had practiced swindling 
of this kind extensivelv. The possessor, 
though he had cleared and improved his 
land and erected the best of buildings on it, 
was in law simply a trespasser if some one 
else could trace a title to it. Of course the 
greater the improvements the greater the ob- 
ject to dispossess, the thicker the speculators, 
like those of former times in New York, who 
sought farms that others had converted from 
forests for them. Litigation was multiplying 
on every side. Governor Chittenden's solu- 
tion, which he had the help of Nathaniel 
Chipman to put in its final shape, was first 
to gi\e the settler, if a trespasser technically, 
the full value of his improvements and leave 



■Hiri KNIlEX. 



43 



the courts to make further e(iuital)le (H\ision, 
then by the act of '84 to gi\e him half the 
rise in the value of the land besides the im- 
provements, and finally to allow the legal 
owner only the original value before the im- 
provements and six per cent besides. 

Governor Chittenden's readiness of re- 
source in an emergency was shown in Octo- 
ber, 1 78 1, when the Legislature was in session 
at Charlestown in the East union, and an 
accident came near uncovering the whole 
Haldimand business. For the sake of ap- 
pearances the Vermonters had an army 
under Enos at Castleton to confront the 
British under St. Leger, who had come up 
the lake from Canada. 

The commanders and leading officers only 
were in the secret of the negotiation, and 
when an affair between scouting parties re- 
sulted in the death of a Vermont sergeant 
(Tupper by name), General St. Leger sent 
back the man's clothes with a letter of 
apology and regret to General E^nos, which 
when delivered, caused a good deal of dis- 
turbance among the Vermont troops. A 
messenger, who was sent soon afterward 
with dispatches to the Governor, made loud 
proclamations all along the route, of the ex- 
traordinary occurrence, fanning into flame 
the suspicion with which the air was sur- 
charged, and creating great excitement in 
the Legislature when Charleston was reached. 
The Go\ernor saw what must come, so he 
called a meeting of the board of war, sum- 
moning to their aid Chipman, then a young 
lawyer and leader of the party opposed to 
Chittenden, and in a few moments while Ira 
Allen was bluffing in the Legislattire by 
getting up a row with an inquisitive mem- 
ber. Major Rounds, the Governor and his 
assistants concocted some new letters from 
(leneral Enos and Colonels Walbridge and 
Fletcher, who were at the front with him, 
including all they reported about military 
matters that did not bear on the negotiation. 
After Allen had kept up his disputation long 
enough, he appealed to the dispatches as 
evidence that there was nothing wrong, the 
new ones were brought in and read for the 
originals. Chipman followed with a speech 
reminding the people that they were doubt- 
ing the good faith of Thomas Chittenden, a 
man whom he though of the opposing party, 
knew to be honest and true, and would 
trust against a whole army of St. Legers. 
And before long the crowd that started in so 
ugly was dispersing with cheers for Chitten- 
den and Chipman. 

His remarkable qualities of character were 
well summarized by Ethan .Allen, who wrote 
of him : " He was the only man I ever knew 
who was sure to be right in all, even the most 
difficult and complex cases, and yet could 
not tell or seem to know whv it was so." 



Thompson says : "He had a rare combi- 
nation of moral and intellectual qualities — 
good sense, great discretion, honesty of pur- 
pose and an >ni\arying equanimity of tem- 
per, united with a modest and pleasing 
address." 

I'^. P. Walton says : " He did not tower 
like an ornate and graceful Corinthian col- 
umn, but was rather like the solid Roman 
arch that no convulsion could overturn and 
no weight could crush." .And another bi- 
ographer concludes : " Mosses and lichens 
have co\ered the . stone which marks his 
grave, but that stone will crumble into dust 
long before \'ermonters will cease to respect 
the memory of Thomas Chittenden." 

ALLEN, iRA, the " Metternich of Ver- 
mont," as he has 
sometimes been 
called ; its first 
secreta r y and 
its first treasur- 
erer ; the one 
great diplomat- 
ist of the little 
republic, and its 
guide through 
its greatest diffi- 
culties, has had 
meagre justice 
done him b y 
history. While 
we properly re- 
gard Chittenden 
as the "Wash- 
ington of Vermont," Ira Allen mav be well 
called its Hamilton. Indeed, the likeness is 
striking between these two men in their dif- 
ferent fields. The wonderful intellectual 
precocity of Hamilton, a mind versatile, 
clear, and penetrating, with its intense, prac- 
tical and logical cast, its perceptions quick 
as light, its fertility of original ideas, its bold 
and foresighted conceptions, and its master- 
ful handling of the problems of administra- 
tion, had its counterpart in Allen. Like 
Hamilton, Ira Allen was a statesman before 
he was twenty-five. Like Hamilton, he was 
one of the handsomest men of his time, 
with his intellectual countenance, his flashing 
black eyes, his imposing presence, and pleas- 
ing address. .As with Hamilton, there was at 
times a dash of unscrupulousness in his pub- 
lic or political work, coupled with the utmost 
personal honor — a sort of misdirection of an 
o\er-generous nature in sacrifice for others. 
It has been truly said of Ira .Allen that he 
was secretly or openly the originator of more 
important political measures for Vermont 
and the Revolution than any other man in 
the state, and it might truly be added than 
hardly any other in the country. Still other 
projects of \ast utility from his teeming 






44 



brain were pre\ente(l from fruition only by 
the misfortunes of his later years. 

He it was, who after the fall of Ticon- 
deroga, when the settlements seemed help- 
less before the on-coming army of Burgoyne, 
conceived the scheme of confiscating the 
estates of the Tories to raise money to 
equip and support troops, and as a result 
within a week a regiment of men was in the 
field. It was the first act of the kind in the 
country, but it was one which all the other 
states, on the urging of Congress, had to 
adopt later. It was the measure that put 
the new state on its feet as a self-reliant, 
self-supporting entity. He was a leader in 
the formation of the constitution. He did 
inestimable service as secretary of the com- 
mittee of safety, which was given the work 
of defending the state, because the members 
of the Constitutional Convention at Windsor 
when Ticonderoga fell had to leave for their 
homes and families and had no time to com- 
plete the organization of a state government. 
He sent expresses at his own expense in 
every direction with news of the disaster, 
and appeals for prompt forwarding of troops. 
In the terror of the time no one else, even 
among the military commanders, attended 
to this, and it may not be too much to sav 
that the victory at Bennington was due to 
the energy and the wise provision of Ira 
.'\llen. He organized scouting parties that 
gathered full information of the enemy's 
movements and forwarded it by express in 
all directions, with such encouragements as it 
warranted that the enemy could be met and 
repulsed. He sent timely warnings of the 
expedition to Bennington, so that it was by 
no accident that Stark and the New Hamp- 
shire troops and the Berkshire militia ar- 
rived in season to repulse and crush it. He 
helped to concert the measures for the cap- 
ture of Ticonderoga, Crown Point and the 
strong posts in his rear that helped so much 
towards the ruin of Burgoyne. He did all 
this when the new state was without funds or 
credit, as well as without organization, when 
near three-fourths of the people of the west 
side of the mountain had fled from their 
homes, and a large part of those of the east 
side were disposed to favor New York's 
claims, when weak nerved and weak prin- 
cipled men were flocking to Burgoyne and 
taking the oath of allegiance to the Crown, 
and when, besides the danger of invasion 
from the British and the savages, the late 
proceedings of Congress had shown par- 
tiality towards New York and the embryonic 
state had every reason to expect hostile 
action. He staked not only large amounts 
of his money, but his life on the chance of 
winning victory out of this seemingly des- 
perate situation. He was nearly always the 
agent of the state, either alone or with others 



in dealing with Congress and with New 
Hampshire and New York. He was the 
principal manager of the Haldimand nego- 
tiations and Metternich never handled his 
difficult tasks with more skill or with a tech- 
nical frankness that was more profoundly 
deceptive. 

He was the author of many publications 
in pamphlet and newspaper form in defense 
of the state in the New York controversy. 
One in 1 777, reviewing the constitution of 
New York, with all its features of aristocracy, 
was especially strong. He was a clear and 
forcible writer always, and most of the offi- 
cial correspondence of the state in its early 
years, particularly Governor Chittenden's 
orders, was done through him. 

He was the father of the University of 
Yermont. October 14, 1789, he presented a 
memorial to the Legislature for the estab- 
lishment of the college with subscriptions 
amounting to ^'5643, of which he contribu- 
ted ,£"4000, and the charter was granted 
Nov. 3, 1791. 

Ira was the youngest of the Allen brothers 
and was born at Cornwall, Conn., April 21, 
I 75 1, so that he was barely twenty-two when 
he was acting as secretary of the \'ermont 
committee of safety, only twenty-six when 
he was taking the lead in our Constitutional 
Convention, a little over thirty when the state 
had been piloted, so largely by his efforts, as 
an independent litde republic into a safety 
and prosperity that were the envy of the 
states surrounding, and still in the early 
thirties when, by his remarkable judgment 
and nerve in business operations, he had 
come to be recognized as one of the wealth- 
iest men of the country. He received a good 
English education, and was a practical sur- 
\eyor very young. He came to Vermont 
before he was twenty, and he was scarcely 
twenty-one when he became an extensive 
proprietor of land in Burlington and Col- 
chester. He had the eye to see the future 
of this location, but at the time had to en- 
dure much ridicule for his selection. He 
entered with zeal into various land specula- 
tions, first as a member of the "Onion River 
Land Company," which consisted besides 
himself, of his brothers, Ethan, Heman, and 
Z irmi, with Remember Baker, and which 
became the most extensive proprietor of 
land in the state, with a corresponding in- 
tensification of zeal, of course, against the 
New York claims. 

He was appointed secretary of the com- 
mittee of safety as soon as it was formed and 
served until its labors closed. He was a 
lieutenant in Warner's regiment in the Can- 
ada campaign in the fall of 1775, and was 
selected by Montgomery as one of the two 
officers for the confidential trust of attacking 
Cape Diamond and throwing rockets as a 



45 



signal for three other detachinents to attack 
(Quebec on the night of Montgomery's at- 
tempt on the city. For the next two years 
he was a member from Colchester of all the 
conventions. 

On the organization of the new state gov- 
ernment, in I 778, he was chosen a member of 
the coimcil and was its secretary. Me was 
also elected state treasurer at the beginning 
and held that office for nine years, and was 
surveyor-general about the same time, until 
the jealousies and antagonisms that accumu- 
lated against him, the complaints that he 
was holding "so inany ofifices," resulted in 
his defeat in 1786, with widely-believed 
I harges of corruption soon following, and 
though they were afterwards cleared away 
and it was shown that he had been constant- 
Iv aiding the state with his money instead of 
making money out of it, enough of the cloud 
clung to the old suspicion about the Haldi- 
mand negotiation to somewhat shadow his 
subseijuent career. In the elections of 17S4 
and 1785 he failed as candidate for state 
treasurer before the people, and was only 
elected by the joint assembly. He was 
dropped from the Governor's Council after a 
year of service in 1785, and the Assembly 
on the last day of the session of the latter 
year, aimed a bill at him to annul his surveys 
and discontinue his work as surveyor gen- 
eral, which the council succeeded in postpon- 
ing to the next session. 

His military service in the Revolution, 
ended with the retreat from Canada in 1 7 76, 
but he soon became captain, then colonel, 
and finally major-general of the state militia. 
He was also a member of the board of war 
during nearly the w^hole of the Revolution. 

The Haldimand negotiations, over which 
so much controversy has been waged, must 
form a chief feature of .Allen's biography. 
Though magazine and newspaper writers 
keep bobbing up with startling "discoveries" 
of the treason of the Vermontese, as editor 
H. B. Dawson of the New York Historical 
Magazine calls them, the facts are fully 
known. There are, as J. L. Payne says, hun- 
dreds of manuscripts in the archives of Can- 
ada bearing on the subject, and indicating 
to a one-sided view as he expresses it, "how 
near Vermont came to being a British prov- 
ince." They leave no doubt of the fact of 
these negotiations or of their pretended 
purpose. The fact was, that beginning with 
a cartel for the exchange of prisoners which 
was concluded with the Vermont authorities 
when it was refused to Washington, these 
negotiations brought about a truce between 
Venuont and the British forces, which was ex- 
tended through the last three campaigns of 
the war, while emissaries and spies passed 
back and forth in great profusion, and the 
hope was kept dangling before the British 



that the slate would desert the cause of the 
Revolution and return to allegiance to the 
Crown. Several times the negotiations went 
so far as to discuss the terms of settlement 
and to fix dates for it ; but Ira Allen as the 
principal negotiator was sure to turn up with 
some plausible reason for postponing de 
cisive action.* 

But all that has been published and argued 
has shown no more than was known more 
or less definitely at the time or soon after. 
The dispute is whether the Vermonters were 
sincere, or were merely fooling the British, 
or were playing for a position that would 
leave them free to take advantage of the 
issue whichever way it went. The conduct 
of Congress towards the new state, with all 
its people had at stake in the controversy 
with New York, would make it seem natural 
that the Vermonters should seek safety 
under the British wing. But the event and 
the skillful way the negotiation was pro- 
tracted shows that they did not. It is certain 
that the masses of the people would not tol- 
erate the idea, and did not when they found 
out what was or seemed to be doing ; and 
the leaders never once lifted a finger to 
reconcile them to it. It is notable also that 
in all the correspondence and negotiations, 
including the conversations as reported by 
the English representatives, there was never 
once a single profession of loyalty to the 
King on the part of the \'ermont leaders. 
But there is one decisive fact in this busi- 
ness to which the disputants have never given 
due attention. The participants on the 
Vermont side took particular pains to pro- 
tect themselves in history. Early in the 
negotiations they put on paper a record of 
their purpose in the form of a certificate for 
.Allen, prepared in June, 1781, and signed by 
all the eight men in the secret, Jonas and 
Joseph Fay, Samuel Safford, Samuel and 
JSIoses Robinson, Governor Chittenden, 
Timothy Brownson and Jona Fassett. This 
certificate stated explicitly that the scheme 
was adopted "to make them (the British au- 
thorities) believe Vermont had a desire to 
negotiate a treaty of peace," and because it 
was beyond the power of the state to defend 
itself by arms, the negotiation was opened 
and "we think it to be a necessary political 
manoeuvre to save the frontier of this state." 
Such a document as this, considering the 
times and circumstances of its writing and 
the confirmation of the event, ought not to 
leave an intelligent doubt of the design. 



ite possible thai Allen was more inclined to 
these negotiations than the other leaders, i 
o be looking a far way ahead for contingencies, 
be consistent with his character and a recently discos 
from him written to Samuel Hitchcock, Oct. ii. 
situation was gained by the negotiation where "i 
; of the war h.ad terminated in favor of Great Bri 
int would have been a favorite colony under the Cro 



46 



It is fortunate that this paper has been 
prevented, for reasoning upon ordinary 
human motives, we should expect the Ver- 
monters to be seeking British help. They 
had in no way obligated themselves to the 
cause of the colonies. They were in their 
own view, in the nature of politics, and prob- 
ably in a legal view, an independent republic. 
They had sought union with the confederacy 
and it had been refused. They had made 
great sacrifices for the Revolutionary cause, 
and the return had been to abandon them to 
British invasion, and even while a regiment of 
their own troops — and paid by them, because 
Congress could not pay — was serving in the 
Continental army, to withdraw all means and 
ammunition of defense from the state. Con- 
gress, which had been temporizing with the 
Vermont question for fear of alienating New 
York or New Hampshire, had at this time 
apparently reached a point where it calcu- 
lated in this way to dri\e the new state into 
submission to New York. Remembering 
how this involved the property interests of 
the Yermonters — their all for most of them — 
it would not ha\e been surprising if it had 
set them against the country that treated them 
so, and it accounts for such disposition as 
there was to reach a position where they 
would be favorably regarded above New 
York in case of final British victory. And 
yet it is the truth, attested in a variety of 
ways, that from the beginning to the end 
there was a smaller Tory sentiment in Ver- 
mont than anywhere else in the country, 
and there was not a moment when everv 
reservation would not have been abandoned 
if the state could have been admitted to the 
Union. The Vermonters had been too well 
educated in the first principles, too thoroughly 
innoculated with the spirit of independence 
to allow their sympathies to be swerved bv 
mean considerations. 

Whether in the ethics of war such decep- 
tion as was practiced on the British wa.s justi- 
fiable, is another question. But at least it 
can be said that it was a necessity, the only 
thing the Vermonters could do, unless to ab- 
solutely desert to the British side, or suffer 
ruinous invasion, or commit political suicide 
by surrendering to New York, and then with- 
out any certainty of protection against the 
British. And it was the most useful thing for 
the American cause that could possibly have 
been done ; for it kept an army of ten thous- 
and men idle on the border in Canada. It 
was really a help in this way to the Yorktown 
moxement, which would have been well- 
nigh impracticable with such an army besides 
Clinton's left in Washington's rear. Wash- 
ington knew all about the negotiation at 
least a month before the surrender of 
Cornwallis (so says James Davie Butler on 
the strength of a recently discovered letter) 



and he understood its purpose. Allen in 
after years with the knowledge he had gained 
in Europe and in extensive travels about this 
country wrote : " I know that the capture of 
Ticonderoga, etc., and the fame of the Green 
Mountain boys are more thought of in Europe 
than in the United States. That in the 
southern states, the battle of Bennington is 
considered to have caused the change of the 
commander-in-chief of the Northern army, 
and a stepping-stone to the capture of Gen- 
eral Burgoyne and army. That the truce 
between the British in Canada and ^'ermont, 
in causing the inactivity of ten thousand 
British troops, enabled General Washington 
to capture Lord Cornwallis and army." 

While the negotiations were in progress 
early in 1781, a dispatch from Lord George 
Germaine to Sir Henry Clinton, disclosing 
their existence and the hope that the people 
of Vermont would "return to their allegi- 
ance," fell into American hands, and was 
laid before Congress with the effect of alarm- 
ing that body into a more just policy. 
Referring to this dispatch, .Allen says it "had 
greater influence on the wisdom and virtue 
of Congress than all the exertions of Ver- 
mont in taking Ticonderoga, Crown Point, 
and the two divisions from General Bur- 
goyne's army, or their petition to be admit- 
ted as a state in the general confederation, 
and offers to pay their proportion of the 
expenses of the war." Out of the discovery 
of these negotiations and the fear that the 
state with the control of Lake Champlain 
would be thrown into British hands, came 
the pledge of the resolutions of August 7 and 
20, 178:, on which finally, after much back- 
ing and filling, came the acknowledgment 
of the independence of the state. 

.After the war ended, the Clovernor of Can- 
ada still pursued the negotiation and it has 
been plausibly supposed that one of the en- 
voys he sent to Burlington was the prince 
who was afterwards George IV. 

.Allen played with consummate address 
through these negotiations not only a double 
but a triple, and even a quadruple game. 
While he was fanning the British hopes to 
their highest, he was with Stephen R. Brad- 
ley in 1780, and with Jonas Fay and Bez'l 
Woodward in 1781, an agent before Con- 
gress to urge the admission of the state and 
resist the claims to jurisdiction of New York 
and New Hampshire, he was manipulating 
with the Legislature and authorities of New 
Hampshire and the commander of the New 
York troops, to avert bloodshed, pending a 
decision by Congress over the conflicting 
claims of the East and West unions, and in 
the meanwhile he converted to the support 
of the new state Luke Knowlton, who had 
been sent to Philadelphia especially to fight 
it by the adherents of New York in Cumber- 



47 



land (now Windham and Windsor nearly) 
county, and in Allen's words, "a ]5lan was 
laid between them to tmite all parties in \'er- 
mont in a way that would be honorable to 
those who had been in favor of New \'ork." 
The nerve, the resourcefulness and the com- 
prehension of human motives by which he 
kept all these schemes floating, and the peo- 
ple of his own state passably well satisfied at 
the same time, were little short of marvelous. 
They had a good illustration in the hearing 
before the \'ermont Legislature in June, 
1781, on a resolution for an inquiry into the 
grounds for the report of a treaty with Can- 
ada. Allen knew that there were several 
spies from Canada among the spectators. 
How could he answer the inquiry so as to 
satisfy the suspicious ^'ermont patriots with- 
out undeceiving the British authorities as 
soon as his words were reported to them? 
But he did it with a frankness that was 
praised by both sides. (Governor Chittenden 
led off, stating how he had at the retjuest of 
several persons who had friends prisoners in 
Canada, appointed Colonel Allen to meet a 
British commissioner to arrange for an ex- 
change, and how the latter had succeeded 
after considerable difficulty in accomplishing 
it, though no such exchanges had taken 
place with the United States or any other in 
the northern department. For further par- 
ticulars he would refer them to Colonel Allen. 
The latter told how, having made his re- 
port to the Governor and Council, not ex- 
pecting to be called on, he had left his com- 
mission and papers at home, but he was 
ready to make a verbal statement, or if 
desired he would go home and produce 
the writings for the inspection of the Leg- 
islature. They called for the papers and 
the next day he appeared with them, read 
them seemingly without skip or hesitation, 
and made a short verbal explanation which 
seemed to show that the British had exhib- 
ited great generosity in the business, and 
narrated sundry occurrences that indicated 
that there was a fervent wish for peace among 
the British officers, and that the English 
government was as tired of the war as the 
United States, and he concluded by inviting 
any member of the Legislature or any au- 
ditor in the gallery who wished to ask any 
further questions to do so and he was ready 
to answer them. But "all seemed," to use 
his words, "satisfied that nothing had been 
done inconsistent to the interests of the 
states," and many of those who had before 
been most suspicious complimented him for 
his "open and candid conduct." That even- 
ing he had a conference with the spies from 
Canada and they also had nothing but praise 
for the devotion he had shown to the cause 
of union with Britain ! 



His and Bradley's mission to Congress in 
1780 was to prepare for the second Tuesday 
of September, which time had been set for 
the determination of the case of Vermont. 
15esides the claims of New \'ork and New 
Hampshire, the former supported by Knowl- 
ton as agent from the southeast jiart of the 
state, the advocates of still another state to 
be carved out of portions of X'ermont and 
New Hampshire were represented by Peter 
Olcott. Allen and Bradley did what they 
could in the way of private interviews with 
members of Congress, and then requested 
that they might be present at any de- 
bates affecting the sovereignty or independ- 
ence of Vermont. They listened for parts of 
two days to the presentment of New Vork's 
claims and took minutes of it, but when it 
came time to put in New Hampshire's claim 
they refused to attend because \'ermont was 
not put on an equal footing with the others. 
They submitted a remonstrance to Congress 
against the mode of trial adopted, which 
meant that they should "lose their political 
life in order to find it." They refused to 
submit to "Congress acting as a court of 
judicature by virtue of authority given only 
by the states that made but one party." But 
they offered in behalf of Vermont to leave 
the question in abeyance until after the war, 
in the meantime agreeing that the state 
should do its full share in furnishing troops 
and supplies, and then to leave the decision 
to one or more of the Legislatures of disin- 
terested states as mediators. 

They accomplished their purpose by this 
course and prevented any decision at all by 
Congress. The next year's mission was more 
delicate, because of the suspicion of the 
Haldimand business, but Allen and the 
others parried the inquiries skillfully while 
they continued to impress upon Congress 
the danger that the support of the \'er- 
monters would be drawn off from the patriot 
cause, and the result was the resolutions of 
August 7 and 20 favorable to Vermont pro- 
vided they would relinquish their east and 
west unions. 

Allen had early the previous year visited 
the Legislatures of New Jersey, Delaware, 
Pennsylvania and Maryland to distribute 
phamphlets and work up sentiment in favor 
of \'ermont, and succeeded in gaining con- 
siderable favor by supporting their views of 
the Western land question and -pledging Ver- 
mont if admitted to the L'nion, to assist in 
compelling unappropriated lands and the 
property of loyalists to be disposed of to de- 
fray the expenses of the war, and not for the 
emolument of any one state. The combina- 
tions which he formed had considerable effect 
in later driving New York and afterwards 
Virginia to cede their western claims to the 
general government. 



48 



The British were not without suspicion 
while he was negotiating with Congress and 
on these missions to other states, especially 
Connecticut and Massachusetts. In June, 
1 78 1, an agent reported his belief that Allen 
was " gone to solicit forces to ensnare Gen- 
eral Haldimand's troops." But Allen always 
managed when he got round to allay these 
suspicions just enough to prevent the break- 
ing off of the negotiations, and to leave 
enough of them to deter Haldimand from 
any overt act against the Vermonters for 
fear that he would drive them to active sup- 
port again to the .American cause. Allen 
accomplished this by steadily representing 
the people to be naturally strongly inclmed 
that way, and only being gradually alienated 
by the ill treatment of Congress. 

The "east union" of a number of New 
Hampshire towns with Vermont was based 
on the argument that New Hampshire was 
granted as a province to John Mason, ex- 
tending only sixty miles from the sea, and 
that the lands to the west were annexed only 
by royal authority, which ceased with the 
power of the Crown, and the towns had a 
right to join any government they chose. 
The real reasons were : first, the attraction 
which the low taxes and vigorous govern- 
ment of Vermont held out to neighboring 
peoples, and second, the scheme of influen- 
tial men near the Connecticut river to se- 
cure the center and seat of the new govern- 
ment for that section. The Legislature was 
reluctant to take in the new towns and re- 
ferred the subject back to the freemen, who 
returned a strong majority in favor of the 
union, and an act was passed at the next 
session to incorporate sixteen petitioning 
towns from New Hampshire, with a later 
provision to accept others where a majority 
of their people desired it. But on Ethan 
Allen's report of the feeling of Congress, 
the Legislature hastened in 1779 to get rid 
of the connection, with the result of stimu- 
lating a project for the formation of a new 
state from the seceding New Hampshire 
towns joined by some from the other side 
of the river in Vermont, followed still later 
by overtures from the dissatisfied Vermont 
towns to be annexed to New Hampshire. 

Ira Allen was sent on a mission to New 
Hampshire to explain the matter and re- 
store amicable relations. He penetrated the 
designs of the Connecticut River schemers, 
and also found that New Hampshire was 
planning to revive before Congress her 
jurisdictional claim to the whole of Vermont 
under the pretense of friendship for Vermont 
and to defeat the New York claims. She wanted 
Vermont's support in this. Allen was satisfied 
that the scheme was deeper than this, argued 
his best against it without success, insisted 
that he had no authority to negotiate on 



such a basis, and finally managed to get the 
inatter postponed till the next session, so 
that the opinion of the Vermont Legislature 
might be obtained in the meantime. He 
was playing simply for time to unite the 
people on the Vermont side of the river 
against all these projects, which was success- 
fully done. And upon his disclosure of the 
intrigue the Legislature of Vermont at the next 
session and under his advice boldly advanced 
a claim to the whole of New Hampshire west 
of the Mason line. His skill in handling such 
negotiations came well into play in i7Si-'82, 
when there was eminent danger of civil war 
with both New York and and New Hamp- 
shire over these unions which Vermont had 
accepted, or revived and enlarged as a 
buffer to the claims of both states to her. 

Both were organizing military invasions. 
Allen interviewed General (iansevort, the 
New York commander, took his measure, and 
found that he was reluctant to engage in civil 
war but felt that he must obey orders by going 
ahead. Allen then advised Governor Chit- 
tenden that all that was neccessary was to 
take the offensive and march out a regiment 
against him and Gansevort would retreat, and 
so it proved. Then Allen proceeded to New 
Hampshire, sending out orders from Cov- 
ernor Chittenden to call out the militia to 
meet the "menacing insults of New Hamp- 
shire and repel force by force." One of 
these he contrived to have fall into the hands 
of a New Hampshire partisan and sent post 
haste ahead of him to Exeter. The New 
Hampshire authorities were thus easily fright- 
ened out of their project and decided to 
take the advice of Congress before proceed- 
ing to hostilities — all of which he managed 
to learn through a lady friend, while they sup- 
posed they were scaring him with their 
threatenings. xAllen always regarded these 
unions as trump cards in the game with the 
opposing states and he regarded it as a great 
miss when Vermont surrendered them in 
compliance with the August resolutions of 
1 781 and before she had actually got in hand 
her <p/!i/ pro qun in the recognition of her 
independence. He was on the way from 
Philadelphia with Jonas Fay and Abel Carter 
in high spirits o\er the success they had had 
with Congress which satisfied them that no 
measures would be taken against Vermont, 
when they learned of the dissolution of these 
unions by the Legislature. They hurried 
their journey to secure a reconsideration of 
this action but the Legislature had adjourned 
the day before they arrived. 

After the return of peace in 1786 Allen 
was, with his brother Levi, a Tory who had 
returned to the state, and it was supposed 
would be useful for this purpose, commis- 
sioned to negotiate a treaty of commerce 
with Canada, and he was greatly interested 



49 



in the idea. He tried to secrure a substan- 
tial free trade arrangement and pictured 
eloquently the benefits that would come from 
such a use of Champlain's waters, especially 
if supplemented by a canal to connect the 
lake with the St. l.awrence river. He de- 
signed this connection several years ahead 
of the scheme of Watson and Schuyler for 
the present Champlain canal and he offered 
to cut it at his own expense if the British 
government would allow him to collect such 
a tonnage as would secure the interest on 
the investment, and the ships of Vermonters 
could be allowed to pass out into the open 
sea with only a reasonable tonnage at Que- 
bec, and the products of both countries to 
pass both ways without import or export 
duties. This was one of the enterprises in 
whose interest a few years later he took the 
trip to Europe that resulted in his business 
ruin. He was also an enthusiastic promoter 
of the canal scheme between the Hudson 
and the southern waters of Lake Champlain. 

His official services to the state closed in 
1790 when he was member of the commis- 
sion on the part of \'ermont that finally 
settled the protracted controversy with New 
York and cleared the way for the admission 
of the state into the Union. 

In 1 795 .Allen went to Europe for his 
canal enterprise and on a commission from 
Governor Chittenden to purchase arms for 
the state. He got nothing but fair words 
from the British cabinet in return for his ex- 
ertions for the canal, but he secured twenty- 
four cannon and twenty thousand muskets 
in France, and with them took ship for 
home. But the ship was captured by an 
English cruiser, and seized with the whole 
cargo on a charge that it was designed to 
aid the rebellion in Ireland. Allen showed 
conclusively by evidence secured from Ver- 
mont that the charge was untrue and the 
arms purchased for the jjurpose he repre- 
sented. But it took eight years of litigation 
to do it, and the enormous expense of it, 
with the neglect of his affairs at home, ruin- 
ed him. He at one time estimated his real 
estate in Vermont to be worth on proper 
appraisal from Sr, 000,000 to §1,500,000. 
He may have included in this estimate the 
shares of his four brothers and of Remem- 
ber Baker, of whose estate he was adminis- 
trator, but there is no doubt that he was enor- 
mously wealthy, or that while he was in Europe 
he was robbed right and left with claims of 
fraudulent title, executions and tax sales. He 
had accumulated considerable unpopularity 
at home, having had a long controversy over 
his accounts as state treasurer as well as 
surveyor-general, and had once gone so far, 
in 1792, as to begin a suit against the state 
in the United States Circuit Court, and these 
things were of material assistance to the 



people who were plundering him. I'lnally, 
wearied with lawsuits, broken in health and 
fortune, and even jailed at Burlington by 
exacting creditors, he made his escape and 
fled from the state for which he had done 
so much. He lived in Philadelphia the last 
few years of his life, where he died in pov- 
erty, Jan. 7, 18 14, and was buried in a 
stranger's grave with no stone to mark the 
spot. 

He married Jerusha, daughter of General 
Roger Enos, and three children were the 
fruit of the union : Two, a son and daugh- 
ter, died in early life, and one son, Ira H. 
Allen, lived to become prominent in Ver- 
mont affairs, showing good sense and good 
character but nothing like his father's bril- 
liant abilities, and dying at Irasburgh, .April 
29, 1866, at the age of sixty-five. 

It was while in England watching his lit- 
igation that he wrote his History of Vermont, 
which contains much valuable matter, though 
it is marred by some striking errors, due to 
the fact that he wrote almost entirely from 
memory. 

Our state seal is among the things credited 
to Allen, and quite a story is told of it by 
Henry Stevens, who got it from an aged 
member of Governor Chittenden's guard. 
The design was engraved on one of the Gov- 
ernor's horn drinking-cups, made from the 
horn of an ox, bottomed with wood, and done 
by a British lieutenant who used to come 
secretly to the Governor's house in xArlington, 
bringing him letters from Canada during the 
progress of the Haldimand intrigue, and who 
also improved the opportunity to " spark " 
a hired girl in the Governor's family. While 
once staying there several days, he happened 
to look out of the west window of the resi- 
dence on a wheat field of some two acres, in 
the distance, beyond which was a knoll with 
a solitary pine on the top, and he drew the 
scene on the cup. This cup attracted Allen's 
attention and he adopted it for a state seal, 
except that he brought a cow from over the 
fence into the wheat. 

Ira Allen loved Vermont and in that fact 
is the secret alike of his achievements and 
his offences, if such they were, and the 
message that he sends down to us is in the 
words he penned after he had experienced 
much of the wrong and ingratitude that 
shadowed his later years : 

" I have travelled through some of the 
finest countries in Europe and paused with 
rapture on some of the most picturesque 
views, and I do not hesitate to say that Ver- 
mont vies with any of them." 

HERRICK, Col. Samuel.— One of the 
romantic figures of the Revolution and the 
few years before, and that is all we know of 
him. He came to Bennington about 1768, 



EREAKENRIDGE. 



and soon after the Revolution moved to 
Springfield, N. Y., but prior to and after that 
time his career is a blank to written history. 
He was a captain in the Ticonderoga ex- 
pedition and was detailed by Allen with a 
party of thirty men to capture Skeenesbor- 
ough (now Whitehall) and take into custody 
Major Skeene and his party. He succeeded 
completely, secured the young man and a 
schooner and several bateaux with which 
they hastened to Ticonderoga and which 
gave Arnold the material for his victory at 
St. Johns. In the summer of 1777 he was 
made colonel of a regiment of rangers which 
the council of safety ordered raised to help 
meet Burgoyne's invasion. He and his ran- 
gers bothered Piurgoyne a great deal, ob- 
structed his advance by felling trees over the 
roads and rolling stones in his path so that 
Burgoyne was compelled to cross Fort Ann 
Mountain with his heavy train of artillery by 
a road that was almost impassable. They 
harassed his rear, cut off his supplies, and in 
a thousand ways did the work of genuine 
" rangers " to increase the difficulties of the 
British descent. It was a work which contri- 
buted materially to the final ruin of the in- 
vasion, and for it the credit is due the 
council of safety which ordered him to keep 
it up, while Schuyler was continually order- 
ing him to abandon it and join the defen- 
sive army in the front of Burgoyne. He was 
at the battle of Bennington with such of this 
regiment as had then been enlisted and a 
body of local militia as a separate detach- 
ment, making a body of 300 men with which 
he led the attack on the rear of Raum's 
right simultaneously with the assaults of 
Colonels Nichols, Hubbard and Stickney on 
other parts of the line, and he did his part 
of that glorious day's work skillfully and gal- 
lantly. 

In September of the same year he and 
the Rangers with Colonel Brown's regiment 
gained the command of Lake George, drove 
the liritish from Mounts Independence, 
Defiance and Hope, and forced their evacu- 
ation of Ticonderoga. He was afterwards 
in command of the southwestern regiment 
of the state militia and did active service on 
several occasions. The council in February, 
I 778, ordered a batallion of six companies to 
be raised under command of Herrick to aid 
a proposed attack of Lafayette on St. Johns, 
but the enterprise was given up. 

Herrick had a special letter of thanks 
from ( lates and from the Vermont council 
for his part in the Lake Ceorge expedition. 

BREAKENRIDGE, James, whose 
house was the scene of the opening struggle 
with the Yorkers, and who was sent to Eng- 
land with Capt. Jehial Hawley of Arlington, 
as agent for the settlers in 1772, was a 



native of Massachusetts, and of Scotch-Irish 
descent. He came to Bennington, and as 
his farm was right on the border of the 
Grants up against the twenty-mile line from 
the Hudson river, it was naturally the first 
point of attack. His name appears in the 
New York riot act of 1774, but he was a 
quiet and inoffensive man who never en- 
gaged in riots, was in fact a man of the most 
exemplary habits in every way. He was a 
lieutenant of the militia company formed in 
Bennington in 1764. He died there, April 
16, 1783, at the age of sixty-two. 

FAY, Dr. Jonas. — One of the mostact- 
i\e, level-headed, and industrious of the men 
who laid the foundations of Vermont, the 
draftsman of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and the man from whom we get nearly 
all of the early records. His service covers 
a wider field than that of any of the other 
fathers. He was prominent among the early 
settlers, coming to Bennington in 1766 and 
practicing medicine there, except for his 
calls to public duty, for thirty-five years. 
Being a man of education and pen and ink 
training, he was secretary for most of the 
meetings of the committee of safety and 
conventions until after the formation of the 
state government, keeping his records in 
account books or on slips of paper, some of 
which have been lost. He and his father, 
Stephen Fay, the landlord of the famous 
Catamount Tavern, were appointed delegates 
from Bennington and neighboring towns to 
appear before Crovernor Tryon in 1772 in 
response to his invitation for a statement of 
grievances, and to urge him to discontinue 
violent proceedings. He was clerk of the 
convention of settlers in March, 1774, which 
resolved to defend their cause and leaders 
by force, when Allen, Warner, and the others 
were threatened by New York with outlawry 
and death. In January, 1776, he was clerk 
of the Dorset convention, that petitioned 
Congress to be allowed to serve the common 
cause independent of New York. He, and 
Chittenden, Reuben Jones, Jacob Bayley, 
and Heman Allen were appointed delegates 
to prepare and present to Congress the 
declaration and petition of independence, 
and he was its draftsman. He was secretary 
of the convention of July, 1777, that framed 
the constitution, and he was one of the coun- 
cil of safety to administer the affairs of the 
state during that summer of storm and dififi- 
culty. He was four times, between 1777 and 
1782, an agent of the state to the Continental 
Congress. As soon as the state government 
was launched he was elected a member of 
the Governor's council, and held the position 
for seven years to 1785. In the necessity 
because of the scarcity of lawyers, as well as 
the disposition of the times to make judges 



•of men who had not been "learned in the 
law," he was elected judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1782. He was also judge of pro- 
bate for the five years following, until 1787. 

Dr. Fay was a native of Hardwick, Mass., 
where he was born, Jan. 17, 1737. .\t the 
age of nineteen he served in the French war, 
in 1756 at F'ort Edward and Lake (ieorge as 
■clerk in Capt. Sam Robinson's company of 
Massachusetts troops. He accompanied 
Allen's expedition to Ticonderoga as surgeon 
-and continued in that capacity until the 
Green Mountain Boys were relie\ed by the 
arrival of Colonel Elmore's regiment from 
Connecticut. He was then appointed by the 
Massachusetts committee of safety to muster 
in troops as they arrived for the defense of 
that post. He was also for a time surgeon of 
Warner's regiment organized later in the 
season for the invasion of Canada. 

After he had helped launch the new state 
on her career of independence and pros- 
perity he returned to the practice of his pro- 
fession at Bennington, >mtil 1800, when he 
moved to Charlotte, then a few years later to 
Pavvlet, and then back again to Bennington, 
where he died March 6, 181 8, at the age of 
eighty-two, after one of the most useful careers 
to his fellow-kind that it is given anv man to 
fill. 

Professionally, history says little of him, for 
a physician's labors, though most beneficent 
to the generations that follow, are little known 
about even by the next generation. But he 
was a man of extensive information, well di- 
gested for mental strengthening, and bold and 
determined in opinion and action. Evidently 
he was also a most likeable man personally, 
for he was on intimate terms with all the \'er- 
mont leaders and nowhere do we find any 
expression of jealousy of him or any feeling 
but one of confidence in his fidelity and 
capacity. 

Dr. Fay was twice married and left numer- 
ous descendants. 

FAY, Col. JOSEPH, brother of Dr. 
Jonas, and son of the tavern keeper Stephen 
Fay, was born at Hardwick, Mass., in 1752, 
and came to Bennington in 1766. He was 
secretary of the council of safety from 
September, 1777, to March, 17 78, and of the 
Governor's council from March, 1778, to 
1 794. He was also secretary of state for 
three years after the resignation of Thomas 
Chandler, Jr., in the latter part of 1778, 
until 1 781. He was Ira .'\llen's assistant in 
most of the Haldimand negotiations and 
did some skillful work in fooling the British. 
It took him over two weeks, on his trip of 
July, 1 78 1, to overcome their suspicions, but 
he finally did it, and he and Allen managed 
to shift the risk and responsibility of the 
first public proposal of a treaty on to Haldi- 



H.AKKR. 5 I 

mand, and then got him to jnit it off. 'i'he 
latter reluctantly consented to proceed bv 
jiroclamation to the recovery of \'ermont. 
He had the form of the proclamation all 
pre])ared when the news of the surrender of 
Cornwallis saved .Mien and Fay the necessity 
of concocting further excuses for delay, 
which seemed to be about exhausted. 

Colonel F"ay moved to New York City in 
1794 and died there of yellow fever in 1803. 

BAKER, Remember.— .\ cousin of the 

.-Miens, and, by marriage, of Seth Warner, one 
of the men for whose head New \'ork offered 
a reward, was among the most influential and 
useful of the early leaders and was fast grow- 
ing towards a larger fame when his life was 
cut off at the age of thirty-five. 

He was a native of Woodbury, Conn., born 
about 1 740. In early youth he lost his father, 
who was shot by a neighbor while out hunt- 
ing, and he was a])prenticed to a joiner, where 
he learned to read and write and accpiired the 
habits of prudence, energy and self-reliance 
that served him so well in after years. 

At the age of eighteen he served in the ex- 
pedition against Canada in the French war 
and saw much service about Lakes George 
and Champlain, and in this way acquired 
much knowledge of Vermont lands and their 
attractiveness. He was present at Ticon- 
deroga when Abercrombie fell. He rose to 
be an officer before the war closed, and 
gained much distinction by his bravery and 
discretion. He came to Vermont with the 
fir.st wave of immigration to the west side, in 
1763, at the age of twenty-three, and spent 
much time exploring lands and hunting, and 
a year later he settled in Arlington, where he 
built the first grist mill on the grants north 
of Bennington, which attracted many settlers 
to that \icinitv, and identified himself unre- 
serxedly with the cause of the settlers when 
the trouble with New York arose. He is de- 
scribed as cool and temperate in council, but 
resolute and determined in action. He usu- 
ally wished to inflict severer penalties on the 
Yorkers than his companions. Perhaps his 
own tough experience afforded some reason, 
for, stimulated by the reward offered, an at- 
tempt was made in March, 1772, to capture 
him, by a dozen partisans of New York under 
the lead of one John Monroe. They broke 
into his house in the dawn of a Monday 
morning, pounded and maltreated his chil- 
dren, attempted to slash his wife with a 
sword, and even to fire the building after 
plundering it. Baker at first attempted to 
defend himself in his chamber, but to draw 
the attention of his assailants from his family 
burst a board from the end of the house, es- 
caped and ran. Then, according to the story 
written by Ethan Allen for the Hartford 
Courant, they set a large dog upon him, 



52 



WALBRIDGE. 



overtook him, pinioned him, refused to allow 
him to dress — for he was just as he arose 
from the bed — threw him into a carriage 
where they ckibbed and cut and slashed him 
unmercifully until blood streamed from va- 
rious parts of the body, and then dro\ e rapidly 
towards Albanv. Three men who pursued 
were fired upon by Monroe's party, and 
robbed of all their effects to the amount of 
S40. But another rescuing party was formed 
at Arlington as soon as the news of the kid- 
napping spread, and pursued with such vigor 
that it came up with Monroe's gang at Hud- 
son's Ferry, just opposite Albany, drove the 
captors off, and took Baker back in triumph 
to Arlington. 

Baker was with Allen as a captain at Ticon- 
deroga, and also with the regiment of Green 
Mountain Boys when the invasion of Canada 
was begun in the fall following. When 
Schuvler took command of the northern de- 
partment he sent Baker ahead to reconnoiter 
the enemy's position and obtain information 
of the military situation in Canada, and it 
was while out on this duty that he was shot 
by the Indians in the vicinity of St. Johns. 

He was not only a brave and capable offi- 
cer and a progressive business man, but he 
was a kind neighbor and he reheved the dis- 
tress of many a family. 

He left fi\e children, one of whom, also 
named Remember, became a lawyer of some 
note in New York state. 

WALBRIDGE, EbeNEZER.— Prominent 
as both a military man and civilian, and one 
of the few, after the original eight, admitted 
to the secret of the Haldimand corres- 
pondence, was born at Norwich, Conn., Jan. 
I, 1738, came to Bennington about '65, and 
died there October, 18 19. 

The family was a brave and brainy one, 
tracing back to Sir William de Walbridge of 
Suffolk county, Eng., who distinguished him- 
self in the Fourth Crusade, under Richard 
Coeur de Lion. One of General Wal- 
bridge's grandsons, Hiram Walbridge, was a 
member of Congress from New York in 
i853-'55, a granddaughter was the wife of 
Gov. Washington Hunt of New York, and 
David S. Walbridge, congressman from 
Michigan, i854-'59, born in Bennington in 
1802, was probably a relative. 

Ebenezer Walbridge was a lieutenant in 
the regiment of Green Mountain Boys before 
Quebec in 1775, and was adjutant of the 
regiment, and he fought at Bennington where 
his brother Henry was killed. 

He was in this campaign sent by General 
Lincoln with five hundred troops to Skeens- 
borough. Fort Ann and Fort Edward to 
alarm and divide the British forces, and this 
diversion had an important bearing on the 
campaign and was another important factor 



in the ruin of Burgoyne. He was lieuten- 
ant-colonel in 1778, and in 1780 succeeded 
Herrick in command of the Bennington 
regiment, and he also commanded a regi- 
ment of militia in that vicinity in 1781, and 
in October of that year was at Castleton to 
meet a threatened invasion by St. Leger. 
In December of that year when New York 
was threatening to make war on the state, 
he was in command of the troops before 
which the New York militia fled. He was 
subsequently elected brigadier-general. He 
twice represented his town and was a mem- 
ber of the Governor's council i78o-'88. He 
was an enterprising business man, and in 
1784 built and operated at Bennington the 
first paper mill in Yermont. Personally he 
is described as a man of most kindly and 
winning qualities. 

COCHRAN, Robert.— \\'ho was 
honored as one of the eight outlawed by 
New York in 1774, and who was one of the 
recognized leaders in the "beech seal" days, 
came from Coleraine, Mass., to Bennington 
about 1768, but soon moved to Rupert. He 
was a captain among the Green Mountain 
Boys before the Revolution, and after the 
\\'estminster massacre, appeared within 
forty-eight hours at the head of forty men to 
fight the cause of the people against the 
"Court party." With a file of twenty-five he 
assisted in conveying the prisoners taken 
the next day to the jail at Northampton. 
He was a captain in the Ticonderoga ex- 
pedition in the May following, and assisted 
^^'arner in the capture of Crown Point. He 
afterwards joined Colonel Elmore's regi- 
ment, where he held a commision as cap- 
tain until July 29, '76, when he was pro- 
moted to be major by resolution of Con- 
gress. The next October we find him on 
the frontier in Tryon County, N. Y., com- 
manding at Fort Dayton. He served with 
reputation in the '77 campaign, probably on 
Gates' staff. He certainlv bore dispatches 
from the general to the committee of safety 
on the Grants. The next year he had an 
adventurous trip to Canada, where he was 
sent to obtain information of the military 
situation, and narrowly escaped arrest and 
execution as a spy. .\ large reward was 
offered for his capture, and he was taken ill 
w'hile hiding in a brush-heap from his pur- 
suers. Hunger and disease at length com- 
pelled him to venture to approach a log 
cabin, where he heard three men conversing 
about the reward and planning his capture. 
When the men left he crawled into the pres- 
ence of the woman of the house, frankly 
told her his name and plight, and threw 
himself on her mercy. She gave him food 
and a bed, and kept him hid in the house 
until the men had returned and left again. 



and then directed him to a place of conceal- 
ment a little oft, and she stealthil)' fed and 
nursed him there until he was able to travel, 
knowing all the time how much money it 
would be worth to her to betray him. 
Years afterward he met her and rewarded 
her generously for her womanly ministration. 

In September, 1778, Cochran was in com- 
mand of Fort Schuyler and did active and 
efficient work on the frontier. In 1780 he 
was promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy. He 
came out of the war like most of the heroes 
who had fought through it, deeply in debt, and 
Sparks, in his life of Baron Steuben, gives a 
pathetic account of Cochran's distress, as he 
viewed the circuiiistances in which his ser- 
vices to his country had left him and the 
empty-handedness with which he must go to 
the wife and children who were awaiting him 
in the garret of a wretched tavern. It is a 
scene to which, for the credit of human nature, 
attention cannot be too often directed, show- 
ing what man with all his littleness and im- 
perfections is capable of doing and sacrific- 
ing for an idea. 

Later years, howe\er, brought deserved 
prosperity to Cochran. He lived after the 
war at Ticonderoga and Sandy Hook, N. V., 
dying at the latter place July 3, 1812, at the 
age of seventy-three, and being buried near 
Fort Edward. 

ALLEN, HEMAN. — The eldest of the 
Allen brothers, and a most capable man of 
affairs, as he proved himself before his early 
death, at the age of thirty-eight, was born at 
Cornwall, Conn., Oct. 15, 1740. He was 
only fifteen years old when his father died 
and he soon had to take the care of his 
widowed mother and the younger children. 
He was a merchant at Salisbury at the out- 
break of the Revolution, and probably his 
legal residence was there though he was 
prominent in Vermont affairs, a delegate 
from Rutland to the convention in January, 
1777, that declared independence, and from 
Colchester to the Windsor convention that 
framed the constitution, an agent of the 
Dorset convention in January, 1776, to pre- 
sent their petition to Congress to he allowed 
to serve in the common cause under officers 
to be named by Congress, and the minutes 
of the council of safety showed that he re- 
ported on the mission July 24, 1776. His 
name in fact appears on the record of all 
the conventions, except two, from July, 1 775, 
to July, 1777, and in two he was delegate at 
large or adviser and counselor, once with 
Seth Warner. He served on the most im- 
portant committees, as of that to fix the basis 
of representation of the towns in January, 
1776, and that to treat with the inhabitants 
of the eastern part of the state in July of 
that year. He represented Middlebury once. 



53 



His service in the mission to Congress in 
1776 was very tactful and probably ])re- 
vented an adverse decision which would 
have been ruinous to the new state at that 
time. His brother Ira regarded Heman 
.\llen with even more admiration than I'^than. 
Heman was in the Canadian champaign as 
a captain in the regiment of Creen Mountain 
Boys. He was at the battle of Bennington 
as a member of the council of safety, and he 
caught a cold there and died of decline in 
the May following. He was a considerable 
owner of \'ermont lands. Henry Hall says : 
"Of all our early heroes few glide before us 
with statelier step or more beneficent mien 
than Heman .-\llen. His life of thirty-seven 
and one-half years was like that of Chevalier 
Bayard, without fear and without reproach. 
.A merchant and a soldier, a politician and a 
land owner, a diplomat and a statesman, he 
was capable, honest, earnest and true." 

ALLEN, EBENEZER, one of the framers 
of the constitution, a brave and successful 
partisan leader, and the pioneer abolitionist, 
was not of the Connecticut family of the 
other famous Yermonters, and only distantly 
related to them. He was born in North- 
ampton, Mass., Oct. 17, 1743. His parents 
moved, while he was a child, to New Marl- 
boro, Mass., where his father soon died, and 
he, as one of the oldest children, had to bear 
much of the burden of the support of the 
family, with only meagre opportunities for 
education. He was for a while, at least, an 
apprentice to a blacksmith. In 1762 he 
married a Miss Richards, who survived him 
for many years, and in 1768 he came to Ben- 
nington, living there for three years, and 
thence proceeding to Poultney, where he 
helped in the first settlement of the town. He 
was with Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga, and was 
a lieutenant in \Varner's regiment of Green 
Mountain Boys in Canada in 1775, and he 
moved to Tinmouth soon after. He was a 
delegate from there to the several conven- 
tions of 1776, and to the historic ones of the 
next year that declared the state's independ- 
ence and framed the constitution. In July, 
1777, he was captain of a company of min- 
ute men in Herrick's regiment of Rangers, 
and he greatly distinguished himself at l^ien- 
nington. .\t one time during this fight, with 
only thirty men, under cover of a natural 
breastwork of rocks, he stood against the 
main body of Raum's army, and a hot and 
well directed fire threw the assailants into 
confusion and temporary retreat. He saw 
considerable service later in the war, was 
promoted to be major in the Rangers, and 
afterward several times a colonel in command 
of a regiment in the state's servic:e. He 
participated with Brown, Herrick and John- 
son in the movement in the middle of Sep- 



54 



tember, 1777, to cut off Burgoyne's com- 
munications by attacking the posts in his 
rear, and with only forty men he made a 
brilhant night attack on Mt. Defiance, occu- 
pied by two hundred men, captured it and had 
turned its guns on Ticonderoga when Brown 
decided to give up the attempt to take the 
fort. Two months later, when the British 
abandoned Ticonderoga, Allen cut off their 
rear guard and with a force of men took 
forty-nine red-coat prisoners. He used to 
explain in after years how he did this. It was 
by a ruse, and by the employment of most all 
his men scattered about to yell and make the 
English think the woods were full of Mer- 
rick's Rangers, or "white Indians," as the 
English called them, and of whom the in- 
vaders had learned to have a mortal terror. 
In this capture w-as the negro slave of a 
British oiificer, Dinah Morris, with her infant 
child. "Conscientious that it is not right in 
the sight of God to keep slaves," he gave her a 
written certificate of emancipation and caused 
it to be recorded in the clerk's ofifice at Ben- 
nington, where it stands with the clause for- 
bidding sla\ery in the constitution, and Judge 
Harrington's blasphemous, yet reverent de- 
cision that he would require a "bill of sale 
from God Almighty" as proof of ownership 
before he would remand a runaway negro 
back to slavery, as one of the brightest jew- 
els in ^'ermont's imperishable diadem of 
honor. 

He was in command of the fort at Ver- 
gennes in 1778 or 1779. He was also in 
1779 on the board of war. 

In iNIay 1780, Sir John Johnson, made a 
raid from Canada into the Mohawk Valley 
and Governor Clinton hastened to the south 
end of Lake George to intercept his return. 
The Governor dispatched a request to the 
commander of the \'ermont troops at Castle- 
ton to send aid. The next day Colonel 
Allen wrote that he had reached Mt. Inde- 
pendence with two hundred men one hun- 
dred more would follow at once, and he 
would lead the three hundred to the scene 
if the Governor would send boats to trans- 
port them. Johnson escaped by way of 
Crown Point, but Clinton in writing to Con- 
gress was constrained to say that this punct- 
uality did great honor to the men of the 
Grants. There is but little record evidence 
left of the military events of the four years 
after 1779, as it was all "play war" so far as 
Vermont was concerned, with almost no 
fighting. But it is certain that Allen per- 
formed much service about Lake Champlain, 
and mainly on the western side. 

He moved to South Hero, about 1783, 
where he engaged in farming, blacksmithing, 
tavern-keeping, and finally shipping oak lum- 
ber to Quebec. In 1792 he made a tour of 
the then unsettled territories of Ohio and 



Michigan, in company with a party of 
friendly Indians, and was absent nearly a 
year on the trip. He represented the town 
from 1788 to '92, was a justice of peace, and 
its leading citizen. He was a member of the 
convention in 1791 that voted for admission 
to the L^nion. He moved to Burlington in 
1800, where he opened a tavern near the 
south wharf, which he conducted until his 
death, March 26, 1806, at the age of sixty- 
three. 

He is described in personal appearance by 
D. W. Dixon, his best biographer, as : " Of 
medium height, with a large head, in which 
the perceptive faculties were \ery prominent ;. 
black-eyed, dark-featured, deep-chested, and 
endowed with more than ordinary physical 
strength and activity." In religion he was a 
Calvinist, in politics a Hamilton Federalist. 
He was in many respects a remarkable man. 
Nature had infused into him a vigor and vi- 
vacity of mind which in a measure supplied 
the deficiencies of his education. Courage,, 
enterprise, and perseverance were the first 
characteristics of his mind. His disposition 
was frank and generous, though he possessed 
a combati\ e temperament. 



THE ROBINSON FAMILY. 

ROBINSON, Samuel.— The acknowl- 
edged leader of the band of pioneers who 
settled Bennington, and almost a controlling 
authority among them, was the progenitor of 
the most remarkable among a number of 
Vermont families prolific of public useful- 
ness — a family that has in the past century 
furnished two Governors, two L'nited States 
senators, six judges of one degree and an- 
other, the acknowledged leaders of the Demo- 
cratic party in the state in three different 
generations, and United States marshals, 
generals, colonels, state's attorneys, town 
clerks, etc., almost without computation. 

The family had a heritage of brains and 
power, tracing its descent from Rev. John 
Robinson, the father of the Puritans in Eng- 
land in 1620, and pastor of the Pilgrims be- 
fore they sailed from Holland in the ^Lay- 
flower, and being allied by marriage with 
the ancestry of Governor Jonathan Trumbull 
of Connecticut. 

Samuel Robinson, born at Cambridge,. 
Mass., in 1 705, came to Vermont from Hard- 
wick, Mass. 

He had been a captain of Massachusetts 
troops through several campaigns in the 
vicinity of Lake George and Champlain in 
the French and Indian war. 

He was the first justice of the peace com- 
missioned by (Jovernor Wentworth in the 
Grants and the first clash between New 
York and New Hampshire authority was be- 



fore him. It arose over the case of two 
claimants in I'ownal. He took the New- 
Hampshire side and he and Samuel Ashlev, a 
New Hampshire deputy siieriff, were arrested 
and taken to Albany jail in consetjuence and 
occasioning acrimonious correspondence 
between the two Governors ; but the affair 
ended in a compromise and though Robin- 
son and Ashley were indicted for resisting 
New York officers, they were never brought 
to trial. He was deputed by the settlers in 
1765 to go to New York and try to save their 
lands from the city speculators to whom 
Lieutenant-Governor Golden was making 
Grants with lavish hand, but his efforts were 
unavailing. He was, in 1766, sent as an 
agent for the settlers to England to present 
their case to the ministry, and the mission 
was making very favorable progress towards 
success when he was taken with smallpox 
and suddenly died in London, Oct. 27, 1767. 
His eldest son. Col. Samuel Robinson, 
born at Hardwick, .August 15, 1738, was 
active in the controversy over the grants, was 
elected one of the town committee to succeed 
his father, commanded one of the Benning- 
ton companies in the battle of Bennington, 
and during the war rose to the rank of colonel. 
He was, in 1777 and 1778, "overseer of the 
Tory prisoners" and in 1779 and 1780 rep- 
resented the town in the General Assembly 
and was a member of the board of war. He 
was the first justice appointed in town under 
Vermont authority, in 177S, and was one of 
the judges of the special court for the south 
shire of the county, and, as such, presided at 
the trial of Redding. He was a generous ■ 
and large-minded man, upright, enterprising, 
kindly in manner and of decided natural 
ability and ready courage. .Another son. Gen. 
David Robinson, born at Hardwick, Nov. 
22, 1754, was a major-general of the state 
militia, an active and energetic man of his 
time and United States marshal for eight 
years up to 18 iS. He fought as a private in 
the battle of Bennington, rising by regular 
promotion to the place of major-general, 
which he resigned in 181 7. He was sheriff 
of the county for twenty-two years ending 
with 1811. He died Dec. 12, 1843, at the 
age of eighty-nine. His wife was Sarah, 
daughter of Stephen Fay, who bore him three 
sons. One of these, Stephen, was a member 
of the Cleneral .Assembly several years, a 
judge of the county court, and a member of 
the council of censors in 1834. He died in 
1852, at the age of seventy-one. 

ROBINSON, Gov. MOSES.— The first 
chief justice of the state. Governor and one 
of her first senators, the close friend of 
Jefferson and Madison, and one of the 
leaders of the Democracy of that day, was the 
second son of Samuel Robinson, Sr., born at 



HariUvick, Mass., March 20, 1741. Lanmann 
says he was educated at Dartmouth. He 
was elected IJennington's clerk at the first 
meeting of the town in March, 1762, and 
kept its records for nineteen years. In the 
early part of 1777 he was a colonel of militia, 
and was at the head of his regiment on 
Mount Independence when 'i'iconderoga 
was evacuated by St. Clair. Then he be- 
came a member of the council of safety 
which held continuous sessions for several 
months. He was also on the Governor's 
council for eight years, to October, 1785. 
He was in the secret of the Haldimand 
negotiation from the beginning, was one of 
the signers of the certificate which was 
drawn up to protect the fame of Chittenden, 
and .Mien and Fay, in 1781, and all through 
the infant troubles of the new state, had the 
confidence of the leaders and fathers, and 
was one of the shrewd advisers of this criti- 
cal period, though his position was such that 
he could not take an active part. For, on 
the first organization of the state, he was ap- 
pointed chief justice, a position which he 
held, except one year, until 1789, when in a 
temporary breeze of dissatisfaction he was 
elected (lovernor for a single term. But as 
the issues were purely local and personal, 
and bore no relation to national politics, 
with which, of course, Vermont had no in- 
terest while outside the I'nion, he cannot 
be said to have been the first Democratic 
Governor — an honor which belongs to Israel 
Smith as a matter of fact, though in point 
of power of leadership Jonas (ialusha must 
be called the first of his time. The causes 
of the overturn of this year are explained in 
the sketch of Governor Chittenden. The vote 
of the freemen stood 1,263 ^or Chittenden, 
746 for Robinson, 478 for Samuel Safford, 
and 378 for all others. The choice, in the 
failure of any one to get a majority, therefore 
went to the Legislature, and the opposition 
to Chittenden concentrated on Robinson, and 
elected him. 

In 1782 Judge Robinson was sent to the 
Continental Congress as one of the agents of 
the state, and he was one of the commissioners 
that finally adjusted the controversy with New 
York. In 1791 he was chosen by the Legis- 
lature with Stephen Bradley Senator to Con- 
gress. He was very active with the then 
young Republicans in opposition to the rati- 
fication of the Jay treaty, not only in Con- 
gress but in procuring puVilic meetings in his 
town and county to condemn it, as a part of 
the campaign of popular agitation organized 
all over the country against the measures of 
the Federalists that finally dro\e that party 
from power. The Senator had the vigorous 
support of his town and county for his politi- 
cal views, but when satisfied that he was in a 
fixed and definite minoritv in the state, in 



56 



obedience to his democratic views of duty, 
he resigned his position as Senator in Octo- 
ber, 1796, a few months before the expiration 
of his term, and was succeeded by Isaac 
Tichenor, who had then become tlie Fed- 
eralist leader. 

U'his closed his public career, with the ex- 
ception of one term in the General Assembly 
in 1802. He died May 26, 1813, at the age 
of seventy-two. 

Senator Robinson was a man of profound 
piety and Democracy, and he had no difiti- 
culty in making these convictions mix, 
though it was the general belief of New En- 
gland that they were antipodal. He was an 
ardent sympathizer with the French Revolu- 
tion, because he believed in the rights of 
man, and even if French republicans were 
infidels and went to the most extravagant 
length in blasphemy, it was, to his view, no 
argument for the rights of kings. Many news- 
paper squibs were fired at him in after years 
because of an occurence in 1791, when Jeffer- 
son and Madison, making a horseback trip 
through New England, stopped with him at 
Bennington over one Sunday. The senator 
who never failed to attend divine worship 
when possible, took them to church, and 
proud, as country people were apt to be in 
those days of the church choir, insisted on 
getting their opinion of it, and how it com- 
pared with church music in other churches 
and places, whereupon, it was said, both had 
to admit that they were no judges, as neither 
of them had attended any church for several 
years. The yarn of course was designed to 
injure him politically with the intolerant 
people with whom he mixed and to discredit 
him as deacon of the church, as he was from 
1789 to the time of his death. But though 
Moses Robinson might and doubtless did 
regret Jefferson's tendency to free religious 
views, it did not abate one jot his admira- 
tion of that man's great work for humanity's 
progress, or friendly association with him in 
working towards high ideals of government. 

This union of piety and Democracy is 
finely expressed in his address on retiring 
from the Governor's chair in 1790, so free 
from the slightest accent of jealousy, so cor- 
dial towards his successful rival, so unaffect- 
edly obedient to the popular wish, that it de- 
serves to be preserved as a gem in our 
political literature. After alluding to his own 
election the year previous, and his conscious- 
ness that he had faithfully discharged his 
duty and executed his trust, he added : " It 
appears from the present election that the 
freemen have given their suffrages in favor 
of His Excellency Governor Chittenden. I 
heartily acquiesce in the choice, and shall, 
with the greatest satisfaction, retire to private 
life, where I expect to enjoy that peace 



which naturally results from a consciousness 
of having done my duty. 

"The freemen have an undoubted right 
when they see it for the benefit of the com- 
munity to call forth their citizens from be- 
hind the curtain of private life and make 
them their rulers, and for the same reason to 
dismiss them at pleasure and elect others in 
their place. This privilege is essential to 
all free and to republican governments. As 
a citizen I trust I shall ever feel for the in- 
terest of the state ; the confidence the free- 
men have repeatedlly placed in me ever 
since the first formation of government, lays 
me under additional obligations to promote 
their true interest. 

" Fellow-citizens of the Legislature, I wish 
you the benediction of Heaven in the prose- 
cution of the important business of the pres- 
ent session : that all your consultations may 
terminate for the glory of God and the inter- 
est of the citizens of this state, and that both 
those in pubhc and private life may so con- 
duct in the several spheres in which God in 
his providence shall call them to act, so that, 
when death shall close the scene of life, we 
may each of us ha^•e the satisfaction of a 
good conscience and the approbation of our 
Judge." 

Governor Robinson became very wealthy 
with the progress of the state and was cor- 
respondingly generous in his gifts for the 
cause of religion. 

He was really the father of the Congrega- 
tional church at Bennington, and it is related 
of him that when people came to Benning- 
tan to purchase land, he would invite them 
to his house over night, contri\e to learn 
their religious \iews and if they were not 
good Congregationalists persuade them to 
settle in Shaftsbury or Pownal, in both of 
which he was also a proprietor. So strong a 
bent did he and his associates gi\e to the 
religious opinion of the community that up 
to 1830 there was only one house of public 
worship in the town. 

His sunset days were of almost ecstatic hope 
and beauty. One of those present at his death, 
the wife of Gen. David Robinson, said of 
the scene : " If I could feel as he did, it 
would be worth ten thousand worlds." 

Governor Robinson married for his first 
wife Mary, daughter of Stephen Fay, and 
after her death, Susannah Howe. He left six 
sons by his first wife, to show the effects of 
blending the patriotic blood of Robinson 
and Fay. Moses, the eldest, was a member 
of the council in 1814, and was rejieatedly, 
in i8i9-'2o-'23 representative in the General 
Assembly. He was, in opposition to nearly 
all the rest of the family, a Federalist in poli- 
tics, and repeatedly that party's candidate 
for councilor, being defeated once only by the 
omission of " Ir." from his name. Aaron, the 



57 



second, was town clerk seven years, justice of 
the peace twenty-three years, representative 
in the Legislature in i8i6-'i7, and judge of 
probate in i835-'36. Samuel, the third, was 
clerk of the Supreme Court for the county 
from 1794 to i8i5,and Nathan, another son, 
a lawyer, who died at the age of forty, repre- 
sented the town in 1803. 

ROBINSON, JONATHAN,— The yoimg- 
est son of Samuel, Sr., brother of the pre- 
ceding, and, like him, chief justice of the 
Supreme Court and United States Senator, 
was born at Hardwick, August 11, 1756, 
came to Bennington with his father in 1761, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1796. He 
vt'as town clerk for six years beginning with 
1795, town representative thirteen times be- 
fore 1802, and chief justice of the Supreme 
Court from 1801 to 1807. In the latter year 
the triumph of the Jeffersonians in at last 
defeating Tichenor and electing Israel Smith 
Governor, seven vears after they had got 
control of the rest of the government, neces- 
sitated the latter's resignation of his seat in 
the Senate, and Judge Robinson was chosen 
to succeed him, and in 1809 he was also 
elected for another term closing in 1815. He 
was in Federal relations the political master 
of the state during this time, had a controll- 
ing influence in the distribution of the army 
and other patronage of the administration, 
which was very great during the war of 181 2, 
and he handled it with much shrewdness as 
well as care for the public interest. He had 
not the remarkable power of his great com- 
peer, Jonas Galusha, to make a permanent 
impress on the thought of his time, but he 
was an astute and far-seeing leader. He 
more closely resembled his great competitor 
in county politics, and his successor in the 
Senate, Isaac Tichenor, in his popular man- 
ners and facility of leadership ; and, as with 
Tichenor, there was a strong leaven of faith- 
fulness to duty and an underlying strength of 
character and solidity of ability, that made 
the ultimate basis of success. He had the 
ear and confidence of President Madison to 
an extent that few men had. 

After his retirement from the Senate, like 
many other great Vermonters, he found it 
not beneath his dignity to serve the people 
in other stations to which they called him. 
He was elected judge of probate in October, 
1815, and held the position for four years, 
and again represented the town in 181 8, be- 
ing prominent in the discussion over the 
proposed constitutional amendment for the 
real democratic plan for the choice of presi- 
dential electors by districts. He died Nov. 
3, 1819, at the age of sixty-three. 

He married into another noted ^'ermont 
family, his wife being Mary, daughter of 
John Fassett. One of their sons, Jonathan 



I'!., a lawyer, was town clerk nine years and 
judge of county court in 1S28 and died in 
1831. .\nother, Henry, was paymaster in 
the army, clerk in the pension office, briga- 
dier-general of militia, and for ten years clerk 
of the county and supreme court. He died 
in 1856. 

ROBINSON, JOHN S.— Son of Nathan, 
and grandson of Gov. Moses Robinson, a 
Democratic leader in the last generation and 
the only Democratic Governor of the state 
for more than half a century, was born at 
Bennington No\-. 10, 1804. He graduated 
at Williams in 1S24, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1827. A man of brilliant parts, he 
rapidly rose to the front rank of his profes- 
sion and was well adapted for a political 
career like that of the other great men of the 
name but for the fact that the movement of 
the times had left his party in a hopeless 
minority in the state. He twice represented 
the town in the lower House of the Legisla- 
ture and was twice a state senator. He was 
repeatedly the Democratic candidate for 
Congress in his district. There was a serious 
split in the organization growing out of the 
Free Soil movement of 1848, and continuing 
for several years until it merged into the 
Liberty or later the Republican party. In 
1 85 I he was the candidate of the minority 
element, receiving 6,686 votes to 14,950 for 
Timothy P. Redfield, the regular Demo- 
cratic candidate, and 22,676 for Charles K. 
Williams, Whig. The next year the Demo- 
crats made him their regular candidate, and 
with a temporary increase of strength for the 
Liberty party which cast9,446 votes for Law- 
rence Brainerd, there was a failure to elect by 
the people, Robinson having 14,938 \otes 
and Erastus Fairbanks, Whig, 23,795, and the 
choice was by the Legislature, which elected 
Fairbanks. 

The next year the enactment of prohibi- 
tion had stirred things up a good deal, and 
given the Democrats renewed hope, they 
made Robinson their candidate again, and 
the result of the election was 20,849 for Fair- 
banks, 18,142 tor Robinson, and 8,291 for 
Brainerd, again throwing the choice to the 
Legislature where Robinson was elected. But 
it was only a year's triumph. It was the period 
of political breakup over the slavery issue, 
and of the foundation of the new Repub- 
lican party. In July of the next summer, 
Brainerd presided over the first Republican 
state convention, and that fall was sent to 
the United States Senate. The polls in Sep- 
tember showed the dropping out of the 
Liberty party, and except some 1,600 scat- 
tering votes among various candidates, the 
issue was between the two leading jjarties, 
and Stephen Royce was elected Governor by 



^8 



a vote of 27,926 to 15,084 for the Demo- 
crats. 

Governor Robinson, however, remained an 
active Democrat, and in i860 was chairman 
of the Vermont delegation to the National 
Democratic convention at Charleston, S. C, 
but was stricken with apoplexy while in 
that city, and died there the 24th of that 
month. 

Governor Hall, so long his rival, profes- 
sionally and politically, pays tribute to his 
"legal attainments and high order of talent," 
and adds : "Generous of heart, amiable in 
disposition, and with integrity undoubted, 
he, by his uniform courtesy and kindness, 
endeared himself to all with whom he had 
business or intercourse." 

Governor Robinson wedded, in October, 
1847, Juliette Staniford, widow of A\'illiam 
Robinson. He left no children. 

ROWLEY, Thomas.— The first poet of 
the Green Mountains, a public favorite, 
trusty patriot, and something of a statesman, 
a soldier, legislator and judge, was born in 
Hebron, Conn., and cajne to Danby in 1769, 
was its first town clerk serving for nine 
years until in 1778, and then, on the organi- 
zation of the state government was its first 
representative in the General Assembly and 
also for the next two years. Through the 
troublous times of the Green Mountain Boys' 
resistance to New York and the Revolution 
he was generally chairman of Danby's com- 
mittee of safety and while in the Legislature 
he served on the most important commit- 
tees, and was the draftsman of their bills. 
He was in the convention of 1777 that de- 
clared independence and framed the con- 
stitution. 

I3ut it was as a poet that he rendered his 
memorable service to Vermont. His verses 
were everywhere sung through the state as 
an inspiration to the settlers and the Green 
Afpuntain Boys And they were just fitted, 
with their homely vigor of phrase, their 
sympathy with the wild romance of nature 
about them, their heat of intense conviction 
of right and their scoring of the speculators 
after their homes, to stir the people on the 
Grants deeply. They were indeed the fit 
complement of Ethan Allen's vehement elo- 
quence in prose. They were mostly given 
out impromptu, many of them never com- 
mitted to paper at all, and only a few and 
imperfect fragments have been brought 
down to the present ; but with all their 
roughnesses of meter and expression, even 
after the struggle that made the soul of them 
had passed, it is easy to see that there was 
wit and genius in them. He was always 
versifying, and some specimens on religious, 
moral and family topics have been preserved, 
but though they contain some diamonds of 



poetic thought, they lack the fire that even 
now can be felt in his effusions. 

He lived at Rutland for a while and was 
first judge of the special court for that 
county. After the Re\-olutionary war he 
mo^ed to Shoreham, where he had before 
lived for a year, and was also the first town 
clerk and first justice of the peace of that 
town. About the year iSoo he went to Ben- 
son to live with his son Nathan and died 
there in 1803. 

He was regarded as a man of sound judg- 
ment and ability, as well as a wit and poet. 
He was intensely religious, a Wesleyan in 
his views. In appearance he is described as 
"of medium height, rather thick set, rapid 
in his movements, with light eyes, sprightly 
and piercing, indicating rapidity of percep- 
tion, and sometimes the facetious poetic 
faculty ; yet he was generally a sedate and 
thoughtful man." 

DEWEY, Rev. Jedediah,— Sonof Jede- 
diah and Rebecca Dewey, was born in AN'est- 
field, Mass., April 11, 17 14, married Mindwell 
Hayden of Windsor, Conn., August 4, 1736, 
and removed to Bennington from ^^'estfield, 
Mass. Died December 21, 1778. 

"The Records and Memorials of a Cen- 
tury," edited by Rev. Isaac Jennings, show 
that Mr. Dewey was the first minister and 
also the first school teacher in the state. He 
was a patriot with a profound interest in the 
future prosperity of the infant settlement 
where he had cast his lot, and took a promi- 
nent part in the controversy originating from 
the disputes concerning the land titles of the 
New Hampshire Grants. His correspondence 
with Governor Tryon, of New York, demon- 
strated that his influence was weighty in put- 
ting an end to the struggle by peaceful 
negotiation. Rev. Mr. Dewey preached the 
war sermon pre\'ious to the battle of Ben- 
nington, charging his congregation to go 
forth and fight for their native land. On the 
following Saturday the battle of Bennington 
was fought and won. His son, Capt. Elijah 
Dewey, was on the field in command of the 
infantry company from Bennington, and 
every history of \'ermunt relates how well he 
discharged his duty on that occasion. 

It is related in "Jennings' History of ^"er- 
mont," that at the public divine service of 
thanksgiving for the capture of 'Liconderoga, 
many officers being present, among whom was 
Ethan Allen, Mr. Dewey preached and made 
the prayer, in which he gave to God all the 
glory and praise of the capture of that strong- 
hold. Ethan Allen, in the midst of the 
prayer called out, "Parson Dewey," "Parson 
Dewey," "Parson Dewey." At the third 
pronunciation of his name Mr. Dewey paused 
and opened his eyes, when Allen raised both 
hands and exclaimed, "Please mention to 



KNOWI.TON. 



59 



the Lord about my being there," to which 
the parson repUed, "Sit down thou bold 
blasphemer, and listen to the word of Cod," 
and it is a matter of record in the Walloomsac 
Valley that the hero of Ticonderoga quietly 
resumed his seat. 

FASSETT, Captain John.— One of the 

most useful and constantly employed of the 
public men of the state's formative jieriod, 
was born in Hardwick, Mass., June 3, 1 743 : 
the son of Captain Fassett, who came to 
Bennington in 1761, became an innholder 
and captain of the first military company 
formed in town, and was the town's repre- 
rentative in the first Vermont Legislature. 
John Fassett came to Bennington with his 
father. He was lieutenant in Warner's first 
regiment in 1775, ^"d captain in ^^'arner's 
second in 1776. In 1777 he was one of the 
commissioners of sequestration, and with 
Governor Chittenden and Matthew ].yon 
successful in subduing the Tories of Arling- 
ton. He was elected Representative of 
Arlington in the General .Assembly for 1778 
and 1779, and for Cambridge in 1787 and 
1788, 1790 and 1791 ; though in 1779, 1787 
and 17S8 and 1790 and 1791 he was also 
elected councilor. He served in each office 
portions of the time. He was a member of 
the Council in 1779 and until 1795, with the 
exception of 1786, fifteen years. He was 
judge of the Superior Court from its organ- 
ization in 1778 until 1786, eight years; 
and chief judge of Chittenden county court 
from 1787 until 1794, seven years. 

Highland Hall states that Judge Fassett 
died in Cambridge, but the historian of that 
place tells of "Dr. John Fassett who came 
from Bennington in 1784 moving west after 
he had lived in town about forty years, and 
when he must have been an octogenarian." 

KNOWLTON, LUKE, (or Knoulton, as 
he wrote the name), councilor, judge, early 
settler and most influential citizen of New- 
fane, and holding some anomalous positions 
in the early controversies, was born at 
Shrewsbury, Mass., November, 1738. He 
w-as a soldier in the French and Indian war, 
was stationed at Crown Point for a while, 
and came close to starvation in the march 
from that point to Charleston, Nov. 4, where 
his company was obliged to kill its last pack 
horse for food. He came to New'fane in 
1773, the fifteenth family to settle in town, 
and came under a New Vork title which he 
and another man had purchased from a lot 
of speculators in New York City. Naturally, 
therefore, he took the New Vork side in the 
controversy with the Green Mountain boys, 
and adhered to it until i 780, when he and 
Ira .Allen came to terms while they were at 
Philadelphia as agents for the two sides 



before Congress. But it is certain, in spite 
of the accusations of later years, that he was 
on the patriot side at the opening of the 
Revolution, and there is no sufficient reason 
for impugning his patriotism afterwards, for 
at the time it was done he was acting 
in concert with the \'ermont leaders when 
his social and personal connections were 
such as to make him a convenient medium 
of communication with the British. From 
June, 1776, to June, 1777, he was a member 
of the Cumberland county committee of 
Safety. 




^Lay 17, 1774, on the organization of the 
town of Newfane, he was elected town clerk 
and held that position sixteen years. In 
1772 he had been appointed by New Vork 
one of the justices of peace for the county. 
In September, 1780, the Yorkers of Cum- 
berland county sent him to ("ongress as their 
agent to oppose the pretensions of the new- 
state, and for this service he had a letter of 
recommendation from Governor Clinton, of 
New York. It was while on this mission 
that the arrangement was made with Ira 
Allen, on a basis, as the latter wrote, that 
should " be honorable to those who had 
been in favor of New York." The arrange- 
ment was to call a convention of delegates 
of all parties interested, including the New 
Hampshire towns that wanted to unite with 
Vermont. 

The next month we find Knowlton active 
as chairman of a Cumberland county com- 
mittee of thirteen to brim; about this con- 



6o 



KXOWLTON. 



KNOWLTOX. 



vention, which first met at \\'alpole, and then 
called another convention at Charlestown, 
Jan. i6, I 781. He was present at the latter 
convention, acting in concert with Allen, who 
was manipulating it from the outside. The 
result was the "East union" of thirty-five 
New Hampshire towns with Vermont, and 
following that the "West union" of that part 
of New York to the banks of Hudson river, 
north of Massachusetts line to latitude 45". 
Knowlton was evidenth' satisfied with this, 
as were most of the New York adherents in 
^Vindham county, for he soon appeared 
among the leaders in Vermont politics. 

He was town representative in the General 
Assembly of the state of Vermont during the 
years 1784, 1788, 1789, 1792, 1803, and 
1806, and a member of the old council from 
1790 to 1800; judge of the Supreme Court 
in 1 786, and judge of the \\'indham county 
court from 1787 to 1793. 

In 1782 while the Haldimand intrigue was 
at its height and emissaries were passing 
thick back and forth through Vermont, a dis- 
patch was intercepted which showed that the 
British commander in Canada was communi- 
cating with British agents in New York City 
by means of letters, exchanged through Mr. 
Knowlton and Col. Samuel Wells, of Brattle- 
boro. The thing was of course suspicious, 
and there is no doubt that Wells was thor- 
oughly Tory in sympathy ; but it was neces- 
sary for the Vermont policy at this time that 
Haldimand should frequently consult the 
British commander in New York about it, 
and it had to be done through men in whom 
both parties had confidence. The discovery 
was laid before Congress by Washington and 
the result was an order for the arrest of 
Wells and Knowlton. Their escape to 
Canada was aided by the Aliens. Knowlton, 
however, returned within a year, and was at 
his house in Newfane, November 16, 1783, 
when a lot of Yorkers but American sympa- 
thizers broke in and arrested him, and forcibly 
deported him to Massachusetts. General 
Fletcher and Colonel Bradley organized a 
rescuing party, but Mr. Knowlton returned 
before it became necessary for them to act. 
It was this case of abduction for which the 
leader of the rioters, Francis Prouty, was in- 
dicted for burglary at Westminister, and 
which resulted in this curious verdict : "The 
jury find in this case that the prisoner did 
break and enter the house of Luke Knowlton, 
Esq., in the night season, and did take and 
carry away the said Luke Knowlton, and if 
that breaking a house and taking and carry- 
ing away a person as aforesaid amounts to 
burglary, we say he is guilty ; if not, we say 
he is not guilty." The judgment of the 
court on the verdict was not guilty. 

John A. Graham, in a series of rambling let- 
ters descriptive of \'ermont scenery, written 



and ])ublished at the close of the last century, 
thus speaks of judge Knowlton : "Newfane 
owes its consequence in a great measure to 
Mr. Luke Knowlton, a leading character and 
a man of great ambition and enterprise, of 
few words, but possessed of great quickness 
and perception and an almost intuitive 
knowledge of human nature, of which he is a 
perfect judge." "Saint Luke" was the ap- 
pelation given Mr. Knowlton by his contem- 
poraries because of his grave and suave man- 
ners and his decorous deportment even to 
the point of humility. He was liberal and 
generous to the poor, entered heartily and 
zealously into all the public enterprises of 
the day, gave to the county of Windham the 
land for a common on Newfane hill at the 
time of the removal of the shire from West- 
minster to Newfane, and contributed largely 
towards the erection of the first court house 
and jail in Newfane. Judge Knowlton died at 
Newfane Nov. 12, 1810, aged seventv-three. 
His wife, Sarah, daughter of Ephraim Hol- 
land of Shrewsbury, whom he married Jan. 
5, 1760, had died Sept. i, 1797. Three sons 
and four daughters were the fruit of the 
union, nearly all of whom had distinguished 
careers or connections. Calvin, the eldest, 
graduated at Dartmouth and was a promis- 
ing lawyer at Newfane at the time of his 
death at the age of thirty-nine. Patty, born 
in 1762, dying in Ohio in 1S14, married 
Daniel Warner and was the grandmother 
of Hon. Willard Warner, late United States 
senator from Alabama, and during the civil 
war a member of General Sherman's staff in 
his celebrated "march to the sea." Silas, 
born in 1764, married Lucinda Holbrook at 
Newfane, Nov. 30, 1786, and died in Canada 
aged eighty. Sarah, born I\Iay 2, 1767, 
married John Holbrook at Newfane, Nov. 
30, 1786. She died March 22, 1851, aged 
eighty-four. Alice, married Nathan Stone, 
April 24, 1788. She died Nov. 14, 1865, 
aged ninety-six. Lucinda, born August 8, 
1 77 I, married Samuel Willard. They lived 
awhile in Sheldon, from thence they moved 
to Canada, where she died May 4, 1800. 

Luke Knowlton, Jr., was born in Newfane, 
March 24, 1775, died at Broome township, 
Canada East, Sept. 17, 1855, aged eighty. 

Among Judge Knowlton's grandsons, be- 
sides General \\'arner, are Paul Holland 
Knowlton, Broome township. Lower Canada, 
son of Silas Knowlton, who has occupied 
distinguished positions in the Province, and 
was for many years a member of the Canada 
Parliament ; Rev. John C. Holbrook of 
Syracuse, N. Y., an eloquent divine, highly 
esteemed for his piety and learning ; Hon. 
Geo. \y. Knowlton of ^^'atertown, N. Y., and 
Frederick Holbrook, the war Governor of 
Vermont. 



CLARK, Nathan, of ISenninnton, was 
speaker of the first General Assembly after 
the organuation of the state government in 
1778. He was also a native of Connecticut, 
though the place and date of his birth are 
not known, and came to Bennington as early 
as 1762 and died there April 8, 1799, at the 
age of about seventy-four. He was frequently 
chairman of the several committees and con- 
ventions of the settlers. He was chairman of 
the Bennington committee of safety in 1776, 
and received the thanks of General Gates for 
his promptness in supplying Ticonderoga 
with fiour. He was also a member of the 
state council of safety. He represented Ben- 
nington in 1 778. In manners he is described 
as mild and gentlemanly, and he was e\i- 
dently very facile as a manager of men and 
measures. His son, Col. Isaac Clark, known 
as "Old Rifle," was distinguished as a parti- 
san leader in the war of 181 2. 

BOWKER, JOSEPH.— An early settler in 
Rutland, president of every general conven- 
tion, except two, in the state's embryonic 
period, and the first speaker of the General 
Assembly ; " in a modified sense, the John 
Hancock of Vermont," as Henry Hall calls 
him, was born in Sudbury, Mass., or vicinity. 
The tradition as dug up by Mr. Hall is that 
he was early left an orphan, brought up in 
the family of a Mr. Taintor, privately be- 
throthed to his daughter, Sarah, drafted into 
the army during the French and Indian war, 
in the garrison at Ticonderoga one or two 
years, and then returned with so good a rep- 
utation that he soon became the son-in law 
of his quasi guardian. He appeared in Rut- 
land about 1773, and participated in the 
opposition to the New York grant of Social- 
borough which covered that township. 

Yet, although he was the recognized leader 
of the opponents and much trusted in the 
town and state throughout the struggle, he 
was not named in any act of outlawry. He 
soon became a very general office-holder, 
member of the committee of safety, town 
treasurer, selectman, representative, magis- 
trate, conveyancer, and adviser of citizens. 
He was one of the four men that built the 
first saw-mill in town, and all his life "farmed 
it," though apparently rather shiftlessly. At 
the first election under the constitution he 
was elected representative for Rutland, and 
at the same time received the highest vote 
cast for any man as councilor. Before the 
votes for councilor had been canvassed, he 
was elected speaker of the House, which 
office and that of representative he of course 
relinquished on taking his seat in the coun- 
cil. To that body he was elected seven 
times, and until his death. He was the first 
judge of Rutland county court, which office 
he held till December, 1783 ; also the first 



judge of probate, and held that office until 
his death in 1 784. 

He was a superior jiresiding officer, famil- 
iar with parliamentary usages, impartial, 
courteous and quick of apprehension, and 
must have been a man of marked native 
ability though of limited education. 

.\ neighbor speaking in after years, says of 
him : "that Joseph Bowker was greatly looked 
up to for counsel, much esteemed for his 
great and excellent qualities, for many years 
the most considerable man in town, and 
during the negotiations with Canada he was 
always resorted to solely for counsel and 
advice." He seems to have combined with 
his qualities of leadership, moderation, 
and generosity, so that he encountered less 
antagonism than most of his associates in 
the work of state building. 

He died July 11, 1784, just as the little 
republic he had helped to launch was well 
upon her remarkable career, and was buried 
somewhere in the public acre of the ceme- 
tery at Rutland Center, but the exact spot 
nobody knows. The date of his marriage 
is also unknown. He left only two children, 
daughters, who early left the state and set- 
tled somewhere in the West. Few indeed 
are the men who do so useful a work as that 
of Joseph Bowker and yet of whom the rec- 
ord is so meagre and unsatisfactory. 

BAYLEY, Gen. Jacob.— Washington's 
most trusted officer in Vermont, who had 
charge of the protection of the frontier for 
several years, and who was at different times 
an advocate of the claims of New York, of 
the new state, and of New Hampshire to the 
territory of Vermont, was born at Newbury, 
Mass., July 2, 1728. He was a captain in 
the French war in i 736, present at the Fort 
William Henry massacre in 1757, from which 
he escaped, and was a colonel under .Am- 
herst in the taking of Crown Point and 
Ticonderoga in 1759. He came to New- 
bury, Vt., in October, 1764, was in 1775 
elected to the New York Provincial Con- 
gress, though he did not take his seat, and 
was one of the most influential men of that 
part of the state. He was commissioner to 
administer oaths of office, judge of inferior 
court of common pleas, and justice of the 
peace; August i, 1776, he was appointed 
brigadier-general of the militia of Cumber- 
land and Gloucester counties, and in 1776 
he began work on the celebrated Hazen 
road, afterward completed by General 
Hazen, which was designed as a military road 
from the Connecticut river to St. Johns, 
Canada. 

He was, in the early years of the struggle 
between the settlers and New York, one of 
the most trusted representatives of the 
authoritv of the latter, but suddenlv changed 



his position in 1777, writing to the New 
York council under dale of June 14, acknowl- 
edging the receipt of ordinance for the 
election of Governor, Senators and Repre- 
sentatives and saying ; "I am apt to think our 
people will not choose any member to sit in 
the state of New York. The people before 
they saw the constitution were not willing to 
trouble themselves about a separation from 
the state of New York, but now almost to a 
man they are violent for it."' He had 
earlier been chosen by the convention one 
of the delegates to present Vermont's re- 
monstrance and petition to the Continental 
Congress, and he was one of the two repre- 
sentatives from Newbury in the Windsor 
convention of July 17, 1777, that framed the 
constitution. Less than a year and a half 
afterwards, he was a leader in the scheme of 
the Connecticut River towns on both sides of 
the river to join together and form a new 
state, and was chairman of the committee 
that issued, Dec. i, 1778, a long " public 
defense " of their right to do so. In less 
than two years from that time he was an 
emphatic and headlong advocate of New 
Hampshire's jurisdiction over the whole of 
Vermont, and Nov. 22, 1780, wrote to Presi- 
dent Weare of New Hampshire : " For my 
part I am determined to fight for New 
Hampshire and the United States as long as 
I am alive and have one copper in my 
hand." 

But, notwithstanding his erratic state poli- 
tics, he was unflinchingly faithful to the con- 
tinental cause, and his later state flops were 
largely due to his suspicions of the Aliens. 
He warned Washington repeatedly that there 
was treason afoot. "We have half a dozen 
rascals here," he said, and in 1781 he fully 
believed that ^'ermont had been sold out to 
Canada. British emissaries in the state wrote 
to Haldimand in that year, that he had been 
employed by Congress at great expense to 
"counteract underhand whatever is doing 
for government." He was in 1780 intensely 
anxious to lead an invasion into Canada — 
"the harbor for spoils, thieves, and robbers," 
as he wrote President ^Veare. He thought 
then that the patriot cause was "sinking so 
fast" as to make the attempt a vital necessity 
whatever the risk. He did important service 
throughout the war in guarding the ex- 
tensive frontier of two hundred miles, keep- 
ing friendship with the Indians, and keeping 
them employed for the American cause so 
far as he could. He was in this way con- 
stantly in confidential communication with 
^^'ashington to the end of the war. He was 
repeatedly waylaid while in the performance 
of his arduous duties, his house rifled and 
his papers stolen by the bands of both scouts 
and lawless men that roamed the forests be- 



tween the hostile countries. He was a com- 
missary-general during a part of the war. 

He was a member of the famous Council 
of Safety in 1777, and the next spring was 
elected to the Covernor's Council. He was 
at Castleton in military service in 1777, but 
appears to have been acting under his New 
York commission. For the next few years 
the Vermonters had no use for him, but in 
1793 he was again elected councilor by a 
close margin over John \Miite. He repeat- 
edly represented his town in the Legislature, 
and was a judge of Orange county court 
after that county was organized. 

He died at Newbury, March i, 1S16. He 
was married, Oct. 16, 1745, to Prudence 
Noyes. They had ten children, and their 
descendants have been numerous and re- 
spectable. 

MARSH, JOSEPH, the first Lieutenant- 
Governor of the 
state, and an- 
cestor of sever- 
al of the ablest 
men that have 
graced Ver- 
mont history, 
was born at Le- 
banon, Conn., 
Jan. 12, 1726, 
the son of Jos- 
eph Marsh and 
descended from 
John Marsh, an 
early Puritan, 
and from Dep- 
uty Governor 
He is, however, said to 
a single month's school- 
ing himself. He came to Hartford in 1772 
and soon became active and influential 
in public affairs. He took the New York 
side in the early part of the controversy 
over the grants, as did a vast majority of the 
people on the east side of the mountains in 
the beginning, because they had their grants 
from New York, or where they were from 
New Hampshire, New York had taken pains 
to secure their friendship against the "Pen- 
nington mob" by confirming them. 

In August, 1775, he was by New Vork 
authority appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 
upper regiment of Cumberland county, and in 
the January following he was promoted to a 
full colonelcy. He was also in 1776 ap- 
pointed by the Cumberland county commit- 
tee of safety a delegate to the New York 
Provincial Congress for the sessions begin- 
ning in February, May, and July ; but he 
appears to have been present only at the 
May and a part of the July session, and 
within a year of that time he was among the 
leaders of the "new state" men, participat- 




John Webster, 
have had but 



CARPENTER. 



63 



ing in the conventions of June, lulv, and 
December of that year, and being their vice- 
president. The July convention made him 
chairman of the committee to procure arms 
for the state. As military commander he 
did some efficient service that year, (jeneral 
Schuyler ordered him, in February, to enlist 
every fifth man in his regiment to reinforce 
the Continental army at Ticonderoga, and he 
executed the order with remarkable prompt- 
itude. The Vermont council of safety, in 
August, ordered him to march half of the 
regiment to liennington, and he did so, but 
apparently not in season to participate in 
that battle, though the regiment was after- 
ward in service under his command on the 
Hudson. 

When the new state government was or- 
ganized in March, 1778, he was, by a narrow 
margin, elected Lieutenant-Governor, and was 
re-elected for another term and then was 
succeeded by Benjamin Carpenter. In 17S7, 
however, he was again elected and successive- 
ly reelected until 1 790. He was almost simul- 
taneously with his first election as Lieutenant- 
Governor, made chairman of the court of 
confiscation for Eastern Vermont and was 
also during the "East union" chairman of 
the committee of safety for a section of Ver- 
mont, including also the annexed territory 
from New Hampshire and had his head- 
quarters at Dresden. He represented Hart- 
ford in the (General Assemblies of 1781 and 
'82, was one of the first council of censors 
and was from 1787 to 1795 chief judge of 
the Windsor county court. He died Feb. 9, 
1811. 

Colonel Marsh married, Jan. 10, 1750, 
Dorothy, a descendant of Gen. John Mason, 
the famous commander of the English 
forces in the Pequot Indian war, and an 
aunt of the distinguished jurist Jeremiah 
Mason of Boston. Among their descend- 
ants have been Professor and President 
James Marsh of the University of Vermont, 
Dr. Leonard Marsh of Burlington, Charles 
Marsh, congressman and famous lawyer, and 
greatest of all, George P. Marsh, congress- 
man, minister to Turkey and Italy, Scandi- 
na\ian scholar and a profoundly able author 
in many lines. 

Governor Marsh is described by his grand- 
son, Hon. Roswell Marsh of Steubenville, 
Ohio, who was brought up in the former's 
family, thus : " He excelled in acquiring 
knowledge from conversations, and his own 
was exceedingly interesting. His knowl- 
edge, however acquired, was utilized by a 
close logical mind. His temper was equable, 
and children loved him. In politics nothing 
save remarks disrespectful to President 
Washington, ever disturbed him, for he was 
of the pure \\'ashingtonian school, and 
trained his children in it. He was an 



earnest Christian, but free from bigotry. In 
person he was of large stature and well pro- 
jjortioned — broad shouldered, large boned, 
lean and of great muscular power ; in 
weight over two hun,dred." 

CARPHNTHR, BENJAMIN.— Colonel in 
the Revolutionary service, Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, I 779-'8i, among the foremost of the 
early patriots of the state, and a character 
whose steady strength of principle makes 
one of the most interesting figures of Thomp- 
son's romance, was born in Swanzey, Mass., 
May I 7, 1725, the son of Edward and Eliza- 
beth (Wilson) Carpenter. He had only a 
common school education, yet he was evi- 
dently a man of prominence before he came 
to \'ermont, for the famous inscription on 
his tombstone at Guilford states that he was 
a magistrate in Rhode Island in 1764. He 
appeared on the Grants and settled in Guil- 
ford in 1770, and he was the first delegate 
from Guilford to a \'ermont convention and 
one of the very few on the east side of the 
state that had any part in the early struggles 
against New York. He was in the ^Vest- 
minister convention of April 11, 1775, which 
condemned the New York government for 
the Westminster massacre, in the Dorset and 
Westminster conventions of 1776, and in 
the Windsor convention that framed the con- 
stitution of the state. An incident in this 
connection, given on the authority of the 
late Rev. Mark Carpenter, shows a creditable 
freedom on his part from the greed for land 
speculation which was so mixed up with the 
\'ermont patriotism of those days. 'I'he Leg- 
islature, which consisted largely of the men 
who had framed the constitution, voted to 
themselves several townships of land as 
" compensation for their long and self-sacri- 
ficing services." Colonel Carpenter voted 
against the measure, denounced it as detract- 
ing from the dignity of the work, and to his 
dying day persisted in never touching what 
the town \oted to him, (Barre), or in taking 
any compensation for his public services. 

In the heated politics of Guilford, going 
far beyond what was ever known elsewhere 
in the state, the New York adherents got 
atop in 1778 and ruled the town for the 
next thirteen years ; but Colonel Carpenter 
fought them uncompromisingly and at much 
risk and sacrifice, as it is recorded that in 
December, 1783, he was taken prisoner by 
the \'orkers and carried away " to his great 
damage." 

He was a leader among the patriots as 
soon as the Revolution broke out, being 
chairman of the Cumberland county com- 
mittee of safety Feb. i, 1776, and by that 
body was nominated lieutenant-colonel of 
militia and the appointment confirmed by 
New York authoritv. He was a member of 



64 



HASWELL. 



the Council of Safety which managed the 
1777 campaign so efificiently, building out 
of disaster and disorganization the victory 
at Bennington and the eventual capture of 
Burgoyne. With pack and cane he went 
afoot from his Guilford home, thirty miles 
through the woods by his line of marked 
trees, to attend the meeting of the Council 
that took the decisive measures of confiscat- 
ing Tory estates to raise money, and stimu- 
lating enlistments by the promise of a 
township of land for each company. So 
important were his services recognized to 
be, that at the second election of the new 
state in 1779, he was chosen Lieutenant- 
Governor and re-elected in 1780. In the 
later politics of the state he was a staunch 
Jeftersonian ; in the words on the tombstone : 
" A public leader of righteousness, an able 
advocate to his last for Democracy and the 
equal rights of man." His last office was 
that in the Council of Censors in 17S3. 

He was a deacon in the Baptist church, of 
which he was for fifty years a member, influ- 
ential throughout the denomination in New 
England, and occasionally preaching himself. 

He died March 29, 1804, at the age of 
nearly seventy-nine, and leaving one hun- 
dred and forty-six persons of lineal posterity. 
His wife was a fourth cousin, Annie, daugh- 
ter of Abial and Prudence Carpenter, whom 
he married at Providence, R. I., Oct. 3, 

1745- 

Colonel Carpenter was a man of impres- 
sive presence, being over six feet tall and 
weighing two hundred. Thompson's His- 
tory of Vermont truly says that he " deserv- 
edly holds a conspicuous place in the early 
history of the state." 

HASWELL, ANTHONY.— Editor, pub- 
lisher, and author, the postmaster-general of 
the state when it was an independent re- 
public, and in after years one of the victims 
of the alien and sedition laws, was born at 
Portsmouth, Eng., April 6, 1756, came to 
Boston when he was thirteen years old, 
learned the printer's trade with Isaiah 
Thomas, afterwards drifted to Vermont and 
started the Vermont Gazette at Bennington, 
June 5, 1783. He was for many years one 
of the public printers of the state, the work 
being divided between his and the press 
established at Windsor about the same time. 
The Legislature in 1784 passed an act 
establishing postoffices at Bennington, Brat- 
tleboro, Rutland, Windsor, and Newbury, 
and made him postmaster-general, and this 
position he held with extensive powers and 
increasing business until the state was ad- 
mitted to the LTnion' in 1791. In national 
politics he then became an ardent Repub- 
lican, and when Mathew Lyon was prose- 
cuted under the sedition law, he criticised the 



proceeding severely in his paper, and also 
published another article severely condemn- 
ing President Adams' appointment to office. 

The articles, though they showed consid- 
erable warmth of feeling, were not anywhere 
near as bad as have been published thou- 
sands of times since in political controversy 
without exciting more than passing attention, 
and they did not begin to compare for bit- 
terness and personal invective with the utter- 
ances which the Federalists were constantly 
pouring forth from both press and pulpit 
against Jefferson and the Democratic lead- 
ers. Nevertheless, he was indicted before 
the United States Circuit court, at Windsor, 
and sentenced by Judge Patterson to S200 
fine and two months' imprisonment. He 
was allowed to serve out the imprisonment in 
the jail at Bennington, but the fine he had to 
pay, and it was refunded to his descendants 
over fifty years afterward. The prosecution 
made him a good deal of a popular hero, as 
it did Lyon, and the celebration of the 
Fourth of July in 1800 was postponed at 
Bennington till July 9, when his term ex- 
pired, and he was liberated amidst the roar 
of cannon and a great demonstration of the 
people. 

The publication of the old Bennington 
Gazette which Mr. Haswell established was 
continued with occasional interruption both 
before and after his death, until 1849, when 
it expired in the hands of his son, John C. 
Haswell. The elder Haswell also started a 
paper in Rutland, in 1792, called the " Her- 
ald of Freedom," the progenitor of the pres- 
ent Rutland Herald, but his office was burned 
after he had issued the fourteenth number, 
and it was to recoup this misfortune that the 
Legislature authorized him to raise $200 by 
lottery. Mr. Haswell ventured twice into the 
magazine field, starting in March, 1794, "The 
Monthly Miscellany, or Vermont Magazine," 
and on Jan. 8, 180S, another monthly called 
the "Mental Repast." Both had a short life, 
though the latter carried considerable original 
and interesting matter. He published a 
good many books and pamphlets from his 
office, among them the " Memoirs of Capt. 
Matthew Phelps " of which he was the author, 
and he wrote or rather composed much on 
moral, religious and political subjects, in 
both prose and verse, for most of his thoughts 
took shape as he put them into type at his 
case. 

He was a man of decided ability, warm 
and impulsive temperament and thorough 
conscientiousness. He was twice married, 
and dying. May 26, 18 16, left numerous de- 
scendants. 

PAYNE, ELISHA. — Lieutenant-Governor 
in 1 781, simultaneously chief judge of the 
Supreme Court, and in 1782 one of the dele- 



CHANDLER. 



gates to Congress, appears only brielly in 
\'ermont history, during tiie continuance of 
the " Kast union " of New Hampshire towns 
with Vermont. He was born at Canterbury, 
Conn., in 1731, became quite prominent in 
New Hampshire in colonial days, doing 
good service in the French war, rising to be 
colonel and deputy surveyor-general of the 
King's woods, to preserve the pine trees re- 
served in all grants for the royal navy. In 
the short-lived union of the sixteen New 
Hampshire towns with X'ermont in 1778, 
Colonel Payne appeared as representative of 
Cardigan, N. H., and was elected councilor, 
though he refused the position because he 
thought he could be more useful in the House 
in resisting the effort he knew would be 
pressed to dissohe the union. He was a 
leader in the Charleston convention of i7iSi 
which, with the aid of Ira Allen's manipula- 
tion, resolved to ask annexation to \'ermont 
of all of New Hampshire west of a line 
seventy miles from the sea-coast, instead of 
attempting to form still another new state of 
this part of New Hampshire and the eastern 
half of \'ermont, as had been originally 
planned. 

He urged the union energetically and 
eloquently before the Vermont Legislature 
until it was consummated in the .April fol- 
lowing, when he enjoyed a liberal share of 
the honors of the new state as above stated. 
His election as Lieutenant-Governor was by 
the Legislature, as there had been no choice 
by the people. In the winter following, 
when New Hampshire started to regain the 
seceded territory by force, Mr. Payne's ad- 
dress and firm stand undoubtedly went far 
to avert bloodshed. When Governor Chit- 
tenden ordered him to call out the militia 
" to repel force by force," he at once wrote 
President Weare of New Hampshire stating 
his instructions, but in a tone so conciliatory 
and yet firm that peace was restored. When 
this last " union " was dissolved, Gov- 
ernor Payne adhered to New Hampshire, 
though he had now such a hold on the 
respect and affections of the people of Ver- 
mont that he could have commanded high 
honors from them which were impossible 
from the former state. He died at Lebanon, 
July 20, 1807, aged seventy-six. One of his 
descendants was Col. E. P. Jewett, of Mont- 
pelier. 

CHANDLER, ThO.MAS.— Among the 
earliest and most influential settlers on the 
east side of the mountain, but dying finally 
in poverty and disgrace, was a native of 
Woodstock, Conn. He was born July 22, 
1709, and came to Vermont in 1763, being 
one of the proprietors under New Hampshire 
of the present town of Chester, luider the 
name of New Flamstead. He procured its 



rechartering with the name of Chester by 
New Vork, after jurisdiction had been given 
that colony by the Crown, and in the course 
of 1766 was appointed justice of the peace, 
surrogate of the county, colonel of militia, 
and judge of the inferior court of common 
pleas under New Vork authority, and held 
all these appointments when the (-ounty was 
reorganized by direct act of the Crown. 

His conduct at the attempted session of 
the court that led to the Westminster massa- 
cre is difficult to understand. 'I'he picture 
which D. P. Thompson paints in such dark 
colors of the sycophancy, the cowardice and 
tergivisation of his conduct corresponds to 
the idea that was generally held at the time 
and covered his reputation with an obloquy 
from which it never recovered. There is no 
doubt that he wavered in his ideas of duty. 
He had presided at meetings of settlers that 
resolved to resist the British encroachments. 
He had publicly said a few days before that he 
thought it would not be best to hold the court, 
"as things then were," but yielded to the more 
resolute loyalty of Judge Sabin and perhaps 
to the pressure of the land grabbers by whom 
he was surrounded, and convened the court, 
though he evidently exerted himself to a\ert 
the violence that followed, and conducted 
himself with prudence and dignity through 
the difficulty. He was im])risoned for tw'o or 
three days by the popular party and though 
released on bonds was never brought to trial. 
He appears to have been zealously on the 
patriot side in the next few years, though so 
distrusted that he had no public position. 

He was deeply embarrassed financially in 
his later years, the result, as Thompson 
charges, "of a long course of secret fraud in 
selling wild land to which he had no title," 
and in 1784 petitioned the Legislature for 
an act of insolvency in his favor. It was 
finally granted, June 16, 1785, but on June 
20 of the same year he died in jail at West- 
minster, where he had laid for several 
months, and was buried privately and with- 
out funeral, owing to the superstition that 
then prevailed about the inhumation of the 
body of an imprisoned debtor. 

Similarly wretched was the fate of his 
two sons, who came with him to Chester 
after a residence of a year or two at Walpole, 
N. H. John, the eldest, was assistant judge 
for six years, 1766 to 1772, and county clerk 
for nearlv the same period : but he was re- 
moved for misconduct, and the rest of his 
career is buried in obscurity, except once in 
I 781, when a case appears before the Legis- 
lamre to recover a tract of 9,000 acres of 
land in Tomlinson (Grafton) which he had 
unlawfully deeded as attorney for a Tory, 
after the latter had joined the enemy, and 
showing that he had his father's business 
habits. 



66 



HAZELTINE. 



Thomas Chandler, Jr., the second son, 
first secretary of state for a few months, 
then for nearly three years speaker of the 
General Assembly, was born Sept. 23, 1740, 
and died towards the close of the century in 
poverty and embarrassment, like that of his 
father. He was also for nine years, 17 76-' 75, 
an assistant judge of the inferior court of 
common pleas, a court which New York 
seems to have made a family snap for the 
Chandlers. But he was soon after active 
among the Vermont men, was a delegate in 
the Westminster convention of October, 
1776, and January, 1777, was elected to the 
first General Assembly in March, 1778, and 
chosen its clerk, but abandoned the post to 
take the secretaryship of state, was re-elected 
in 1778 and 1781, was a member of the 
council in 1779 and 1780, a commissioner 
of sequestration on the estates of Tories, 
and was judge of the first Supreme Court, 
elected in October, 1778. He resigned the 
speakership of the Assembly in the middle of 
the session of 1 780, because of charges 
brought by Azariah '\\'right of Westminster, 
alleging that he had acted as an attorney 
for a negro while speaker, and that he also 
invited the massacre at Westminster in 1775 
by misleading the sons of liberty by writing 
to them that he knew his father's mind in 
their favor. Chandler brought a libel suit 
against Wright because of these charges, 
and finally recovered some $50 and costs, 
but they nevertheless brought him into 
"great discredit" and he sank into a rapid 
decline politically. He was once elected a 
judge of the Windsor county court in 1786, 
and in 1787 again represented Chester in 
the Assembly, but the prejudice against him 
was too great to permit his successful ad- 
vancement. He was, however, an undoubted 
patriot during the war, and exerted himself 
much for the patriot cause in Chester town 
meetings. The records of the Governor 
and council in October, 1792, show that 
like his father he was a petitioner for an act 
of insolvency in his favor, having been re- 
duced to poverty "by a long series of sick- 
ness in his family." 

SAFFORD, Gen. Samuel, — Revolu- 
tionary soldier, judge and councilor, was born 
at Norwich, Conn., April 14, 1737, and came 
to Bennington among its earliest settlers. He 
took an active part in the land controversy 
with New York, represented Bennington in 
several of the conventions of settlers, and 
was an ardent advocate of the new state idea. 
When the regiment of Green Mountain Boys 
was organized under the recommendation of 
Congress to support the Revolutionary cause, 
he was chosen major and second officer to 
Warner, who was lieutenant colonel, and 
he served under ^^'arner in Canada, and 



when Warner's continental regiment was 
raised Safford was appointed lieutenant col- 
onel, and as such fought at Hubbardton and 
Bennington and throughout the war. The 
Legislature in 1781 elected him general of 
militia. He represented Bennington in 
1 781 and '82 and the next year was elected 
state councilor and regularly re-elected for 
nineteen years. In 1781 he was elected 
chief judge of Bennington county court and 
held the office for twenty-six successive 
years. Governor Hall well describes him as 
"an upright, intelligent man of sound judg- 
ment and universally respected." "He was 
one of the few who were cognizant of the 
Haldimand negotiations, but his patriotism 
was never questioned," says Walton. He 
died March 3, 1813, and tliere are some of 
his descendants still at EJennington. 

HAZELTINE, JOHN, of Townshend, was 
one of the early and most trusted patriots on 
the east side of the mountain. He came to 
Townshend from Upton, Mass., soon after 
the first settlement in 1761. He was chair- 
man of the convention at Westminster, Oct. 
19, 1774, which resolved to "assist the peo- 
ple of Boston in defense of their liberties to 
the utmost of our abilities," and also chair- 
man of the convention of Feb. 7, following, 
which formed a standing committee of cor- 
respondence with the friends of independence 
in other colonies, and he was made, by order 
of the convention, custodian of all its papers. 
He was one of the committee appointed by 
the convention after the Westminster massa- 
cre to draw up resolutions of indignation 
and resistance to the authority of New York. 
He procured the signature of every man in 
Townshend to a pledge to maintain and dis- 
seminate the principles of American liberty. 
In May, 1775, he was appointed with Dr. 
Spooner and Major Williams a delegate from 
Cumberland county to the Provincial Con- 
gress and Convention of New York and 
attended, but remained only three days. He 
was the person to whom bonds with security 
were given by sundry of the persons who 
were arrested for participation in the West- 
minster massacre. This is only one of the 
evidences of the confidence in which the 
whigs held him. Another is the epithet 
"King Hazeltine" which John Grout, the 
pestilent Tory, bestowed on him. He died 
in the early part of 1777, owning about one- 
fourth of the land of Townshend. He was 
quite a land speculator, and his enemies used 
to tell amusing tales of the sharp methods by 
which he got his titles. 

FLETCHER, GEN. SAMUEL.— Judge, 
councilor and Revolutionary soldier, was 
born at Grafton, Mass., in 1745, served a 
year in the French and Indian war, married 



TOWNSHEND. 



JONES. 



67 



a daughter of Col. John Hazeltine, and gave 
up the blacksmith trade to which he had 
been trained, and moved to Townshend. 
He was one of the few men on the east side 
of the mountain active in the formation of 
the new state and was a member of the con- 
ventions of October, 1776, and January, 

1777. He was at the Bunker Hill fight as 
orderly sergeant, then was made captain of 
militia, was at the siege of Ticonderoga and 
the Bennington fight in 1777 and on the 
way to the former at the head of a party of 
thirteen, he attacked a British detachment 
of forty, killed one and took seven prisoners 
without the loss of a man himself. He was 
promoted to be major and continued in the 
service until after the surrender of Burgoyne. 
He was afterwards a brigadier and major 
general in the Vermont Militia, represented 
Townshend at the first session under the 
new government in 1778 and also in 1779. 
He was councilor from 1779 to 1790 and in 
1808, sheriff of Windham county from i 78S 
to 1S06, and judge of the county court in 

1778, 1783, 1784 and 1786. He was ap- 
pointed a judge of the superior court in 
1782 but refused to serve. He died Sept. 
15, 1 814. Physically he was a man of fine 
proportions and manly beauty, elegant in 
manners and bland and refined in deport- 
ment, while his intellectual equipment was 
strong and his courage, integrity and busi- 
ness capacity conceded. He was a fine 
writer and through much of his active life 
kept a journal, recording daily events of 
public importance, but it was unfortunately 
lost in the burning of the house of his son- 
in-law and executor. One of his daughters 
married Epaphroditus Ransom, afterwards 
Governor of Michigan. 

TOWNSHEND, MiCAH, for twenty-four 
years a lawyer at Brattleboro, Secretary of 
State i78i-'88, and the ablest and most 
trusted of the "Yorkers" in the early years 
of the controversy, was born at Cedar 
Swamp, Oyster Bay, L. I., May 13, 1749, 
graduated from Princeton in 1767, studied 
law in New York City, and first settled in 
practice at White Plains, N. Y. He was 
active among the young patriots there at the 
opening of the Revolution, clerk of the 
county committee of safety, and ca])tain of a 
company of militia to operate against the 
Tories. The destruction of the village of 
White Plains by fire caused him to start 
anew in life and to locate at Brattleboro, 
where, in August, 1778, he married Mary, 
daughter of Col. Samuel Wells. He was 
here in confidential correspondence with 
Governor Clinton, making a series of able 
and cool-headed reports on the condition of 
affairs and frequently being entrusted with 
important negotiations with the Vermont 
men. He was a delegate from Cumberland 



county to the New York .Assembly, and ex- 
erted a great influence there. He earnestly 
opposed the ])ro]iosal to divide the state on 
the mountain line with New Hampshire after 
the extraordinary exertion.s and sacrifices the 
people of his county had made to remain in 
New York, and his arguments were effective 
in dissuading New York from going into the 
scheme. 

Finally he became satisfied that New York 
could not maintain her claims, and gave in 
his adherence to the new state, which was 
quick to avail itself of his talents in public 
employment. Besides the secretaryship of 
state, he was judge and register of probate 
for Windham county from 1781 to '87. He 
resigned the former office in '88, and the 
Legislature, by resolution, " expressed the 
warmest sentiment of gratitude for the fidel- 
ity and skill " with which he had peformed 
its duties. Nathaniel Chipman regarded him 
as one of the ablest and most useful men the 
state had at this period. He served with Chip- 
man on the committee to frame the " quieting 
act." He was secretary of the council of 
censors for the first revision of the constitu- 
tion, and his promptness and skill with rec- 
ords, and his facility in phrasing legislative 
propositions made him almost indispensable 
to the times. He had a large and success- 
ful practice as a lawyer, was not renowned 
for oratory, but for the clear, cogent way he 
had of making his statements. He, how- 
ever, quitted the state and country in 1801, 
selling his Brattleboro property to Judge 
Tyler, and settling in Farnham, Que., on 
lands which the British government had 
granted his father-in-law for his Toryism, 
where he died, April 23, 1832. 

JONES, Dr. Reuben, of Rockingham 
and afterwards of Chester, was the earliest 
and perhaps the most active of the new state 
men on the east side of the mountains. He 
was active in stirring up the people to arrest 
the loyal court after the Westminster massa- 
cre, riding express and hatless to Dummer- 
ston on this errand. He gave history the 
answer to the misrepresentation of the offi- 
cial reports, with his "relation" of the affair. 
He was an efficient member of each of the 
Vermont conventions, beginning with that of 
Sept. 25, 1776, and being secretary of several 
of them. He represented Rockingham in 
the first four Legislatures and also Chester 
for one year. He was one of the most ar- 
dent and uncompromising whigs in the state. 
His later years were spent in deep po\erty 
and in dodging back and forth between New 
Hampshire and \'ermont to avoid imprison- 
ment for debt. Once when under arrest pop- 
ular sympathy forced his release, for which he 
and two friends were indicted in the W'intlsor 
county court. 



68 



SPAULDING. 



SPAULDING, Lieut. Leonard, of 

L)ummerston, shared with Dr. Jones the 
honor of being among the earliest leaders in 
this county of the new state men. He was 
born, probably in Rhode Island, (Jet. 28, 
1728, served in the French and Indian war 
and soon after its close settled in Putney and 
later for a few months in \\estmoreland, N. 
H. He was a member of all the conven- 
tions beginning with September, 1776, but 
for years before that he had been a headlong 
agitator against both royal and New York 
authority, and had built up a strong popular 
following. It was early when he shocked 
pious people by denouncing the King as 
"Pope of Canada" because of the Quebec 
bill. In 1 77 1 while he was a resident of 
Putney some of his property had been seized 
under a judgment of a York court, and a 
large party crossed the river from New 
Hampshire and rescued it by force. In 1774, 
after he had come to Dummerston, he was 
arrested and imprisoned at \\'estminster for 
high treason in speaking disrespectfully of 
the King, and it is related that it required 
three or four Yorkers to arrest him. .\ meet- 
ing of indignation was held at Dummerston 
the next day to denounce " the ravages of 
the British tyrant and his New York and other 
emissaries." A large body of men formed 
from that town, Putney, Halifax and Draper 
and proceeded to \\'estminster a few days 
later and forcibly released him. He was once 
arraigned before the county committee for the 
arrest and imprisonment of Col. Sam Wells, 
which in the excess of his patriotic zeal he 
had effected at the head of a body of fol- 
lowers. But his penalty w-as only a require- 
ment of apology to the Tory leader, which he 
made. He was the first man in Dummers- 
ton to shoulder his gun and start for West- 
minster for the fight of March 13, 1775. He 
joined the Re\olutionary army as soon as hos- 
tilites broke out, served through most of the 
war, gained a captain's commission, was in 
the battle of Bennington and was wounded 
in the batde of White Plains, Oct. 28, 1776. 
He represented Dummerston in the General 
Assembly in 1778, 'Si, '84, '86, and '87. He 
died July 17, 1788, aged fifty-nine. 

PHELPS, Charles.— The first lawyer 
to settle upon the grants, in 1764, one of 
the leaders in the organization of Cumber- 
land county, and the most unbending of all 
the "Yorkers," though a supporter of the 
Revolution, was born at Northampton, Mass., 
.'\ugust 15, 1717, of a family which had con- 
tained John Phelps, private secretary of 
Oliver Cromwell. He was one of the orig- 
inal grantees of Marlboro under New Hamp- 
shire authority, and he petitioned unsuc- 
cessfully for a confirmation of the charter 
by New York, but nevertheless supported 



New York authority with a courage and 
devotion that were pathetic in the sacrifices 
and suffering it caused him, but with an ec- 
centricity that indicated the twist of mind 
that after events made only too evident. 
"Vile ^'ermonters" was his regular epithet 
for the great men of the new state. For a 
time after the \\'estminster massacre, when 
New York and royal authoritv appeared to 
be identical, he was in revolt against both, 
and was on the committee that framed reso- 
lutions of denunciation. At one time also 
he intrigued industriously for the annexa- 
tion of the state to Massachusetts, declaring 
that he regarded the authority of New York 
as composed of "as corrupt a set of men as 
were out of hell," and that he would as "soon 
put manure in his pocket as a commission 
from New York" — though he held such com- 
missions for a good share of his life. But 
this aberration was short-lived, and he was 
soon engaged again in fighting New York 
fights. 

Twice, in 1779 and 17S2, he appeared 
before Congress, first as a delegate from the 
Yorkers of Cumberland county, and last on 
his own responsibility, to oppose the recog- 
nition of the new state, and he stuck to the 
latter mission, penniless, hungry, and almost 
freezing at one time, an actual object of 
charity from the New York delegates, until, 
by his " persistence, zeal, craftiness, and 
finesse," as Jay describes it, he thought, as 
was the general idea, that he had won in the 
resolution from Congress, ordering " full and 
ample restitution " to be made to the New 
York adherents who had been arrested or 
imprisoned, or had their property confis- 
cated, and declaring the purpose of Congress 
to enforce a compliance with this demand ; 
but he found when he reached Vermont that 
these resolves were treated with as much in- 
difference as the edicts of New York. It 
was while on this mission that he wrote 
his trenchant pamphlet, " Vermonters Lln- 
masked." 

He was jailed in January, 1784, his prop- 
erty ordered to be sold for the benefit of the 
state, and even his law books given to Nath. 
Chipman and Micah Townshend to pay for 
their services in revising the laws of the 
state. But his petition for pardon and re- 
mission of sentence, on taking the oath of 
allegiance, brought a resolution of the Legis- 
lature in October, 1 784, restoring such prop- 
erty as had not been sold for the benefit of 
the state. One of the reasons given for this 
clemency was his fidelity to the whig cause. 
But his allegiance was only nominal. He 
remained to the end intensely opposed in 
feeling to the new state, and he dated his 
last will at " New Marlborough, in the county 
of Cumberland and state of New York." 
He died in April, 1 789, at the age of seventy- 



A GROUP OK TORIES. 



69 



three. Among his descendants have been 
some exceptionally able men, but all, in the 
early generations at least, showing often to 
the point of insanity, the mental eccentrici- 
ties that became so marked in his later years. 
His oldest son, Solomon, a graduate of Har- 
vard and a lawyer and preacher of fine 
powers, committed suicide at the age of 
forty-eight, 'limothy, his third son, a man 
of great energy of character and steadfast- 
ness of opinion, and sheriff of Cumberland 
county under New York authority, ])assed 
his later years with darkened mind. 

John I'helps, son of Timothy and grandson 
of Charles, was register of probate, state sena- 
tor and councilor in 1831 and 1832. Other 
descendants have been : John Phelps, of 
Guilford, son of Timothy, who was state 
councilor in 1831 and 1S32, his son Charles 
E. Phelps, congressman from Maryland and 
brigadier-general of the Union army ; Judge 
Charles I'helps, of Townshend, who was 
councilor in i820,-'2i,-'22, and his son, the 
late Judge James H. Phelps, of Townshend ; 
Gen. John W. Phelps, the author, scholar and 
accomplished soldier, who entered the war 
with such brilliant prospects which were 
blasted by his quarrel with Butler and his in- 
sistance on emancipation of negroes in 
Louisiana before the administration was 
ready for that measure, and who was the 
anti-Masonic candidate for President in i 780. 
Except for a young son of General Phelps, 
the male line of the family is now extinct. 

ENOS, Gen. Roger.— One of the few 
men in the secret of the Haldimand corres- 
pondence, and Vermont's military com- 
mander through that trying period, was born 
at Simsbury, Conn., in 1729. He was in 
the colonial service, and in the French and 
Indian war, being promoted to be an en- 
sign in 1760, an adjutant in 1761, and a 
captain in Col. Israel Putnam's regiment in 
1764. He also took part in the Havana 
campaign of 1762. He was afterwards a 
member of the commission to survey lands 
in the Mississippi valley. He promjjtly 
took the side of the patriots at the outbreak 
of the Revolution and had command of the 
rear guard of .Arnold's expedition against 
Quebec. He left it, however, with a siz- 
able detachment, in order to avoid starva- 
tion, as he claimed. He was afterwards 
courtmartialed under a charge of cowardice 
in this action but was honorably acquitted. 
He was lieutenant-colonel of the 16th Con- 
necticut regiment in 1776, and colonel of 
another regiment in 177 r' '9- In 17S1 he 
came to ^'ermont, settling at Enosburg, 
which was named after him, and his inti- 
macy with the Vermont leaders, so many of 
whom had come from Connecticut, at once 
gave him a prominent position. He was 



that year appointed brigadier-general in com- 
mand of all the \'ermont troops and was at 
the head of the army that was pretending to 
resist the invasion from Canada. In 1787 
he was appointed major-general of the First 
Division of the militia but resigned in 1791, 
after thirty-two years of nearly continuous 
military service. He was a member of the 
Vermont board of war from 1781 to 1792, 
served several terms in the General .As- 
sembly, was a trustee of the Vermont Uni- 
versity, a member of the commission to 
adjust the trouble with New Hampshire, and 
of the committee to consider to resolutions 
of Congress for the admission of the state to 
the Union. His daughter married Ira .Allen 
and his son, Pascal Paoli, was one of the 
four proprietors of the original site of 
Springfield, 111. 

A GROUP OF TORIES.— .As before 
stated, notwithstanding the peculiar situation 
of the state, outside of the Union, or recog- 
nition with the other colonies, an independ- 
ent republic, having to maintain herself by 
her own efforts, Vermont contained fewer 
Tories and British sympathizers than any 
other part of .America. 

Perhaps the most distinguished of these 
was the one who played only a brief part 
either in Vermont or on earth after the Rev- 
olution began. 

Crean Brush came to this country about 
1762, from Ireland, where he had evidently 
had quite a career, being educated as a 
lawyer and having held a commission in the 
military service. He first settled in New 
York City, was for several years assistant 
under the deputy secretary of the province 
and having by his connection obtained large 
grants of land in this section, came to West- 
minster in 1 77 1, was appointed clerk of 
Cumberland county, obtained a large law 
practice, and cut a big figure among the 
high-toned and arrogant loyalists. He and 
Col. Samuel \Yells were elected, in 1773, as 
representatives from the county to the (Gen- 
eral .Assembly of New York, where Brush 
became a leader in the advocacy of all min- 
isterial measures, fighting against the meas- 
ures of Schuyler, ^Voodhall, and the leading 
patriots, and made the report offering a re- 
ward for the head of Ethan .Allen— whom his 
step-daughter afterwards wedded — and the 
other Vermont patriots. 

When hostilities broke out Brush offered 
his services to General Gage at P.oston, and 
was employed in removing goods from the 
buildings where Gage wished to take winter 
quarters. He improved the opportunity for 
pillage and plunder of the merchants and 
people by the wholesale, packed a ship with 
goods he had seized under his commission, 
and calculated to make himself wealthy. 



70 



A GROUP OF TORIES. 



J ROUP OF TORIES. 



But the ship fell into the hands of an Ameri- 
can cruiser, and Brush and some of his fellow 
plunderers were thrown into jail at Boston, 
but he finally escaped by the time-honored 
device of donning his wife's apparel, when 
she came to visit him. He made his way to 
the British quarters at New York, but met 
little but contempt from Lord Howe, and 
living in poverty and neglect for several 
months, finally blew his brains out in an 
apartment house. His large estate in Ver- 
mont was confiscated to the use of the state, 
his name being included in the 12S specified 
by a legislative act as Tories. 

Samuel Adams formed a company of 
Tories from Arlington, Sandgate and Man- 
chester, to co-operate with Pkirgoyne. 

Capt. Jehial Hawley, the founder of ."Xrl- 
ington, connected by marriage with the 
Warners, a leader among the settlers against 
New York, though peaceful and a non-com- 
batant, was strongly royalist in sympathy, 
and took refuge with Burgoyne, and died 
on Lake Champlain while on his way to 
Canada. He had several sons who took the 
same side, and one of them, Eli, helped con- 
vey the correspondence between Canada 
and the Vermont authorities, and believed 
to the day of his death that the Vermont 
leaders really wanted to form a British 
colony. He often pointed out the "Raven 
Rock," where he had a midnight interview 
with Governor Chittenden on one of these 
trips. 

Camp James Hard from Arlington, held 
a commission in the British army. Zodack, 
his brother, was a loyalist in principle but 
took no active part in the war, though he is 
said to have secreted and fed the loyalists 
who came to him for shelter, and he was 



always generous and hospitable. He was 
several times arrested and hea\ily fined by 
the patriot authorities. 

Noah Sabin, of Putney, a native of Reho- 
both, Mass., was the judge whose insistence on 
holding the court when Chief Justice Chand- 
ler was inclined to temporize, led to the West- 
minister massacre. His thorough-going con- 
scientiousness, his conception of his duty to 
the Crown, from which he held his commis- 
sion, led him to this course. He was impris- 
oned for some time after the affair. He was, 
in the first years of the Revolution, strongly 
attached to the Crown, and so strong was 
the whig feeling against him that he was 
confined to his farm in 1776 by order of the 
committee of safety, with permission gi\en 
to anybody to shoot him if seen beyond its 
limits, and he was refused communion at 
church. Finally, after a period of indecision, 
he took the side of the colonies and de- 
veloped into quite an earnest patriot. He 
was elected judge of probate for Windham 
county, 1 781, and though suspended for a 
few months because of the suspicions of his 
loyalty, was soon reinstated and continued 
to serve until 1801. He died March 10, 
181 1, aged ninety-six. He was a man of 
large mental power, superior education for 
his times, and of indisputable integrity. 

Col. James Rogers of Kent ( now London- 
derry), who had been a prominent man of 
that section, was offered the office of briga- 
dier-general of militia by New York, but 
refused it " upon political principles." He 
afterwards became an avowed Tory and left 
the country, and his property was confis- 
cated, though the Legislature in i 797 restored 
to his son, James Rogers, Jr., all the lands 
that had not been sold. 



THE GOVERNORS. 

'I'he following is a complete list of the ( lovernors of Vermont, with the dates of service. 
Biographical sketches of the entire list are given on the following pages, with exceptions noted . 



*Thomas Chittenden, 


1789-90 


SilasH.Jennison(3), 


1835-36 


Paul Dillingham, 


1865-67 


*"Moscs Robinson, 


bilas H. Jennison, 
Charles Paine, 


.836-41 


John B. Page, 


1867-69 


*Thomas Chittenden, 


1790-97 


■8i.-43 


Peter T. Washburn, 


1869-70 


Paul Brigham (s). 




John Mattocks, 


1843-44 


fOcorge W. Hendee (5), 


.870 


•,- .. ■''"^- =5 '" 


Oct. 16, 1797 


William Sladc, 


1844-46 


tjohn W. Stewart, 


1870-72 


Isaac lichcnor. 


1797-1807 


Horace Eaton, 


1846-48 


Julius Converse, 


1872-74 


Israel Smith, 


1807-08 


Carlos Coolidge, 


1S48-50 


Asahel Peck. 


1874-76 


Isaac Tichenor, 


1808-09 


Charles K. Williams, 


1850-52 


Horace Fairbanks, 


1876-78 


Jonas C^ilusha, 


1809-13 


Erastus Fairbanks, 


.852-53 


tRedfield Proctor, 


T878-80 


Martin Chittenden, 


1813-15 


*John S. Robinson, 


i853-i4 


tRoswell Farnham, 


1880 82 


lonas Galusha, 
Richard Skinner, 


1815-20 


Stephen Royce, 


1854-56 


tJohn L. Barstow, 


1882-84 


1820-23 


Rylaiul Fletcher, 


1856-58 


tSamuel E. Pingrce, 


1S84-86 


Cornelius P. Van Xess, 


1823-26 


Hiland Hall, 


1858-60 


tEbenczer J. Ormsbce. 


1886-88 


Ezra Butler, 


1826-28 


Erastus Fairbanks, 


1860-61 


tW.lli.tm P. Dillingham, 


1888-90 


Samuel C. Crafts, 


1828-31 


tFredcrick Holbrook, 


1861-63 


tCarrol S. Page, 


1890-92 


William A. Palmer, 


1811-35 


J. Gregory Smith, 


1863-65 


tLevi K. Fuller, 


1892-94 



* Biographical sketch will be found among " The Fathers." f Biographical sketch 

(2) Lieutenant Governor, acting Governor on the death of Governor Chittenden. 

(3) Lieutenant-Ciovernor, Governor by reason of no election of Governor by the people. 
(5) Lieutenant-Governor, Governor bv reason of the death of Governor Washburn. 



'ill be found in Part II. 




BRIGHAM, Paul.— For twenty-one 
years Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of 
the state and a 
few months, in 
jt, • 797) the acting 

ff' Ct o V e r n o r , a 

M^ — ^ -■ Revolutionary 

^0^. ^T^ soldier, state 

councilor for five 
years, and ma- 
jor-general of 
the state militia, 
was born at Cov- 
entry, Conn., 
Jan. 17, 1746. 
He early devel- 
oped military 
capacity, and rose in the militia of his native 
state, through every intermediate position, 
from the ranks to a captaincy, at the age of 
twenty-eight. When the Revolution broke 
out he had been captain long enough to be 
exempt from military duty, but he went 
promptly into active service with his com- 
pany, in Colonel Chandler's regiment of 
McDougall's brigade in the Continental ser- 
vice, fought at Cermantown, Monmouth and 
Mud Island, and was in the service three 
years. 

In I 781 he joined the tide of adventurous 
spirits from Connecticut to Vermont, and 
settled with his family at Norwich. Here 
again he became active in militia services, 
passing through every grade until he became 
a major-general. He and Samuel Fletcher, 
Isaac Tichenor and Ira .Alien commanded 



the four divisions of the state in 1794, at the 
time President Washington ordered detach- 
ments of minute men to be formed, accord- 
ing to the act of Congress of that year. He 
rapidly rose to prominence in Windsor 
county, being successively elected high sher- 
iff, judge of probate, assistant judge and 
chief judge of Windsor county court. He 
represented Norwich in the Ceneral Assem- 
bly in 1783, 1786 and 1791, and was a dele- 
gate to the Constitutional Conventions of 
1793, 1814 and 1822. In 1792 he was 
elected councilor and five times re-elected, 
until in 1796 he was elevated to the lieuten- 
ant-governorship. During his service on 
the council he was prominent in the state 
bank and state prison controversies, and with 
John White and Nathaniel Niles was a mem- 
ber of the committee that reported the com- 
promise bill for the banks in 1806. In 1792 
he was a Washington presidential elector. 

The quality of his service as Lieutenant- 
Governor is illustrated by the remarkable 
way he held on through all the ups and 
downs of party politics in the state. He was 
re-elected regularly with Governor Tichenor 
years after the Jeffersonians had got a major- 
ity in the state, and when in 1807 Tichenor 
was defeated by the Democratic Israel .Smith 
for Governor, Brigham was still elected 
Lieutenant-Governor. So it was when 
Tichenor was returned in 180S, and still 
again when Tichenor was overthrown by 
Galusha in 1809. Brigham started out a 
Federalist, but gradually drifted in his sym- 
pathies towards the Jeffersonians, and when 
the Federalists got atop again for a short 



72 



TICHENOR. 



TICHENOR. 



time in 1 8 13-'! 4 they defeated Brigham as 
well as Galusha for re-election. But the 
fight was a close as well as a hot one, and 
in neither year was there a choice by the 
people, and the election went to the Legis- 
lature and the Federalists only won, in 1S13, 
by tactics that bore more than a suspicion of 
dishonesty. But with the return of the 
Jeffersonians in 1815, Brigham was again 
elected Lieutenant-Governor, and success- 
ively re-elected until 1820, when at the age 
of seventy-four, together with his great party 
chieftain, Governor Galusha, he declined re- 
election. 

He died, June 15, 1824, after a few years 
of happy and easeful retirement, deepened 
in its enjoyment by the consciousness of 
duty long and well done, and by the consola- 
tion of a religious faith which had gaited 
and ennobled his whole career. 

TICHENOR, ISAAC— rhe third Gover- 
nor of the state ; 
for six years a 
judge of the Su- 
p r e m e Court, 
,;_ twice a LTnited 

States senator 
and the Federal- 
ist leader for a 
number of years, 
was a resident of 
the state all 
through her ex- 
istence as an in- 
dependent re- 
public, but 
came on the 
stage of political 
activity only towards the close of that inter- 
esting period. He was born at Newark, N. 
J., Feb. S, 1754, and graduated from Prince- 
ton College in 1775 under the presidency of 
Dr. \\'itherspoon and for whom he always had 
the utmost consideration. He studied law 
at Schenectady, N. Y., where he was in 1777 
appointed an assistant to Commissary Gen- 
eral Cuyler in buying supplies for the north- 
ern department. It was on this duty that he 
came to Bennington in the summer of that 
year and remained there and in that vicinity 
collecting the supplies whose accumulation 
tempted the fatal expedition of Burgoyne. 
Tichenor had just left, August 13, with a 
drove of cattle for Albany when the tidings 
of that expedition were received. He re- 
turned by way of Williamstown, reaching the 
field at dusk on the evening of the i 7th after 
the fighting had ceased. 

He then decided to settle in Bennington, 
and this was his home when not in actual 
service in the commissary department. In 
the line of his duty he incurred heavy pecuni- 
ary responsibilities, which embarrassed him 




through a large part of his life. About the 
close of the war he began the practice of 
law there. He was town representative in 
i78i-'82-'83-'84, speaker of the House in 
17S3, and an agent to Congress in 1782. 
In that year he was also sent by the Legis- 
lature to Windham county to urge the claims 
of the new state on the people, and quell the 
disturbances there, and the mission had con- 
siderable effect, though severer measures had 
to be taken later. He was a commissioner 
under the act of 1789 to determine the terms 
of settlement with New York. 

He had been steadily growing in reputa- 
tion among the \'ermont leaders, and the 
peculiar value of his services with his plausi- 
ble, persuasive ways added much to his 
prominence. He was a judge of the Supreme 
Court from 1791 to 1796, and chief justice 
the last two years, when, on the resignation 
of Senator Moses Robinson, he was chosen 
to fill out the latter's term. He was re- 
elected the next year for a full term of six 
years, but he was also elected Governor 
that fall, and resigned the senatorship to 
accept. He had then become the recog- 
nized Federalist leader of the state, and 
the canvass for the governorship was a 
sharp one. The retirement of Governor 
Chittenden had loosed the restraint partisan- 
ship had felt. The result was no choice by 
the people for Governor, but Tichenor was 
elected by the Legislature by a large ma- 
jority. He served eleven years in all as 
Governor, being steadily re-elected every 
year until 1809, except 1807, when he was 
defeated by the Democrats under the leader- 
ship of Israel Sinith ; so strong had he be- 
come that he was re-elected several years 
after his party had got into a minority. 

He was in 1814 again elected Senator to 
Congress, serving six years, until March 3, 
182 I, when with the complete obliteration of 
his party from American politics he retired 
to private life, after a public service filling 
thirty-eight out of the forty-four years be- 
tween 1777 and 1821. He died Dec. 11, 
1S38, at the age of eighty-fotir and leaving 
no descendants. 

Governor Hall measures him compactly 
as a man of " good private character, of 
highly respectable talents and acquirements, 
of remarkably fine personal appearance, of 
accomplished manners and insinuating ad- 
dress." So marked was his make-up in the 
latter particular as to earn for him the 
sobriquet of " Jersey Slick," which stuck to 
him all through his career. But though he 
had these qualities, perhaps to the point of 
fault, it would be a great mistake to suppose 
that he had not solid merit beneath his 
smooth exterior, even beyond what Governor 
Hall credits as "respectable talents." It 
was a clear head and a strong will that he 



73 



carried on his shoulders. With all his poli- 
tician arts he was a real statesman. It was 
on the state's prison issue largely, that he 
defeated Governor Smith for re-election in 

1808, but he had strongly recommended 
such an institution in 1803, got a bill through 
the Legislature for it, and had the prepara- 
tory steps taken under his administration, 
and in his message after his return to power 
did not hesitate to commend it as a " hu- 
mane and benevolent " idea, and urge 
measures to carry it into "complete effect." 
His messages were often strongly tinctured 
with Federalist doctrine, but so skillfully 
phrased that the able young Republicans in 
the Legislature found it hard to find any 
effective point on which to join issue. A 
strong proof of his popularity was alTorded 
in 1799, when the Legislature by a unani- 
mous vote adopted a resolution of thanks, 
whose author, L'dney Hay, was the leader 
of the opposition in the House, for the 
" happy and speedy " settlement he had 
effected with Canada of the difficulty over 
the arrest by American officers on British 
soil, and the subsequent accidental death, 
but alleged murder, of John Griggs. The 
event has " increased, if possible," so the 
resolution read, " the very high esteem we 
have ever entertained of your patriotism, 
your candour, your abilities, your integrity." 
His high courtesy and genuine kindliness of 
character were shown by the letter of con- 
gratulation he wrote after his defeat in 

1809, to his successful competitor. Governor 
Galusha, tendering "in great sincerity, my 
best services in any matter that shall relate 
to the duties of your office or shall have a 
tendency to promote the interests of our 
country." 

Governor Hall tells a couple of anecdotes 
that are illuminating. He had an art, some- 
times too obvious, of ingratiating himself 
into favor. While traveling in a distant part 
of the state he contrived to pass the resi- 
dence of a farmer of great influence in his 
town, who had formerly supported him for 
Governor, but who was now supposed to be 
wavering. On his approach to the place he 
discovered the farmer at some distance 
building stone wall by the road side. Leav- 
ing his carriage the Governor began to 
examine the wall with great care and earnest- 
ness, looking over and along both sides of it 
and exhibiting signs of excessive admiration. 
On coming within speaking distance the 
Governor exclaimed, with much ap]iarent 
emotion : " Bless me, friend, what a beauti- 
ful and noble wall you are building — I don't 
believe there is another equal to it in the 
state." "Yes, Governor," was the reply of 
the farmer, " it's a very good wall to be sure, 
but I can't vote for you this year." 



He was quite a s|)ortsman and delighted 
to range the mountains hunting and fishing 
until the feebleness of age prevented. Once 
he laid a wager with a companion with 
whom he was out fishing, as to which would 
catch the most trout. (Jn weighing the fish 
at Landlord Dewey's the Governor was 
found to have lost the bet, which he readily 
paid, though considerably disappointed. " I 
don't see," said he to his friend M., " how 
your trout should weigh the most, mine cer- 
tainly looks the largest, and besides I filled 
it full of gravel stones." " .Ah, Governor," 
said his friend, " I was too much for you 
this time, I stuffed mine with shot.' 

SMITH, Israel, the fourth Governor, 
judge, congressman and senator, the first 
popular favorite of the young 1 )emocrats of 
the state, and a fine specimen of the politi- 
cian of the early days, was also a native of 
Connecticut, born at Sheffield, April 4, 1759. 
He graduated from Vale in 1781, and two 
years later settled at Rupert, where he was 
admitted to the bar. He represented that town 
in the General Assembly in 1785, '88, '89 and 
'90, and became prominent in the affairs of the 
state during the latter part of its period of 
independence. He was one of the com- 
mission in '89 to close the controversy with 
New York, and a member of the convention 
in '91 that ratified the federal constitution 
preparatory to the admission of the state 
into the Linion. In this year he moved to 
Rutland. He was immediately elected one 
of the first representatives in Congress from 
the western district of the state, and was re- 
elected several times, when in 1797 he was 
at last defeated by Matthew Lyon, who had 
twice before contested the election with him. 
He and Lyon were both identified with the 
leffersonian party, though Lyon was far the 
more rabid, and the Federalist element of 
the district supported a third candidate. But 
he was that fall elected to the Legislature 
from Rutland, and the Republicans being in 
a majority he was elected chief justice of the 
Supreme Court. But he held the ]3osition 
only one term ; for the next year came a re- 
turn of Federalist control, and the " Yer- 
gennes slaughter-house," when every position 
in the state within reach was made party spoils. 
In 1 80 1, he was again elected to the chief 
justiceship but declined it. He was that fall 
the Republican candidate for tJovernor 
against 'I'ichenor but was defeated. He was, 
however, again elected representative to 
Congress and at the end of the term elected 
Senator over Chipman. 

In 1S07 the Democratsor Republicans were 
finally able to overcome for a short time the 
great popularity of Governor Tichenor and 
elected Mr. Smith Governor. He resigned 
his seat in the Senate to accept the place. 



74 



His inaugural address, tliough most courteous 
to Inis defeated opponent, for his "urbanity 
and unassuming administration," was breezy 
witii liealtliful new ideas. He laid down the 
good Democratic truth, that "the end of all 
government is to teach each individual of 
the community the necessity of self-govern- 
ment." He urged a measure whose import- 
ance is only just beginning to be realized to- 
day, for state supervision of highways, like that 
of schools. He argued that the two subjects 
were equally of "^•ery general concern," and 
that the state was entitled to be "officially 
informed how far and in what manner" laws 
about them were carried into effect. He 
ably discussed ptmitive problems, urged the 
abolition of all cor])oral punishment and 
the substitution of confinement at hard labor, 
"to initiate the culprit into a habit of useful 
industry, and as a method peculiarly suited 
to an advanced state of society where the 
arts abound." His discussion would be a 
good text for prison reformers today. His 
influence was exerted strongly to secure the 
construction of the state's prison. But these 
good ideas were the cause of his political 
undoing. The farmers of the state were too 
accustomed to government of the utmost fru- 
gality to welcome such plans, and though the 
Democrats had now secured an easy ascend- 
ing in the state and cast its electoral vote for 
Madison that fall. Smith was defeated for re- 
election by Tichenor, after a hard fought 
campaign, by a jjlurality of 859 and majority 
of 432. 

Soon after his health began to fail, and he 
died at Rutland, Dec. 2, 1810, aged fifty-one. 
His son, William Donaglas Smith, a graduate 
of iNIiddlebury, and a lawyer, was clerk of 
the House of Representatives from 1809 
until his death, Feb. 22, 1822, at the age of 
thirty-six. (;o\ernor Smith was a brother of 
Noah Smith, who also came to Vermont soon 
after his graduation, became state's attorney 
for Cumberland, then for Bennington county, 
judge of county and Supreme Courts, U. S. 
collector of internal revenue, and coun- 
cilor. 

Little that Governor Smith wrote besides 
his one inaugural address has come down to 
present times. But he was conceded to be 
a man of fine talents and high ideas, of 
"amiable candor," one cotemporary says, 
and of "inflexible integrity" as another de- 
scribes him. "He was a noble-looking man, 
and got the name of the handsome judge." 
He was a great admirer of the principles on 
which the French Revolution was based in 
its earlier and nobler days, and was at that 
time one of the Republicans who gloried in 
the charge of being French sympathizers. 




GALUSHA, Jonas, Revolutionary sol- 
dier, sheriff, 
judge, Governor, 
for forty years in 
continuous pub- 
lic service, the 
Democratic 
leader who led 
his party into as- 
cendency that 
lasted for nearly 
a generation, and 
one of the most 
interesting per- 
sonalities of our 
whole history, 
was born at Nor- 
wich, Conn., Feb. 
II, 1753, and came to Shaftsbury in 1775. 
He was captain of one of the town's two 
militia companies, commanded them both in 
the battle of Bennington, and saw much ac- 
tive service from 1777 to '80. He was by 
occupation a farmer and inn-keeper, and his 
first political office was that of sheriff of 
Bennington county from 17S1 to '87, and as 
such he did prompt and efficient work in 
preventing Shay's men during their rebellion 
in Massachusetts from making Vermont soil 
a base of operations. He was elected state 
councilor in 1793, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98, and 
again in 1801, '02, '03, '04 and '05, and 
judge of the county court in 1795, '96, and 
'97, and again in 1800, '01, '02, '03, '04, '05 
and '06. He had, as soon as the national 
jiarties developed in politics, become an 
ardent Democrat, and the recognized leader 
of the party in state politics. After the de- 
feat of Governor Smith by Tichenor in 1808, 
Galusha was made the next Republican can- 
didate and elected, by a vote of 14,583 to 
13,467 for Tichenor, and 498 scattering, and 
re-elected in 1810, 'i i and '12, and again in 
1815, '16, 'i 7, '18 and '19, a service of nine 
years. 

His party was rapidly increasing in strength 
and aggressiveness until the New England 
feeling against the embargo and the war of 
181 2 produced a reaction, and he failed of a 
majority in the election in 18 13, getting 16,- 
S2S votes, to 16,532 for Martin Chittenden 
and 625 scattering. This sent the election 
to the Legislature where the vote was a tie, 
and where after a long struggle Chittenden 
was elected, and the Democrats claimed that 
the state "was stolen." The result turned 
on the vote of Colchester, which if counted 
would elect the three 1 )emocratic councilors 
and if rejected would elect the three F'eder- 
alists. The House was Federalist and the 
Council Democratic. The House appointed a 
canvassing committee which rejected the Col- 
chester returns, on the ground that other Uni- 



ted States troops had voted there in company 
with those from this state in the national ser- 
vice who were allowed under the act of 1812 
to vote in any town in the state where they 
might hapi^en to be. There was violent dis- 
pute over the facts and also over the consti- 
tutional power to canvass the votes. The 
constitution made the House the judge of the 
election and qualifications of its members ; 
but it had no such power over the members 
of the Coimcil nor was the latter body given 
any ])ower to determine the election of its 
members. In other words the power rested 
expressly nowhere and the House assumed 
it. But for this returning board action the 
Democrats would ha\e controlled the joint 
Assembly and re-elected (lovernor (Jalusha 
and Lieutenant-Governor Brigham ; as it was, 
that body was just a tie. The council pro- 
tested and insisted that the Colchester votes 
should be counted, that the Asseml)ly refused 
a reading to the report. Finally the ballot- 
ing in the Legislature, greatly to the astonish- 
ment of the Democrats, showed 1 12 votes for 
("hittenden and iii for Calusha.and the lat- 
ter was declared elected. Two days later the 
Democrats offered to show by the oaths 
of one hundred and twelve members that 
they had voted for (lalusha, so that there 
was an error or fraud in the result as de- 
clared, and therefore they asked that the 
first vote be counted as naught, and another 
one taken. A long debate ensued, but 
before a conclusion was reached Chittenden 
and ("hamberlain appeared in the House 
and council, took the oaths of office and 
Chittenden delivered his speech. The truth 
probably was as developed later, that one of 
the Democratic assemblymen was bribed to 
withhold his vote. 

Notwithstanding this scaly \ictory, the 
feeling over the war ran so high that the 
Federalists won again in 18 14 by a narrow 
margin. The popular vote was : C'hittenden, 
17,466; Galusha, 17,411; scattering, 451. 
But the Federalists had a stiff majority in 
the Legislature and elected Chittenden again 
by a vote of 123 to 94, and ('hamlierlain by 
a still larger majority. But the next year 
witnessed a merited revolution on both state 
and national lines, (lalusha defeated Chit- 
tenden handsomely at the ])olls, 18,055 to 
16,632. 'Ihe next year the Federalists made 
Samuel Strong their candidate and were 
worse whipped, 17,262 to 13,888. In 181 7 
the Federalists tried Tichenor again for a 
candidate and were beaten almost two to 
one, 13,756 to 7,430. By 1819 there was 
no organized opposition to ( ialusha left, less 
than 3,000 votes being cast for v'arious can- 
didates against him, and the bulk of these 
for other Democrats, W. C. Bradley and 
Dudley Chase. 



GAI.USIIA. 75 

Governor Galusha was well qualified to 
bring about such a state of affairs. A plain 
farmer without jjretending to scholastic at- 
tainments, but with commanding native 
abilities, his thoroughly democratic man- 
ners and habits of thought ap])ealed strongly 
to a constituency of yeomen. .\ resolute 
fighter and skillful campaigner, he had too 
generous a nature to be mean or vindictive 
and too jihilo.sophic a bent of mind to fail 
to see beyond personal interests and feelings 
to the larger forces involved in jjolitics. 
l'"ervently jiatriotic, his voice and thought 
naturally headed the sweep of sentiment 
that followed the peace after the last war 
with (Ireat Britain, while his c:omprehen- 
sive understanding and his humble, nay, 
even religious devotion of the best there was 
in him to the service of his fellowmen made 
him a most useful legislator and adminis- 
trator, though never very original or sug- 
gestful of new ideas. 

It is impossible to read his inaugiiral 
addresses, elo(iuent with the intensity of 
sincerity, without comprehending in some 
measure the sources of his ])ower. For in- 
stance, on his accession to power in i8og, 
after one of the most heated struggles, there 
was not a word of bitterness toward his ad- 
versaries, no epithet worse than "misguided" 
for the "spirit of discord and disunion" 
that had been so ramjiant in New Kngland, 
no expression but of " gratitude to Heaven " 
that the " efforts of foreign emissaries and 
domestic traitors" had "failed to distract 
and divide us," and no hope worse than 
that " the talents, the wisdom and the ener- 
gies of the states " might now be united, 
and citizens soon " lay aside all party feel- 
ings and become united like a band of 
brothers." The address was Jeffersonian, 
alike in the shrewdness with which it was 
[jhrased and the warmth of its faith in human 
good. He had a kindly word to say of the 
new state's prison as "an humane and bene- 
ficent institution," but he wanted a strict 
in(|uiry made into the exjaenditures for its 
erection. His message of 1S12 urged the 
laying aside of all party prejudices and unit- 
ing of the whole people in the common 
cause. In 1815, after all the heated struggles 
of the past two years, the only lesson he had 
to draw was that "during the calm," since 
the return of peace to the country, "we 
ought, by an indissoluble union, to be pre- 
l)ared for any storm that may arise." He 
pictured the triumph of ruthless despotism 
in every part of the Old World, and besought 
the ]ieople solemnly to remember that " of 
all the nations of the earth " they " alone 
were left to support a government whose 
basis is e(|ual liberty and whose sovereignty 
is the will of the people." 



76 



CHITTENDEN. 



CHITTENDEN. 



His message of 1817 alluded with satisfac- 
tion to the "wide and recent spiritual har- 
vest" in the state, in the shape of the great 
religious revival of that year, probably the 
only allusion of the kind ever made in any 
governor's message. He hailed with joy the 
revolutionary movements in South .America, 
and they stimulated for him beatific visions 
of the future of humanity. He urged, in 
1819, legislation to free the bodies of debtors 
from arrest and imprisonment on debts of 
small amount, being "of opinion that more 
money is spent in the collection of such 
debts than is saved by the collection," and 
arguing that it would be a benefit to "dis- 
courage credit." He advised the chartering 
of agricultural societies throughout the state, 
by "experiments, proper researches, and cor- 
respondence," to improve agriculture. He 
was always an earnest supporter and presi- 
dent of both societies. He died Sept. 24, 
1834, his last years, full of honor and con- 
tentment, having been passed in rural enjoy- 
ment at his Shafcsbury home. He was 
always profoundly religious in his methods 
of life, of thought and expression, but never 
joined any church, though he announced 
his intention of doing so at the age of sev- 
enty-nine, when he attended a protracted 
meeting at Manchester and took an active 
])art in the exercises. 

His first wife was Mary, daughter of Gov. 
Thomas Chittenden, and so sister of his 
strongest opponent in political life, and by 
her he had nine children — five sons and four 
daughters ; one of the former, Elon, became 
an eminent Baptist clergyman. 

He rarely failed in his messages to urge 
the encouragement of manufactures, and in 
that of 18 10 said : "I trust the time is not 
far distant when the citizens of these United 
States, instead of relying on foreign coun- 
tries for their clothing, will be able not only 
to supply their own wants, but to export 
every kind of cotton, if not woolen goods, 
and restore to the Union that portion of 
specie which has been drawn from us by the 
exclusive use of foreign manufactured goods." 

(iovernor Galusha retired from office with 
expressions of affection from the Legis- 
lature and the people, second only to those 
which had been bestowed on Thomas Chit- 
tenden. He was a presidential elector in 
1808, 1820 and 1824, and a member of the 
constitutional conventions of 18 14 and 1822. 

CHITTENDEN, MARTIN.— Second son 
of Gov. Thomas Chittenden, sixth (jovernor, 
and thirty years in the public service as 
judge, congressman and legislator, was born 
at Salisbury, Conn., March 12, 1769, and was 
liberally educated, graduating from Dart- 
mouth in 1 789. He inherited much of 




his father's aptitude for public affairs and 
many of his popular qualities, so that the 
very next year after his graduation in 1790, 
he was elected Jericho's representative and 
subsequently for eight years, and W'illiston's 
two years after 
he moved to that 
town. He was 
clerk of the Chit- 
tenden county 
court four years, 
judge ten years, 
judge of probate 
two years, and. a 
<lelegate to the 
' o n s t itutional 
ronventions of 
1791 and 1793. 
I le was elected a 
r e p r esentative 
in Congress in 
1 803 and four 
times re-elected, until his elevation to 
the governorship in 1813. The circum- 
stances of that election and suspicions 
surrounding it have been fully explained 
in the sketch of Governor Galusha. Ver- 
mont was the one New P^ngland state that 
had sustained the declaration of war in 1812, 
had cast her electoral vote for Madison, and 
the revolution of 181 3, though not accom- 
plished by the vote of the people, produced 
a deep sensation at the time, all the more 
aggravating because of the obvious unfair- 
ness and dishonesty that brought it about, 
unfairness in excluding the votes cast at Col- 
chester of the citizens who were defending 
the state — even though there were irregular- 
ities about it — and dishonesty somewhere, 
somehow in the final vote of the Legislature. 
His re-election in 18 14 bore no such stigma, 
though it had to be reached through the 
Legislature, there being no choice by the 
people but a plurality for Governor Galusha 
and the patriotic side. 

(>o\ernor Chittenden's administration was 
in the main in full sympathy with the anti- 
war element, though on the whole it may 
fairly be said to have been better in this 
respect than most of the New Kngland ad- 
ministrations, and the Vermont sentiment 
was generally better than that of the sea- 
board states. His address, in 18 13, argued 
that the "conquest of Canada of which so 
much has been said, if desirable at all," 
would be "poor compensation for the sacri- 
fices" that must be made, and in 1814 he 
reiterated his opinion that the war was "un- 
necessary, unwise and hopeless, in all its 
offensive operations." The minority of the 
House, 89 in the former year and 82 in the 
latter, under the lead of William .\. Griswold, 
solemnly entered their protest on the journal 



CHITTENDEN. 



77 



against such sentiments, and against the 
replies which the House had by a ]jartisan 
vote given to the (Governor in echo of his 
words. Governor Chittenden took the 
ground in both messages, the contempti- 
ble one that was then general with New 
England executives, that the militia could 
not be ordered out of the state for the com- 
mon defense, or to "repel invasion" of any 
e.xcept the state's territory. 

In November of that year, while a part of 
the 3d brigade of the 3d division of the 
state militia was about Plattsburg, " under the 
command and at the disposal of an officer 
of the United States, out of the jurisdiction 
or control of the executive of this state," 
Governor Chittenden issued a proclamation 
reciting this lugubrious situation, and the 
danger to "our own frontier," and com- 
manding the militia "forthwith to return " to 
their homes. 

The order was received with hot indigna- 
tion by the troops, the messenger who brought 
it was marched by force out of camp, and the 
officers united in a reply to the Governor 
declaring that " an invitation or order to 
desert the standard of our country will never 
be obeyed by us, although it proceeds from 
the Governor and captain-general of ^'er- 
mont." They told him flatly that the proc- 
lamation was, in their opinion, " a renewed 
instance of that spirit of disorganization and 
anarchy which is carried on by a faction, to 
overwhelm our country with ruin and dis- 
grace," and they told him that even the sol- 
diers of the line regarded it "with mingled 
emotions of pity and contempt for its author 
and as a striking monument of his folly." Prob- 
ably it was the most extraordinary military 
communication of its kind ever framed, and 
it was not altogether undeserved or without 
good effect ; for the next year when General 
Macomb wrote of the advance of the enemy 
again towards Plattsburg, and calling for "all 
the assistance in his power," Governor Chit- 
tenden promptly replied, that he would take 
"the most effectual measure to furnish such 
number of volunteers as may be induced to 
turn out." He insisted that he was not 
"authorized by the constitution or laws to 
order the militia out of the state," but could 
request them logo, and he " recommended" 
the officers to volunteer to go. The call was 
grandly responded to by the people, fathers, 
sons, and veterans of the Re^■olution, from 
all parts of the state, and the result was the 
glorious victory at Plattsburg. 

Chittenden could not help feeling the in- 
spiration, and as the British army, notwith- 
standing the failure of Provost's campaign, 
was hovering on our frontier, the Governor 
issued a proclamation, Sept. 14, exhorting 
the people to defense. "The conflict has 
become a common, and not a party concern," 



he said, "and the time has now arrived 
when all party distinctions and animosities 
* * ought to be laid aside : that every heart 
may be stimulated, and every arm nerved for 
the protection of our common country, our 
liberty, our altars, and our firesides." .And 
he "enjoined" upon all military officers to 
be in "a complete state of readiness to 
march at a moment's warning," and upon 
all selectmen and civil authorities to render 
all aid possible. 

It was good talk at last, after victory had 
been seemingly won in the war, but it did 
not save Chittenden and his party from 
defeat and emphatic rebuke at the polls the 
next September. The party went to speedy 
ruin in the state and nation, and the Gov- 
ernor into a political eclipse from which he 
never emerged until his death, Sept. 5, 1840, 
at the age of seventy-one. 

Still it is but just to the Governor to say 
that these positions into which the party 
passion of the time swept him, were not 
natural to him. His blood and breeding 
were patriotic, and his real feeling, that 
which finally burst partisan bonds, found 
expression in the last quoted proclamation. 
He was constitutionally moderate and tem- 
perate, and broadly intelligent in his views, 
but lacked in assertive strength, and was too 
apt to yield to the counsels of party leaders. 
In his personal relations he was kindly and 
winning, and leaving an impress of large 
capacity on all with whom he came into 
intercourse. 

SKINNER, Richard.— The seventh 
Governor, con- 
gressman, judge, 
and speaker of 
t h e Assembly, 
was born at 
l,itchfield,Conn., 
May 30, 1778, 
the son of Gen. 
Timothy Skin- 
ner ; received his 
legal education 
at the famous law 
school in that 
place, and came 
Id Vermont in 
"- e p t e m b e r , 
1 799, settling at 
Manchester. The next year he was ap- 
pointed state's attorney for Bennington 
county and held the position until i<8i2, and 
was judge of probate for the last six years of 
this time. The next year, in 18 13, he was 
elected to Congress, ser\ing a single term, 
and then representing his town in the state 
Legislature, serving for two years and being 
the speaker in the last, 1818. He was also 
assistant judge of the Supreme Court in 1815 




78 



VAN NESS. 



and 1816, and in 18 17 was elected chief 
justice but declined to accept. He was 
again state's attorney for his county in 1819. 
In 1820 in the era of "good feeling" he was 
elected Governor by nearly a unanimous 
vote, 13,152 to 934 scattering. He was re- 
elected in 1 82 1 with still greater unanimity, 
12,434 to 163, and again in 1822, though 
the record of the vole cannot be found. He 
declined further re-election, but was the 
next fall chosen chief justice of the Supreme 
Court and served until 1829, when he 
retired from public life for good, and died 
May 23, 1853, from injuries received by 
being thrown from his carriage while crossing 
the Cireen Mountains. 

'J"he period of Governor Skinner's admin- 
istration was in the years of cessation from 
the great controversies of early politics, so 
that there was no chance for the exhibition 
of great qualities of leadership. His state 
papers had the clearness and force which are 
said to have characterized his arguments as 
a lawyer, and were always severely practical 
in their scope. His inaugural address of 
1820 advanced some suggestions for the im- 
provement of our judicial system, especially 
on the chancery side and with regard to the 
probate courts, which afterward bore good 
fruit. He pointed out that the difficulties 
which had become so serious in the settle- 
ment of estates was due to a lack of clear 
apprehension, that our whole system of pro- 
bate law must be essentially different from 
that of England, whence we derived our 
common law. He expressed disapproval in 
this address in emphatic terms of the Mis- 
souri compromise, and of the failure of the 
last Legislature to instruct the state's delega- 
tion to vote against it. He also expressed 
the opinion, in his address in 182 1, that there 
could "be no doubt of the wisdom and jus- 
tice" of a protective tariff policy. 

He was president of the northeastern 
branch of the American Educational Society, 
and a member of the board of trustees of 
Middlebury College, which institution confer- 
red on him the degree of LL. D. 

In personal appearance he is described as 
of ordinary form and stature, eyes and com- 
plexion dark, and hair of the deepest black. 
"Intellectually," says Henry R. Minor, Man- 
chester's historian, "his qualities were of a 
kind which gain the respect and confidence 
of mankind rather than immediate admi- 
ration." 

VAN NESS, Cornelius P.— The eighth 

Governor, was born at Kinderhook, N. Y., 
Jan. 26, 1782, son of Peter Van Ness, and of 
a wealthy and prominent Dutch family. Two 
of his brothers were distinguished in 
public life. Gen. John P. ^'an Ness, congress- 
man, and for years mayor of Washington, 




and William P. Van Ness, United States dis- 
trict judge for New York. Judge W. W. Van 
Ness, the distinguished jurist and scholar, was 
a cousin. 

The subject of this sketch did not receive 
a college education, though designed and 
prepared for it by his father, because he pre- 
ferred a c o m - 
mercial to a pro- 
fessional life. He 
soon changed his 
mind, however, 
and studied law 
in the office ot 
his brother, 
w here Martin 
^"an liuren was a 
fellow - s t u dent. 
Ileing admitted 
t o t h e bar, h e 
]iracticed at 
Kinderhook for 
two vears a n d 
then came to 
N'ermont, first settling at St. .Albans in 1806 
and then at Burlington in 1809. He was 
appointed United States district attorney for 
this state in 1810 and this was the begin- 
ning of a public career in the state and 
Federal field that lasted for more than thirty 
years. 

He rapidly rose in the confidence of the 
Madison administration and in 181 3 was 
appointed collector of customs at Burling- 
ton, at that time the most important position- 
of the kind in the county, especially so be- 
cause of the necessity the administration had 
found of getting around its restriction policy, 
by admitting importations of goods from 
Montreal under the legal fiction that they 
were goods from neutrals. Mr. Van Ness 
handled this delicate duty, both as district 
attorney and collector, with tact and skill. 
He held the latter position until the close of 
the war and then was appointed one of the 
commissioners under the treaty of Crhent to 
settle the boundary line between the United 
States and the British possessions, a task to 
which he gave a large part of his time for 
several years, but without coming to an agree- 
ment with the British commissioners. 

He was Burlington's representative in the 
Legislature from 1S18 to 1820, chief justice 
of the Supreme Court in i82i-'22, and in 
1823 was elected Governor, being twice re- 
elected, in 1824 and 1825, until he declined 
further service. 

He was at this time at the height of his 
popularity and influence. Nearly twenty 
years of practice had brotight him to rank 
with the half-dozen leading lawyers of the 
state, in an era that has not been surpassed 
for brilliant ability at the bar. He had for 
a decade been supreme in wielding the 



VAN NESS. 



79 



federal patronage of the state as well as that 
of state affairs while (iovernor. His ad- 
ministration in the latter office had been 
most acceptable ; first elected with only 
1,431 votes cast against him, his re-election 
in 1824 was almost as unanimous' — with only 
1,962 votes cast for the opposing candidate, 
Joel Doolittle, besides 346 scattering— and in 
1825 it was so strongly so that no record is 
preserved of the vote. He had done the 
honors for the state during Lafayette's visit 
in a manner of which everybody was proud. 
The favors he had had to distribute with 
the genuine good-fellowship and kindliness 
as well as shrewd discernment and knowledge 
of men which he had shown, had attracted 
to him a strong following of devoted friends. 
He was in thorough sympathy with the 
Democratic development upon which our 
institutions had entered, and he had to some 
extent led and directed it. And his wealth, 
with the generous hospitality he dispensed, 
and the social leadership he and his ac- 
complished wife had wielded in the most 
cultivated circles, seemed to make him strong 
in the only remaining direction where 
strength was needed. 

But all this prestige was shattered at a 
single blow, which sent him in mortification 
into political exile. He desired to crown 
his career with a term in the Senate, and 
even before he left the executive chair, laid 
his plans to succeed Horatio Seymour whose 
term was to expire, and who, it was generally 
understood, would not seek a re-election ; 
but the latter was finally persuaded to do so. 
It was at the time of a reformation of party 
lines, and when the feeling was most ran- 
corous between the adherents of Adams and 
Jackson ; antagonisms that for years had 
been smouldering against Van Ness burst 
forth ; men whom he had disappointed in 
giving out offices entered the field actively 
against him, while the disposition of Ver- 
monters, which has exhibited itself from the 
beginning, to retain senators in long service, 
was a large factor, adding much to the 
strength which his talents and conciliating 
manners gave Mr. Seymour. It was the 
most exciting personal fight the state ever 
had, and few in the country have e\er 
equalled it. Where it was supposed at first 
Governor Van Ness would be irresistible, the 
result was left doubtful at the ]3olls and the 
fight was taken to the Legislature where at 
length Seymour won by a small majority. 

Governor Van Ness attributed his defeat 
to the influence of the Adams administration, 
and issued a manifesto to the peo])le declar- 
ing hostility to Adams, and himself went to 
work actively to pay off scores by organizing 
Jackson support in the state. He was in- 
volved, as a consequence of the manifesto, 
in a number of contro\ersies with men who 



had long been in his confidence and friend- 
shi]), and before the election of 1828 his old 
])ovver had been pretty generally broken and 
the state cast its vote for .Adams by a strong 
majority. 

Shortly after Jackson's inauguration, how- 
ever, he was appointed minister to Spain and 
continued to occupy this position for about 
ten years. He returned to the country and 
state in 1840 and made a determined effort 
to carry Vermont for his old friend Van Huren, 
but of course with even less results than in the 
campaign of 1828, and the next spring he 
shook the dust of Vermont from his feet, 
and took up his home in New York City. 
He was after this for a year and a half, in 
i844-'45, collector of the port of New York 
by appointment of President Tyler. This 
was his last political position. The death of 
his brother, General Van Ness, at Washing- 
ton, in 1846, devolved the care of the latter's 
estate on him and he spent much of his time 
in Washington until his death, Dec. 15, 1852, 
which occurred at Philadelphia while he was 
journeying between New York and the Cap- 
itol. 

G. B. Sawyer in an obituary sketch of 
Governor Van Ness in the New York liven- 
ing Post just after his death, thus summed up 
his character : "Governor Van Ness neither 
felt nor affected love for literature ; troubled 
himself little with theoretical speculations or 
with abstract principles, except as connected 
with the kindred sciences of law and politics, 
which few men more thoroughly studied and 
understood ; this concentration of mind and 
effort was the secret and the source of his 
success. Without imagination, using lan- 
guage plain, but expressing always the pre- 
cise idea he wished to convey, disregarding 
decoration, his reasoning, compacted link 
within link, glowed with the fire of earnest- 
ness and conviction — or rather his speech 
was a torrent of impassioned argument, as 
clear as it was rapid, capable of sweeping 
away juries and assemblies, and of moving 
from their moorings the anchored caution and 
gravity of the bench." 

The most considerable monument to Go\- 
ernor Van Ness in our statutes is the act of 
Oct. 25, 1824, for the present system of 
choosing presidential electors, which was 
passed in pursuance of his recommendation 
in place of the old method of election by the 
Legislature. He made many valuable sug- 
gestions for legislation regarding the militia 
and imprisonment for debt, and was par- 
ticularly clamorous that the last should be 
abolished, at least as regards females. Each 
of his messages argued for a protective tariff 
as was the habit of all the old 1 )emocratic 
Governors, and he took what afterwards be- 
came solid Whig ground as to internal im- 
provements. A large part of his address of 



1825 was given to adiscussionof the projects 
for improvement of the navigation of the Con- 
necticut and the junction of its waters by 
canal with those of Lakes Memphremagog 
and Champlain, a work in which he thought 
the general go\ernment ought to assist under 
the "general welfare" clause of the constitu- 
tion. 

Ciovernor Van Xess was twice married, 
first, March 5, 1804, to Rhoda, daughter of 
James Savage of Chatham, X. V., who died 
at Madrid, Spain, July 18, 1834, and second 
to a Spanish lady. Three sons and two 
daughters were the fruit of the first union. 
The second son, Cornelius, went to Texas, 
where he was secretary of state at the time 
of his death by accident, July 18, 1842. The 
third son, George, also died in Texas in 
1855, being then a collector of customs. 
Of the daughters, the eldest married Lord 
Onseley of the British legation at Washing- 
ton, and the second, Cornelia, a famous 
belle of her time, married Judge J. J. Roose- 
velt of the New York Supreme Court. 

BUTLER, Ezra. — Legislator, councilor, 
judge, representative in Congress and Gov- 
ernor, was another Baptist preacher and 
Democrat. He was a native of Lancaster, 
Mass., the fifth of seven children of .Asaph 
and Jane (McAllister) Butler, and born Sept. 
24, 1763. During his early youth his father 
came to A\'est Windsor in this state, but the 
death of his mother necessitated the boy's 
spending of most of his time in the family of 
an older brother, and his taking care of him- 
self after he was fourteen, with only six 
months of schooling. He went to work on 
the farm of Dr. Stearns at Claremont, N. H., 
soon having the entire management of it. At 
the age of seventeen he was a soldier in the 
Revokitionary army and early in 17S5, when 
twentv vears old, having spent a few months 
in Weathersfield, he and his brother came to 
Waterbury, where they built a log house, to 
which Mr. Butler, in June of that year, 
brought his bride. Miss Tryphena Diggins, 
they making the journey into the wilderness 
on horseback by way of a bridle path. They 
were the second family to settle in Water- 
bury and suffered all the privations and hard- 
ships of pioneer life. He afterward built the 
first frame house in town. 

The town of Waterbury was organized at 
a meeting in 1790, and Mr. Butler was chos- 
en the first town clerk, and for the next forty 
years he was constantly in the public service, 
frequently holding two or more important 
positions at a time, so that if we count the 
years of his terms of office they make over 
sixty-five. He was town representative for 
eleven years, from 1794 to 1805, excepting 
I 79S, and again in 1807, when he was chos- 
en both representative and member of the 



council, and acted a part of the time in one 
body and a part in the other. He served in 
the council sixteen years, 1807 to 1826, ex- 
cepting 1813 and '14, when he was in Con- 
gress. In 1803, '04 and '05, he was assist- 
ant judge of the county court of Chittenden, 
to which Waterbury then belonged, and in 
1S06 to '11 he was its chief judge. In 1812, 
when Jefferson (now Washington) county 
was organized, he was elected its chief jus- 
tice and held the position uninterruptedly 
except for the two years of his congressional 
service, until 1825, when the present judi- 
ciary system was formed, and he was elected 
first assistant judge. In 1806 he was a 
member of the Council of Censors, and in 
1822 of the Constitutional Convention of 
that year. 

He was a vigorous supporter of Jonas 
Galusha, in state politics, and in his long 
and active ser\ice in the Council steadily rose 
to a recognized position of leadership. But 
he fought for his beliefs of right rather 
than for personal advancement and he was 
so earnestly conscientious that party rewards 
came slowly to him. He was well started in 
that way when in 181 2 he was elected to 
Congress on a general ticket with James 
Fisk, William Strong, W. C. Bradley, Richard 
Skinner and Charles Rich, a galaxy of talent 
that has ne\'er been surpassed in the state's 
representation. He was with the rest an 
earnest supporter of the Madison adminis- 
tration. But the New England revulsion 
against the war gave the state to the Fed- 
eralists in 1 8 14, and the delegation to Con- 
gress was entirely changed. But Mr. But- 
ler's constituents were prompt to return him 
to the council and to the bench, and he was 
regularly re-elected until in 1826 he was 
made the Democratic candidate for (lover- 
nor and was elected and re-elected without 
any party putting up a candidate to oppose 
him, though some 2,000 votes were cast for 
Joel Doolittle at each election. His most 
notable work as Governor was his strenuous 
opposition to lotteries as expressed in both 
his messages, and his arguments for legislation 
to abolish or minimize imprisonment for 
debt. 

He declined in 182S to be a candidate 
for another term and retired to private life 
after a continuous political service since 
1790. But he went into the anti-Masonic 
movement, which after the disappearance of 
the old political issues now swept the state, 
and held control of its affairs for the next 
few years, with only a remnant of the Dem- 
ocratic organization to stand up against it. 
Mr. Butler was one of the electors to cast the 
electoral vote of the state in 1832 for Wirt 
and EUmaker. He had before been a Jef- 
ferson elector in 1S04 and a Monroe elector 
in 1820. He was a member of the commit- 



tee that fixed the site of the first state house 
in Montpeher and of the commissioners that 
located the state's prison and state arsenal 
and made the plans for them. He was a 
trustee of the University of Vermont from 
1810 to 1816. With the other party leaders 
in the Legislature of 1804 he aided in the 
defeat of the Massachusetts proposal of a 
constitutional amendment to exclude slaves 
in the apportionment for representatives in 
Congress, arguing that this was one of the 
sacred compromises of the constitution and 
thus the consideration for it in the pro\ision 
which Massachusetts also proposed to abolish 
for the apportionment of direct taxes by 
population might be important in case of war. 

For above forty years he was an elder of 
the Baptist church, its pastor at W'aterbury, 
its preacher whenever at home and a con- 
stant and unremitting teacher of religion 
wherever he was. According to his own 
account he was an irreligious and profane 
youth, presumptuous in his skepticism. His 
conversion was brought about one Sunday 
by the reading with his wife of a pamphlet, 
whose beginning and end were gone and 
whose author he never knew, on hereditary 
sin. Its perusal threw him into deep and 
anxious thought, bordering on despair, 
which lasted for several days until he was 
brought "into the clear light and liberty of 
the gospel." In a few months he was bap- 
tized into the Baptist church and when a 
church of that denomination was organized 
in Waterbury he was ordained its pastor and 
continued in the discharge of its duties until 
within a few years of his death, July 12, 
1838, at the age of seventy-four, adding this 
service to all his other multifarious cares 
as legislator and judge, and political leader, 
for love of his Maker and his fellowmen, 
without salary or remuneration to the end. 

Rarely indeed does any man hold public 
confidence as Ezra Butler did. He had not 
the winning presence of Fisk or Tichenor, 
or the learning of the Bradleys, or the tre- 
mendous popular strength of Galusha, but 
his judgment was sound and penetrating, his 
ideals high, his purposes pure, his methods 
always painstaking, and his appearance al- 
ways that of intensest sincerity. This is 
illustrated by the tradition that after one of 
his executive speeches a man in the gallery 
invited the audience to sing "Hear." He 
always had the air of meekness and dignity 
characteristic of the ministry, and one that 
could not fail to command respect. 

No portrait of him was ever painted — "He 
was not that sort of a man," replied a mem- 
ber of the family to an inquiry of Governor 
Walton. But he is described by Rev. C. C. 
Parker as in form "slightly stooping, his 
complexion sallow and dark, and his whole 
appearance quite unprepossessing ; but his 




.JVf^i 



penetrating black eye and the calm tones of 
his voice quickly told of an intellect and will 
of no common order." 

CRAFTS, Samuel C- Governor, sen- 
ator, and rep- 
resentative in 
Congress, filled 
nearly e\ery 
office within 
the gift of the 
people of Ver- 
mont, being in 
continuous 
]j u b 1 i c service 
for fifty years 
or more. He 
was born in 
\V oodstock, 
Conn., Oct. 6, 
1768, the son 
of Col. Eben- 
ezer Cralts, a tirst and leading settler of 
Craftsbury, and in honor of whom the town 
was named. The son was liberally educated 
and graduated from Harvard in 1790, then 
accompanied his father into the wilderness, 
and two years later, on the organization of 
the town of Craftsbury, was elected its first 
town clerk, and held the position for thirty- 
seven consecutive years, even while his pub- 
lic duties called him away from home a 
large part of the time. He was in the con- 
vention to revise the state constitution in 
I 793, being its youngest member, and even 
then showed the marked aptitude for pubhc 
affairs that achieved his distinguished career. 
In 1796 he was Craftsbury's rei^resentative in 
the General Assembly, in 1798 and 1799 he 
was clerk of the House, and the next year was 
again on the floor, being re-elected in 1801, 
1803, and 1805. He was register of pro- 
bate for the Orleans district from 1796 to 
18 1 5, judge of the Orleans county court from 
1800 to 1810, and chief judge for the next 
six years, and twenty years later, from 1836 
to 1838, after he had filled the highest posi- 
tions in the state, he was clerk of the court. 
In 1809 he was elected a member of the ex- 
ecutive council, serving for three years, and 
again from 1825 to 1827. At this time also, 
from 1825 to 1S28, he was again chief judge 
of his county court. 

In 1816 he was elected representative in 
Congress and served eight years, until 1S25, 
usefully and industriously, but without any 
great distinction or prominence in the na- 
tional battles of those times. Indeed, he 
was seldom heard in debate in either state 
or national halls, for he had little faith in the 
good of speech-making. Afterward he was 
senator for a few months, from December, '42, 
to March, '43, being appointed by Governor 
Faine, and then also chosen by the I.egisla- 



ture, to fill out the unexpired term of Judge 
Prentiss, who had resigned to accept the of- 
fice of United States district judge. 

In 1828, after his last term in the council, 
he was elected Governor and re-elected in 
1829 and '30. His first election, which was 
substantially without opposition, as Van 
Ness' and Butler's had been, closed the "era 
of good feeling" in state politics. The vote 
in 1828 was 16,285 for him and 916 for Joel 
Doolittle. The two parties had already 
taken lines under the names of "National 
Republican" and the "Jackson Party" or 
"Democrats," with the Anti-Masons soon 
to appear, and in 1829 the vote was 14,325 
for Crafts, 3,973 for Joel Doolitde, and 
7,347 for Heman .\)\en, of Highgate, then of 
Burlington, whom the ,\nti-Masons sup- 
ported, though he had refused to identify 
himself with them. But in 1S30 the Anti- 
Masons had become so strong as to prevent 
an election by the people. The vote was 
13,476 for Crafts, 10,923 for William A. 
Palmer, Anti-Mason, and 6,285 for Ezra 
Meech, Democrat, with 37 scattering. This 
threw the election into the Legislature, where 
the Democrats substituted William C. Brad- 
ley for Meech as their candidate, and thirty- 
two ballots were required to reach a result. 
Crafts was finally elected by eight of the 
Anti- Masons and some of the scattering 
votes going to his support. The next year 
the Anti-Masons had a strong plurality lead 
in the popular vote, and won in the Legisla- 
ture, though a portion of the National Re- 
publicans supported Governor Crafts in the 
balloting, endeavoring to compromise on him 
when it was evident that their candidate, 
Heman Allen, could not be elected. 

Clovernor Crafts' address in 1829 was the 
first to treat of the evils of intemperance, and 
he urged higher licenses and more stringent 
regulation of public houses to check the 
"free indulgence in the use of spirituous 
liquors." He advanced in his message of 
1828 what may be called the germ idea of 
our present town system of schools, and he 
urged the system of highway taxes that has 
since been adopted. He was able to see 
into the future even beyond today, when 
he said in his message of 1830 : "The state 
of Vermont, possessing a salubrious climate, 
a productive soil, much mineral wealth, an 
immense amount of water power, and an in- 
dustrious, enterprising and intelligent popu- 
lation, seems destined to become, when the 
natural resources shall be fully developed, a 
very important member of our great family of 
states. If some safe, cheap and expeditious 
means of communication with the market 
towns be constructed, no part of the Union 
would offer more eligible situation for some 
branches of manufacture than Vermont." 

Governor Crafts, after his retirement, was 
president of the constitutional convention of 



1829 and was an elector on the Harrison 
ticket in 1S40. 

Personally he was modest and unassum- 
ing — not " magnetic " in leadership, but with 
a profound power of inspiring confidence ; 
scholarly in habit, especially in dealing with 
practical affairs, he became in the course of 
his long life an almost exhaustless storehouse 
of information which he gathered from every 
side. In June, 1802, when there were but 
few log huts on the site of the present city of 
Cincinnati, he commenced a tour of obser- 
vation to the lower Mississippi, and in com- 
pany with Michaux, the younger, made a 
botanical reconnoissance of the valley of the 
Great \\'est in canoes and arks. All the 
sciences, including natural history, geology, 
mineralogy, astronomy, as well as the higher 
mathematics, were the objects of study and 
extensive reading and some writing by him 
all his life. While in college he calculated a 
transit of Venus, the first achievement of 
the kind that had ever been made by an 
undergraduate at Harvard. He was also an 
accomplished student of architecture, ser\'- 
ing on the committee of public buildings in 
Congress, and the noble structure of a state 
house was a monument of his learning until 
it was burned in 1857. Above all was he a 
student of the Bible, and the most honorable 
station he ever filled, in his view, was that of 
.Sunday school teacher, whose duties he faith- 
fully performed whenever at home, giving 
freely of his vast and varied knowledge to 
illuminate the text. He was active in every 
good work, serving on the official boards of 
the various state benevolent societies. He 
died, Nov. 19, 1853, at the age of eighty-five. 

Governor Crafts married, in i 798, Eunice 
Todd, a sister of the famous alienist, Dr. Eli 
Todd, of Hartford, Conn., and by whom he 
had two children, one son and one daughter. 
The former died while at college at Burling- 
ton, and the latter married N. S. Hill, treas- 
urer of the L'niversity of Vermont. 

PALMHR, William A.— The eleventh 
(lovernor of the 
state, judge, leg- 
islator and Fed- 
eral senator, was 
another leader of 
Connecticut ori- 
gin, born at He- 
bron, Conn., 
Sept. 12, 1 781, 
the son of Joshua 
and Susanna Pal- 
mer, of a family 
that had emi- 
grated from Eng- 
land before the 
Revolution, and 
was full of intel- 
lectual and physical vigor. Of the Gover- 




83 



mor's seven brothers and sisters, all ii\eil to 
the age of eighty or upward. He had only a 
common school education, but an accident 
by a fall on the ice with an axe lost him the 
•use of a part of one of his hands and unfitted 
him for manual labor, so that he studied law 
with Judge Peters, and, after coming to \'er- 
mont, with Daniel Buck at Chelsea, ])rac- 
ticed a few years at St. Johnsbury and then 
moved to Danville, where in after years he 
devoted most of the time that he was free 
•from public cares to agriculture. He was 
for eight years county clerk and judge of 
probate of Caledonia county and served one 
year as judge of the Supreme Court in 1816, 
refusing a further election. He was si.x times 
elected representative from Danville. 

In politics he was a Jeffersonian Demo- 
crat, and during the ascendency of that party 
in the state, until the .\nti-Masonic break-up, 
was one of its most potent leaders. In 18 17 
he was elected United States senator to suc- 
ceed James Fisk, resigned, and then for a 
full term of six years, closing in 1825. He 
had for several years been under something 
of a cloud of unpopularity, because of his 
vote for the Missouri compromise, and be- 
fore that in favor of admitting the state with 
the constitution which she had herself 
adopted, though it allowed slavery. He was 
practically the only senator from the state 
who ever cast a vote on slavery's side. But 
he always maintained to his dying day that 
the vote was right, not because he approved 
of slavery, but because he stood, even at that 
early day, on what afterwards became the 
Douglas idea of squatter sovereignty as the 
only doctrine consistent with the com- 
promises of our constitution. Returning to 
his home in Danville he was the next year 
elected again to the Legislature, and re- 
elected in 1827. 

He was elected Governor in 1S31, and 
re-elected till 1835. He had in 1S.50 been 
the candidate of the new and rapidly rising 
element that called itself the Anti-Masonic 
party, and obtained so strong a vote as to 
throw the election into the Legislature as 
detailed in the sketch of Governor Crafts. 
At the 1 83 1 election. Palmer and the .Anti- 
Masons were in a strong lea:d in the popular 
vote, it standing 15,258 for Palmer, 12,990 
for Heman Allen, National Republican, and 
6,158 for Ezra Meech, Democrat. No 
party had a majority in the Legislature, and 
it took nine ballots and a heated contest to 
elect Palmer, and this was only accomplished 
by one majority, due to a break among the 
National Republicans in trying to transfer 
their support from .Allen to Governor Crafts. 

In 1832 again there was no election by the 
people. The National Republicans returned 
again to Governor Crafts, whom they had 
found to be their strongest candidate, and 



gave him 15,499 votes, while Palmer had 
17,318, and Meech 8,210. It took forty- 
three l)allots in the Legislature to re-elect 
(Governor Palmer, with barely two majority, 
and this result was finally due to the aid of a 
few friends of Crafts. In 1833 the National 
Republicans had gone out entirely or been 
absorbed by the .Anti-Masons, owing to a 
combination of both national and state 
causes, and the Democrats were the only 
party to stand up with any show against 
the new party. The \ote was 20,565 for 
Palmer, 15,683 for Meech (Dem.), 1765 for 
Horatio Seymour, 772 for John Roberts, and 
120 scattering. This was the only election 
Governor Palmer received by a majority vote 
of the people. By 1834 the Whigs had got 
well organized under the lead of Horatio 
Seymour, and the vote was 17,131 for 
Palmer, 10,365 for William C. Bradley 
(Dem.), and 10,159 for Seymour; but Pal- 
mer was elected on the first ballot in the 
Legislature, getting 126 out of the 168 votes 
cast. This was due to the fact that both par- 
ties, anticipating the early collapse of the 
Anti-Masons as a political organization, were 
playing to catch the pieces. Seymour had 
published a letter announcing that he would 
not be a candidate in the General Assembly 
against Governor Palmer, and the vote indi- 
cates that Bradley or the Democratic leaders 
had been conveying the same assurances 
privately. 

In 1835 Governor Palmer still led in the 
popular vote, 16,210 for him to 13,254 for 
Bradley, and 5,435 for Paine, Whig, but 
could not win in the Legislature, and after 
sixty-three ballots without any choice, the 
highest vote for Palmer being 112, Bradley 
73, and Paine 45, the effort was given up, 
and Jennison, who had been chosen Lieuten- 
ant-Cio\ernor, had to take the executive 
chair. .AH the rest of the .Anti- .Masonic ticket 
except Governor Palmer had been indorsed 
by the Whigs, and the combination to defeat 
the Ciovernor was due to the recollection of 
his Democratic proclivities and the belief 
that he purposed to support Van Buren for 
the presidency the next year. 

Governor Palmer had been the .Anti-Ma- 
sonic leader because he profoundly believed 
in the evil of all secret societies. He was 
never a member of any of them or of any 
similar social organization. But he did not 
take any such radical grounds in his mes- 
sages as might have been expected. In his 
first address in 1831 he declared his purpose 
to appoint to ofifice only men who were "un- 
shackled by any earthly allegiance except to 
the constitution and laws," and he suggested 
legislation to prohibit the administration of 
oaths except "when necessary to secure the 
faithful discharge of public trusts and to 
elicit truth in the administration of justice," 



JENNISON. 



and to "diminish the frequency" of even 
these, because of the "influence which they 
exercise over the human mind." He reiter- 
ated these recommendations in subsequent 
messages. 

He followed up the denunciations of the 
previous Governors of the system of im- 
prisonment for debt, which he pronounced 
"a relic of a dark age, and a barbarous 
code," and declared to be inconsistent with 
the constitution of the state as it was, "ex- 
cept where a strong presumption of fraud" 
could be shown. He took occasion in his 
1834 message to disapprove President Jack- 
son's severe measures against the national 
bank as "pernicious in their consequences, 
and altogether unwarrantable," though he 
admitted the misconduct of the bank and the 
dangerous features of its charter, to whose 
renewal he was opposed " in its present 
form." The latter declaration was the reason 
of the Whig bitterness towards him. 

In 1837 Governor Palmer was again re- 
turned to the Legislature, being elected 
county senator, and with this service he 
closed his public career, retiring to his farm 
in Danville, where he lived in honored ease 
until his death, Dec. 3, i860, at the age of 
se\enty-nine. He had in his later years 
been so subject to epileptic fits as to become 
a great source of trouble and anxiety to his 
friends and family. 

The Governor was a very popular man 
personally, and also a good manager in po- 
litical contests, and hard to beat when up as 
a candidate. He was charitable to a fault, 
as is sometimes said, frequently giving to his 
own hurt financially, and at his death he was 
comparatively poor. He was often consulted 
as an adviser by his townsmen and others, 
and his opinion was always considered valu- 
able — and quite usually acted upon. He 
was certainly a man of " strong natural abil- 
ity, possessing a decided and penetrating 
mind," and with such an " unpretending 
simplicity of manners," as inevitably made 
him a popular favorite. 

He married in September, 1813, at Dan- 
ville, Miss Sarah, third daughter of Capt. 
Peter and Sarah Blanchard of Danville, who 
had removed to Vermont from Concord, N. 
H., in I 790 or before. The Governor and 
wife had seven children in all, two daughters 
dying in infancy ; five boys lived to man- 
hood : William B., Abial O., Henry Wirt, 
Edward Carter, and Franklin Rolfe, all ex- 
cept Edward, who died in 1SS8, residing in 
Danville. 

JENNISON, Silas H.— Governor of the 
state in iS36and for the six years following, 
was the last of the Clovernors to secure such 
repeated re-elections, and the first who was 
native born. He was born in Shoreham, 




May 17, 1 791, the son of Levi and Ruth 
Hemenway Jennison. His father died when 
he was only a year old, but his mother was a 
woman of uncommon strength of character, 
and to her very 
largely was due 
his success in 
after life, as is 
the case with 
most great men. 
He had to work 
hard in his 
youth, attend- 
ing school only 
a few weeks 
each year, but 
with the en- 
couragement of 
his energetic, in- 
dustrious and 
ambitious moth- 
er, he secured an education by omniverous 
reading, devoting his nights to study and 
reciting to Mr. Sisson, a neighbor. .And he 
kept up this habit of study all through his 
life, storing his mind with information, so 
that though he was never a speaker and 
never engaged in public debate, the weight 
and solidity of his attainments, with his 
faculty of facile and accurate transaction of 
public business, won him prominence. He 
early became an expert in mathematics and 
surveying. 

He represented his town 1826 to 1831, 
was assistant justice of the county court six 
years, i82g-'35, councilor, Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor in 1835, acting also as Governor, as 
there was no choice by the people or in the 
Legislature, as explained in the sketch of 
Governor Palmer. He was then elected 
Governor in 1836 as a whig, by a vote of 
20,471 over \\illiam C. Bradley, who had 
16,1 24. He issued a proclamation this year, 
during the rebellion in Canada, warning 
against any violation of the neutrality laws, 
as there was much sympathv among our 
people with the rebels. 

The proclamation affected his popularity 
for the time being, but in the end only in- 
creased it, as his firmness and good judg- 
ment came to be appreciated. The Demo- 
crats, however, took advantage of the feeling 
to make a sharp canvass against him in 
1837, but he was re-elected with an increase 
of 187 in his majority. In 1838 it was in- 
creased 1,024 more, though so able and 
strong a man had been his competitor each 
year. The next year the Democratic fight 
was made under the cry of "Simlie and Bank 
Reform," with Nathan Simlie as the candi- 
date, and Jennison's majority was cut to 
2,354. But in the Harrison log-cabin year, 
1840, he got a majority of 10,798, after the 
most exciting canvass he ever had. In the 



MA'nncKs. 



85 



Legislature, and as Governor, he interested 
himself largely in the subject of the grand 
list and problems of taxation. At the close 
of his term in 1841 he declined re-election. 
But he served for six years after this as 
judge of probate, 1 841 -'4 7, and was a dele- 
gate to the Constitutional Convention of 
1S43, and he died in September, 1849, after 
a protracted illness. 

Governor Jennison, who was of tall, stately 
build, and unaffected, cordial manners, was 
a man of cultivated tastes, clear-viewed on 
public (piestions, and prudent and correct in 
administration. .As a political leader he was 
a man of uncommon shrewdness and percep- 
tion, of winning lines of argument, and he 
was one of the half-dozen leaders to whom it 
was due that out of the .Anti-Masonic shake- 
up the U'higs brought such growingly secure 
control of the state, to hand down to the 
Republicans after them. 

PAINE, Charles. — (;overnorof the state 
in i84i-'43, the youngest man who had ever 
held the office, one of the leading projectors 
of the Vermont Central R. R., and its first 
president, was the son of Judge F^lijah Paine, 
and was born .April 15, 1799. He inherited 
his father's executive ability and bold con- 
ceptions of mind and enterprise of spirit, 
with even more than his benevolence, be- 
cause of the easier lines on which his life 
was cast. His last work, where he lost his 
life, fitly supplementing what he had done in 
Vermont, was exploring a route in Texas for 
a Pacific railroad. 

He was well educated, graduated from 
Harvard, and was intended for a profession, 
but instead took hold of his father's business 
matters, showing such an efficiency and grasp 
of affairs as pointed out the proper career 
for him. The great ambition of his young 
manhood was the building of the \'ermont 
Central R. R. He interested foreign capital 
in it, and Oct. 11, 1848, he rode on the first 
train into Northfield, where he had settled. 
He l)uilt and conducted for years the large 
hotel at Depot Village, and was all his days 
engaged in important enterprises. Like his 
father, he was interested in agriculture, and 
imported a full-blooded Durham into town 
to improve the breeding of the cattle there. 
He was elected Governor in 1841 as a whig, 
being re-elected the next year. He had for 
several years been prominent in his party, and 
had been its candidate as far back as 1835, 
when its resurrection began from the ruins of 
Anti-Masonry, as explained in the sketch of 
(jovernor Palmer. There were no great feat- 
ures to his administration, though it was busi- 
ness-like in its conduct, and his messages 
gave considerable prominence to topics of 
■education. 



lie donated the land on which the Xorth- 
field .Academy was built, giving, besides, an 
excellent apparatus and S500 in cash. He 
built entirely with his own funds the Con- 
gregational church at I )epot Village. He 
bequeathed to the Catholic church the land 
for its church and cemetery, and he also 
gave the land for the beautiful Elmwood 
cemetery at that place. He was a man of 
too broad mind to be sectarian in his gen- 
erous impulses, and his charities always ex- 
tended to the most diver.se objects. His 
views were epitomized in his will, which, 
leaving all details to the trustees, required 
them, after "assisting such persons as they 
may think have any claim arising from con- 
sanguinity, friendship or obligation" in- 
curred by him, "to use and appropriate what- 
e\er property I may die possessed of for the 
best good and welfare of my fellowmen, to 
assist in the improvement of mankind, re- 
commending that they do it without sec- 
tarianism or bigotry according to the inten- 
tion of that God whose will is found in the 
law of the Christian religion in which I be- 
lie\e and trust." 

This will is not lawyer-like, could not 
stand under the law of trusts as expounded 
by the courts nowadays, and notably in the 
Tilden case, but it is noteworthy as showing 
the character of the man. 

His career was cut short by his death in 
Texas, as above stated, after only twenty-six 
days' illness, July 6, 1853, when he had 
reached the age of only fifty-four. 

In personal appearance he is described by 
a friend, Rev. E. Gannett, D. D., as of 
"erect form, open face, and princely de- 
meanor, always with words of cordial greet- 
ing." 

MATTOCKS, JOHN.— A distinguished 
lawyer, briefly a judge of the Supreme Court 
in 1832, ( Governor in iS43,and three times a 
representative in Congress, was born at Hart- 
ford, Conn., March 4, 1777, the son of Samuel 
Mattocks, a captain in the Revolutionary 
army who afterwards came to Vermont, be- 
came prominent in the early days, represent- 
ing Tinmouth in the Legislature for four years, 
being judge and chief justice of the l^utland 
county court for five years, serving in the 
ninth council, succeeding Ira Allen as state 
treasurer, and holding the position fourteen 
years, from 1786 to 1800. 

John Mattocks was only a year old when 
his father moved from Connecticut to Tin- 
mouth, and at the age of fifteen went to live 
with his sister, Rebecca Miller, at Middle- 
l)ury for two or three years, where he began 
the study of law in the office of Samuel 
Miller, completing it, however, at Fairfield, 
under Judge Bates Turner, and being ad- 
mitted to the bar in February, 1797. He 



commenced practice at Danville, but soon 
after moved to Peacham, where he carved 
out his successful career. He was Peacham's 
representative in the General Assembly in 
i8o7-'i5-'i6-'23-'24, was a delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention of 1836, and was 
first elected to Congress in 1820, then in 
1824, and again in 1840. He joined the 
Whig party as soon as it was formed, and 
was an unyielding adherent of that organiza- 




tion to the day of his death. He was chosen 
judge of the Supreme Court in 1832, but 
declined a re-election the following year. ■ 
He devoted himself to his professional prac- 
tice for the next four years, until in 1S43 
the Whigs nominated him for Governor and 
elected him by a vote of 24,465 to 21,982 
for Judge Daniel Kellogg, Democrat, and 
3,766 for Charles K.Williams. 

He was in 1806 one of the thirteen direc- 
tors of the Vermont State Bank, and a brig- 
adier-general of the state militia in 1812. 

As a lawyer Governor Mattocks was often 
likened to the great Jeremiah Mason of New 
Hampshire. He was especially strong before 
a jury, with a concentration of mind, a power 
of analysis and illustration, a capacious mem- 
ory that was a storehouse of argument, and a 
clear and convincing way of statement that 
were apt to make him irresistible. He was 
keen and searching on cross-examination, 
and his knowledge of practical life and his 
quickness of judgment of human nature, 
made him a very shrewd and adroit mana- 
ger of cases. In Congress his most notable 



speech accompanied the presentation of ai 
petition for the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia. His personal de- 
meanor was always that of the utmost cour- 
tesy, and his kindliness to young lawyers has 
been the subject of anecdote for generations. 
He was deeply religious, Calvinistic in belief,, 
and in his later years a member of the Con- 
gregational church at Peacham. .A severe 
domestic affliction in the death of a son 
caused him to refuse re-election as (Gov- 
ernor and to retire to private life. 

Governor Mattocks wedded, Sept. 4, 1810^ 
Esther Newell, of Peacham, who died on her 
fifty-second birthday, July 21, 1844, leaving 
a daughter and three sons living. Two 
daughters died ■ in infancy. Governor Mat- 
tocks died August 14, 1S47. Of the three 
sons who survived, one filled an honorable 
position as a clergyman, another as a lawyer,, 
and the other as a physician. 

SLADE, William. — Congressman, Gov- 
ernor, secretary of state, secretary of the 
National Board of Education, political edi- 
tor, compiler of "Slade's State Papers," and 
who probably held a greater \ariety of civil 
trusts than any other citizen of the state,, 
was born at Cornwall in 1786. His father 
was Col. \\'illiam Slade, a Revolutionarv vet- 
eran, who came from Washington, Conn., in. 
1786, was sheriff of Addison county for sev- 
eral years, an active Republican politician, 
and a staunch supporter of Madison and the 
war of 181 2. Young Slade graduated from 
Middlebury College in 1807, studied law,, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1810. But 
his attention was soon absorbed in journal- 
ism and politics, and in historical and liter- 
ary studies. In i8i4-'i5-'i6 he edited the 
Columbian Patriot, a political papier at Mid- 
dlebury, where he also kept a book store. In. 

1 81 6 he was made secretary of state, and 
held the position for eight years. He was a 
Madison presidential elector in 181 2. From 

1817 to 1823 he was also judge of the Addi- 
son county court, and was afterwards state's, 
attorney. Before the close of the Monroe 
administration he was appointed clerk in the 
state department in Washington, and served 
until 1829, when he had to "go" under Jack- 
son. But he had improved the opportunity in 
the meantime to equip himself intellectually 
for the larger usefulness of later years, and 
was one of the few men who ever rose from. 
de]5artmental service to anything higher. 

In 1830 he was elected representative to- 
Congress and served contiruiously for twelve 
years. On his retirement, such was the 
versatility he had shown, that he was ap- 
pointed reporter of the decisions of the 
Supreme Court of Vermont. But he held 
this position only one year, because in 1844 
he was chosen Governor, and re-elected the 



8? 



next year. Subse(|iiently he was for nearly 
fifteen years secretary of the national board 
of popular education, having for its object 
the furnishing of the West with teachers 
from the Kast, and gave himself to the duties 
of the position with the thoroughness and 
the zest that always characterized him, and 
with an effect for good that it is not easy to 
measure. These labors ceased only with his 
death, Jan. i8, 1859. 

His best title to historical rank will rest on 
his speech, Dec. 20, 1S37, on a petition for 
the abolition of the slave trade in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and though the speech 
was suppressed by vote of the House, the 
pluck with which he presented the case and 
the skill and coolness with which he prodded 
the slavocracy to desperation, were well 
worthy of admiration. In arguing for the 
removal of the disgrace of this traffic from 
the National Capital, he naturally branched 
off into a discussion of the wicked and 
brutalizing character of the traffic every- 
where. Quoted Franklin, Jefferson and 
Madison in reprobation of it, and when points 
of order were fired at him to the effect that 
"slavery in the United States" could not be 
discussed, he was ready with (juotations 
from these great southern statesmen them- 
selves to show that they were ready to dis- 
cuss and consider, but never to throttle 
debate on the subject. He finally got the 
southerners into a corner where they ob- 
jected to quotations from the Declaration of 
Independence itself, and driving them re- 
morselessly in their dilemma, extorted a call 
from the leaders for the southern delegations 
to leave the hall in a body. When they 
attempted the gag rule to suppress him he 
said : " Vou may indeed silence the voice of 
truth in this hall, but it will be only to give it 
louder and deeper tones elsewhere" — words 
that were prophetic. His speech on the 
tariff bill of 1842 was also regarded as a 
strong one for the protectionist side of the 
argument, especially for its wool schedule, 
and it was widely published and circulated 
by the \\'higs. 

One of the interesting episodes of Ver- 
mont politics in those days was the "war of 
pamphlets" between him and Senator Phelps 
in 1845 an J 1846, growing out of the charges 
made against the senator before his re-election 
in 1844, that he had been inclined to kick 
out of the party traces and to refuse to vote 
for the tariff bill of 1842 and against the land 
distribution bill, and that he had impaired 
his usefulness by excessive intemperance, 
violence of temper, and coarseness of lan- 
guage. Slade was at the time (lovernor and 
claimed that Phelps had got him nominated 
to silence these accusations. He had been 
an aspirant for the senator's seat, as also had 
Hiland Hall, and these two with Ezra Meech 



and Charles .\dams fathered the reports, as 
Phelps claimed. The thing was fought out 
in the Whig convention and in the Legisla- 
ture, which apijointed a committee of inves- 
tigation. Phelps wtm at both (joints, and 
then in the following winter published an 
".\])pear' to the peo])le of \'ermont in his 
vindication, reviewing the charges, produc- 
ing letters from a large number of his col- 
leagues and associates to show the baseless- 
ne.ss of the charges. Slade followed with a 
"reply," then Phelps with a "rejoinder" and 
Slade with another address "'I'o the People 
of Vermont," in which they handled each 
other severely and with a personal bitterness 
that would be irreparably damaging to the 
author in these days. 

EATON, Horace, (lovernorof the state 
in 1846-8, Lieutenant-Covernor for the three 
years preceding, physician, college professor 
and writer, was a man of modest but wide 
merit. The accessible biographical facts 
about him, however, are meagre. He was a 
son of Dr. Eliphoz and Polly ( liarnes ) P^aton, 
born at Barnard, June 22, 1804, but remov- 
ing with his parents to Enosburg two years 
later. He attended the district schools until 
he was fifteen, when he was sent to St. .Albans 
Academy to fit for college, entered Middle- 
bury in 1821, and graduated in 1825, having 
taught school every winter to help pay his 
expenses, but keeping up with his class with- 
out difficulty. He taught the academy 
school in Ivliddlebury for two years after 
graduation, and then returned to Enosburg 
and studied medicine with his father, and 
also attended medical lectures at Castleton, 
where he received his diploma. He contin- 
ued at Enosburg in the practice of his pro- 
fession in company with his father, until the 
latter's retirement, then alone, and still later 
in company with his brother, Dr. Rollin 
Eaton. He was town clerk for a number of 
years, representative in the Legislature six 
different times, and once in the Constitu- 
tional Council. In 1837 he was elected state 
senator, and again in 1839, being re-elected 
three times. Though unpretentious, he was 
so diligent and useful a legislator that he 
made a reputation which resulted in his 
nomination by the Whigs for Lieutenant- 
Covernor, in 1843, on the ticket w-ith Cov- 
ernor Mattocks, and he was re-elected on the 
ticket with Covernor Slade for his two 
terms. In 1846 he was the party nominee 
for Ciovernor, and was elected by a plurality 
of 5,763, the largest the \\higs had up to 
this time obtained, except in presidential 
years, and he was re-elected the next year. 
On his retirement from the Go\ernor's chair 
he was called to Middlebury College to take 
the post of professor of natural history and 
chemistry, which he held for about six years 



88 



until his death, July 4, 1855, in his sixty-first 
year. He had for several years been in 
feeble health, the victim of wasting and ex- 
hausting disease contracted in the care of a 
professional brother. Doctor Bard, of Troy. 

He was a man of clear and well-balanced 
mind, Madison-like in the simple, convincing 
fairness of his arguments, and the comprehen- 
siveness of his understanding of the subjects 
he handled, just and kindly towards others, of 
great delicacy of feeling, and always exceed- 
ingly careful not to wound, always a gentleman 
in his deportment. It was a combination of 
qualities that when bottomed on real intellec- 
tual strength and extensive learning, as was the 
case with him, make a strong man, a con- 
trolling one in deliberative assemblies and an 
authoritative on executive duties. He wrote 
much in the way of public addresses and 
lectures, reports and newspaper articles, not 
much of which, however, was of an enduring 
character. His last address delivered but a 
few weeks before his death was before the 
" Enosburg Young Men's Temperance So- 
ciety." He was much interested in temper- 
ance work all through his later years, taking 
an active part in the agitation that finally led 
to the enactment of our prohibitory law. 
Besides all his other services to the state he 
was for five years the state superintendent of 
common schools. 

(jovernor Eaton was twice married, first, 
August 14, 1821, to Cordelia L. Fuller, who 
died Feb. 7, 1841 ; and second, December, 
1 84 1, to Miss Edna Palmer. There were 
two children, but only one, Mrs. R. D. Ross 
of Missouri, lived to reach maturitv. 

COOLIDGE, Carlos.— Speaker, sen- 
ator, and Governor, son of Xathan and 
Elizabeth (Curtis) Coolidge, was born in 
Windsor, June 25, 1792. He fitted for col- 
lege with Rev. James Converse of Weathers- 
field, and entered Dartmouth in the fall of 
1807, but transferred to Middlebury in the 
spring of 1809, and was graduated in 181 1. 
After graduation he commenced the study 
of law with Peter Starr, Esq., of Middlebury, 
with whom he rvpnained about two years, 
and then returnii^i•^,' to Windsor completed 
his legal studies with Hon. Jonathan H. 
Hubbard, and was admitted to the Windsor 
county bar at the September term, 1814, and 
established himself in practice in his native 
town. In 1 83 1 he was elected state's at- 
torney for the county of Windsor, and was 
successively re-elected for five terms. He 
was a member of the first, board of bank 
commissioners, appointed under a statute 
enacted in 1831. In 1834 he" was elected 
to represent Windsor in the Legislature, and 
re-elected during the two succeeding years, 
being speaker in 1836, and was also repre- 
sentative for another term of three years, 



i839-'4o-'4 1, and speaker during the whole 
term, and distinguished himself by the dig- 
nity and im])artiality with which he dis- 
charged the duties of that station. 

In 1845 he was presidential elector and 
assisted in giving the vote of ^'ermont to 
Henry Clay. He was the candidate of the 
Whig party for Governor in 1848, and, no 
election being made by the people, was 
chosen by the Legislature. In the same way 
he was re-elected in 1849. He was a sena- 
tor from Windsor county in i853-'S4-'55, 
and was frequently called upon to act as 
president pro tempore of the Senate and 
Joint .Assembly. 

He married Harriet Bingham of Clare- 
mont, X. H., by whom he had one son, who 
died in early childhood, and one daughter : 
Mary, who married Rev. Franklin Butler. 

He received the honorary degree of A. 
M. from the L'niversity of Vermont in 1835, 
and that of LL. D. from his alma mater in 
1849. He died at Windsor, August 14, 1866, 
aged sixty-nine. 

WILLIAMS, Charles Kilborn.— 

( J o V e r n o r , an 
eminent jurist 
and one of the 
most wideh' use- 
ful of our states- 
; men, was born 

at C am bridge, 
Mass., Jan. 24, 
1782. Youngest 
son of that emi- 
nent philosopher 
and historian. 
Rev. Samuel Wil- 
liams, LL. D., by 
lane, daughter of 
Klphialet Kil- 
born. He came 
to ^'ermont with his father in 1790, gradua- 
ted at Williams in 1800, and locating at 
Rutland, continued to reside there until his 
death. He studied law with Cephas Smith, 
Esq., of Rutland, then clerk of the L'. S. 
courts for the district of Vermont ; was ad- 
mitted to the bar in March, 1803; was 
appointed a tutor in Williams College in 1802, 
and about the same time received a similar 
appointment from Middlebury College, both 
of which he declined. He served one cam- 
paign on the north frontier in the war of 1 8 1 2. 
Represented Rutland 1809-'! i-'i4-'i5-'2o- 
'21 and '49. After his retirement from the 
bench, by the general concurrence of all po- 
litical parties in town, he was state's attorney 
of Rutland county in 1815 ; was elected judge 
of the Supreme Court of Vermont, in 1822- 
'23-'24, declining the last election ; was ap- 
pointed collector of customs for Vermont in 
1825 and held the position until October, 1829, 




I'AIRHANKS. 



89 



when he resigned, being again elected one of 
the judges of the Vermont Supreme Court : to 
this office he received seventeen successive 
annual elections. He retired from the bench 
in 1849, declining a re-election. In i85o-'5i 
he was elected Governor by a majority of 
the popular vote. In 1827 he was ajjpointed 
one of the state commissioners for common 
schools, a board to select and recommend 
suitable text books and to have general super- 
vision over educational affairs of the state ; 
was a member of the corporation of Middle- 
bury College from 1827 to 1843, and, at the 
time of his death, was ]3resident of the society 
of the Alumni of Williams College. He re- 
ceived the degree of Master of Arts from 
Middlebury and Williams Colleges in 1803, 
and that of Doctor of Laws from the former 
in 1834. 

Governor Williams died very suddenly at 
his residence in Rutland, March 9, 1853. 

FAIRBANKS, ERASTUS.— Twice (;over- 
nor of the state, the signer of its prohibitory 
law, which defeated him for re-election, but 
eight years later elected the first of our 
three war Governors, the founder, with his 
brother 'I'haddeus, of the great firm of scale 
• manufacturers at St. Johnsbury, one of the 
fathers of the Passurapsic R. R., and its 
first president, was born in Brimfield, Mass., 
Oct. 28, 1792. 

The early American ancestors of the Fair- 
banks family, Jonathan and Grace Fair- 
banks, came from Yorkshire, England, in 
1633 and settled in Dedham, Mass., where 
the family mansion there erected still stands. 
In Erastus Fairbanks, the sixth generation 
in the line of descent, was seen the junc- 
tion of the qualities of character in the early 
New England settlers, energy, public spirit, 
and clear religious convictions. Joseph Fair- 
banks, a farmer, carpenter, and mill owner, 
was the father of the subject of this sketch, 
and he came to Vermont and St. Johnsbury 
in 18 15, the son having preceded him by a few 
years. Erastus Fairbanks' early means of edu- 
cation were very limited and confined wholly 
to the common school of which he made un- 
common use. In referring to this period 
of his early history he himself said of the 
school where he studied : "I went thor- 
oughly through all the stages of the fresh- 
man, sophomore, junior, and senior classes 
of this institution, and graduated at the age 
of seventeen with a knowledge of the 
branches there taught as a foundation. I 
ever considered myself a student at large, 
capable of acquiring, and bound to acquire, 
a knowledge of other sciences more or less 
thoroughly, and an acquaintance with what- 
ever is requisite to qualify myself for any 
calling or station whicn in the providence of 
God I may be called upon to occupy." For 



a little while after leaving school he con- 
tmued his education by teaching for two 
terms. Soon after, in 181 2, he accepted an 
invitation from his uncle, Judge l-^ihriam 
I'addock of St. Johnsbury to enter his office 
as a student of law. A serious affection of 
the eyes soon compelled him to abandon his 
legal studies and 'engage in other pursuits. 
He entered mercantile life as represented in 
a country store, and continued in this for 
eleven years in Wheelock, East St. Johns- 
bury, and Barnet. In these years he estab- 
lished a reputation for absolute integrity and 
for interest in everything that concerned the 
public welfare. 

On the settlement of his affairs in Barnet, 
he returned to St. Johnsbury and entered 
into business with his next younger brother, 
Thaddeus Fairbanks, as manufacturers of 
stoves, plows, etc. In 1829 the brothers 
added to their business the purchase and 
preparation of hemp for market. The rude 
antl inaccurate mode of weighing their pur- 
chases led to the invention of the platform 
scale by them. This invention, like most of 
the discoveries that have revolutionized 
methods of industry, was simple and easily 
understood. The demand for the new scale 
compelled the brothers to relinquish other 
business interests. The two men were fitted 
for partnership in the work and growth of a 
great manufacturing establishment. Thad- 
deus gave the strength of his inventive 
genius to the improvement and manufacture 
of the scale, while Erastus with his genius 
for business, by original and far seeing 
methods, secured a wide and solid financial 
success, though they had their full share of 
struggles and misfortunes. A fire and a 
freshet in 1828 compelled them to ask for a 
two years extension from their creditors, 
which was cordially granted. 

In 1836 Erastus Fairbanks was elected to 
represent the town in the state Legislature, 
and was re-elected for the two succeeding 
years. In 1844, and again in 1S48, he was 
chosen a presidential elector for the state. 
In 1848 he was appointed with Charles K. 
Williams and Lucius B. Peck to prepare a 
general railroad law, and also one relating to 
manufacturing corporations, and their report 
still remains embodied in the statutes of the 
state. In 1852 he was elected Governor by 
the Legislature, having fallen a few hundred 
short of a majority in the popular vote, be- 
cause of the candidacy of Brainerd and the 
Liberty party. In the closing days of the Leg- 
islature of that year the law for the prohibition 
of the sale of intoxicating liquors was passed ; 
Governor Fairbanks signed it, and in conse- 
quence was defeated for re-election the next 
year. The figures and particulars of that 
interesting contest are given in the sketch of 
Governor Robinson, his successful competi- 




amim 



FAIRBANKS. 



9> 



tor. 'I'he Whigs desired to fight out the issue 
in 1854 with Governor Fairbanks again as a 
candidate, but he declined a nomination 
because of his business engagements. 

In i860, however, the Republican con- 
vention unanimously made him its candi- 
date, and he was easily elected over John (1. 
Saxe, the poet, Democratic candidate. His 
administration in 1861 secured for him a 
reputation as a "man with a brain and con- 
science." By his energy and patriotism ; 
he being "as lavish of his own time and 
money as by was sparing of the people's ; 
and as regardless of his private interests as 
he was devoted to the public good," he 
earned the name of the war Governor. War 
meant loss of property and credits which the 
firm had in the South, but he never wavered 
for a moment in the conviction that the 
Union must be sustained. He called an 
extra session of the Legislature eight days 
after the assault on Sumter, and it placed 
$1,000,000 at his disposal without check on 
his discretion, for the arming and forwarding 
of troops, but at his earnest request a com- 
mittee was appointed at the October session 
to audit his accounts, and on its report the 
Legislature adopted a series of resolutions 
highly complimentary to the ability and 
patriotic devotion with which he had ex- 
ecuted the trust. The first six regiments of 
the state, of the famous "Vermont Brigade," 
and the first company of sharp-shooters were 
organized and mustered into the service 
under his administration. The Clovernor's 
services all through this trying period were 
purely a patriotic offering. He declined even 
to draw his salary, such was his sentiment 
on the subject, and it still remains in the 
treasury a monument of his self-sacrifice. 

As a man of business, he had the power 
that easily assumes and carries on great op- 
erations. In 1850 he was active in the con- 
struction of the Passumpsic R. R., and 
was for years president of the company. He 
was also a leading and efficient member of 
the company that constructed the Sault Ste. 
Marie canal. He was always a man of deeds 
rather than words. " .\ staid and stable cit- 
izen, a successful man of business, a dignified 
and courteous Christian gentleman," is Colo- 
nel Benedict's description of him in " Ver- 
mont in the Civil War." A man of wide 
reading, to which he devoted an hour every 
day, of wide and practical information, in- 
tensely earnest in his convictions, and reso- 
lute in carrying them out, he was well 
equipped in every way for success in both 
private and public life. 

He made work of public good, especially 
the interests of the town, an integral and a 
necessary part of his business. Anything 
that touched the community touched his in- 
terests. Probably his most enduring reputa- 



tion is that of a business philanthropist. 
Prominent among his home charities rejire- 
sented in an active way may be mentioned 
the founding of the .Academy, with his broth- 
ers ; and his endowments assist in maintain- 
ing the Athenreum, the .Museum of Natural 
Science, and the North Church. From 1849 
until his death, he was president of the Ver- 
mont 1 )omestic Missionary Society, and for 
many years was a corporate member of the 
American Board of Foreign Missions. 

He was married. May 30, 181 5, to Lois 
Grossman, of Peacham. His married life 
continued to within a few months of half a 
century. They had nine children, of whom 
four now survive : Charles, Franklin, Sarah 
(Mrs. C. M. Stone), and Emily (Mrs. C. L. 
Goodell). 

Governor Fairbanks died Nov. 20, 1864. 

ROYCE, Stephen.— Governor in 1S54 
and 1855, for twenty-five years a member of 
the Supreme Court of the state, and for six 
years the chief justice, had some of the 
brainiest and most patriotic blood of the 
state in his veins, and belonged to a family 
that for four generations has been distin- 
guished in Vermont affairs. He was the 
grandson of Maj. Stephen Royce, a Revolu- 
tionary soldier and a member of the Dorset 
convention that declared Vermont's inde- 
pendence, and son of that Stephen Royce, 
also a Revolutionary soldier, who was Berk- 
shire's first representative in the Legislature. 
On his mother's side he was a grandson of 
ludge and Doctor Ebenezer Marvin, like- 
wise a Revolutionary officer, who was with 
F^than .Allen at Ticonderoga, a surgeon in the 
Continental army, judge of the county courts 
in Rutland, Chittenden, and F'ranklin for six- 
teen years, and member of the Governor's 
Council for eleven years. His nephew, Homer 
K. Royce, was a member of Congress for 
four years, and a judge of the Supreme 
Court for nearly a generation, and for eight 
years chief justice. 

Governor Royce was born in Tinmouth, 
August 12, 1787, but removed with his 
parents to Huntsburgh (now Franklin), in 
I 79 1, and two years later to the still newer 
town of Berkshire where there were at the 
time only two other families. His oppor- 
tunities for schooling in his early youth were 
very meagre, but besides an able father he 
had in his mother, Minerva Marvin Royce, 
the best of teachers and character de- 
velopers, and at the age of thirteen he was 
sent to Tinmouth to attend the common 
school, and a year later began an academ- 
ical course at Middlebury under Charles 
Wright, afterwards a famous clergyman, and 
in 1803 entered Middlebury College, where 
he graduated with the class of 1S07 which 
contained such a remarkable number of 



eminent men. Twice was he interrupted in 
his academical and collegiate course by the 
necessity of returning to the farm to work. 
But he persevered, made his journey back to 
college on foot, with packages of furs secured 
in the wilderness, from which he obtained 
the money for the purchase of necessary 
books. 

After graduating at the age of twenty, he 
taught district school for one term and 
studied law with his uncle, Ebenezer Mar- 
vin, Jr., with whom he was afterwards in 
partnership for a few years. He commen- 
ced practice at Berkshire, where he remained 
two years, then for six years was at Sheldon, 
representing the town in 1815 and i Si 6, and 
in 1 81 7 went to St. Albans, where he re- 
mained the rest of his life, pursuing his pro- 
fession with ever-increasing success until he 
was called to the bench. St. Albans sent 
him to the Legislature in 1822, 1S23, and 
1824 and as a delegate to the state constitu- 
tional convention in 1823. He was a mem- 
ber of the legislative committee in 1816 that 
made a strong report in favor of adopting 
the constitutional amendment proposed by 
North Carolina for choosing both presi- 
dential electors and congressmen by the dis- 
'trict system, the same principle substantially 
as has recently been tried in Michigan. He 
was state's attorney for Franklin county from 
1816 to 1 818 and held the office of judge 
during 1825 and 1826, when he declined a 
re-election and resumed his professional 
practice until 1829, when he was again 
elected to the bench and continuously re- 
elected for twenty-three years until 1S52, 
rising to be chief justice in 1847, and hold- 
ing that position until he positively refused 
a re-election. In 1854 the whigs nomi- 
nated him as their candidate for Governor 
and he was easily elected. 

In 1855 he was re-elected, and at the end 
of his term retired to private life, passing 
the remaining twelve years until his death, 
Nov. II, 1868, in a serenity and well-earned 
contentment that made a beautiful picture, 
with its easy hospitality, its enjoyment of 
literature and social amenities, and its care 
from kindred ; for, though he was never 
married, his declining years were attended 
by nephews and nieces. His local attach- 
ments were deep, and among his later works 
was a carefully written historv of Berkshire, 
though he did not li\e to complete it. 

His personal appearance is described by 
B. H. Smalley as "tall, erect, with a vigorous 
and well-proportioned frame, of a command- 
ing presence and a serene majesty of man- 
ners. His face was mobile, expressive, and 
strongly marked. The gleam of his mild gray 
eye illuminated his countenance and revealed 
every emotion whether grave or gay that was 
passing within, moving the looker-on by a 



sort of magnetic influence to sympathize 
with him." Professionally his ideal of honor 
was high. 

He made it a rule ne\ er to accept a fee in 
a case in whose justice he did not believe, 
and if afterwards he was convinced it was 
wrong, to compel the client to settle or 
abandon the case. .\s a judge, he resem- 
bled Marshall and Chipman in his way 
of stating a case, laying down the legal 
principles and seldom referring to the books 
for authority ; in other words, regarding the 
law in its high relation as the science of 
reason and right, which authorities can only 
illuminate, not slavishly bind. He followed 
this method e\en while confining himself to 
the case before him and carefully avoiding 
any essays upon law at large. He refused to 
report cases where there were no new prin- 
ciples involved, and it is said that he also 
refused to report some when he was satis- 
fied, upon reviewing the case, that his de- 
cision had been wrong, holding that it was 
bad enough to have done injustice to an 
individual without sending it out as a prece- 
dent for future wrongs. He had considera- 
ble trouble because of these omissions to 
report, and the Legislature withheld a part of 
his salary for a time, but without moving 
him. Politically his career cannot be said to 
have been a notable one. The times of his 
prominence were not of a kind to call forth 
great powers, and it is doubtful if his tem- 
perament was of a kind to strive in political 
turmoil. He made a good and painstaking 
(Governor. 

FLETCHER, RylAND.— Ihe first dis- 
tinctively Republican Governor of the state, 
was born in Cavendish, Feb. i8, 1799, the 
son of Dr. .\saph and Sally (Clreen) Fletcher. 
His father who came from Westford, Mass., 
in 1787, had been a member of the conven- 
tion that framed the constitution of that state 
and was a man of considerable prominence 
both professionally and politically in ^'er- 
mont, being a judge, legislator, councilor 
and presidential elector. CJne of the sons, 
Richard, who studied law with Daniel Web- 
ster, and after whom one of the latter's sons 
was named, represented Massachusetts in 
Congress and was a judge of her Supreme 
Court, .\nother. Rev. Horace Fletcher of 
Townshend, was quite a distinguished Bap- 
tist clergyman. The family was of English 
and Welsh origin and probably farther back 
of French, and Rev. John Fletcher, the early 
Methodist ]3hilologist and philosopher rank- 
ing next to Wesley himself for his influence 
on religious thought, belonged to one branch 
of it. 

Ryland was the youngest of Dr. Fletcher's 
children, had only a common school educa- 
tion, worked on his father's farm through his 



FLETCHER. 

young manhood, teacliing district school 
winters, but by his soHd merits of mind and 
character grew to be a man of local inlluence. 
He w-as seized with the "western fever" in 
1836, but after a few months' vain quest of 
fortune in the several parts of the country, 
was glad to return to okl \ermont. Me was 
early identified with the militia of the state, 
joining the company at Cavendish at the age 
of eighteen, being made a lieutenant the next 
year, captain two years later, major in six 
years more, then successively lieutenant- 
colonel and colonel, until in 1S35 he was ap- 
pointed brigadier-general, resigning when he 
went west. He became active as an anti- 
slavery man as early as 1837, and was the 
intimate associate of Garrison, Giddings, 
Wilson, Tappan, Gerrit Smith, and John P. 
Hale, in their work for the cause. He attend- 
ed the great meeting of the anti-slavery lead- 
ers in 1845, at Fanueil Hall, Boston, and was 
with Henry Wilson present at the Philadel- 
phia meeting of the Native American or 
Know-nothing leaders to launch a new party, 
and he and \Mlson were the only decided 
anti-slavery men present, and after their elo- 
quent appeals to commit the proposed party 
to this cause, the convention finally adjourned 
in great excitement w'ithout accomplishing 
the purpose for which it had been convened. 

In 1854 the practical fusion through the 
action of the state committees of the Whigs 
with the Free Soilers and Liberty party men 
resulted in the selection of Mr. Fletcher as 
candidate for Lieutenant-Governor after the 
nomination had been refused by Oscar L. 
Shaffer, and he was elected this year and in 
185s on the ticket with Governor Royce. 
He distinguished himself as the presiding 
officer of the Senate, and in 1856 was nomi- 
nated by the Republicans for the chief 
magistracy, and was elected by a majority of 
23,121 over Henry Keyes, Democrat, and 
re-elected the next year with a majority of 
23,688, also over Keyes. In his messages he 
took strong ground for prohibition, and 
recommended the appointment of a board of 
education, which was done. He began the 
agitation for the establishment of a reform 
school with the first gubernational recom- 
mendation to that effect. It was during his 
adminstration that the state house was de- 
stroyed, and the location and construction 
of the new one determined. 

He retired from office after trying respon- 
sibilities, with general agreement that his 
record had been a clean and creditable one. 
He was again summoned to the public ser- 
vice in 1861 and '62, when his town sent 
him to the Legislature to give the weight of 
his reputation and influence, as well as his 
ability and experience, to the war measures 
of the state. He of course exerted a large 
power for good in this emergency. He was 



HALL. 93 

also a member of the Constitutional Con- 
vention of 1870, and strongly favored the 
policy of biennial elections. He was several 
times a presidential elector and a delegate 
to Republican national conventions. He 
was identified with temperance work from a 
very early period, gave many lectures on the 
subject, and was for several years president 
of the State Temperance Society. While 
colonel in the militia he induced the officers 
of his regiment to pass a vote to abolish the 
custom of " treating " on parade days. He 
was prominent in the denominational work 
of the Baptist church, and always active in 
Sunday-school duties. 

Governor Fletcher's distinction was won, 
not as a man of brilliant abilities, but as one 
of well-balanced and well-poised character, 
pure of purpose, high of aims, and sound of 
judgment. .\s a public speaker he was most 
logical and convincing, without oratorical 
display, but with a power of pointed illustra- 
tion and simplicity and clearness of state- 
ment that went straight to the understanding 
of the ordinary audience. 

Governor Fletcher wedded, June 11, 1829, 
Mary, daughter of Fleazer May of West- 
minster. Of the three children of this union 
only one, Col. Henry A. Fletcher, Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of the state in 1890, survives. 
Governor Fletcher himself died Dec. 19, 
1885, at ProctorsA'ille. 

HALL, HILAND.— Governor in iS58-'59, 
for ten years a 
congressman. 
Comptroller of 
the I' n i t e d 
States Treasury 
for about a year 
more, and per- 
haps the most 
indefatigable of 
the state's his- 
torians, certain- 
ly the most fruit- 
f u 1 in results, 
was born in Pien- 
nington July 20, 
1795, the eldest 
of seven c h i 1 - 
Nathaniel and .Abigail 
He was descended on 
both sides from good English stock, from 
ancestors who were among the first settlers 
of Middletown, Conn., going there from 
Boston in 1650. 

Hiland was brought up on a farm, receiv- 
ing only a common school education with 
one finishing term at the Granville, N. Y., 
.Academy. But he had besides the best of 
all education, in an experience of several 
terms, with all its power of development and 
discipline, as a district schoolteacher. .And 




dren of Deacon 
(Hubbard) Hall. 



94 



he was from early youth an omniverous 
reader, especially along historical and bio- 
graphical lines, absorbing the contents of 
every book he could get in the neighbor- 
hood, often by the light of coals on the 
hearth of an old-fashioned fireplace, even 
candles at that time being a luxury. He 
was a born patriot, and at the age of eigh- 
teen was interested in the formation of the 
" Sons of Liberty," a society of young men 
in Bennington to uphold the rigorous prose- 
cution of the war of 1812, and in protest 
against the pro-English sympathy that was 
then so rampant in New England. 

Studying law, he was admitted to the bar 
in 1 819, and continued its practice through 
his active life at Bennington, except when 
called away by official duties. He repre- 
sented the town in the Legislature in 1827, 
was clerk of the Supreme and county court 
for Bennington county in 1828, and was 
state's attorney in i828-'3i. On the forma- 
tion of party lines afresh, after the "era of 
good feeling" under Monroe, he espoused 
the cause of the National Republicans dur- 
ing the brief existence of that party under 
John Quincy Adams, then became a whig, 
and finally a Republican. In 1833, on the 
death of Hon. Jonathan Hunt, he was 
elected to succeed him in Congress and rep- 
resented the old south district of the Senate 
for ten years, when he declined a renomina- 
tion, and attempted to return to private life. 
His service in Congress was a laborious 
rather than a speechmaking one, his com- 
mittee places being on that of postoffice and 
post roads, and Revolutionary claims. 

His chief speeches were in May, 1834, 
joining the attack on President Jackson's 
removal of the government deposits from the 
national bank, and in May, 1836, favoring 
the distribution of the surplus among the 
states, from which Vermont received nearly 
Si 00,000 as her portion to be added to the 
school fund of the towns. Both these speech- 
es were printed and extenivesly circulated by 
the Whigs as campaign documents. In one 
of the premonitory struggles over the slavery 
question, he presented a strong minority re- 
port on "incendiary publications" in oppo- 
sition to the message of the President and 
the advice of the Postmaster-General and in 
answer to a report made in the Senate by 
Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina. So thor- 
oughly and convincingly did it answer the 
position of the slave party that the majority 
of the committee did their best to suppress it 
by failing to make a majority report. But 
it found its way into the newspapers and was 
widely published and commented on. 

Mr. Hall did an important and permanent 
service in connection with the act of July 22, 
1836, in procuring the passage of which he 
took an active and leading part and by which 



in the reorganization of the postoffice depart- 
ment a system for which the settlement of 
accounts was established, which inaugurated 
an economical administration. 

He made a big and single-handed and tri- ■ 
umphant fight against the fraudulent claims 
which had for years been put in by \'irgin- 
ians under the name of commutation half 
pay and bounty land claims, founded on al- 
leged promises of the state of Virginia or of 
the Continental Congress to officers of the 
Re\olutionary army. It was an organized 
raid led by influential Virginians, Governors 
and congressmen, and had been pushed 
through Congress with little opposition, so 
that over $3,000,000 had been collected in 
the names of deceased officers, and the de- 
mands were fast multiplying. Mr. Hall's 
habit of thorough and exhaustive investiga- 
tion stood him in good stead in this fight. 
He went through the Re\olutionary archives 
at Washington and the public records at 
Richmond, he found authentic evidence that 
every one of these claims was unfounded, 
and he made a report as chairman of the 
committee on Revolutionary claims to this 
effect. The whole Virginia delegation, led 
by ex-( Governor Gilmer, who was getting i 
per cent on all he could collect of these 
claims, aided by their sectional sympathizers 
in the South and political in the North, at- 
tacked him bitterly and attempted a re- 
opening of the case by means of a select 
committee. Hall in response gave a list of 
sixteen of the last claims that had been paid, 
and on which over S2oo,ooo had been drawn, 
challenged the Virginians to show that a 
single one was well or honestly founded and 
offered to withdraw his opposition if they 
could. The fight lasted through several days. 
Mr. Hall sustained every position he had 
taken in the debate, and so thoroughly dis- 
comfited his assailants as to win the plaudits 
of ex-President Adams and of the whole 
country. The result was a select committee 
and a report from it prepared by Mr. Hall 
which definitely suppressed the rascality. 

He was president of the large "Whig" 
convention held in Burlington in 1S40, and 
made the opening speech, and introduced to 
and presented Hon. Daniel Webster at the 
famous " Stratton \\'hig convention," held on 
the top of the Green Mountain on the i6th 
of August of the same year. 

He was bank commissioner of \'ermont 
for four years, from 1843, judge of the Su- 
preme Court for a like period until 1850, 
when he was appointed second controller of 
the United States Treasury. He had an 
opportunity while in the latter position to do 
the country a permanent serxice, and to lay 
down lines which have since been followed 
in departmental practice. He took the 
ground that he should, if satisfied of the 



95 



illegality of an expenditure, reject it, no 
matter who ordered it, even if the head of a 
department, or if sanctioned V)y the Presi- 
dent himself. He held this ground against 
the published opinion of three former attor- 
ney generals. He showed conclusively that 
judicial authority had been designedly con- 
ferred on the accounting officers as a check 
upon la\ish expenditures in the sexeral de- 
partments, and a second edition of his pub- 
lished opinion, which has since been followed 
in the department, has recently been printed 
for government use. 

In 1 85 1 he was appointed by President 
Fillmore, with Gen. James Wilson of New 
Hampshire, and Judge H. I. Thornton of 
.\labama, a land commissioner for Cali- 
fornia, resigned his position as controller, 
recommending for his successor, Edward |. 
Phelps of Burlington. He was chairman of 
the commission and wrote the opinion in 
the famous Mariposa claim of (len. J. ('. 
Freemont, which included almost without 
exception, all the points that would be liable 
to arise in the adjusting of land claims 
under the treaty with Mexico. After the 
election of President Pierce, he remained 
for a time in San Francisco with the law 
firm of Halleck, Peachy, Billings & Park as 
general adviser, and to assist in the prepara- 
tion of important papers. 

He returned to Vermont in the spring of 
1854, and resumed the practice of his pro- 
fession at Bennington, was a delegate to the 
first Republican national convention at Phila- 
delphia in 1856, and in 185 8 was elected 
Governor by a majority of 16,322 over 
Henry Keyes, Democrat, and re-elected in 
1 85 9 by a still larger majority, 16,717, over 
John G. Saxe, Democrat. He spoke severely 
in his message of the attempt, by a decision 
of the Supreme Court, to legalize slavery in 
the Territories, he pronounced the decision 
in the " Dred Scott " case as " extra judicial, 
and as contrary to the plain language of the 
constitution, to the facts of history and to 
the distastes of common humanity." He, 
however, acted as chairman of the delega- 
tion from Vermont to the fruitless " Peace 
Congress," at Washington in February, 1861, 
on the eve of the rebellion. 

Mr. Hall always took a deep interest in 
the history connected with the territory and 
state of N'ermont. He delivered the first 
annual address that was made before the 
\"ermont Historical Society : and for six years, 
from 1859, was its president and was after- 
wards active in the preparation of the mate- 
rials for a number of the \olumes of its col- 
lections, and otherwise promoting its success. 
He read se\eral papers at the meetings of 
the society, some of which were published ; 
among them, one in 1869, in vindication of 
Ethan .\llen as the hero of Ticonderoga, in 



refutation of an attempt made in the " ( lalaxy 
.Magazine " to rob him of that honor. He 
contributed papers to the " New ^■ork His- 
torical .Magazine," to the " N'ermont Histori- 
cal Gazetteer," to the " Philadelj)hia Histori- 
cal Record," and also to the " New England 
Historic Genealogical Register." In i860, 
he read before the .New York Historical 
Society a paper showing why the early inhabi- 
tants of \"ermont disclaimed the jurisdiction 
of New York, and established a separate 
government. 

In 186S, his " Karly History of Vermont," 
a work of over five hundred pages, was pub- 
lished, in which is unanswerably shown the 
necessity of the separation of the inhabitants 
from the government of .\ew York ; their 
justification in the struggle they maintained 
in the establishment of their state independ- 
ence, and their valuable services in the cause 
of .American liberty during the Revolutionary 
war. In it the loyalty of all the important 
acts of the leaders is so firmly established by 
documentary evidence, that he was confi- 
dent no aspersion could be maintained 
reflecting upon the patriotism of any of 
the early heroes. Naturally he has also 
taken a leading part in the rearing of the 
Bennington battle monument. 

The honorary degree of LL. D. was con- 
ferred upon him by the University of Ver- 
mont in 1859. He was a life member and 
vice-president for Vermont of the New Eng- 
land Historic Genealogical Society, a mem- 
ber of the Long Island Historical Society, an 
honorary member of the Buffalo and corres- 
ponding member of the New York Histori- 
cal Societies. 

Mr. Hall was possessed of the qualities 
which go to make up a statesman ; a strong 
mind stored with good common sense, a re- 
tenti\e memory, and a practical mode of 
thinking. His flow of language as an ex- 
temporaneous speaker was deficient, but at 
the desk he excelled, as formulated thoughts 
and moulded ideas flowed as freely as could 
be readily written, and in whatever position 
he was placed he was found equal to any 
exigency which arose, as his fund of informa- 
tion extended to all branches of national, 
constitutional or international research. 

He married in 1818, Dolly Tuttle Davis, 
daughter of Henry Davis of Rockingham. 
She died Jan. 8, 1879. Henry Davis was at 
the battle of Bunker Hill under Colonel 
Stark at the line of rail fence, and also served 
at West Point at the time of .Arnold's trea- 
sonable attempt to surrender it to the enemy, 
being in the Revolutionary service over 
three years. .\t a family reunion in .North 
Bennington, July 20, 1S85, in honor of Mr. 
Hall, at the residence of his granddaughter, 
on which day he was ninety years of age, there 
were present fifty-one of his descendants. 



96 



DILLINGH.\iI. 



there being five others who were detained 
from this interesting gathering. 

Governor Hall died in Sjiringfield, Mass., 
at the house of his son, with whom he was 
spending the winter, Dec. i8, 18S5. 

SMITH, John Gregory.— The third of 

the war Ciovernors of the state, the organizer 
and the head for years of the great Central 
Vermont railroad system, and one of the pro- 
jectors of the Northern Pacific, was for 
nearly thirty years the most potent person- 
ality in Vermont affairs. He was born at St. 
Albans, July 22, 1S18, and was the son of 
John Smith, a pioneer railroad builder in 
Vermont, and a leading lawyer and public 
man of his generation, representing St. Al- 
bans nine successi\e years in the Legislature 
and serving one term in Congress. The 
family came from Barre, Mass. John Greg- 
ory graduated from the University of Ver- 
mont in 1 84 1, and subsequently from the 
Yale law school. He at once associated with 
his father in the practice of law and inci- 
dentally in railroad management. 

At the death of his father in 1858 John 
Gregory succeeded to the position of trustee 
under the lease of the ^'ermont & Canada 
R. R. Simultaneously he entered politics, 
and for many years the career in each line 
was involved with the other. The roads ran 
down so that in 1865 trust bonds began to 
be issued to provide for repairs, and from 
this Governor Smith advanced to a large 
policy of " development " forming by leases 
and purchases a great " through system of 
roads, all under the authority " of the court 
of chancery, and as an extension of the 
policy of repairs. The emissions of "trust" 
bonds continued till 1872, when 54,356,600 
were out. When the financial panic struck 
the country, these structures tumbled, the 
rent payment to the Vermont & Canada 
was defaulted, notes went to protest, a legis- 
lative investigation was held, and a long and 
complicated litigation ensued. Governor 
Smith and his management, generally speak- 
ing, came out of the courts successful, but 
before the end was reached a compromise 
was effected by which new securities were 
issued to the different interests and the 
" Consolidated Railway of Vermont " formed, 
still under Smith's management. He was 
one of the originators of the Northern Pacific 
railroad enterprise and was the president of 
the cor])oration from 1S66 to 1872, when he 
retired amid the troubles that were thicken- 
ing about both companies. Under his lead 
five hundred and fifty-five miles of the road 
were built. 

He entered the Legislature as St. Albans' 
representative in i860, and in '61 and '62 
was speaker of the House, winning such 
popularity that he was unanimously nom- 



inated for Governor in 1863 and re-elected 
in '64. And none are there to deny the high 
quality of his ser\ice to the state and nation, 
in those days. He was the friend and con- 
fidant of Lincoln and Stanton. He was par- 
ticularly solicitous in caring for the Vermont 
boys at the front, and his many deeds of 
kindness won him many enthusiastic and 
life-long admirers. He was chairman of 
the state delegation to the national Re- 
publican conventions in 1872, 1880, and 
1884. After his retirement from the Gover- 
nor's chair he held no public office, though 
for about twenty years he was the master of 
Vermont politics. 

He was frequently afterward talked of for 
a seat in the United States Senate, particu- 
larly in 1886, when quite a breezy little fight 
was made for him, and again in 1891 after 
Edmunds' resignation. But in both cases 
he withdrew his name. 

He was a very remarkable man — shrewd, 
far-seeing, persuasive, and yet iron-handed 
in his determination to carry his purposes. 
He had a wonderful faculty, with his wide 
knowledge of human nature and his singu- 
lar affability of manner, of winning other 
men to his support, and his marked execu- 
tive ability made successful the schemes he 
was so facile in organizing and inaugurating. 
He was prominently interested in several 
local business enterprises, and was president 
of \Velden National Bank, the People's Trust 
Co., and the Franklin County Creamery 
Association. He was a life-long member of 
the Congregational church, and a liberal 
giver for church purposes, a late contribution 
being a gift of some $7,000 for remodeling 
the church edifice. In 1888 he gave the 
village of St. Albans an elegant bronze foun- 
tain costing §5,000, which now adorns the 
public park. His palatial residence in St. 
Albans has been the scene of many gather- 
ings, at which Governor and Mrs. Smith 
have dispensed a courteous hospitalitv. He 
married in 1842, Ann Eliza, daughter of Hon. 
Lawrence Branerd, who has written several 
novels and other charming books and who 
survives him with five children : George G., 
in business at Minneapolis, Minn., Edward 

C, president of the Central Vermont R. R., 
Mrs. C. O. Steven of Boston, and Mrs. Rev. 

D. S. Mackay of St. .Albans. 

Governor Smith died at St. Albans, after a 
month's illness, Nov. 6, i8gi. 

DILLINGHAM, Paul.— Congressman, 
Governor, and a lawyer of singular power 
and eloquence, was born at Shutesbury^ 
Mass., August 10, 1799, the son of Paul 
and Hannah (Smith) Dillingham, and of a 
family that traces back to the \Vinthrop 
colony in American history, that had brave 
officers, the direct ancestors of the Gover- 



DII.I.INGHA-M. 



UILLISC;1IAM. 



97 



nor, in both the French and the Revolution- 
ary wars, and that has always been marked 
by that fervent patriotism and usually by the 
religious earnestness so characteristic of him. 
Paul's father, a farmer, moved from 
Shutesbury to Waterbury when the boy was 
only six years old. The latter was educated 
in the \\'ashington county grammar school, 
studied law at Middlebury in the office of 
Dan Carpenter, was admitted to the bar in 
March, 1823, and formed a partnership with 
his preceptor, which lasted until the latter's 
elevation to the bench. For fifty-two vears. 




until his retirement in 1875, '''^ ^^'^^ '^^ the 
constant practice of his profession, except 
for the interruptions by his public service, 
and as a jury advocate he was at the head of 
a bar that for a full generation was among 
the ablest the state ever contained, and 
ranked perhaps as the first in the state. 

As a Supreme Court lawyer he was not so 
great, though strong. A fine presence, six 
feet tall and weighing over two hundred 
pounds, with a kindly bearing, manly frank- 
ness and dignified simplicity, an eye beam- 
ing with magnetic quality, a voice " musical 
and sweet as a flute in its lower cadences, 
but in passion or excitement resounding like 
the music of a bugle," were only the exter- 
nals of his power. The real secret was a 
nature rich with human sympathy. A knowl- 
edge of men and of affairs gathered in a long 
and observant contact, was illuminated by a 
mind fertile in poetic conceptions, apt illus- 
trations and happy anecdotes, and deepened 
and strengthened by a profound study of the 



Scriptures to enforce his thought. .As H. F. 
Fifieid says in a sketch of him : " When in 
his best mood, he played upon the strings of 
men's hearts with the facility that a skilled 
musician plays upon the strings of a guitar, 
and made them respond to emotions of 
laughter, anger, sympathy or sorrow, when- 
ever he pleased and as best suited the pur- 
poses of his case." 

He was town clerk of Waterbury from 
1829 to '44; representative to the Legisla- 
ture in 1833, '34, '37, '38 and '39 ; state's 
attorney for Washington county in 1835, '36 
and '37 : a member of the Constitutional 
Conventions of 1836, '57 and '70 ; state sen- 
ator of Washington county in 1841, '42 and 
'61 ; and in 1843 was elected member of 
Congress, where he served two terms, and 
was on the committee on the judiciary. In 
1862, '63 and '64 he was Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, and in 1865 and '66 Governor of the 
state. 

He was one of the leaders of the state 
Democracy, in what may be called its golden 
era intellectually, though it was a hopeless 
minority ; and when a state convention met 
with Saxe, Eastman, Dillingham, Smalley, 
Kellogg, Stoughton, Thomas, Field, Chit- 
tenden, Poland, Redfield, Davenport and 
others, to flash their wit and eloquence 
across it, and with Hawthorne frequently 
coming up from Massachusetts to partake of 
the communion, there was apt to be a "feast 
of reason and flow of soul," such as no other 
political organization in the state before or 
since has witnessed. \\'hile in Congress Mr. 
Dillingham was the only Democrat on the 
delegation. He strongly favored the admis- 
sion of Texas, and the policy that led to the 
Mexican war, not that he had any sympathy 
with slavery, but because he was a believer 
in the manifest-destiny doctrine, and one of 
his speeches predicted the territorial growth 
and expanding greatness of his country in 
words that were almost prophetic. 

Mr. Dillingham's personal jwwer was a 
large factor in making that section of the 
state so strongly Democratic. Pmt the firing 
on Sumter shattered in a moment the 
political affiliations of a life-time. With a 
nature like his it was impossible for patriot- 
ism to take any other course. He would go 
to the utmost verge in concessions under 
the constitution to keep the South content 
in the L^nion and this same intense love of 
the Union would lead him to like sacrifice 
when once the blow of rebellion was struck. 
He couldn't see why any Democrat should 
fail to take that view. He wanted party 
lines obliterated entirely and the whole 
North to stand solid in support of the national 
administration. He, of course, received a 
warm welcome into the Republican ranks. 
He was a leader in the state Senate in the 



war measures of 1861, and the next year his 
services were recognized with the nomina- 
tion for Lieutenant-Governor, and after 
three years' service in this position with that 
for chief executive in '65 and '66. The can- 
didate against him both years was his old 
political friend, Charles N. Davenport. 
Governor Dillingham's majority in '65 was 
16,714 and in '66 22,822. The great mon- 
ument of his administration is the establish- 
ment of the reform school, which he recom- 
mended in his first message. He was a 
member of the Constitutional Convention 
of 1870 and with this his public service 
closed. He retired from law practice in 
1875 and lived for fifteen years more, in se- 
rene and well earned leisure, dying at 
Waterbury July 26, 1891. 

He was for many years an influential lay- 
man of the Methodist church, and was the 
first lay delegate from the Vermont confer- 
ence to the quadrennial general conference 
in Brooklyn, N. V., in May, 1872, where he 
took a high position. 

(lovernor Dillingham was twice married, 
first to Sarah P., eldest daughter of his friend, 
preceptor, and partner, Dan Carpenter. She 
died Sept. 20, 1831, and Sept. 5, 1832, he 
married her younger sister, Julia. Seven 
children, three daughters and four sons, lived 
to reach maturity. One daughter, who died 
in 1875, married J. F. Lamson of Boston, 
and another the great senator, Matthew H. 
Carpenter of \\'isconsin, while the other is 
unmarried. 'JVo of the sons entered the 
army : Col. Charles, president of the Hous- 
ton & Texas Central R. R., and Major Edwin, 
who was killed at Winchester. Frank is a 
citizen of San Francisco, Cal., while William 
P., Governor of the state in '88 and '90, is 
still practicing law at Waterburv and Mont- 
pelier. 

PAGE, John B. — Governor, state treas- 
urer, and for a generation prominent in 
Vermont railroading, was born in Rutland, 
Feb. 25, 1826, the son of William and Cyn- 
thia (Hickok) Page. Educated in the pub- 
lic schools, and at Burr and Burton Semi- 
nary at Manchester, he was called at the age 
of sixteen to assist his father, then cashier 
of the old bank at Rutland, to which office 
the son of John B. succeeded later, and so 
became a banker, and was many years presi- 
dent of the National Bank of Rutland, the 
reorganized form of the old state bank. He 
became interested in the Rutland & Bur- 
lington R. R., by being appointed one of 
the trustees of the second mortgage bond- 
holders, and upon the reorganization of the 
property as the Rutland Railroad Co., was 
made president. He was for a time co- 
trustee with Hon. T. U'. I'ark of the Ben- 
nington & Rutland R. R., and later was 



associated with Hon. J. Gregory Smith as 
vice-president of the Central Vermont. He 
was a director of the Chamjilain Transporta- 
tion Co., and various other railroad enter- 
prises, and also in the Caughnawauga Ship 
Canal project for connecting Lake Cham- 
plain and the St. I,awrence, etc. 

He was instrumental in the transfer of 
the shops of the Howe Scale Co., from 




Brandon to Rutland, of which company he 
was the treasurer. He was in 1852 elected 
a representative to the General .Assembly of 
Vermont at the age of twenty-six, and re- 
elected for the sessions of 1853 and 1854. 
In 1860 he was elected state treasurer and re- 
ceived successive re-elections annually till 
1 866, and was during this time allotment com- 
missioner by appointment of President 
Lincoln. He originated the plan for the 
payment of the extra state pay voted by 
Vermont to her soldiers, $7 per month, and 
disbursed during his term as treasurer a 
total of §4,635,150.80 for military expenses. 

In 1867 he was elected Governor and re- 
elected in 1868, serving with judgment and 
ability through the critical period after the 
war. 

He was again elected representative from 
Rutland in 1880 and took the place for the 
purpose of furthering some important meas- 
ures that he had become interested in. 
Chief among these was a comprehensive 
scheme of tax reform, which is the founda- 
tion of our present corporation law, and with 
which he wished also to include a plan for 
the taxation of personal property like that 



WASIlliURN. 



WASIIHIKN. 



99 



of Connecticut. He made a strong fight for 
these ideas with the influential vested in- 
terests of the state mustered against him, 
and he lived to see them afterwards incor- 
porated into its laws. 

He was a member of the Congregational 
church, for many years a deacon and super- 
intendent of the Sunday school, a corporate 
member of the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions and was in- 
strumental in having the meeting of that 
society, the only one ever convened in the 
state, held at Rutland in 1874. During this 
meeting he led in the movement which 
resulted m the establishment of a Christian 
College in Japan which the late Jose])h 
Neesima projected. His strong personality 
was illustrated by his advocacy and accom- 
plishment, at a meeting of this society at 
Providence, of an effort to pay off a debt of 
over $70,000. 

He was one of the most public-spirited of 
men and had always in mind the welfare of 
his town and state. In his young manhood 
he was foreman of the Nickwackett Fngine 
Co., one of the oldest organizations of fire- 
men in the state. He pushed the erection 
of the commodious Congregational church 
in i860, building for future generations, and 
largely aided in the construction of the 
chapel addition, the two united forming, 
perhaps, the most complete church property 
in the state. He died Oct. 24, 1885, and is 
buried near Rutland in Evergreen cemetery, 
a "city "which he helped to purchase and 
adorn. 

WASHBURN, PETER T.— Governor, ad- 
jutant and inspector-general during the war, 
and one of that brilliant group of lawyers 
that made Woodstock famous through so 
many years, was born at Lynn, Mass., Sept. 
7, 1 8 14, the eldest son of Reuben and Han- 
nah B. (Thacher) Washburn. There was 
distinguished ancestry on both sides. John 
Washburn, the sixth generation back, was 
secretary of the Massachusetts Bay Co., 
while in England. Joseph Washburn, his 
grandson, married a granddaughter of Mary 
Chilton, the first female member of the Pil- 
grim band that stepped upon Plymouth 
Rock. The Thachers were for several gen- 
erations dstinguished preachers in Massa- 
chusetts. 

In 18 1 7 the father of Peter T. Wash- 
burn moved to Vermont, first setding at 
Chester, then at Cavendish, and finally at 
Ludlow. Voung Peter graduated at Dart- 
mouth in 1835, studied law first under the 
direction of his father, then for a time in the 
office of Senator L'pham at Montpelier, was 
admitted to the bar in 1838, and began prac- 
tice at Ludlow, moving in 1844 to Wood- 
stock where he formed a partnership with 



Charles P. Marsh which continued until the 
death of the latter in 1870. Mr. Washburn 
was in 1844 elected reporter of the decisions 
of the Supreme Court of N'ermont, holding 
the position for eight years with high credit. 
He rejiresented Woodstock in the Legisla- 
tures of 1853 and '54. But his c:hief ener- 
gies had been devoted to his professional 
work, with ever growing reputation, until the 
breaking out of the war in 1861. He had 
been chairman of the \"ermont delegation 
to the Republican national convention that 
in i860 nominated Lincoln and Hamlin. 
He was then in command of the Woodstock 
Light Infantry, a company of citizen soldiers 
who at once proffered their services to their 
country, and on the ist of May marched to 
Rutland where it was incorporated with the 
First Vermont Regiment. Washburn was 
commissioned lieutenant-colonel, but acted 
as colonel during its entire period of service. 

In October, 1861, he was elected adjutant 
and inspector-general of \"ermont and until 
the war closed devoted himself to its arduous 
duties, foreseeing their importance to the 
future, bringing order and system out of 
chaos and making it the model adjutant's 
office of the country. He was often likened 
by his admirers to Stanton for the energy, 
force and intellectual grasp with which he 
performed the duties of his office. 

He was in 1869 elected Co\ernor by a 
majority of 22,822 over Homer W. Heaton, 
the Democratic candidate, arid died in 
office February 7, 1870. He had simply 
worn himself into the grave by overwork in 
the e.\cess of his faithfulness to duty. No 
trace of disease, organic or functional, could 
be found by the physicians after his death. 
The decision was that there had been a 
complete breaking down of the nervous sys- 
tem. He was at the time preparing a digest 
of all of the decisions of the Supreme Court 
from the beginning, and had worked his 
wav through thirty-eight of the forty-one 
volumes of the Vermont reports when his 
labors were interrupted. 

The able, painstaking and widely varied 
service he had done the state were ap- 
preciated at his taking off, and have been 
more so since. "He was our Carnot, in or- 
ganizing and administrati\e talents, our 
Louvois in energy and e.xecutive force," said 
the Rutland Herald, in speaking of his ser- 
vice as war adjutant Thorough, studious, 
accurate, absolutely incorruptible, inflexibly 
just, judicious and kindly, he was a man the 
people could not fail to admire. 

Ciovernor Washburn was twice married, 
first to .\lmira E. Ferris of Swanton, and 
second to .\lmira P. Hopkins of ( Hens Falls, 
N. v. Two children by the first wife died 
young, but two daughters and a son by the 
second marriage survived his decease, as 
did the widow. 



CONVERSE, Julius.— Governor and 
another Woodstock lawyer, was born at 
Stafford, Conn., Dec. 17, 1798, the fourth 
son of Joseph and Mary (Johnson) Con- 
verse. The family was of French origin, the 
primary orthography being De Coigners, but 
emigrated to England centuries ago, and the 
American ancestor, l)ea. Edward Converse, 
came with Winthrop's colony in 1630. The 
Governor's grandfather and great-grand- 
father, Lieutenant Josiah and Major James 
Converse, were renowned in the Indian wars 
of Massachusetts. 

Joseph Converse, father of the subject of 
this sketch and a farmer, came to Vermont 
and settled at Randolph in 1801. Julius 
was educated in the common schools and at 
Randolph Academy, studied law in the 
office of William Nutting at Randolph, was 
admitted to the Orange county bar in 1826, 
and settled first at Bethel, whence he re 
moved in 1840 to Woodstock. At Bethel 
he was for several years in partnership with 
A. P. Hunton, afterwards speaker of the 
lower house of the Legislature in i8oo-'62. 
At Woodstock he formed a connection with 
Andrew Tracy and later with James Barrett, 
the firms of Tracy &: Converse, Tracy, Con- 
verse & Barrett, and after Mr. Tracy's elec- 
tion to Congress, Tracy & Barrett, being 
among the strongest in the state. After Mr. 
Barrett's elevation to the Supreme Court 
Mr. Converse formed a partnership with W. 
C. French which continued until 1S65, and 
after that Mr. Converse's practice was alone 
and within comparatively narrow limits. As 
a lawyer he was particularly strong in the 
careful preparation of his cases and as a 
cross-examiner of witnesses. He also ex- 
celled in chancery practice. 

He several times represented Bethel in the 
Legislature and was a member from Wind- 
sor county of the first Senate in 1836, and 
three times re-elected to that body. He also 
represented Woodstock several times, and 
was state's attorney for Windsor county from 
1844 to '47. In 1850 and '51 he was elected 
Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket with 
Crov. Charles K. Williams. For the next 
twenty years he was out of public life until 
in 1872, when nearly seventy-four years old, 
he was suddenly and unexpectedly nomi- 
nated for Governor, being taken up to defeat 
Frederick Billings, a purpose that was ac- 
complished by a narrow majority of one after 
a hard fight in the Republican state conven- 
tion. Mr. Con\-erse was traveling outside of 
the state at the time, and the first he knew 
of his candidacy was when he read about the 
nomination in the morning papers. He was 
elected by a majority of 25,319 over A. B. 
Gardner, ex-Lieutenant Governor, who had 
joined the Liberal Republican movement of 
that year, and whom the Greeleyites and 




Democrats had nominated in high hopes of 
cutting the Republican majority down to 
10,000. His administration was without 
notable incident. 

(Governor Converse was twice married, 
first in 1827 to Melissa, daughter of Henry 
Arnold of Randolph, who died two months 
after his inauguration as Governor, Dec. 14, 
1872. June 12, 1873, he wedded Jane E., 
daughter of Joseph Martin, and a daughter 
was the issue of this second union. 

Governor Converse died, .August 16, 1885, 
at Dixville Notch, N. H. 

PECK, ASAHEL.— Judge of the Su- 
pre me Court 
and Gover nor, 
was born at Roy- 
alsto n, M a s s., 
September, 1 803, 
the son of Squire 
j^ ■^ and F'.liza b e t h 

t| ^. (Goddard) Peck 

of Puritan ances- 
try on both sides. 
The family rec- 
ord can be 
traced back from 
Joseph Peck, the 
first Americ a n 
anc estor, for 
twenty-one gen- 
erations to John Peck, Esq., of Belton, 
Yorkshire, England, probably farther than 
that of any other Vermont family. His 
father came to Vermont and settled at Mont- 
pelier when Asahel was only three years old. 
Asahel's youth was passed on the farm, 
where he developed the sturdy vigor, men- 
tal, moral and physical, that was so marked 
throughout his career. He was educated in 
the common schools and fitted at the Wash- 
ington county grammar school to enter the 
sophomore class of the L^niversity of Ver- 
mont in 1824 ; but he did not graduate, 
leaving in his senior year at the invitation of 
the president of a French college in Canada, 
for a course of study in the French language 
in the family of the latter. He studied law 
in the office of his oldest brother, Nathan 
Peck, at Hinesburgh, and one of the leading 
lawyers of that section, and afterward for a 
year or two in the office of Bailey &: Marsh 
at Burlington. He was admitted to the bar 
in March, 1832, practiced alone for a while 
and afterward in partnership with Archibald 
Hyde and later with D. A. Smalley. 

He was a man of solid rather than brilliant 
parts, but he made his way steadily. E. P. 
Walton says that it was "characteristic of him 
that he was slow in everything, but in the 
end he was almost always sure to be right 
and that he regarded as the only point worth 
gaining. He was a thorough and patient 



FAIRl'.ANKS. 



student. * * Possessing a tenacious mem- 
ory, he held firmly all that he had secured in 
years of study, and could instantly bring his 
great store of learning to bear upon any legal 
question presented to him." (Jne critic has 
said that no man in New England since Judge 
Story has equalled him in knowledge of the 
common law of England and the law of 
equity. He and Rufus Choate were once 
pitted against each other in a case, and that 
wonderful genius of the profession professed 
astonishment to find such a lawyer in Ver- 
mont, and besought him to move to Boston, 
where he would surely win both fame and 
fortune. But there were higher things in life 
for Peck and he persisted in staying in \'er- 
mont, whose practice he beheved was the 
best in the Union to develop a lawyer of 
really great attainments. 

He was judge of the circuit court from 
185 I till it ceased in 1857. In i860 he was 
elected a judge of the Supreme Court under 
the present .system and heki the position con- 
tinuously, though desiring toward the end to 
retire, until his election as (jo\ernor in 1874. 
He was nominated then in response to a 
strong demand from the people and against 
the calculations of the old line of managing 
politicians. He did not, however, make 
such radical recommendations on the ques- 
tions of the day, especially with regard to the 
regulation of railroads, as some of his sup- 
porters had expected. But generally speak- 
ing, his administration was able, sound and 
deeper in its impress on the opinion of the 
people than that of almost any (lovernor of 
recent years. He strongly urged in his mes- 
sage the establishment of the house of cor- 
rection to supply a serious lack "in the 
means of the suppression of crime and the 
punishment and reform of criminals," and 
he may justly be called the father of that in- 
stitution. 

On his retirement from the gubernatorial 
chair Judge Peck retired to his farm in Jer- 
icho, where he lived in the enjoyment of 
rural life, of which he was passionately fond, 
until his death May 18, 1879. 

In politics Judge Peck was by nature and 
early affiliations a Democrat. But the ag- 
gressions of the slaveocracy early disgusted 
him, and he became a Free Soiler in 1848, 
being a member of the famous Buffalo con- 
vention that nominated Van Buren and 
.^dams ; and after the formation of the Free 
Democracy or Liberty party he identified 
himself with it, was its candidate for Con- 
gress in the Burlington district, and naturally 
was one of the pioneers in the formation of 
the Republican party. His patriotism was 
of the uncompromising kind, and during the 
war he had little patience with the assailants 
of the administration. A western lawyer of 
■copperheadish proclivities who had been a 



student in his office in former years, and 
knew his reverence for law and all legal 
safeguards of the individual, met him one 
day in Burlington, and speaking of the Val- 
landingham or some similiar case, asked, 
"How long are such outrages to be endured?" 
"What outrages?" demanded the Judge. 
"The arrest and imprisonment of .'Vmerican 
citizens without process of law." The Judge 
replied, "I don't know what this case is, but 
I do know one thing, that a good many more 
men are out of jail who ought to be in, than 
in who ought to be out." The reply was 
evidently aimed at the coUoquist individ- 
ually and he subsided. Judge Peck was too 
great a lawyer, too large-minded a man to 
allow the forms of law to outweigh the es- 
sentials of right and justice. 

Personally he was a most lovable man, 
tender and chivalric almost to the point of 
fault, as it sometimes seemed, when as a 
judge he was accused of "riding" cases in 
favor of the weaker party, especially if a 
woman — modest, kindly, and unostentatious 
— with a side of poetic beauty to his rugged 
nature, with its positive integrity. He was 
profoundly religious, and Gov. W. P. Dill- 
ingham, who was his secretary of civil and 
military affairs, says that he was one of the 
best biblical students he ever met, that he 
would sit up until nearly midnight talking of 
religious matters, of the lofty purity of Isaiah 
and of the mission of Christ, whose divinity, 
in his opinion, was better attested by His 
character and by the fact that through Him 
the (iospel is preached to the poor, than by 
His miracles. 

Governor Peck was never married. 

FAIRBANKS, HORACE. — Governor and 
son of a Governor, was born at Barnet, 
March 21, 1820, coming with the family to 
St. Johnsbury five years later. The general 
facts about the family are given in the 
sketch of Gov. Erastus Fairbanks on page 
89. Horace was the second son of Erastus 
and Lois (Grossman) Fairbanks, was edu- 
cated in the common schools and at the ac- 
ademies in Peacham and Lyndon, Meriden, 
.\. H., and Andover, Mass. .-^t the age of 
eighteen he took a clerkship in the firm of 
E. & T. Fairbanks & Co., became active 
]3artner in 1843, and finally the financial 
manager of its e.xtensive business, whose 
annual product he saw grow from §50,000 to 
53,000,000, and force of workmen from forty 
to six hundred. He was from the beginning 
identified with the construction of the Port- 
land & Odgensburg R. R., almost the father 
of the idea, the piloter of the charter through 
the New Hampshire Legislature, and the 
backer of the enterprise with the utmost of 
his means and credit. The I'"airbanks 
characteristic of benefaction towards St. 




HORACE FAIRBANKS. 



FAIRHANKS. 



FAIR HANKS. 



I "3 



lohnsbury and of desire to devote a share of 
their prosperity to public good, was very 
strong with Horace Fairbanks and took 
shape to correspond with the great success 
which his adminstration of the business 
achieved. The result is the great free pub- 
lic library and art gallery under the name of 
the St. Johnsbury .Athenffium, for which the 
foundation was laid in 1868 and which was 
finished and dedicated in 187 1. The library 
now contains some 15,000 volumes and in 
the gallery is a splendid collection of paint- 
ings including liierstadt's masterpiece the 
" Domes of the Voseniite." The cost of this 
donation was never made public by Gover- 
nor Fairbanks, but the spirit in which he 
gave it and the keynote of his whole life, 
were well expressed in the words of the dedi- 
cation in which he said : " It gives me pro- 
found satisfaction and sincere pleasure to 
present to you and your children and to all 
who may come after you, the free use of this 
building and its contents. My highest 
ambition will be satisfied and my fullest ex- 
pectations realized, if now and in the com- 
ing years the people make the rooms of the 
Athenffium a favorite place of resort for 
patient research, reading and study." 

Governor Fairbanks' active life was spent 
as a business man rather than a politician, 
and in moral, educational and religious work 
rather than office-holding. He was a dele- 
gate to the Republican national conventions 
of 1864 and 1872, and was a presidential 
elector in 1868. The only other political 
position to which he was chosen, before the 
governorship, was that of state senator from 
Caledonia county, to which he was elected 
in 1869, but was unable by reason of illness 
to take his seat. His nomination for (Gov- 
ernor was a compromise after a bitter pre- 
convention fight in the party over the candi- 
dacy of Deacon Jacob Estey of Brattleboro. 

A number of names were placed in the 
field, arraying different elements against 
Estey, and finally that of Fairbanks was 



brought forwarti and he was nominated on 
the third ballot, though he had before de- 
clined o\ertures. He was out of the state 
at the time. The result at the polls was his 
election by a vote of 44,723 to 20,988 for 
W. H. H. Bingham, the Democratic can- 
didate. 

The chief criticism of his administration 
was that concerning his use of the pardoning 
power. His humanitarianism and his kind- 
ness of heart made it difficult for him to re- 
sist appeals that appeared to have any basis 
of merit to them. It was during this term 
that the celebrated case of John P. Phair 
came up, and the Governor granted the con- 
demned man a reprieve on the very day 
fixed for his execution, on a telegram from 
Boston that seemed to indicate his inno- 
cence. Phair finally went to the gallows 
after the Supreme Court had passed on his 
case, but Governor Fairbanks' conduct, 
though bitterly assailed at the time, was 
amply justified by the circumstances. His 
inaugural message was to quite an extent 
devoted to the different systems of prison 
discipline, the condition of our county jails 
especially receiving his critical notice, and 
he earnestly urged more attention to the 
work of reforming criminals, and a revision 
of our whole prison system with this in view. 
His recommendations bore fruit of good 
in this line, and his administration for what 
it did and what it proposed, deserved and 
commanded the respect of thoughtful peo- 
ple. He was held in high esteem abroad, 
being a member of the Century Club at New 
York, and the St. Botolph, Boston. 

Governor Fairbanks was married, .'\ugust 
9, 1849, to Mary E., daughter of James and 
Persis (Hemphill) Taylor of Derry, N. H. 
Of their three children, Helen Taylor, the 
oldest daughter, died in March, 1864 ; Agnes, 
the wife of Ashton R. Willard of Boston, is 
now living ; and Isabel, wife of Albert L. 
Farwell, died July 2, 1891. Governor Fair- 
banks died in New York, March 17, 1888. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 

The following is a complete list of the Senators in Congress for \'ermont. Biographical 
sketches of the entire list are gi\en on the following pages, with the exceiitions noted. 



FIRST CLASS. 




Solomon Foot, 


1851-66 


*Moses Robinson, 


1791-96 1 


JGeorge F. Edmunds, 


1866-91 


flsaac Tichenor, 








Nathaniel Chipman, 


1797-1803 i 






tisrael Smitli, 


1803-07 ' 


Stephen R. Bradley, 


1791-95 


*Jonatlian Robinson, 


1807-15 


Elijah Paine, 


1795-1801 


tisaac Tichenor, 


181S-21 


Stephen R. Bradley, 


i8oi-iii 


Horatio Seymour, 


1821-33 


Dudley Chase, 


1813-17 


Benjamin Swift, 


1833-39 


James Fisk, 


i8i7-t8 


Samuel S. Phelps, 


1839-51 


tWilliam A. Palmer, 


181S-25 



Dudley Chase, 
Samuel Prentiss, 

tSamuel C. Crafts. 
William Upham, 
Samuel S. Phelps, 
Lawrence Brainerd, 
Jacob Collamer, 
Luke P. Poland, 

t Justin S. Morrill. 



defined in the : 



cle in the Constituti 



aphical sketch will be found in Part 11. 



BRADLEY, STEPHEN R., and Moses 
Robinson were the first senators after the 
admission of the state into the Union. Mr. 
Bradley was five times elected the president 
pro tern of the Senate, the third highest of- 
fice in the government, was the friend and 
close adviser of Jefferson and iMadison, and 
all through that era up to the war of 1812 
was regarded as the ablest and most potent 
Democrat in New England. He was on 
terms of intimacy also with Ethan Allen, and 
filled a brilliant career during the state's 
e.xistence as an independent republic, being 
one of the brainiest of her statesmen, and 
acquiring great wealth in the land operations 
in which most of the fathers were engaged. 

Stephen R. Bradley was born at Walling- 
ford (now Cheshire), Conn., Eeb. 20, 1754, 
the son of Moses and Mary (Row) Bradley 
and grandson of Stephen Bradley, one of a 
family of six brothers who came to this 
country in 1637, after service in Cromwell's 
Ironsides, in which one of them was an offi- 
cer. Young Eiradley graduated from Yale in 
1775, having while a student there prepared 
an almanac for that year, of which an edi- 
tion of two thousand copies was published 
by Ebenezer AVatson in November, 1774, and 
having in his course shown frequent promise 
of the unusual abilities he afterward devel- 
oped. Soon after graduation he entered the 
Revolutionary service, being captain of a 
company of " Cheshire \'olunteers," as early 
as January and February, i 776, being in the 
fighting about New York, and afterward 
serving as quartermaster and as aid on the 
staff of General Wooster, until that patriot 
fell at Danbury in April, 1777. 

The next year Bradley was employed as 
commissary and in the summer of '79 as 



major at New Haven. About this time, 
probably in the fall or winter previous, he 
had appeared in Vermont, certainly being 
present at the May term of court in West- 
minster in '79, when he was licensed to prac- 
tice law in the new state. He had in the in- 
termissions of his military service both 
taught school and pursued his law studies 
under the direction of Thomas Reeve, after- 
ward the founder of the famous Litchfield 
Law School. He had, before 1780, located 
definitely in A'ermont, for he was in June of 
that year appointed state's attorney for Cum- 
berland county, and still earlier, Dec. 10, 
1779, had prepared, at the request of the 
Go\-ernor and council, a statement of Ver- 
mont's case against the claims of New York, 
New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, en- 
titled "\'ermont's .Appeal to a Candid and 
Impartial World." It was a pamphlet of re- 
markable power, considering that, coming to 
the state a stranger to the controversy, he 
had had actually less than two months to 
studv it up. He reviewed trenchantly the 
claims of each of the states, laid bare with 
great skill the inconsistencies and weak 
points of all, and concluded with the declara- 
tion that "Vermont has a natural right of in- 
dependence ; honor, justice and humanity 
forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom 
which our innocent posterity have a right to 
demand and receive from their ancestors. 
Full well mav thev hereafter rise up in judg- 
ment against us, if, like ])rofane Esau, we 
mortgage away their birthright, and leave 
them at the expense of their lives to obtain 
freedom. We have now existed as a free 
and independent state almost four years ; 
have fought Britains, Canadians, Hessians, 
Tories and all, and have waded in blood to 



I05 




^^fi/t^^ ^ Qs >^<S4 



maintain and support our independence. 
^^'e beg lea\e to appeal to your own mem- 
ories with what resolution we have fought by 
your sides, and what wounds we have re- 
ceived fighting in the grand American cause, 
and let your own recollection tell what Ver- 
mont has done and suffered in the cause of 
civil liberty and the rights of mankind, and 
must we now tamely gi\e up all worth fight- 
ing for? No, sirs ; while we wear the names 
of Americans we never will surrender those 
glorious pri\"ileges for which so many have 
fought, bled, and died ; we appeal to your 
own feelings, as men of like sufferings, 
whether you would submit your freedom 
and independence to the arbitrament of any 
court or referees under heaven? If you 
would, after wasting so much blood and 
treasure, you are unworthy the name of 
Americans : if you would not, condemn not 
others in what you allow yourselves." 

He and Jonas Fay and Moses Robinson 
were appointed agents to Congress to 
urge the recognition of the independence of 



the state. They arri\ed there February i, 
1780, presented the appeal and declared 
their readiness to unite in placing Ver- 
mont on a footing with other states, but had 
no authority to close with the resolutions of 
Sept. 24. They said, if given time, they 
thought they could show that Great Britain 
had made a distinct government of Vermont, 
appointed (iovernor Skeene to preside over 
it, and hence Vermont had equal right with 
any of the other states to assume an inde- 
pendent goverment. 

The fruitlessness of this mission has been 
explained in previous sketches, but the abil- 
ity and resourcefulness with which Bradley 
sustained the argument added greatly to 
his re])utation, and though only twenty-six 
years old, he at once took a position at the 
forefront among the Vermont leaders. B. H. 
Hall says : " .\n examination of his papers 
affords conclusive evidence that at this pe- 
riod, and for many years after, he was, in many 
respects, the ablest man in the state." In 
September he again went to Congress in 



io6 



company with Ira Allen, as an agent for the 
state to meet and defeat Luke Knowlton, 
the representative of the Cumberland Coun 
ty \'orkers, and Peter Olcott who was there in 
advocacy of the scheme to form still another 
state by slicing off strips on each side of 
Connecticut. How safety was brought out 
of this complication and an agreement of all 
the factions reached, is told in the sketch of 
Ira Allen. Bradley was that year and again 
in 1 781, '84, '85, '88, '90 Westminster's repre- 
sentative and in i 785 speaker of the House, 
of which he had been clerk in 1779. He 
was selectman of Westminster in 17S2, and 
town clerk in i787-'88. He continued to 
be state's attorney till 1775, and was for sev- 
eral years a general prosecuting officer for 
the state. He was register of probate from 
December, 1781, to March, '91, when he en- 
tered the United States Senate. In 1783 he 
was judge of the county court and from 
October, 1788, to October,: 789, was judge of 
the Supreme Court. In addition to all this 
he was active in the military service, being 
first appointed a lieutenant and then a 
colonel in the first regiment of the Vermont 
militia, serving on the staff of Gen. Ethan 
Allen, and finally in 1791 being made 
a brigadier-general. He was repeatedly 
called out with his troops to restore order 
during the troubles in the southern part of 
the county and with his skillful management 
seldom failed of success. 

He was a member of the commission that 
settled the controversy with New York and 
of that which afterwards established the bound- 
ary. He was a powerful ad\ocate in the conven- 
tion of 1791, of the ratification of the Federal 
constitution and of the vote to join the Union, 
and next to Chipman, is entitled to the chief 
credit for the sweeping victory which the 
Union party won there. 

By lot it fell to him when elected in 1791 
to be a senator of the second class whose 
term expired in four vears, and then as politi- 
cal lines began to form and the Federalists 
were a majority, he was defeated for re-elec- 
tion in 1794, but six years later, after serving 
one term in the council, in 1798, and one in 
the General Assembly, in 1800, on Paine's 
declination to serve another term, Bradley 
was again elected, and re-elected in 1.S06, 
serving with great distinction. 

He was president of the convention of 
Republican members of Congress, and, as 
such, Jan. 19, 1808, he summoned the con- 
vention of members which met and nomina- 
ted Mr. Madison as President, and though 
there was vigorous kicking by the minority 
faction of the party when he called the caucus, 
the nomination that resulted was confirmed 
by the country. He was placed on commit- 
tees to which the most important and delicate 
questions were referred, for example— on the 



special message of Jefferson, Jan. 13, 1806, 
transmitting the claim of Hamet Caramelli, 
ex-Bashaw of 'I'riiioli, which involved the 
then late war with the ruling Bashaw, and Mr. 
Bradley made the report, including a bill for 
Hamet's relief, and a resolution of thanks to 
General William Eaton and his American 
associates, for their eminently brave and suc- 
cessful services in Hamet's behalf: on the 
confidential message of President Jefferson, 
Dec. 18, 1807, proposing an embargo; and 
on the confidential message of President 
Madison, Jan. 3, 181 1, suggesting that the 
United States take possession, for the time 
being, of East Florida, and publish a declara- 
tion that the United States could not see, 
without services inquietude, any part of a 
neighboring territory, in which they have, 
in different respects, so deep and so just a 
concern pass from the hands of Spain into 
those of any other foreign power. This was 
aimed against Great Britain, and this, in fact, 
contained the germ of the famous " Monroe 
doctrine," of 1823. 

A still more important service was that 
for the constitutional amendment of 1S03, 
requiring the \'ice- President, like the Presi- 
dent, to be elected by a majority of the 
electoral votes, of which he was the author, 
and which he reported from the appropriate 
committee. 

But Mr. Bradley partook of the New 
England feeling about the war of 1812. He 
earnestly counselled Madison against it, and 
at the close of his term in 18 13, he had 
become greatly dissatisfied with his party's 
policy and he retired finally from public 
life. ■ 

In 181S he removed from Westminster to 
the neighboring village of Walpole, N. H., 
where, after a happy and contented evening 
of life, he went to rest Dec. 9, 1S30. 

I )artmouth and Middlebury both conferred 
the degrees of LL. D. on him. Some of his 
contemporaries called him " eccentric " or 
" erratic," but all united in testimony to his 
great ability, his power as an orator, and his 
high qualities of leadership. Graham's let- 
ters from Vermont in 1 79 1 say of him : " Few- 
men have more companionable talents, a 
greater share of social cheerfulness, a more 
inexhaustible unaffected urbanity." 

S. C. Goodrich, or " Peter Parley " who 
married a daughter of Mr. Bradley, says in 
his "Recollections of a Lifetime :" "He was 
distinguished for political sagacity, a ready 
wit, boundless stores of anecdotes, a large 
acquaintance with mankind and an exten- 
sive range of historical knowledge. His 
conversation was exceedingly attractive 
being always illustrated by pertinent anec- 
dotes and apt historical references. His 
developments of the interior machinery of 
parties, during the times of Washington, Jef- 



I07 



ferson and Madison : his portraitures of the 
political leaders of these interesting eras in 
our history — all freely communicated at a 
period when he had retired from the active 
arena of politics, and now looked back upon 
them with the feelings of a philosopher — 
were in the highest degree interesting and 
instructive." 

PAINE, Elijah. — Senator at the close 
of the last century, state judge, United 
States judge for forty years, and a pioneer 
manufacturer, road maker and scientific far- 
mer, was born at Brooklyn, N. V., Jan. 2, 
1757, the son of Seth Paine, a respectable 
farmer of Brooklyn, and grandson of Seth 
Paine of Pomfret, Conn. He entered Har- 
vard in 1774, but abandoned his studies for 
a few months to fight for his country in the 
Revolutionary army, and graduated in 1781. 
Then after studying law he came to Ver- 
mont in 17S4, locating first at Windsor 
where he cultivated a farm, and then pushed 
into the wilderness and opened a settlement 
in Williamstown near the North field line, 
and soon established a large manufactory of 
fine broadcloths, which finally employed 
one hundred and seventy-five to two hun- 
dred workmen, erected the first saw and grist- 
mills in that section, and constructed, at a 
cost of Si 0,000, a turnpike road twenty 
miles through the forest from Brookfield 
to Montpelier and which he finally presen- 
ted to the state. Full of energy and enter- 
prise, with a capacity for large affairs and of 
extensive scientific attainments, he intro- 
duced progressive ideas in every direction. 
He was a pioneer in the rearing of Merino 
sheep of which he had at one time a flock 
of 1,500. He also gave much attention to 
improvement in the breeding of horses, cattle 
and swine. And in addition to all this busi- 
ness and to his professional engagements, 
his farming was done on a vast scale and it 
is said to have been no uncommon thing for 
him to have thirty or forty men at work in the 
field, and himself superintending them. But 
with all these multifarious activities he grew 
to be a very able lawyer and a great judge, 
even while he devoted some of his best 
years to politics and statesmanlike useful- 
ness and to educational projects. His re- 
markable executive ability seemed to win 
success from everything he undertook, and 
he died very wealthy for those times. 

His public serxice extended almost con- 
tinuously through sixty years. In 17S6 he 
was a member of the convention to revise 
the constitution of the state, and was its 
secretary. From 1787 to 1791 he was \\'ill- 
iamstown's representative in the (leneral 
Assembly. Then he was appointed judge of 
the superior court, and held that office until 
in 1794 he was elected I'nited States Sen- 



ator to succeed Ste])hen R. Bradley. He 
was offered a re-election for another term in 
1800, but declined it because in the late 
days of the .-Vdams administration he was 
appointed United States di.strict judge for 
the district of Vermont. The appointment 
was one of 'those of partisan grab in the last 
days of P>deralist power, which so marred 
the record of patriotic upbuilding the party 
had made, but it proved to be a most ad- 
mirable appointment, for Judge Paine's long 
career on the bench extending over a period 
of o\er forty vears, until within a few weeks 
of his death, April 28, 1S42, at the age of 
eighty-six, was one of strength and honor 
throughout, bearing with it at notable points 
the enlightenment he brought to his business 
o])erations. 

Though he came to the state after her 
formative period was well advanced, he be- 
came prominent in her affairs before the 
period of independent statehood had passed, 
and he was with Tichenor, Bradley, Chip- 
man and Ira Allen one of the commission- 
ers to settle and close the controversy be- 
tween Vermont and New York. He was on 
terms of personal friendship with Washing- 
ton and on the visit of Lafayette to .America 
was selected as the fittest man in the state, 
because of these associations, to deliver the 
address of welcome. He was interested in 
many movements for the intellectual and 
moral betterment of his time, and in close 
relations with the best minds of his day. 
He was president of the Vermont Coloniza- 
tion Society, the first president of the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society at Harvard, pronounc- 
ing its first oration, a trustee of Dartmouth 
College, a pecuniary benefactor of the Uni- 
versity of ^'ermont, elected a fellow of the 
American .Academy of Arts and Sciences and 
an honorary member of several other literary 
institutions. Both Harvard and the Univer- 
sity of Vermont conferred the degree of 
I.L. D. on him. 

All around he ranked with his great po- 
litical antagonist, Nathaniel Niles, as intel- 
lectually the most versatile man Vermont 
has contained. He was an exemplary Chris- 
tian of the orthodox faith, and a constant 
attendant at church. One secret of his 
varied attainments was his close economy of 
time. It is said that he was never seen idle 
in his waking moments. \Vhenever there 
was an intermission of labor, it was improved 
with book and pencil. His thought powers 
were brought into training so that he could 
deal thoroughly and systematically with one 
subject after another as they came before 
him — now a problem of constitutional law, 
then one about the construction of the hog- 
pen, and anon one about the machinery in 
the woolen mill — and come out superior to 
difficulty in every one. He was ])unctual to 



the uttermost in business matters. Two 
anecdotes illustrate this ; One night he 
happened to remember that he had not 
paid a note due to a townsman that day, 
and he routed out his hostler, hitched up 
and drove to the townsman's house with the 
money before the hour of midnight had 
arrived. " Vou need not have bothered," 
remarked the creditor, " to-morrow would 
have answered just as well." " Did I not 
promise to pay it to-day?" was Judge Paine's 
response in his quick, nervous style. The 
late Hon. Daniel Baldwin tells another : 
Once Judge Paine called on him for a loan 
of Si,ooo for a few days, until he could get 
a remittance from Washington for his salary, 
which he had been expecting for some time. 
Baldwin, who was a merchant, said he could 
spare it until a certain day, when he would 
have to take it to Boston to buy goods with. 
On the appointed day Judge Paine came 
hurrying to Baldwin just before time for the 
stage to leave and explained that he had 
waited for his ^^■ashington remittance until 
the day before, but not receiving it he had 
gone to Woodstock, forty miles distant, rid- 
ing all night, and making a journey of eighty 
miles to procure it and return to fulfill his 
promise. 

Judge Paine married, June 7, 1790, Sarah, 
daughter of John Porter, a lawyer of Ply- 
mouth, N. H. She was a woman of culti- 
vated mind, engaging manners and lofty 
character, and the result was a brainy fam- 
ily of children. There were four sons, three 
of whom graduated at Harvard, and one at 
Dartmouth. Martin, the eldest, was a dis- 
tinguished physician at Montreal and New 
York, one of the founders of the Medical 
Department of the University of New York, 
where he for years held a professor's chair, 
and the author of various medical works, es- 
pecially some aimed at materialistic ideas, 
which attracted much attention in both Eu- 
rope and .America. The second son, Elijah, 
was a judge of the Supreme Court of New 
York, rendering the notable decision sus- 
taining the constitutionality of the statute 
that freed slaves when brought by the owner 
into the state, and a law writer of reputa- 
tion, associated in the making of Wheaton's 
reports and the United States Circuit reports 
that bear his name. Gov. Charles Paine was 
the third son, and the fourth, George, also a 
lawyer, died in his twenty-ninth year at Mar- 
sellon, Ohio. (Jne of the judge's descend- 
ants married into the Fionaparte family in 
Baltimore. 

\\'alton describes Judge Paine as a "tall, 
well-proportioned gentleman, dressed in the 
style of President \\'ashington, of a grave 
countenance and dignified bearing, scornful 
to none but affable to all." His daughter, 
Mrs. John Paine, says he "had a command- 



ing personal appearance, a well proportioned 
frame of six feet in height,with a physiognomy 
of the Roman cast and a corresponding 
vigor of mind. Though sternly dignified he 
was as gentle as a woman and was loved 
and venerated by his children." 

CH1PM.4N, Nathaniel.— One of the 

most eminent jurists and statesmen of his 
time. United States senator for one term, a 
Federal judge and a judge of the Supreme 
Court of the state for many years. He 
was also of Salisbury, Conn., origin, being 
born there, Nov. 15, 1752, the son of Samuel 
and Hannah Chipman and one of a family of 
six sons, of whom two were physicians, and 
four lawyers, and nearly all men of eminence. 
He graduated from Yale, in 1777, served for 
a time as lieutenant in the Revolution, fought 
at Monmouth and was at\'alley Forge through 
a part of that winter of destitution and suffer- 
ing, but resigned because of poverty, and 
completed his study of the law. Admitted 
to the bar in March, 1779, he came to \'er- 
mont, setded in Tinmouth, where his father 
had preceded him, and where in addition to 
his professional duties he took the manage- 
ment of the farm and built a forge for the 
manufacture of bar iron. There was a most 
promising field for lawyers in those days and 
he and young Bradley, espousing the side of 
the new state with ardor, rapidly and almost 
simultaneously came to the front as leaders. 
Chipman, however, became a member of the 
"young party," opposing Governor Chitten- 
den and his administration and seeking to 
clear the way of the fathers for a generation 
of younger men. The " fathers "were indeed 
at that time only men of middle life and 
many of them of less, but the contingent of 
younger and ambitious men, as is almost in- 
variably the case, viewed their ascendency 
with impatience. 

But Chipman was loo candid and just- 
minded a man to carry this party feeling to 
unreasonable lengths, and several times at 
critical junctures he rendered the Governor 
and his associates important service. One 
of these was at Windsor when knowledge of 
the intrigue with Canada was exploded be- 
fore the Legislature and he helped the Gover- 
nor and Ira Allen to concoct the hasty de- 
ception which bridged the affair over. He 
was frequently in confidential relations with 
the CrO\ernor and wrote out many of the lat- 
ter's letters and state papers. He was a 
man of great and resourceful shrewdness in 
legislative and political management. It 
was his idea that stayed the paper money 
flood when the Legislature was overwhelm- 
ing in favor of such an issue. Coming to 
Rutland, where the Legislature was in ses- 
sion in 1 786, he found such a bill, with 
another making specified articles a legal 



I09 



tender for debt, on the point of i)assage, and 
seeing after looking the ground over and 
consulting with various members, that there 
was no hope of defeating the bill on a 
straight issue, he prepared the amendment, 
which made the enactment conditional on 
the approval of the voters of the state and to 
go into effect only after it had been stibmitted 
to a vote of the electors. Then the ques- 
tioij was fought out at the next election and 
the result was the rejecting of the bill by a 
vote of more than four to one. 

.And it is not too much to say that Ver- 
mont's exceptional prosperity above any 
part of the Union in the next thirty years, 
and its freedom from troubles like Shay's 
rebellion in Massachusetts that afflicted so 
many parts of the country, and came so near 
reducing things to a state of anarchy, was 
the result of this referendum scheme. It 
was, considering the times, a measure of ex- 
traordinary wisdom, and even yet its lesson 
has not been fully learned, that where dema- 
gogues and agitators with their plausible 
fallacies are bringing on disaster the safest 
defense is a reference to the original source 
.of power, the people. It cannot be said, of 
course, that the people will always be right, 
especially on new problems before they have 
been fully discussed and sifted. But they 
are more apt to be right than any other 
source of authority. This is the bottom princi- 
pal of democracy as against monarchy or 
oligarchy. Especially is it true, in a repre- 
sentative government where leaders con- 
stantly figure that the way of popularity and 
power lies in pandering to the selfishness 
and meaner passions of mankind, that an 
occasional direct application of the ozone of 
genuine popular thought is necessary. The 
politicians of Vermont then believed as did 
the politicians of other states, while the 
times were hard and debt burdens were op- 
pressive, that the people would be pleased 
with a measure of inflation. The error was 
shown by an appeal to the people in Vermont ; 
if it had been in the other states they would 
have escaped some severe experiences. .An- 
other notable case like it in political history 
was in Ohio in 1 875, when the wave of Green- 
backism was at its highest, men of all parties 
were bending before it, the Democrats had 
made it their chief issue, with the idea that 
success lay that way, and the Republicans 
feared to face the issue. Gen. Rutherford B. 
Hayes, the Republican candidate for Go\ern- 
or, insisted that there should be no faltering, 
but the canvass should be fought out on that 
question before the people, and the result 
was a signal victory for sound money against 
all the calculations of the time servers. It 
was this act of clear-viewed courage that 
made General Hayes his party's candidate for 



President the next year. It is always the 
safest course. 

Mr. Chipman was also Governor Chitten- 
den's coadjutor in the pressing to passage of 
that extraordinary measure of good sense in 
law, the quieting act, which is explained in 
the sketch of Governor Chittenden. Chip- 
man represented Tinmouth in the General 
.Assembly in t784-'85. In 1786 he was 
elected assistant judge of the superior court 
being the first lawyer to be placed on the 
bench in Vermont. In 1789 he was elected 
chief justice and held the office for two 
years. He also had the decisive part in the 
negotiations which finally closed the contro- 
versy with New York and brought about 
Vermont's admission to the Union. He was 
a friend of Alexander Hamilton and in 178S 
opened a correspondence with that great 
leader, which finally ended in Hamilton's 
espousing the cause of Vermont or throwing 
all his power and influence into an argu- 
ment for an adjustment. Daniel Chipman 
says that the two men had an interview at 
.Albany that winter, in which they agreed on 
the mode of settlement that was afterward 
adopted by the two states. When finally 
the consent of the New York Legislature 
was secured Chipman was appointed one of 
the commissioners for Vermont to determine 
the terms of settlement. He had always 
been fearful that the Vermont claims, and so 
land titles under ^'ermont authority, would 
fail to stand the test of law if they should 
ever be brought to adjudication, and so was 
not only solicitous for agreement with New 
York but that all these questions be disposed 
of in the agreement, as was done. He was 
a member of the commission that deter- 
mined the boundary between the two states. 
In the convention at Bennington to pass 
on the act of union and adopt the Federal 
Constitution, Chipman was the " Colossus of 
the debate," as Jefferson said of .Adams in 
the Congress that adopted the Declaration 
of Independence. There was then a strong 
feeling for the continued independence of 
Vermont ; her prosperity had for several 
years been the envy of her neighbors ; her 
own taxes were very light, and she had no 
share to bear of the burdens which the Rev- 
olution had left upon the rest of the country ; 
her population was fast increasing and her 
values steadily mounting upward ; she had 
gone safely through difficulties which seemed 
impossible of parallel, had shown her ability 
to take care of herself, was in a situation 
where it was an obiect for all sides to culti- 
vate her friendship, had established a stable 
and smooth-working system of her own — 
and many were the men who argued that 
there was nothing to be gained by hitching 
the state to the federal system. Probably 
consent would have been positively refused 



in the latter years of the old confederation, 
but the vigor and hopefulness which the new- 
government under the constitution showed 
was very attractive to men of Chipman's 
views. Still the result seemed very doubtful 
when the convention at Bennington assem- 
bled, and under the leadership of Daniel 
Buck the arguments against union were 
speciously presented. Chipman made a 
speech of magnificent logic and eloquence, 
portraying the possibilities of political devel- 
opment in art, literature, science, industry 
and commerce, that were contained in the 
proposed connection, discussing and analyz- 
ing the new constitution in comparison with 
the best the world had seen. It was master- 
ful as an argument and with the support of 
Bradley and Niles and others, it carried 
such conviction that the ratification was 
agreed to by a vote of 105 to 4. January 18, 
1 79 1, he was appointed with Lewis R. Mor- 
ris commissioner to attend Congress and 
negotiate for the admission of the state into 
the Union. 

Immediately after the admission Presi- 
dent Washington appointed Chipman United 
.States judge for the district of Ver- 
mont, a position which he resigned in 
1793. But three years later, in 1796, he was 
again elected chief justice and in 1797 
elected senator to succeed Tichenor, serving 
from 1797 to 1803. .\t the expiration of his 
term he returned to Vermont and resumed 
the practice of law with ever increasing 
fame. But he was not above serving the 
public in the humbler capacity and for the 
meagre pay of a legislator because he had 
been a United States judge and senator and 
he again represented Tinmouth, in the Leg- 
islature in i8o6,-'7-'8-'9-'i I. 

In March, 18 13, he was elected one of the 
council of censors, a body chosen once in 
seven years to review the constitution and 
recommend admendments. The ideas for 
which he stood then have some of them 
had to be adopted since and others must be 
to overcome evils that remain in our system. 
He always advocated amending the constitu- 
tion to create a Senate as a co-ordinate 
branch of the Legislature, to take the power 
of election of judges from the Legislature and 
provide for appointment during good behav- 
ior and also to constitute a court of chan- 
cery distinct from the courts of law. He 
made and published a great argument then 
for the independence of the judiciary, re- 
viewing the constitutions and practice of all 
the states, and applying most cogently the 
lessons of history and of the methods of other 
countries. But in spite of this luminous 
showing the old method of election at 
each session still survives, a relic of distorted 
and misapplied democracy, a method that 
combines the vices of both the appointive 



and elective systems without the merits of 
either. It is simply wonderful that the re- 
sults of it have not been more evil. 

Chipman was chosen chief justice of the 
state in 1813, receiving a majority of seven- 
teen, where his party, the Federalists, had 
the lead by only one or two on joint ballot. 
He was however displaced in 18 15 when 
the Democrats, or Republicans as they then 
generally called themselves, returned to 
power. 

This was his last public position. He had 
for many years been an associate justice on 
the supreme bench, and had four times left 
the practice of law to take a seat on the 
bench. In 18 16 he was appointed profes- 
sor of law in Middlebury College, and gave 
a course of lectures that attracted much at- 
tention, and held the chair until 1843. 

During the nullification times he wrote 
and published a very strong pamphlet 
against the Calhoun doctrine, more than 
matching in its vise-like logic the argument 
of the able South Carolinian. 

Judge Chipman died Feb. 13, 1843, from 
congestion and inflammation of the lungs, 
aged ninety-one years. The last twenty-five 
years of his life were the golden period, where 
in well earned retirement, except for such law 
business as he chose to undertake, he enjoy- 
ed in rural pursuits his books, his friendship 
and correspondence with some of the most 
cultivated men of his time, and he was re- 
garded by his neighbors and brethren of the 
profession almost as a patriarch. 

His measurement as a lawyer and a judge 
will best be given by Mr. Huse in his de- 
partment of this work. We will only allude 
to one of his methods as a judge, his habit of 
giving in his charges a summary of the testi- 
mony of each witness, instructing the jury 
as to the points on which it bore, clearing 
away immaterial matter and laying before 
the jury a compact and lucid statement of 
the whole case in all its bearings, while in- 
structing them upon the law of it. He had 
a clear and discriminating mind, compre- 
hensive in its grasp, and steadily analytic in 
its processes. He was cautious in forming 
his opinions, proceeding entirely without 
prejudice or bias, conscious that he had 
done so, and therefore positive and em- 
phatic when he had reached a conclusion. 

In 1 793 he published a small work entitled 
" Sketches of the Principles of Government " 
and also a volume of " Reports and Disserta- 
tion" containing reports of cases decided 
while he was chief justice, with dissertation 
on the statute adopting the common law of 
England, the statute of offsets, on negotiable 
notes and on the statute of conveyances. In 
1796, he was appointed one of a committee 
to revise the statutes of Vermont and the re- 
vised laws of 1797 were written by him. In 



iSj;3 he published "Principles of Govern- 
ment, a treatise on free institutions including 
the Constitution of the United States," 
which contained parts of his 1796 work. 

CHASE, Dudley.— Speaker of the state 
Assembly for five years, twice United States 
senator, and four years chief justice of the 
state Supreme Court, was of a brainy family, 
being a brother of Bishop Philander Chase 
of Ohio, founder of Kenyon and Jobilee 
colleges, and the uncle of Salmon P. Chase, 
the great Republican statesman and chief 
justice. 

Dudley Chase was born at Cornish, N. 
H., Dec. 30, 1 77 1, the son of Deacon Dudley 
Chase, and one of a numerous family of 
eight .sons and six daughters. His youth 
was passed in pioneer privations at Cornish 
and Sutton, Mass., but he succeeded in ob- 
taining a college education, graduating at 
Dartmouth in 1791. He studied law with 
Hon. Pot Hall at \\'estminster, and in the 
early nineties settled at Randolph. He was 
state's attorney for Orange county for eight 
years from 1S03 to 181 1 inclusive. He was 
a member of the constitutional conventions of 
1814 and 1822. He represented Randol])h 
in the Legislature from 1805 to 1812 in- 
clusive, and for the last five years he was 
speaker of the House, closing the service with 
such popularity that he was immediately 
elected United States senator to succeed 
Stephen R. Bradley. 

He was elected for a full term of six years, 
but he resigned his seat in 181 7 to accept 
an election as chief justice of the Supreme 
Court of the state. He was re-elected to 
that post each year until 182 1 when he re- 
tired to return to the practice of law, but 
was sent to the Legislature in i823-'24 and 
again won such popularity that he was 
in 1825 again elected to the United States 
Senate. At the close of his term in 1831 he 
retired finally to private life, devoting his 
attention to farming and gardening, of 
which he was exceedingly fond. A little of 
the scattering and disorganized opposition 
to Governor Galusha in iSig centered about 
him, giving him 618 of the 2,618 votes 
cast against Galusha for Governor. 

He was of attractive and winning address, 
portly in person, commanding in presence, 
well balanced mentally, with a poise of mind 
that fitted him admirably for judicial posi- 
tion, and a real kindness of heart that could 
not help to make him a favorite among men. 
He was perhaps somewhat lacking in the 
aggressive quality, like that of Galusha or 
Bradley or Niles, that makes the political 
leader of enduring power or that leaves per- 
manent impress in statesmanlike work. 
Still there are events and good ideas in Ver- 
mont historv with which Dudlev Chase's 



name is identified. He was always earnest 
in advocacy of the support of district 
schools by a tax on the grand list so as to 
give poor children an equal opportunity with 
the rich to obtain an education. He helped 
in the framing in the act of 1805 regulating 
marriage and divorce. He was a member 
of the committee that fixed upon Montpe- 
lier for the location of the state capital. 
Phe state bank was established in i8o6 on 
lines largely laid down by him. He was 
that year also a member of the legislative 
committee that drafted the famous "address 
of the Vermont Legislature" to President 
Jefferson entreating him to be a candidate 
for a third term. He was a member of the 
committee that provided for the location of 
the state prison at Windsor. He supported 
Bradley's resolution in 1807 for a consti- 
tutional amendment empowering the Presi- 
dent to remove Supreme Court judges on 
address by a majority of the House and 
two-thirds of the Senate. 

He died P"eb. 23, 1846, at the age of se\en- 
ty-four, after several years of declining health 
with fits of epilepsy. A fall in his room para- 
lyzed his right leg which swelled badly, be- 
came erysipelas, and terminated in mortifica- 
tion and death. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Olivia Brown and whom he married 
in 1796 when she was seventeen years old, 
survived him but twenty-three days. They 
had no children of their own, but brought 
up many nephews and nieces and indentur- 
ed boys, and of these gave a college educa- 
tion to not less than twelve or fifteen. 

FISK, James. — Judge of the Supreme 
Court, representative and senator in Con- 
gress, Universalist preacher, and a leader of 
the Democratic or Republican party in the 
state during its era of power and prosperity, 
was a nati\e of Greenwich, Mass., born Oct. 
4, I 763, and came to Vermont from Green- 
wich. Little is known of his ancestry or 
early youth, but his circumstances were 
humble and he was self-educated. His 
father died when he was only two years old, 
and he was early left to shift for himself. In 
1779, at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the 
Revolutionary army, served for three years, 
then returned to (Jreenwich and went to 
work as a farm hand. He was only twenty- 
two years old when he was elected repre- 
sentative to the General Assembly of Massa- 
chusetts, and about this time he began to 
preach as a Universalist minister. He came 
to Barre in 1 798, continued preaching 
occasionally, cleared a farm, and in his 
leisure hours studied law, opened practice 
and rapidly rose to eminence and influence. 
His alert mind, ready wit and power of prac- 
tical and winning argument, his poise of 
character and justice and kindliness of views. 



combined with liis singularly genial, attract- 
ive demeanor, qualified him to an unusual 
extent for leadership. The late E. P. Wal- 
ton says of him that " in his form, the vigor 
of his intellect and the brilliancy of his mind, 
he much resembled Aaron P3urr." He was 
small of stature, keen-eyed, a brilliant conver- 
sationalist, and, as Thompson says, "really 
talented." 

He had been in Barre only three years 
when he was elected one of its selectmen, 
and the next year was sent to the Legisla- 
ture, representing the town nine years, from 
1800 to 1S05, 1809 and 18 10, and in 1815. 
He was a useful and prolific legislator, taking 
an active part in the legislation for the ob- 
servance of the Sabbath, the taxing of liquor 
selling, the overhauling of the statutes for 
the support of the gospel, the collection of 
debts, proceedings in case of absconding 
debtors, land taxes, the forfeiture of charters, 
the reorganization of the judiciary system, 
and the regulation of marriage and divorce. 
He was prominent in the fight of 1804 over 
the law of libel, when it was proposed to do 
away with the old principle of privilege, 
"the greater the truth the greater the libel," 
and in criminal prosecutions to allow the 
respondent to plead in defence the truth of 
his words. He moved, as early as 1803, for 
the establishing of a permanent seat for the 
Legislature, and when the Assembly had 
passed the bill, before the Governor and 
Council had got the subject postponed, he 
was selected for Orange county's member of 
the special committee to locate the capital. 
He was also, in 1S04, chairman of the com- 
mittee that endeavored to get a settlement 
of our northern boundary with Canada. 

He was an ardent friend of the University 
of Vermont in its younger days, and served 
on its board of trustees for several years, re- 
signing in 181 2. He naturally, with his 
adroitness and resourcefulness, became the 
leader of the Jeffersonians, being placed in 
the front in most of the contests with the 
Federahsts, and especially where they wanted 
to match Governor Tichenor, who was in- 
dubitably one of the shrewdest politicians of 
his time. He was chairman of the com- 
mittee in 1805 to draft an address in reply 
to the Governor's speech, and framed the 
answer to the proposal of the Massachusetts 
Legislature for constitutional amendments to 
exclude slaves from representation in any 
measure in Congress. He regretted the ex- 
istence of slavery, and its influence in the 
making of laws to bind the freemen of our 
free state, but could see no remedy that 
"would not subvert the first and most opera- 
tive principles of our federal compact." The 
skill with which these replies managed to 
take issue with the Governor, while couched 
in the most commendatory phrase, were too 



much for even "Jersey Slick" himself, and 
they may be instructively studied as models 
of this sort of sheathed stabbing in politicaL 
warfare. 

Mr. Fisk was also the chairman of the 
same committee when the Democracy came 
into power in 1809 and it was the address of 
Governor Galusha, with whom he was in full 
political sympathy, that was to be answered. 

He was a judge of the Orange county court 
in 1802 and 1809, and in 1816 the I^egisla- 
ture chose him one of the three judges of the 
Supreme Court of the state. The next year 
hewas re-elected, becoming the first assistant, 
and with his undoubted talent as a lawyer 
was on his way to the chief justiceship when 
he resigned to accept an election to the 
Senate. 

He was elected a representative in Con- 
gress in 1804, serving two terms, and again 
two terms from 181 1 to 1815, and then after 
his two years service on the Supreme Court, 
was chosen by the Legislature L^nited States 
senator in 181 7 to succeed Dudley Chase, 
but resigned after less than two years service 
and William A. Palmer was elected to suc- 
ceed him. 

He was a close friend and confidential ad- 
viser of President Madison and the adminis- 
tration through the war of 181 2 ; he voted for 
the declaration of that war and his cotmsel 
was constantly sought, with reference to war 
measures. 

He took a vigorous part in the "John 
Henry" debate of 1812, over the papers 
secured from that reprobate, who after five 
years life as a farmer, lawyer and editor in 
Vermont, was in 1809 employed by the 
Governor of Canada to get into communica- 
tion with the most violent Federalists in 
New England and ascertain how far they 
could be brought to turn against their own 
country and in favor of England in case the 
embargo and other resistance to British 
aggressions should result in war. These 
papers opened the lid only a bit upon one 
of the most shameful chapters of our history, 
a chapter over which, fragmentary and un- 
satisfactory as is our knowledge of it, the 
blood of right feeling men cannot fail to boil 
to-day, a chapter that tells of sordid men 
and money making interests in New England 
that conspired in treason against the govern- 
ment that was fighting their battle and seek- 
ing to protect them from British spoliation, 
because they believed that the government 
ought to crawl at Britain's feet and do 
Britain's bidding against France, in order to 
help them to continue their money making. 
Mr. Fisk treated the subject vigorously in 
this view, and collected and presented a 
large mass of evidence showing how plottings 
for the dissolution of the L'nion had been^ 
going on. He quoted letters from Mr., 



Krskine, the British minister, in su|>port of 
this view. His arraignment was one that 
must have done an iniijortant part in cover- 
ing the once glorious Federalist party with 
the disgrace that brought it into speedy 
decay and ruin. 

But Mr. risk's moderation at another time 
served the state a good turn. The country's 
indignation at the selfish and base deeds of 
Federalists, focussed in the introduction, Jan. 
6, 1814, of resolutions in the House in- 
structing the attorney-general to institute a 
prosecution against (lov. Martin Chittenden 
for his proclamation of the year before 
ordering the Vermont militia home from 
New York, where they had been assigned to 
military duty at a critical time and point un- 
der the orders of federal commanders. The 
Governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut and 
Rhode Island had pursued a similar policy, 
refusing or threatening to refuse, on state 
rights grounds, requisitions on their militia 
for the common defense. Unscrupulous parti- 
sanship had reached about its worst abase- 
ment when Federalist executives could take 
this ground, and so far as they were concerned 
personally, prosecution might have been 
healthy. But Fisk deprecated the resolu- 
tions. He admitted , that the proclamation 
was unjustifiable, thought few people in Ver- 
mont approved of it, knew the delegation in 
Congress did not, but he did not think it 
advisable to thus force the issue between 
state and nation. If the Governor had com- 
mitted an offense against the laws let him be 
prosecuted, but let not Congress turn in- 
former, which was all the resolutions meant ; 
their effect would be only to give undue 
weight to successful prosecution and make 
Congress ridiculous if unsuccessful ; they 
neither made nor strengthened law, and so 
were of no use. The argument was so well 
made that the resolutions were put to final 
sleep on the table. 

Air. Fisk was nominated and confirmed 
judge of the territory of Indiana in 181 2, 
but declined the office after the Federalist 
presses in Vermont had wasted considerable 
energy in ridiculing the appointment. He 
did not cut much of a figure in his senatorial 
service because it was too brief to permit 
him, even under the rules then, to get to the 
front. He resigned in 1819 to accept the 
post of collector of customs for the district 
of Vermont, which he held for eight years, 
and during that time moved to Swanton, 
where he made his home until his death, 
which occurred Dec. i, 1844. 

In his later years he was a Whig as ardent 
as he had formerly been a Democrat. He 
was by temperament and logic a follower of 
Henry Clay, and the development of issues 
after the death of the Federalist party, that 
made the great Kentuckian the leader of the 



SEVMOUR. 113 

new party, naturally brought Fisk with them. 
Mr. Fisk, soon after he came out of the 
Revolution, wedded Miss Priscilla West, of 
(ireenwich, who died .August 19, 1840, at 
the age of seventy-seven. They had six 
children — three sons and three daughters. 

SEYMOUR, Horatio.— Judge, coun- 
cilor and senator, was born in Litchfield, 
Conn., May 31, 1778, the son of Major Moses 
and Mary ( Marsh) Seymour. His father was 
a man of importance in Connecticut, a Rev- 
olutionary otiicer, state legislator for seventeen 
years and town clerk forty years, and among 
his descendants was Horatio Seymour, the 
New York statesman. Democratic candidate 
for the presidency in 1S68, and a nephew of 
the Horatio Seymour who became the Ver- 
mont senator and for a number of years the 
acknowledged leader of the Whigs in this 
state. 

The subject of this sketch fitted for college 
under the tuition of his brother-in-law-. Rev. 
Truman Marsh, graduated from Yale in 1797, 
taught an academy for a year at Cheshire, 
Conn., then attended Judge Reeve's famous 
law school at Litchfield for a year, and in 
October, 1799, came to Middlebury to con- 
tinue his studies in the office of Daniel Chip- 
man, and in 1800 was admitted to the bar. 
He was soon after appointed postmaster at 
Middlebury, and continued in the office nine 
years, until the growth of his law practice pre- 
vented his longer holding it. His reputa- 
tion professionally was confined mainlv to 
his own county, but he was probably engaged 
in more cases than any lawyer before or after 
him. His great defect was over modesty 
and lack of confidence in himself, so that he 
never pushed himself in law practice or poli- 
tics as he might. 

He had to get absorbed in the cause of 
his client, and the feelings and interests in- 
volved, before he could do himself justice. 
But he was very shrewd and tactful in the 
management of cases, and as a speaker, 
while making no pretensions to oratory, 
clear, logical and persuasive. In manners 
he was not only unassuming, but most ur- 
bane and courteous, and careful not to 
offend. His make up, in fine, was such as 
was sure in the course of years to command 
a great popularity, and he held it almost 
against his will, while shrinking from lead- 
ership, as few Vermonters have done. He 
was state's attorney for .\ddison county iSio 
to 1813 and again 1815 to 18 19, and coun- 
cilor 1809 to 1814. When the Vermont 
state bank was established in 1806 he was 
chosen one of the first directors, and re- 
mained such until the branch at Middlebury 
was closed. In 1S20 he was elected United 
States senator, and re-elected in 1S26 after 
a vigorous contest with (lovernor ^'an Ness. 



114 



He was in early life a supporter of the ad- 
ministration and measures of Jefferson and 
Madison, but after the breakup following 
the Monroe administration he went with the 
Adams, on National Republican or what 
was afterwards the Whig element, and was 
influential in the party councils until his 
term in the Senate closed. He was also on 
terms of intimate personal friendship with 
Adams, Clay, Webster, King and Marcy, and 
men of such caliber, w-ho all relied much on 
his judgment in matters of legislation, 
though it was rarely they could ever get 
him to speak in the Senate. He was chair- 
man of the committee on agriculture. 

.\t the close of his second term he re- 
turned to his law practice, and to party 
leadership in the state. It was due to his 
shrewd management very largely, that after 
the Anti-Masonic wave had swept over the 
state and controlled it for several years, the 
whigs were able to get the chief advantage 
of its breakup. Mr. Seymour was their can- 
didate for Governor in 1833 and 1S34, in the 
former of which years the whig vote fell to 
less than two thousand. In 1834, when the 
election was thrown into the Legislature, 
Seymour wrote a letter before the assemb- 
hng, announcing that he would not be a 
candidate. This was to allow Governor 
Palmer an ^unobstructed re-election, which 
it was calculated would count when the 
collapse of Anti-Masonry came. Bradley, 
the Democratic candidate, who had about 
the same vote as Seymour, each a little over 
ten thousand, pursued the same wary course, 
but by individual instruction rather than a 
public letter, and with much less effect on 
the rank and file of the voters. 

Mr. Seymour's later years were passed in 
the practice of his profession and in the 
duties of judge of probate, which he per- 
formed from 1847 to 1856. Middlebury 
conferred the degree of LL. D. on him in 
1847. 

He died Nov. 21, 1S57, after se\eral 
years of infirmity, at the age of eighty. He 
married in 1800 Lucy, daughter of Jonah 
Case, of Addison. She died in October, 
1838, leaving three sons and one daughter. 
One of the sons, Moses Seymour, settled at 
Gene\a, Wis. ; another, Horatio, was a law- 
yer at Buffalo, X. V., and another, Ozias, an 
attorney at Middlebury. 

PRENTISS, Samuel, twice United 

States Senator, one of the great Whig leaders 
of his day, ranking with thesi.x of highest fame 
whom Vermont has had among " the Elders 
of the land," the peer of the intellectual giants 
with whom he sat, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, 
and Benton, and perhaps even greater yet 
on the bench of the state Supreme Court 
and the LTnited States district court, was a 




native of Stonington, Conn., where he was 
born March 31, 1782, the son of Dr. Samuel 
Prentiss. The family had been one of note 
for centuries, tracing back to 13 18 in Eng- 
lish official records, and including Capt. 
Thomas Prentiss, the noted cavalry officer 
in the King Phillip war, and Col. Samuel 
Prentiss, of the Revolutionary army, the 
great - grandfather of Judge and Senator 
Samuel. 

Young Pren- 
tiss' boyhood was 
chiefly passed at 
dfMr^ Xorthfield, Mass., 

g^ ^ii where Dr. Pren- 

w) JH tiss moved after 

,^ ^^ fff a short stay at 

Worcester, when 
the future states- 
m a n was only 
four years old. 
^\'ith only a com- 
mon school edu- 
cation, supple- 
mented by a 
study of the 
classics under 
Rev, S. C. .Allen, the minister of the town, 
young Prentiss studied law, first with Samuel 
Vose, of Northfield, then with John W.PJlake, 
at Brattleboro, was admitted to the Windham 
county bar in December, 1802, and located 
at Montpelier a few months later. He de- 
voted himself for full twenty years to his 
profession, and to extensive study and read- 
ing in cognate lines until his equipment was 
such as few men have. 

The Legislature offered him almost unani- 
mously in 1822, a position as associate jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court, but he declined 
it. But in 1824 he did accept an election 
as Montpelier's representative in the Gen- 
eral Assembly and from this time his rise in 
politics was rapid. It was at a time when 
the era of great Democratic leadership, the 
era of Galusha, Niles, Butler, Fisk, Bradley, 
and Van Ness, was drawing to a close, and a 
man of Prentiss' intellectual sweep found but 
little to obstruct his progress. He was re- 
elected to the General Assembly in 1825, 
and during the session was chosen to the 
Supreme Court, where four years' service 
won him an election by common consent to 
the chief justiceship, and one year more 
brought a summons to go to Washington as 
senator to succeed Dudley Chase. He was 
re-elected for a second term in 1836, but 
before it e.xpired he resigned to accept an 
appointment as judge of the LTnited States 
district court for the district of ^"ermont to 
succeed Elijah Paine, deceased. The nom- 
ination was confirmed by unanimous con- 
sent without the usual reference to a com- 
mittee. He continued in this position for 



fourteen years until his death, Jan. 15, 1857, 
completing an otficial career of thirty-four 
years which was not begun until he was forty- 
two. There is reason for beliexing that he 
could have had a seat on the Federal su- 
preme bench, but preferred this because the 
duties were so near home. 

As a lawyer he was profoundly learned 
with a learning that reached to the sources 
of the Roman as well as the common law, 
with a comprehension that embraced it as a 
great system of i3rinci]jles rather than tech- 
nicalities and with a thorough belief that no 
less could be said of the law, in the words of 
Bishop Hooker, "than that its seat is the 
bosom of God." As a judge no less an 
authority than Chancellor Kent said: "I 
cannot help regarding Judge Prentiss as the 
best jurist in New England." His penetrat- 
ing judgment, his power of analysis, like that 
of chernical forces in the certainty with 
which it could resolve every problem into its 
elements, his habit of sifting and of classifi- 
cation, together with his faculty of luminous 
.statement, and his resolute uprightness, com- 
bined to render him well nigh a model for a 
judge. 

It is said that not one of his decisions while 
on the Supreme Court was afterwards over- 
ruled. In the Senate his rank was easily 
among the first. John C. Calhoun said of him 
and his speech against the bankruptcy law of 
1840, that it was the clearest and most un- 
answerable argument on a debatable ques- 
tion which he had heard for years. Mr. Pren- 
tiss' independence in following where his con- 
victions led was illustrated by his stand on 
his questions, for he was the only Whig, with 
one exception, that fought the bill. But he 
was generally in close and confidential rela- 
tions with Clay and ^Vebster, sharing with 
them as third in command, the party leader- 
ship in the Senate. They both regarded 
him as the best lawyer in the Senate. 

He was the originator and successful ad- 
vocate of the law to suppress dueling in the 
District of Columbia. He was in at the 
opening of the great and protracted battle 
with the slavocracy, presenting in 1S3S, the 
resolutions of the state Legislature for the 
abolition of slavery in the District of Colum- 
bia and also against the annexation of Texas. 
Several of his speeches on different subjects 
have gone into the reading books as among 
the .\merican classics, and they are fine 
examples of the eloquence of straightfor- 
ward logic. In his younger days he wrote 
considerable on literary and moral topics, 
which was published in the newspapers, and 
all through his life he constantly sought re- 
freshment and invigoration of the mind by 
communion with the great masters of Eng- 
lish literature. In his personal habits and 
his domestic life, he was a severe economist, a 



habit to which early necessity trained him ; 
but he was still a liberal giver where the object 
commanded his approval. It is related of 
him that when the minister lost his own 
cow, the judge sent his man to the parson- 
age stable with one of his own two cows, 
and when as luck would have it that cow 
died the first night, he forwarded to the 
minister the money required to buy still 
another. 

He married, in 1804, Lucretia, daughter 
of Edward Houghton of Northfield, a woman 
of unusual powers of mind and strength of 
character, who bore most of the family cares 
during Judge Prentiss' busy life. She died 
at Montpelier, June 15, 1855, aged sixty- 
nine. She had twelve children of whom ten 
were boys, and all of them who lived to 
reach manhood became lawyers. 

SWIFT, Benjamin. — Representative in 
Congress in 1827,-1831, and senator from 
1833 to 1839, came of a family of distinction 
in Connecticut, where his uncle, a Revolu- 
tionary colonel, was a judge and member of 
the council for twelve years. His father. Rev. 
Job Swift, was a well-known divine at Ben- 
nington and Addison. .\ brother, the sev- 
enth son of Rev. Job, was Samuel Swift, 
lawyer, editor, historian of Addison county, a 
judge of probate and assistant judge there, 
and secretary of the Governor and council in 
1813 and 1814. 

Benjamin Swift, the sixth child of Rev. 
Job, was born at .\menia, N. Y., .A-pril 8, 
1780, before his father's coming to Vermont. 
He was well educated for tho.se days, took a 
course in the law school of Reeves & Gould 
at Litchfield, Conn., and first put out his 
shingle for practice in Bennington county, 
but moved to St. Albans in 1809. Like 
most young lawyers'Tie soon plunged into 
politics, taking the side of the then declining 
Federalists, so as to be effectually estopped 
from office-holding for a while and leaving a 
good share of his time and energy for im- 
provement in his profession. He thus at- 
tained a leading place at the bar, though his 
etiuipment was not by nature that of a lawyer. 
He was repeatedly a candidate on local and 
county tickets and was two or three times 
elected representative from St. Albans, but it 
was eighteen years after his settlement in St. 
Albans before he reached any other office. 
He had come out of the war of 1812 a good 
deal better than most Federalists, for he did 
not allow his feeling against the Madison ad- 
ministration and his criticism of the war to 
carry him to any such foolish or traitorous 
lengths as it did many of his party. In fact, 
when the report came of a probable engage- 
ment with the British at Plattsburgh he was 
one of the first to shoulder his musket and 
proceed to the scene, and though he arri\ed 



^ 



too late for the battle he showed a (lisi)Osi- 
tion which rountcd in his iavor in after 
years. 

As party lines were reformed after the 
"era of good feeling" under the Monroe 
administration, he naturally took the side of 
the national Republicans, and afterwards the 
Whigs, and as such was elected representa- 
tive to Congress in 1827. He was re-elected 
in 1S29, but before his term had expired the 
opposition party had become so strong, that 
though he was earnestly supported by his 
followers for a third election, he withdrew in 
favor of Henian Allen of Milton, who was 
elected. The next year, however, while the 
politics of the state were shaken all to pieces 
as regards the old parties, by the Anti- 
Masonic mo\ement, he was brought forward 
as a candidate for the United States Senate, 
as a man whose moderation of views could 
command votes from all factions. He was 
elected and served a full term till 1S39, re- 
tiring with a fair degree of credit. On one 
point especially he took an emphatic posi- 
tion in line with Vermont's views from the 
beginning. He refused to vote for the ad- 
mission of Arkansas in TCS36, because the 
new constitution of the state sanctioned per- 
petual slavery. He w'as a warm admirer 
and follower of Clay, and an enthusiastic 
advocate of his policies. 

.After his retirement from the Senate he 
de\oted himself mainly to agricultural pur- 
suits and scholarly leisure, except when he 
buckled on the armor for the management of 
cam])aign work for the Whig party, and it 
was while he was at work in the fields with 
his laborers that death overtook him. \Miile 
in Congress he engaged earnestly in temper- 
ance work and was among the pioneer movers 
in the great Washingtonian temperance re- 
form. 

\\hile in the Legislature he obtained the 
charter for the Bank of St. .Albans, and was 
its first president. 

He was a man of simple tastes and haliits 
of life, of clear and penetrating judgment, 
severe in his notions, even while of a natur- 
ally impulsive temperament, anil inclined to 
pursue with an absorbing energy any object 
for which he had started. In theology he was 
a Cahinist of the most rigid type in the regu- 
lation of his own conduct, but inclined to 
gentleness in abstract views. There was a 
rugged kindly courtesy about him, a freedom 
from malice or personal bitterness in contro- 
versy, political or religious, which in spite of 
his uncompromising argument, could not fail 
to command respect and even attachment. 
" Physically, mentally and morally," says E. 
P. Walton, "he was a large man." 

PHELPS, Samuel S.— Senator for thir- 
teen years, councilor, Supreme Court judge. 



and one of the ablest and most accomplish- 
ed men the state has ever had in public life, 
was born at Litchfield, Conn., in May, 1793, 
and of a family that had for generations 
been one of intelligent well-to-do farmers. 
Litchfield was in those days a breeding 
ground for able and influential men, and 
has probably turned out more than any 
town of its size in the country. It then 
contained the very best law school in the 
country. The intellectual friction of such 
associations was of incalculable benefit for 
such a bright youth as Phelps, and here 
may be found the foundation of his great- 
ness and that of his son. He entered Vale 
at the age of fourteen, graduating in 181 1, 
in the class with John .M. Clayton of Dela- 
ware and Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut. 
He pursued his legal studies for a few 
months in the law school until in 181 2 he 
came to Middlebury and entered the office 
of Horatio Seymour who had himself coiiie 
from Litchfield. He served in the war of 
18 1 2, in the ranks at Burlington and Platts- 
burg and afterwards as paymaster. In those 
days he was an enthusiatic young Democrat 
and supporter of the administration and 
the war ; but when the ^\'hig party was 
formed he went with that, though all through 
his political life he exhibited an indepen- 
dence of judgment and action that was un- 
usual in those times, and several times he 
stood up for his views against the majority 
of his party when it cost something of peril 
and sacrifice to do so. 

He was admitted to the .\ddison county 
bar in 1815, and made rapid progress to 
professional eminence, even with such lawyers 
as Seymour, Dan Chipman and Robert B. 
Bates as competitors. He was a member of 
the council of censors of 1827, and wrote 
the address of that body to the people of the 
state, chiefly notable for its argument for 
the abolition of the Governor's council, and 
the establishment of a Senate as a co-ordinate 
branch of the Legislature — an argument 
which bore fruit seven years later, though it 
then failed. In 1831 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the Governor's council, and at that 
fall's se.ssion was chosen a judge of the 
Supreme Court, and was annually re-elected 
seven times until 1838, when he was chosen 
a senator in Congress to succeed Benjamin 
Swift. He was again elected in 1844, 
though he had one of the most disagreeable 
fights that the state has ever seen ; an ac- 
count of it is gi\en in the sketch of Gov- 
ernor Slade. 

In January, 1853, on the death of Senator 
Upham he was appointed to the vacancy on 
the recommendation of the Vermont delega- 
tion in Congress, though he lived on the 
west side of the state, because he was in 
Washington at the time ; the nomination of a 



'17 



judge of the Supreme Court was pending in 
the Senate and it was doubtful if any one else 
if appointed, could reach the Capital from 
Vermont, in season to help the \\'higs on the 
vote. JikIrc Phelps remained in the dis- 
charge of his duties through that session, and 
returned to Washington the next winter to 
claim his seat, but as the Legislature had met 
in the meantime and failed to elect him or 
anybody else, the Senate refused to admit him 
on the ground that an executive ap])ointee 
could not continue after the Legislature had 
had an opportunity to fill the vacancy. 

Judge I'helps then retired to private life 
and the delights of his farm, though he still 
practiced in the courts in important cases, 
especially before the Supreme Court at 
\Vashington, where he had a high reputa- 
tion. ( )ne argument especially, on the 
Woodworth planing machine patent, was 
regarded as among the strongest ever de- 
livered before the court. He was not a 
fre(pient speaker in the Senate, reserving 
himself for great occasions. He was a 
member of the committee of thirteen that 
reported the Clay compromise measure be- 
tween the North and South, the (")mnibus 
bill of 1S50, and the action greatly weakened 
him at home. He had been fully committed 
to the principle of the \Vilmot proviso ; he 
had, in a powerful speech the year before, 
reminded the .Southerners that the whole 
agitation over the slavery question of which 
they complained, and because of which they 
were threatening the dissolution of the 
Union, was " only the logical sequence of 
the Mexican war, * * * which carried in its 
train elements that might end in despoiling 
the Republic ;" but when the real danger of 
dissolution confronted him, his love of the 
L^nion led him, like Webster, to temporize, 
where with larger and cooler prevision he 
had recognized that temporizing was useless. 

There was no stronger argument made 
against slavery in the whole course of the 
debates than that of Phelps in answer to 
Calhoun and Berrien in 1848 on the bill for 
the exclusion of slavery from Oregon, with 
the lessons and warning he drew from the 
action of the new l'"rench republic in abol- 
ishing it. Henry Wilson in his "Rise and 
Fall of the Slave I'ower" describes it as a 
speech of "remarkable eloquence and pow- 
er." Wilson says, in a general estimate of 
Phelps, that he was "a man of rare ability 
and equalled by few as a lawyer and forensic 
debater, but his unfortunate habits impaired 
public confidence." His position in the 
Senate gradually grew to be a conservati\e 
one, out of sympathy with the current of 
thought and events, soon to be guided by 
men like Seward and Chase, and he thus 
became less of a leader than his admirers 
thought he ought to be. He served labor- 



iously on the committees of claims and In- 
dian affairs, and it is said that the recom- 
mendations of his reports, fortified as they 
were by a definite statement of the case, 
were seldom rejected. He was, both as 
senator, judge and advocate, a cogent, pow- 
erful reasoner, with a clear, simple, vigorous 
way of stating his argument, and a habit of 
viewing questions that was at once compre- 
hensive and discriminating, large in its 
grasp and quick in its mastery of the sub- 
ject, and this with his dignified bearing and 
his air of resolute honesty, made him a 
weighty man in what was perhaps the great- 
est era of the greatest deliberative body of 
the world, a peer among such senators as Clay, 
Webster, Calhoun, Cass, Benton, Macy, Clay- 
ton, Wright, Forsyth, Corwin and Douglas. 
'I'he senator died at his home in Middle- 
bury, March 25, 1855. He was twice mar- 
ried, and brought up a large family of chil- 
dren of whom the eldest is Edward J. Phelps, 
the late minister to England. [For a sketch 
of E. J. Phelps see page 309, part H.] 

UPHAM, William— For ten years Ignited 
States Senator, and though not ranking u]i 
with the great historii:al names from Ver- 
mont — ISradley, Phelps, Prentiss, Collamer, 
and Foote — yet a strong and able man of 
his time in national councils. He was born 
at Leicester, Mass., .'Vugust 5, 1792, the son 
of t'apt. Samuel L'pham, who moved to \'er- 
mont in 1802, settling on a farm in Mont- 
pelier. Voung William worked on the farm 
until he was fifteen, attending school only 
winters, when an accident in a cider mill, 
crushing his right hand so that it had to be 
amputated, and unfitting him for manual 
labor, procured paternal consent to his being 
"educated." A few terms at the old acad- 
emy at .Montpelier, then some tutoring in 
Latin and Greek by R.ev. James Hobart at 
Berlin, and a short time at the LIniversity of 
\"ermont were, however, all that his means 
would jjermit in this line. Then he studied 
law with Samuel Prentiss at Montpelier: was 
admitted to the bar in i8ri, and for a few 
years practiced in partnership with Nicholas 
Itaylies and afterwards alone or in temporary 
partnership for about thirty years, with hardly 
an interruption from politics to mar his 
professional achievements. 

It was a bar of great lawyers with whom 
he had to match wits, including besides 
Senator Prentiss, such giants as Dillingham, 
Collamer and Lucius B. Peck. But he was 
a foeman worthy of the best of them, and 
became, in fact, one of the strongest jury 
advocates the state has ever had. He was 
Choate-like in the fiery impetuousness of his 
eloquence, though without the rich poetic 
fancy with which Choate embellished his 
argument, masterful in his methods of state- 



ment, biting in sarcasm, full of nervous 
energy. Senator Seward in the obituary 
speeches in Congress described him as a 
"man of strong and vigorous judgment, 
which acted always by a process of inductive 
reasoning," and these were qualities that 
gave him peculiar powers in the rough and 
tumble of the law combats of those days. 

He kept carefully out of politics until his 
reputation was made at the bar, refused all 
proffers of nomination to office, including 
one for a seat on the bench of the Supreme 
Court, and held firmly to the theory that 
the "law is a jealous mistress." In 1S27 
he did accept an election as town represen- 
tative, because success seemed very dubious 
when he consented to run, and he was re- 
elected the next year and again in 1830. 
He took high rank as a debater, of course, 
but at the close of his third term he re- 
mained for ten years more a simple lawyer 
though he was state's attorney for Washing- 
ton county in 1S29. But he was ardently in 
sympathy with the Canadian rebellion of 
1838, presided over a great meeting at Mont- 
pelier that year to send greetings to the 
insurgents and condemn the Van Buren 
administration for its efforts to stop filibust- 
ering aid, and the 1840 campaign aroused 
him and for the first time in his life, when 
nearly fifty years old, he plunged actively 
into jiolitics, and stumped nearly the whole 
state for Harrison. 

The fruit was an enthusiastic personal fol- 
lowing for himself, which, in 1842, showed 
itself in his election as United States senator 
to succeed Samuel C. Crafts : at the end of 
his term he was re-elected for another term 
but died before completing it, Jan. 14, 1853. 

He was an ardent Whig and all the more so 
because of the power of partisan advocacy 
which his training as a lawyer had given him. 
Ill-health in the later years of his service 
interfered much with his activity, but he 
made a number of notable speeches and 
took positions on some occasions that were 
historic. He and Crittenden of Kentucky 
were the two men who voted "aye, except 
the preamble" on the bill in 1S45, declaring 
that "war existed by the act of Mexico " and 
authorizing the President to call out 50,000 
men. He moved the Wilmot proviso, for- 
ever forbidding slavery in the territory to be 
acquired, as an amendment to the bill in 
1846 appropriating $3,000,000 to authorize 
the President to negotiate peace with Mexico, 
and he made a speech on the subject, treating 
trenchantly as it deserved the whole iniquity 
back of the Mexican war, which was widely 
circulated and published in pamphlets and 
newspapers. He made a number of strong 
speeches on different questions connected 
with the war, the greatest of them being that 
of Jan. 28, 1848, on the bill to establish ter- 



ritorial governments in Oregon, California, 
and New Mexico. But perhaps the greatest 
one and the one most independent of party 
lines of all his career was that of July i and 
2, 1850, against the "compromise bill" of 
that year on the slavery question. 

On the tariff question he was a Whig of 
Whigs, believing that increase of industry 
and growth of national wealth would surely 
flow from a protective policy, and being one 
of the most strenuous advocates of the idea 
that wool growing was to be promoted by high 
duties. He fought hard against the Walker 
tariff-reducing bill of 1846, and his speech 
on that occasion was highly complimented 
by Daniel Webster, who wrote asking for 
memoranda of some of his " statements re- 
specting the market abroad for our wool," 
and adding, " following in your track, my 
work is to compare the value of the foreign 
and home market." 

The senator had a habit of exhaustively 
studying his subject before speaking and then 
an effective way of marshaling his facts and 
arguments. As Senator Foot said in his 
eulogy, his speeches had " the peculiar im- 
press of his earnestness, his research, his 
ability, and his patriotic demotion." Mr. 
Upham was for several years chairman of the 
committee on Revolutionary claims and post 
office and post roads, so that a vast deal of 
detail work was thrown on his shoulders. 

The senator's domestic life was a singu- 
larly happy one. His wife was Sarah Keyes 
of Ashford, Conn., whom he met while she 
was on a visit in Montpelier with her sister, 
Mrs. Thomas Brooks, grandmother of Gen. 
W. T. Brooks, commander of the Vermont 
Brigade. She w-as a beautiful, accomplished 
woman, who made her home at Montpelier 
and at Washington a center of social charm 
as well as a delight to its inmates. She died 
May 8, 1856. One of their sons, William K. 
L'pham, went to Ohio, where he rose to the 
front in law, ranking with such men as Chase, 
Corwin, and Bingham. Another, Major 
Charles C. Upham, was paymaster in the 
United States Navy. 

FOOT, Solomon.— Senator, repre- 
sentative' in Congress for nineteen years, 
like Bradley and Edmunds long president 
pro tern of the Senate, and among the great- 
est of the siiccession of remarkable men 
Vermont has kept in the Senate, with hardly 
an exception, from the beginning, was a 
native of the state, born in Cornwall, Nov. 
15, 1802, the son of Dr. Solomon and Betsey 
(Crossett) Foot. The family w-as of Con- 
necticut origin, where one of the ancestors 
was prosecuted in 1 702 "for having his negro 
servant sit" in his church pew, "contrary to 
religion and profanation of the Sabbath." 
Dr. Foot died when young Solomon was 



"9 



only nine years old, and the boy was left to the 
training of an intelligent and prayerful 
mother. W ith intermissions of farm work and 
teaching of district schools to earn money, 
he fitted for college and graduated from 
Middlebury in 1826. For the next five 
years, excejit for one year while he was a 
tutor at Middlebury, he was preceptor of 
Castleton Ac-ademy, and professor of natural 
philosophy at the Vermont Medical School 
at that place. He re-established the academy 
on a broader basis, erected a handsome and 
spacious edifice, and indeed achieved a 
large success as a pedagogue, as he did with 
everything he took hold of in life. 

But while teaching he had pursued the 
study of law ; was admitted to the bar in 
1831, and established himself in practice at 
Rutland. He at once plunged into politics, 
attracted attention the next year with an ad- 
dress which he issued in favor of Clay for 
President and against the re-election of Jack- 
son, and from this time until his death he 
was almost constantly before the public. 
Rutland sent him to the Legislature in 1833, 
again in i836-'37-'38, he being speakerin the 
last two sessions, and freshly enhancing his 
reputation by the ease and ability with which 
he discharged the duties. From 1836 to 
1842 he was state's attorney for Rutland 
county, and in the latter year was elected 
representative in Congress as an ardent ^\'hig, 
a follower of Clay, and a repudiator of Tyler. 
His first appearance on the floor was to pre- 
sent a petition for the "protection of .Ameri- 
can producers against the unfriendly and 
ruinous competition of foreign nations." 

His first speech, June 4, 1844, was in the 
same line, and this was his position as long 
as he was in Congress. He was one of the 
few Republicans to vote against the low 
tariff bill of 1857. He, of course, fought the 
Walker tariff bill of 1846 strenuously. He 
earnestly opposed the admission of Texas 
and the .Mexican war, whose purpose he de- 
clared to be simply to obtain more territory 
for slavery, and denounced the measures of 
the Polk administration almost uniformly, 
and especially its construction of the ( )regon 
boundary question. He made a hot speech 
Feb. 10, 1847, full of" scornful defiance " of 
the President for his intimation that those 
who censured the conduct of the executive 
in carrying on the war were guilty of con- 
structive treason. He was one of the three 
intrepid men who came to the rescue of 
Giddings of Ohio, when Dawson of Louis- 
iana, supported by four other Southerners, 
pistol in hand, threatened to shoot him for 
his denunciation of the "brutal coarseness" 
and " moral putridity " of slavery, and when 
it looked for a time as if the floor of Con- 
gress was to be a general shooting-ground. 



He served in the House two terms and 
refused a re-election in i84i,to return to 
the practice of law. Hut he was the next 
fall sent to the Legislature by Rutland and 
re-elected in 1848, and again was speaker of 
that body, and in 1850 he was elected to the 
Senate to succeed. Judge Phelps, and this 
was the arena where he won his largest 
tame. He was prominent in the debates 
over the Kansas question against the ad- 
mission of the state under the Lecompton 
constitution. He opposed the scheme for 
the acquisition of Cuba, justified the action 
of Commodore Paulding in the arrest of 
William Walker whose filibustering expedi- 
tion to South .\merica he recognized as a 
scheme of the slavery extensionists. He 
was a participant in the discussion of all 
Central .\merican matters, and strenuous in 
insisting that Klngland should give up her 
protectorate over the Mosquito territory. 
He served with Jeff Davis as a commissioner 
to reorganize the course of study and disci- 
pline at West Point. He was a strong 
advocate of governmental construction of a 
railroad to the Pacific coast. He carried 
through bills for the erection of a custom 
house at Burlington and court houses at 
Windsor and Rutland and for the improve- 
ment of the breakwater at Burlington. He 
served industriously on the committees on 
pensions, post-offices and post roads, revo- 
lutionary claims, public lands, pensions con- 
tingent claims and foreign relations, rising 
steadily by the care and thoroughness of his 
work to a position of leadership. He super- 
vised the enlargement of the capitol and the 
erection of other government structures. 
He was chairman of the committee of ar- 
rangements for the inauguration of President 
Lincoln. 

When the extra session of Congress was 
convened on account of the war, July 4, 1861, 
Mr. Foot was unanimously elected president 
pro tempore and through the whole of this, 
the whole of the Thirty-seventh and a part 
of the Thirty-eighth Congress he continued in 
this position. During the trying days of the war 
he did not appear on the floor so much as he 
had before done, evidently regarding speech- 
making as a needless waste of energy when 
there was so much work to be done, and the 
party in power had things all their own way, 
anyhow. On several important occasions, 
however, he kicked out of party traces. He 
voted against the legal tender act because he 
regarded it as clearly unconstitutional, and 
against Sumner's bill in i86i to wipe out of 
slavery in the proposed new state of \\'est 
Virginia as a prerequisite to its admission. 
He was a delegate to the Republican national 
convention of 1864. One of his last speeches 
in the Senate was that of Jan. 12, 1S65, in 
favor of terminating the Canadian reciproc- 



HRAINERD. 



ity treaty. He was with the leaders of his 
party in sharp antagonism to President 
Johnson and his pohcy, but died March 28, 
i<S66, before the crisis in that struggle came, 
though he clearly foresaw it. 

In him the country plainly saw it had lost 
one of its best equipped statesmen. He 
may not have had, as Senator Edmunds says, 
" that aggressive intellectual combativeness 
and analytical subtlety of mind, which, for- 
tified by learning, has produced the greatest 
lawyers," but he had a sound and practical 
mind, an active and vigilant industry, a 
habit of thoroughness of preparation for his 
duties, together with an intellectual and 
moral courage, and a hatred of meanness 
and duplicity, that, while it sometimes car- 
ried him too far in partisanship, made him 
faithful, reliable and useful. 

Senator Foot was twice married, first in 
1S39, to Emily, daughter of William Fay of 
Rutland, who soon after died ; and second, 
to Mrs. Anna Dora, daughter of Henry 
Hodges of Clarendon, who survived him. 

BRAINERD, LAWRENCE.— Briefly sen- 
ator, to fill out 
Mr. U p h a m ' s 
term, for years 
the recognized 
leader of the Jjib- 
erty party in the 
state and under 
whose auspices 
the old Whig 
partv was ab- 
solved into it, 
under the n e w 
name " Republi- 
can," was a na- 
tive of Connecti- 
cut, born at East 
Hartford, March 
16, 1794. He was from a family that has 
been called one of " the two great families of 
divines" — the Beechers being the other — be- 
cause of its great number of clergymen, Con- 
gregational, Presbyterian and Methodist, 
Among them have been several missionaries, 
including David Brainerd, the evangelist of 
the aborigines, whose biography was written 
by lonathan Edwards. 

Lawrence was the fifth of the thirteen chil- 
dren of Dea. Ezra and Mabel (Porter) Brain- 
erd, but when nine years old went to Troy, 
N. v., to live with an uncle, Joseph Brainerd. 
Five years later he started out to shift for 
himself, went to St. Albans on the proceeds 
of walnuts he had gathered and sold, and 
with a capital of just twenty-five cents began 
the struggle of life. That same year, though 
only fourteen, he was sent to Massachusetts, 
a distance of three hundred miles, to fetch a 
pair of oxen. He made the journey on foot 




but executed the trust faithfully. Though 
his education had been limited, he fitted him- 
self to teach district school and that pursuit 
he followed for several winters. Then he 
became a clerk in a store, and, in 181 6, em- 
barked in business for himself, and with his 
foresight, courage and large judgment rapidly 
enlarged his operations, acquiring additional 
wealth at every step. 

He conducted a large mercantile estab- 
lishment, doing an extensive barter with the 
farmers. He also engaged in farming and 
sheep raising, and as "railroad times" ap- 
proached took hold of these enterprises with 
all his energy. \\'ith John Smith and Joseph 
Clark he effected the construction of the 
Vermont & Canada R. R., borrowing S500,- 
000 on their personal credit before any stock 
subscriptions had become available. He was 
connected with the Vermont Central either 
as director or trustee until his death, and was 
among the original projectors and promoters 
of the Stanstead, Sheffield & Chambly, and 
of the Missisquoi roads. He was also largely 
interested before this time in Lake Cham- 
plain navigation, built the first upper cabin 
steamer that plied its waters, and was a 
director of the St. Albans Steamboat Co. for 
many years. 

His political life began with service as 
deputy sheriff in his young manhood, to 
which he was recommended by his reputa- 
tion for bravery. In 1834 he was elected 
representative from St. Albans, but this was 
his last office until he became Federal sena- 
tor, because in 1840 he abandoned the 
\\'hig party, with which he had been aiifili- 
ated, on the slaverv issue. He was one of 
the three hundred and nineteen in Vermont 
to cast their votes for Birney for President 
in 1840. He stood as the Liberty party's 
candidate for Governor in 1846 and 1S47, 
yielding the post to Oscar L. Shafter and 
the "Free Soil" movement of 1848, but re- 
turning to it in T852 and 1853, holding the 
balance of power so as to throw- the election 
into the Legislature in 1852, and defeat 
the \Vhigs and prevent Ciovernor Fairbanks' 
re-election in 1853. The result was the 
break- down of the Whigs, the coaHtion of 
1854 and the formation of the new Repub- 
lican party, over whose first convention in 
July of that year Mr. Brainerd presided. He 
was a candidate for the state Senate from 
his county, but was beaten by the old Whig 
animosity. But the new movement had be- 
come so strong before the close of the year, 
that when a vacancy in the United States 
Senate occurred by the death of Senator 
Upham, Brainerd was elected to it by a 
practically unanimous vote, the first man 
who had been sent there on purely abolition- 
ist principles. 



He was a delegate to the Republican 
national conventions of 1856 and i860, and 
chairman of the \ermont delegation in the 
latter that threw the vote of the state for 
Abraham Lincoln. He called the conven- 
tion of 1856 to order, was chosen one of its 
vice-presidents, and served during the cam- 
paign on the national executive committee. 
He was, of course, a cordial supporter of the 
Union cause through the war, and a less 
impatient one than most of the old anti- 
slavery leaders, because he foresaw that the 
end, in the inevitable logic of events, must 
be emancipation. He had, before the war, 
kept the last station of the " underground 
railroad " on the route to Canada, and many 
a poor runaway black had been aided by 
him to liberty. 

Aher the war he was deeply interested in 
the work of the American Missionary Associ- 
ation in educating and uplifting the freemen, 
and was president of the association and 
always a generous contributor to its funds. 
He in fact came to be known as among the 
most princely of Vermont philanthropists, 
and his donations were in many lines of edu- 
cational and religious work. He was a bus- 
iness man of remarkable ability always, and 
his training and habits of thought followed 
him in his benefactions. He had to be con- 
vinced that the object of charity was a 
worthy one, that the money would be judi- 
ciously expended, and then his purse strings 
were open. Disbursements increased in 
magnitude as his means increased, and he 
recognized in the possession of wealth a trust 
to be executed for good. 

He was married Jan. 16, 1819, to Fidelia 
Barnet, daughter of William Ciadcomb, and 
she died Oct. iS, 1852, having borne him 
twehe children, of whom four sons and two 
daughters reached maturity. One daughter 
married J- Gregory Smith, afterwards Gover- 
nor ; and the other, F. S. Stranahan, the 
present Lieutenant-Governor. The sons 
were : Lawrence, Aldis, Frastus P., and 
Herbert, who have all been men of promi- 
nence. 

COLLAMHR, JACOB.— Judge, both 
representative and senator in Congress, post- 
master-general under Taylor, the only Yer- 
monter before Proctor to serve in the 
cabinet, is the man whose statue, as the rep- 
resentative \'ermonter, stands with that of 
Ethan Allen in legislative hall at Washing- 
ton. He was born at Troy, N. Y., Jan. 8, 
1 79 1, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Yan 
Ormun) Collamer, the third of eight chil- 
dren. His father was a soldier of the Revo- 
lution and of a family that had for genera- 
tions been prominent in Massachusetts, 
" Collamores Ledge " being named after one 
member, Capt. Anthony Collamer, who was 



shipwrecked there. Samuel Collamer came 
to Vermont when Jacob was about four 
vears old. Early in youth, ambition and 
thirst for knowledge possessed the boy, and 
by his own energy and industry he procured 
the means to prosecute preparatory collegi- 
ate and professional study and yet was 
fitted for admission to the University of 
\'ermont at the age of fifteen. He gradu- 
ated in 1 8 10, and then studied law with Mr. 
Langworthy and later with Benjamin Swift 
at St. Albans, being admitted to the bar in 
18 13. There was an interruption in 1812 
when he was drafted into the detailed militia 
service and served in the frontier campaign 
as lieutenant of artillery. 

In 1816 he moved to Royalton, where he 
practiced his profession with growing repu- 
tation for twenty years, until in 1S36 he 
went to Woodstock. He was for several 
years register of probate in the Royalton 
district. He represented that town in the 
Legislatures of 182 1, '22, '27 and '28. He 
was state's attorney for Windsor county 
in 1822, '23 and '24. He was a member 
of the constitutional convention of 1836, 
that did away with the old Governor's 
council and established the state Senate, 
and took a leading part in effecting the 
change. 

In 1833, unexpectedly to himself, Mr. 
Collamer was elected one of the assistant 
judges of the Supreme Court, and regularly 
re-elected until 1842, when he declined 
further service. If his career had ended 
here it would have been distinguished ; as a 
nisi prius judge he was extraordinarily well 
equipped by habit and training of mind. 
.As Judge James Barertt, long his partner, 
says of him : "Without any of the qualities 
designated fancy, imagination, brilliancy, 
or genius, his mind was made up of a clear 
and ready perception, acuteness of discrimi- 
nation, a facile faculty of analysis, an apt- 
ness and ease in rigid and simple logic, 
excellent common sense, and withal, a most 
tenacious memory of facts. These qualities 
of mind enabled him to serve and master all 
the substantial purposes of professional and 
judicial avocation without his becoming em- 
phatically a judicial scholar. What his law- 
books contained he knew not, as mere mat- 
ter of recollection, their substance became 
incorporated as matter of consciousness 
into the very substance of his mind, which 
thus became thoroughly indoctrinated and 
imbued with the foundation principles upon 
which the superstructure of his professional 
greatness arose." 

Says Judge Poland : "His published 
opinions while a judge of the Supreme Court, 
are models of judicial compositions. For 
accuracy of learning, terseness of statement, 
clearness and com])rehensiveness of style, I 



COLLAMER. 



COLLAMER. 



do not know where they are excelled. Had 
Judge Collamer remained upon the bench to 
the end of his life, like Chief Justice Shaw of 
Massachusetts, or Chief Justice Gibson of 
Pennsylvania, I have no doubt his judicial 
fame would have equalled that of those emi- 
nent jurists." 

But the next year, after a close and hotly- 
contested campaign that required two trials 
at the polls, and with Ransom and Titus 
Hutchinson the candidates against him, he 
was elected to Congress and entered upon 
the national career that continued, with only 
brief interruptions and with steadily enlarg- 
ing fame and usefulness, until his death. His 
colleagues when he took his seat were George 
P. Marsh, Solomon Foot and Paul Dilling- 
ham. His first speech was in February, 
1844, in opposition to the apportionment 
resolution, and it attracted a good deal of 
attention. But the argument which fixed his 
place in the front rank of the Whig leaders 
was delivered in the .April following, on the 
tariff, and under the title of " ^^"ool and 
Woolens," to which a large part of it was 
given. It is, perhaps, the strongest and 
most exhaustive argument ever made in favor 
of protection to wool growing, and as a his- 
torical, constitutional and economic argu- 
ment was one of the best Congress has ever 
heard on the protective side of the question. 
He served on the public lands committee 
and was its chairman in the Thirtieth Con- 
gress. He originated the system now in 
force of mapping the public domain and 
thus exhibiting the real location and market 
status of every section of land. He was 
prominent in the debates on the annexation 
of Texas and the Mexican war, taking the 
Whig view, of course, but with the modera- 
tion and independence of judgment that so 
often marked his conduct. 

He declined a re-election to Congress in 
1S48, but a legislative caucus that fall for- 
mally recommended him for a cabinet posi- 
tion, and President Taylor on his inauguration 
named him for Postmaster-General. Here 
again his clear-headed and progressive 
thought brought some good ideas to the 
administration, and though the service was 
brief, it is the testimony of his associate in 
the cabinet, Reverdy Johnson, that the "vast 
and complicated business of the department 
was never more ably conducted." Henry 
Wilson says in his history, the "Rise and 
Fall of the Slave Power," that Mr. Collamer 
"was a statesman of recognized ability and 
firmness, and was unquestionably the most 
decided of any member of the cabinet in his 
opposition to the increasing encroachments 
of the slave power." 

On the death of President Taylor, in July, 
1850, Mr. Collamer resigned with the rest of 
the cabinet, and again returned to his law 



practice in \'ermont. and was that fall 
elected circuit judge by the Legislature. 
The choice between the Supreme Court and 
circuit judiciary was offered him, but he pre- 
ferred the latter and continued to preside in 
the county courts, until in 1854 the young 
Republican party elected him United States 
Senator as an anti-slavery A\'hig, in conjunc- 
tion with Lawrence Brainerd of Free Soil 
antecedents. He at once entered the arena 
over the Kansas troubles, presented a min- 
ority report, signed only by himself, upon the 
condition of affairs in that territory, and he 
was fully a match for Douglass in the great 
debate that followed, ushering in the years 
of controversy that ended with the admis- 
sion of Kansas as a free state in 1861, a 
result that was largely developed out of his 
efforts. He was not and never professed to 
be an abolitionist, but he understood fully 
the spirit and purpose and inevitable pro- 
cedure of the slave power. He long be- 
lieved that it could be met and defeated by 
standing on the constitution, but never by 
yielding to its encroachments. He and 
Grimes of Iowa, and Fessenden of ^Iaine 
were most intimate associates through this 
era, forming in their conservatism along cer- 
tain lines, and their agreement in economic 
views a triumvirate not less useful, though less 
conspicuous than that of Seward, Chase and 
Sumner which finally aroused and brought 
to fruition the tremendous moral sentiment 
of the North on the slavery question. .\s 
has been well said of him, he "united the 
best traits of the radical and the conserva- 
tive." He was one of the three senators 
from New England who voted against the 
tariff bill of 1S57. 

When his term expired in i860 he was 
re-elected for a second term, and filled even 
a larger place in national councils. Indeed, 
A'ermont ]iresented his name to the Chicago 
convention that year for the Republican 
nomination for the presidency, and he re- 
ceived ten votes on the first ballot of the 
convention, the only Vermonter, except Ed- 
munds, who has been so honored in the 
national conventions of either party. But 
his name was withdrawn after the first ballot, 
and though there was some talk of him for 
the vice-presidential nomination, he was left 
to do an important work and one for which 
he was best adapted in the Senate, to meet 
the storm which was gathering upon the 
country. 

At first, as Sunset (^"ox says in his "Three 
Decades," Senator Collamer was " regarded 
as not indifferent to a compromise which 
would at least retain the border states, if it 
did not stop the moyement of the Gulf states" 
toward secession. He and Fessenden were 
among the few Republicans who declined 
to vote against the " Crittenden compro- 



Cdl.I.AMER. 



123 



mise " of the winter of 1861, proposing by 
constitutional amendment to fore\er forbid 
any revocation of the guarantees of slavery 
within existing limits, its three-fifths repre- 
sentation and its perpetual right to recover 
fugiti\es, in other words, to intrench the 
institution securely in the organic law of 
the land. They did not vote for this amend- 
ment, but by abstaining from voting at 
all, signified their willingness to concede so 
much if it would satisfy the South ; and 
indeed it would only have been putting 
into constitutional phrase the doctrine upon 
which all parties had professed to stand up 
to that time. He voted and spoke power- 
fully in the panic following Hull Run, for the 
Crittenden resolution, declaring that the war 
was waged only to preserve the Union, the su- 
premacy of the constitution, and the dig- 
nity, equality and rights of all the states, and 
as soon as these objects were accomplished 
the "war ought to cease." 

But while he was of the conservative ele- 
ment of the party, repressing the extreme 
measures to which the times naturally tended, 
he was resolute and uncompromising in his 
stand for the Union. The great act of July 
13, 1 86 1, which invested the President with 
new powers and gave the war its first con- 
gressional sanction, was drawn by him, and 
in the words of Charles Sumner, who was so 
often in conflict with him, it was "a land- 
mark in our history, and might properly be 
known by the name of its author as Col- 
lamer's Statute." He offered the resolution 
in the amended form it finally took regard- 
ing the reclaiming and surrender of fugitive 
slaves, forbidding any army or naval officer 
under severe penalties from assuming to take 
any action whatever on the subject. 

He opposed in 1862 Sumner's amendment 
to an appropriation bill prohibiting the do- 
mestic sla\e trade, on the ground that any 
law which should undertake in anv wav 
to recognize negroes as merchandise in- 
stead of "persons," as described in the 
constitution, was " totally unauthorized and 
unconstitutional." He offered the bill of 
1S64, to treat all negroes who had enlisted 
on the same footing as other troops. But 
he opposed, as did several of the most radi- 
cal anti-slavery men, the prohibition of 
slavery in West Virginia when it was cre- 
ated into a state and admitted to the Union. 
He stood out against the bulk of his party 
in denying the right of Congress to tax the 
state banks out of existence. He opposed 
also the Legal Tender Act, making an ex- 
haustive argument against it as unconstitu- 
tional. He would not admit the " necessity " 
or the morality of the greenback issue. He 
was not willing that the government should 
be like the man who says, " Here is my note, 
if I do not pay it you must steal the amount 



from the first man you come to and give 
him this note in payment." 

As the war closed and the era of recon- 
struction came on, Mr. Collamer found him- 
self more nearly in line with the more 
radical section of his party. He denied the 
right of the insurgent states to participate in 
any presidential election until Congress had 
declared that the insurrection was ended. 
He demanded of the South in the last 
speech he made, " some security for future 
peace." His argument for the requirement 
of the " ironclad oath " is declared by Henry 
Wilson to have been " among the most 
lucid and logical presentation, of the reasons 
for extra-judicial and extra-constitutional 
legislation." He took the ground fully that 
Congress could and should control in the 
matter of reconstruction. But disease and 
death cut short his service before the 
struggle over this subject had reached its 
great historic intensity. He died at his 
home in Woodstock, Nov. 9, 1865. 

The judgment of his cotemporaries was 
one of profound admiration for his character 
and abilities. Senator Morrill, in presenting 
to Congress the statue in behalf of the state, 
declared him to be its "foremost citizen in 
ability, moral excellence, and national dis- 
tinction." Mr. Blaine in "Twenty Years of 
Congress" sums Collamer up as "an able, 
wise, just and firm man, stern in principle, 
conservative in action," and again, "to de- 
scribe him in a single word, he w-as a w'ise 
man." "Conservative in his nature, he was 
sure to advise against rashness. Sturdy in 
his principles, he always counseled firmness. 
In the periods of excitement through which 
the party was about to pass, his judgment 
was sure to prove of highest value — influ- 
enced, as it always was, by patriotism, and 
guided by conscience. Without power as 
an orator, he was listened to in the Senate 
with profound attention, as one who never 
offered counsel that was not needed. He 
carried into the Senate the gravity, the dig- 
nity, the weight of character, which enabled 
him to control more ardent natures, and he 
brought to a later generation the wisdom 
and experience acquired in a long life de- 
voted to the service of his state and of his 
country." 

Of his personality the best picture was 
that drawn at a single touch by Representa- 
tive \\'oodbridge, in presenting resolutions 
upon his death. " Vou all recollect the 
sweetness of his face. He seemed, as Sidney 
Smith said of Horner, to have the ten com- 
mandments w-ritten there." He was a man 
who was loved by children, by neighbors, by 
all who knew^ him. He was a member of 
the Congregational church for the last twenty 
years of his life, and he delivered a course of 
lectures, as reverent as thev were learned, on 



124 



^**- »•{• 



" The Authenticity of the Scriptures." He 
was for some time professor of medical juris- 
prudence in the \'ermont Medical College, 
at Woodstock, where he ga\e short but 
instructive courses of lectures. The Uni- 
versity of Vermont conferred the degree of 
LL. D. on him in 1S49, and Dartmouth in 
i860. 

Mr. Collamer wedded, July 15, 1S17, 
Mary N., daughter of Abijah Stone, and 
seven children were the fruit of this union : 
Harriet (Mrs. P^liakim Johnson), Mary (Mrs. 
Horace Hunt, of New York City), Edward, 
now in Ohio ; Kllen (Mrs. Thomas G. Rice, 
of Cambridge, Mass.), and Frances, who 
resides at the old family mansion at Wood- 
stock. William Collamer died in iSy,-?, being 
a man of unusually brilliant i^arts. 

POLAND, Luke P.— Chief Justice of the 
state Supreme 
r - Court, both sen- 

I ■ ator and repre- 

s e n t a t i V e in 
Congress, and a 
man of extraor- 
(linarily large 
brain power, 
though without 
the qualities of 
popular success 
in politics, was 
born at West- 
ford, Nov. I , 
1S15, the son 
of Luther and 
Nancy ( Potter) 
Poland. The father and grandfather were 
carpenters and joiners by trade and farmers 
as well, and the father was Waterville's first 
representative in the Legislature after it was 
organized as a town. But the family was in 
comparatively humble circumstances and 
Luke's educational advantages were limited 
to a few weeks each year in the public 
school, until he was twelve years old, and a 
bare five months in the academy at Jericho, 
when he was seventeen. The balance of 
his youth was passed as clerk in a country 
store at Waterville, and in work upon the 
paternal farm and in the saw-mill. But he 
was an eager student and gathered such 
knowledge from reading and contact with 
life that his father approved of his desire to 
study law, and he set out on foot with a 
capital consisting of just one change of 
underclothing, for the neighboring village of 
Morristown, and teaching school that win- 
ter, began the study the following spring in 
the office of Samuel A. Willard. 

He was admitted to the bar in 1836 and 
by the force of his native ability rose so 
rapidly in the ranks of his profession that 
twelve years later, in 1848, he was elected 




one of the judges of the Supreme Court over 
a Whig competitor and by a Whig Legisla- 
ture, though he had himself always been a 
Democrat until that year when he was can- 
didate for Lieutenant-Governor on the Free 
Soil ticket. He had before been register of 
probate for I>amoille county in i839-'4o;a 
member of the state constitional conven- 
tion in 1843; states attorney for Lamoille 
county in 1844 and '45. His judicial 
duties kept him out of active politics for 
the next twenty years, though he was still 
a Democrat of Free Soil sympathies until 
after the formation of the Republican 
party when he joined that. In i860 he was 
chosen chief justice of the Supreme Court 
and held the position until his election as 
senator. .Some important questions went 
into the crucible of his thought and decision 
during these years, among them the power 
of eminent domain or the right to take pri- 
vate property for public uses and the proper 
extent and limitation of that power ; the 
adoption of the common law of Kngland by 
the United States : the subject of easements ; 
the constitutionality of retroactive statutes ; 
the acquirement of title by adverse posses- 
sion : to what extent promises to pay the 
debt of another are governed by the statute 
of frauds. His opinion upon the extent of 
the constitutional power of the state to au- 
thorize its soldiers in camp to vote was re- 
garded as a settlement of that \exed ques- 
tion, and was followed by several states. 

Judge James Barrett says of him : "In 
thirty years conversancy with the bench and 
bar of Vermont, it has not been my fortune 
to know any other instance in which the 
presiding judge in his nisi prius circuit has 
been so uniformly, and by the spontaneous 
acquiesence of the bar, so emphatically 'the 
end of the law' in all things appertaining to 
the business of these courts. As judge of 
the Supreme Court sitting in banc his adapt- 
edness to the place was equally 'manifest. 
His mastery of the principles of the law, his 
discriminating apprehension of the principles 
involved in the specific case in hand, his 
facility in developing, by logical processes 
and practical illustrations, the proper ap- 
plications and results of these principles are 
^ery strikingly evinced in the judicial opin- 
ions drawn up by him, contained in the Ver- 
mont reports. His memory of cases in 
which particular points ha^•e been decided 
was extraordinary, and this memory was ac- 
companied by a very full and accurate appre- 
hension of the very points and grounds and 
reasons of the judgment. Some of the 
cases in which he drew the opinion of the 
court stand forth as leading cases, and his 
treatment of the subjects involved ranks with 
the best specimens of judicial disquisition." 



I'pon the death of Senator Collamer, 
having some years before moved to the east 
side of the mountain and made St. Johns- 
bury his home, he was chosen by the Legis- 
lature to fill out the unexpired term of a 
little over a year, and in 1866 was elected 
representative to the lower house of Con- 
gress and Morrill transferred to the Senate. 
While in the Senate he was placed on the 
judiciary committee and piloted the bank- 
ruptcy bill, of which he was given charge, 
to enactment. While in the Senate also he 
inaugurated the greatest work of his con- 
gressional career, the revision and consoli- 
dation of the statutes of the United States. 
The plan, a singularly clear and comprehen- 
sive one, was his, and passed substantially in 
the shape he reported it, the direction of all 
subsequent proceedings in the following 
seven years was by him, as chairman of the 
house committee ; the ultimate decision of 
what was and was not law, the sifting out of 
statutes that over-lapped one another, or 
were repealed because of incompatibility or 
inconsistency ; the construing of difficult or 
conflicting phrases, the rearrangement of the 
statutes by subject and in all the detail and 
diversity of chapters and sections, were all 
guided ultimately by him. This codification 
was a work largely judicial in character, and 
as Hon. Lorin Blodgett said in an address 
before the Social Science .Association at 
Philadelphia, in 1S75, entitled to " a rank 
quite distinct from if not higher than any 
previous work of the kind known to history." 
Both the House and Senate accepted the 
work as it came from his hands and it be- 
came law June 3, 1874. 

judge Poland filled several other important 
posts during his House service. He was 
chairman of the committee to investigate the 
Ku Klu.x outrages, which took e\idence fill- 
ing thirteen large volumes, and whose report 
had much to do with breaking up that organ- 
ization. He took a prominent part in the 
discussion of the vexed question of the 
Geneva award, advocating the right of the 
insurance companies to receive the money 
awarded for vessels and cargoes destroyed 
by the rebel cruisers where the owners had 
received their insurance. He was chairman 
of the Credit Mobilier investigating com- 
mittee, and drew the report which, though 
unanimous on the part of the committee, and 
relegating several prominent men to pri\ate 
life, was regarded as somewhat of a com- 
promise on the merits of the case. In the 
winter of i874-'75, after he had been de- 
feated for re-election, he was chairman of 
the special committee appointed to in\esti- 
gate the troubles in .Arkansas, and his report 
was in direct antagonism to the views of 
President Grant and the party leaders, and 
strong in its condemnation of the policy of 



military interference with state elections and 
state governments. It was a \igorous dis- 
play of independence, such as he had not 
often been accustomed to in the heat of the 
politics of the previous few years, but natural 
ot his judicial mind. There had been a 
marked incident of a similar kind while he 
was in the Senate when he \oted in oi)])osi- 
tion to the bulk of his party in favor of 
Senator Stockton in the contested election 
case from New Jersey. 

It was in the Congress of i8-3-'75, while 
leading in the Credit Mobilier investigation, 
and as his great work in the revision of the 
laws was Hearing its end, that Judge Poland 
seemed to be on the crest of the wa\e of 
advancement. There were even suggestions 
of him for the Presidential nomination in 
the next campaign. But the prospects were 
all dashed at one blow, by the passage of the 
"salary grab" bill, so called, increasing the 
salaries of members to 87,500 a year and 
dating it back to the beginning of that Con- 
gress. Judge Poland voted against the bill, 
but he would not yield to the storm of pop- 
ular fury which arose. U'hile other members 
hastened to convert their extra salary back 
into the treasury, or give it to their states or 
benevolent objects, he felt only contempt for 
their terror. "Here," he said, slapping his 
trousers pocket, when asked as to the dispo- 
sition of his extra pay, "here it is and here 
it is going to stay." He had had a sharp 
fight against the brilliant Judge B. H. Steele 
to secure his renomination in 1872, and 
antagonisms and claims of broken trades 
arose on every side to confront him. 

There had always been weaknesses in him 
as a politician. His brainy quality could not 
be denied, and personally there was a spark- 
ling wit and genial humor that won some 
men to him, while it seemed to repel others ; 
there were accusations of greed in money 
matters, of too much grasping of honors for 
himself and of too great fondness for whiskey, 
all of which had some basis of truth, though 
greatly exaggerated and entitled to weigh but 
little in the balance against his extraordinary 
intellectual equipment. But in the peculiar 
conditions of that year, the political revulsion 
that extended through the land, they were 
sufficient to defeat him for re-election in one 
of the strongest Republican districts of the 
country. 

He was, however, chairman of the state's 
delegation to the Republican national con- 
vention of 1876, and was still suggested in 
some quarters as a vice-presidential candi- 
date : but he himself presented Wheeler's 
name to the convention and was largely in- 
strumental in securing the nomination for that 
gendeman. In 1878 St. Johnsbury sent 
him to the state Legislature, where, of 
course, he took a leading position. In 



126 



i882, he made something of a contest against 
Senator Morrill for the latter's seat in the 
Senate, but unsuccessfully of course. But 
a "surprise party" in the convention of the 
new second district of that year secured him 
the nomination for the House away from 
General Grout. But he ser\ed only one term 
and despite his great and recognized ability, 
and long experience, without especial dis- 
tinction ; he seemed to be out of the current, 
all the more because it was evident that he 
would not secure a re-election. 

He was married on the 12th of Janua- 
ry, 1838, to Martha Smith, daughter of Dr. 
■William Page of Waterville. By this mar- 
riage he had three children. ' Of these 



Martin L., the eldest, was educated at West 
Point Military Academy, and afterward 
served as captain of the ordnance corps; 
he died at Fort Yuma in August, 1878; 
Mary died in August, 1865 ; and Isabel is 
now the wife of A. E. Rankin of St. Johns- 
bury. Mrs. Poland died in .^pril, 1853. 
In 1S54 Judge Poland married .Adelia H. 
Page, sister of his deceased wife. 

He received the degree of LL. D. from the 
University of Vermont in 1S61, was a trus- 
tee of the institution, 1878, and founded 
the Westford scholarship there in honor of 
his native town. 

Judge Poland died July 2, 18S7. 



REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 



The following is a complete list of the Representatives in Congress for Vermont. Hio- 
graphical sketches of the entire list are given on the following pages, with exceptions noted. 



Nathaniel Niles, 


1791-95 


Orsamus C. Merrill, 




1817-19 


^Solomon Foot. 


1843-47 


•Israel Smith, 


179J-97 


Charles Rich, 




i8i7-=s 


tPaul Dillingham, 


1843-47 


Daniel Buck, 


"795-99 


Henry Olin, 




1824-25 


§Jacob Collamer. 


1843-49 


Matthew Lyon, 


1797-1801 


Mark Richards, 




1817-21 


William Henry, 


1847-5- 


1 cwi» !!. Moms, 


1797-1803 


William Strong, 




1819-21 


Lucius B. Peck, 


1847-51 


•l-,%u-l >„nlh. 


1801-03 


Ezra Meech, 




1819-21 


William Hebard, 


1849-53 


Willi. ,m Chamberlain. 


1803-05 


Rollin C. Mallory, 




1819-31 


James Meacham, 


1849-56 


' M.irtm i-'hitlenden, 


1803-13 


Elias Kcyes, 




1821-23 


Ahiinan L. Miner, 


1851-53 


lame, Elliot, 


1803-09 


tjohn Mattocks, 




1821-23 


Thomas Bartleti, Jnn.. 


1851-53 


C.kk.m Olin, 


1803-07 


Phineas White, 




1821-23 


Andrew Tracey. 


1853-55 


vMamcsFisk, 


1805-og 


William C. Bradley, 




1823-27 


Alvah Sabin, 


1853-57 


'"lanie. Witherell. 


1807-08 


D. Azro A. Buck, 




1823-29 


JJustin S. Morrill, 


1855-67 


Samuel Shaw, 


1808-13 


Ezra Meech, 




1825-27 


George 1. Hodges, 


1856-57 


William Chamberlain. 


1809-11 


tJohn Mattocks, 




1825-27 


Eliaklm P. Walton, 


1857-63 


Jonathan H. Hubbard, 


180^-11 


George E. Wales, 




1825-29 


Homer E. Royce, 


1857-61 


SJ.an.es Fisk, 


1811-IS 


Heman Allen of Milt 


Dn, 


1827-29 


Portus Ba.vter, 


1861-67 


\\ illi nil Strong, 


1811-15 


§ Benjamin Swift. 




1827-31 


Frederick E. Woodbridge, 


1863-69 


W illi nil C. Bradley, 


1813-15 


Jonathan Hunt, 




1827-32 


Worthington C. Smith, 


1867-73 


•1 1,1 Iniilcr, 


1813-15 


William Cahoon, 




1827-33 


§Liike P. Poland, 


1867-75 


■Ki. h ir.l Skinner, 


1813-15 


Horace Everett, 




1K29-43 


Charles W. Willard, 


1869-75 


Charles Rich, 


1813-15 


tWilliam Slade, 




i8)i-43 


JGcorge W. Hendee, 


■873-79 


Daniel Chipman, 


1815-17 


Heman Allen of Milton, 


1832-39 


Dudley C. Denison, 


1875-79 


Luther Jewett, 


1815-.7 


tHil.and Hall. 




1833-43 


tCharles H. Joyce, 


.875-83 


Chauncey Langdon, 


1815-17 


Benjamin F. Deming 




1833-35 ■ 


Bradley Barlow, 


1879-81 


Asa Lyon, 


1815-17 


Henry F. Janes, 




1835-37 


tjames U. Tyler, 


1879-S3 


Charles Marsh, 


1815-17 


Isaac Fletcher, 




1837-41 


tWilliam W'. Grout, 


1881-83 


John Noyes, 


1815-17 


John Smith. 




1839-41 


IjLuke P. Poland, 


1885-85 


Heman .nllen of Colchester, 1817-18 


Augustus Young, 




1841-43 


ijohn W. Stewart, 


1883-92 


tSamuel C. Crafts, 


1817-25 


tJohn Mattocks, 




1841-43 


nVilliam W. Grout, 


1885- 


William Hunter, 


1817-19 


George P. Marsh, 




1843-49 


JH. Henry Powers, 


1892- 


* Biographical sketch v 


fill be found amo 


ng " The Fathers." 


§ Biographical sketch will be found among " The Se 


nators." 


t Biographical sketch v 


fill ht found amo 


ng *' The Governors." 


X Biographical sketch will be found in Part IL 





NILHS, Nathanie L.— Legi-slator, 
speaker, councilor, congressman, lawyer, 
judge, physician, preacher, inventor, and with- 
al something of a poet, was, perhaps, the man 
of the most varied attainments of any of the 
fathers. He was one of the first settlers of 
Fairlee, and having been a legislative leader 
during the state's career as an independent 
republic, was, with Israel Smith, its first 
representative in the Federal Congress. 

He was born at South Kingston, R. I., 
.April 3, 1 74 1, the grandson of Samuel Xiles, 
the famous author and minister at Braintree, 
Mass. He commenced his collegiate course 
at Harvard, and, ill-health compelling him to 
suspend his studies for a time, graduated at 
Princeton. He studied theology under Rev. 
Dr. Bellamy, early exhibiting his tendency 
toward independent thought and inquiry 
along unusual lines. He was also in these 
young days a student of law and medicine, 
taught school awhile in New York City, 
preached for a time at Norwich and Torring- 
ton, Conn., and showed his versatility of 
mind with mechanical experiments. He was 
the inventor of the process of making wire 
from bar iron by water power, and he erected 
at Norwich, Conn., where he early took up 
his residence, a woolen card manufactory. 
He was an ardent patriot in the Revolution 
and, though there is no record preser\ed of 



military service on his part, he was the au- 
thor of an ode entitled " The American 
Hero," written just after the battle of Bunker 
Hill and published in the Connecticut Ga- 
zette in February, 1776, which was immedi- 
ately set to music by Rev. Dr. Sylvanus Rip- 
ley, father of Gen. E. W. Ripley, and was 
almost universally sung in the churches of 
the eastern states, and is said to have be- 
come the war song of the New England 
soldiers. Its concluding stanza read : 

Life for my country and the cause of freedom 
Isbul a trifle for a man to part with: 
.\nd if preserved in so great a contest. 
Life is redoubled. 

He came to West Fairlee with a number 
of Connecticut associates just after the Rev- 
olution, settled near the center of the town 
and purchased a large tract of land. Here 
he preached every Sunday in his own house 
for twelve years, and became a strong relig- 
ious and moral force in the community. He 
w-as elected to the Legislature in 1784 and 
was immediately chosen speaker. .\s a pre- 
siding officer he won the same success as 
everyw-here in life, being masterful in parlia- 
mentary law, fair in rulings, and efticient and 
expeditious in the transaction of business. 
In 17S4 he was also elected with Moses Rob- 
inson and Ira Allen an agent to Congress to 
"transact and negotiate the business of this 
state with that body." In the break-up of 



128 NILES. 

I ySQjwhen Governor Chittenden failed for one 
year of re-election, Mr. Niles got a few of the 
scattering votes for Governor. The same year 
also he was elected one of the judges of the 
Supreme Court, and held the position until 
1 788. In 1785 and 1787 he was also a mem- 
ber of the council, and served in the Consti- 
tutional Convention of i79i,and took the 
lead with Chipman in securing the ratifica- 
tion of the Federal Constitution. 

Upon the admission of the state to the 
Union he was elected to Congress, serving 
two terms from 1791 to 1795. But the close 
of his service in Congress did not mean his 
retirement from public life. He again rep- 
resented Fairlee in the Legislatures of iSoo- 
'oi-'o2, and in iSi2-''i3-'i4, was again a 
member of the council of censors in 1799, 
and was again returned to the Governor's 
Council in 1803, and served five years until 
1808, while he also took a prominent part in 
the Constitutional Convention of 1814. 

In politics Mr. Niles, like that other great 
Baptist preacher-politician of the state, Ezra 
Butler, was a thorough-going Jeffersonian 
Republican, all the more influential because 
their views were in such marked contrast to 
the generality of ministers in New England. 
For a period of nearly twenty years Mr. 
Niles was perhaps the most steadfast and 
most popular champion of Democratic views 
in Vermont. His first election to Congress 
was before party lines had been definitely 
formed in either the state or nation, and his 
retirement became inevitable as the Federal- 
ists got control of the state, and party pas- 
sion was running to a high degree of virulence. 
It is worthy of note that all four of the state's 
first congressmen, Senators Robinson and 
Bradley, and Representatives Niles and 
Israel Smith, afterwards took the Jeffersonian 
side of pohtics. Naturally, coming from the 
healthy mountain atmosphere of freedom, 
they were shocked even as Jefferson was, at 
the growth of aristocratic ideas and mon- 
archical leanings which increasingly charac- 
terized the career of the Federalist party, and 
ruined its usefulness so quickly after it had 
achieved its great work of consolidating the 
Union. His political feeling once led him 
to what approached rather near sharp prac- 
tice for a man of the cloth. It was in 1813, 
when the people of Vermont had failed to 
elect a Governor by popular vote and when 
the issue in the Legislature hung so long 
doubtful. Three of the Federalist councilors 
had failed to arrive at the opening of the 
Legislature, and Niles and Henry Olin on 
October 16, moved to proceed at once to 
the election and fought hard to bring it 
about in joint committee. Probably if they 
had succeeded Governor Galusha would have 
been re-elected, but they were beaten by a 
vote of 108 to 102. 



Niles was consistent with the spirit and 
hope of his party in those days, in being a 
resolute antagonist of slavery. He led in 
formulating the demand of the state in 1S05 
for a constitutional amendment to forever 
prohibit the importation of slaves, or people 
of color into the country. 

His name appears all through the records 
of the "Ciovernor and Council" alike during 
his service on the floor of the .\ssembly and 
in the Council, as among the busiest of legis- 
lators, alike with topics of mere local inter- 
est and those of large importance. He was 
prominent in 1801 in advocacy of the 
amendment to the Federal constitution for 
the election by districts of presidential elec- 
tors and representatives in Congress, which 
passed the Vermont legistature by a vote of 
nearly three to one, but failed of assent by 
the requisite number of states. He and 
Olin made sharp issue with Gov. Martin 
Chittenden's address of 1S14, expressing 
the extreme Federalist antipathy to the war 
of 181 2, and declaring it "unnecessary, un- 
wise and hopeless in all its offensive oper- 
ations." After fighting the answer of the 
legislative committee echoing this sentiment, 
they with eighty other 1 )emocratic members 
entered their solemn protest against it on 
the records of the House. It was a time 
that stirred men deeply. 

That Niles was not ordinarily indisposed 
to the amenities of official intercourse was 
shown in 1800, when he was chairman of 
the committee to draft a response to Gover- 
nor Tichenor's address, and though they 
were on opposite sides in politics and it was 
the year of a presidential campaign, the re- 
port responding to the sentiments of the 
Governor was such as was agreed to by the 
Assembly without a division. He was also 
chairman of a committee to respond to 
Governor Galusha's patriotic address in 
1 81 2, and being in full sympathy with the 
Governor did it in a style that was called 
" eminently partisan." He is on record 
with -Asaph Fletcher and Samuel Shepardson 
in 1804, as "entering a solemn protest" 
against some of the lottery legislation of that 
year, not so much against the principle of 
the thing itself as the extraordinary immuni- 
ties granted the sellers of the tickets. He 
was chairman of the committee in 1814, that 
reported against the constitutional amend- 
ment proposed by Tennessee and Pennsyl- 
vania to reduce the term of senators from 
six years to four, and he was chairman on 
the part of the House of the joint committee 
to consider the invitation of Massachusetts 
to send delegates to the Hartford conven- 
tion, and which to the lasting credit of Ver- 
mont, by a unanimous vote of the six Fed- 
eralists and three Republicans, reported 



I 



at;ainst having anything to do with this 
traitorous scheme. 

He was a strenuous opponent of the bank 
bill schemes proposed so thickly in the early 
years of the century, though he did, finally, 
in 1806, assent to the compromise for the 
establishment of the Vermont State Bank. 
Some of the arguments of his reports read 
interestingly now. "Banking operations," he 
wrote, are "a vicious substitute for that in- 
dustry and economy, which constitute the 
best portion of our means of livelihood." 
" Credit is not less lial)le than money to be 
misimproved, and while the misimprovement 
of money merely diminishes property, that of 
credit creates debt and when it is employed 
to discharge one debt by incurring another, 
nothing can commonly be gained. Sudden 
changes in the quantity of circulating me- 
dium are not less fatal to prosperity than all 
such changes in the atmosphere to the com- 
fort and health of mankind. They operate 
powerfully, to shift property from hand to 
hand without at all augmenting the general 
wealth of a country ; banking establishments, 
to say the least,'possess in a very high degree, 
the very dangerous power of producing such 
changes, in the circulation of the pecuniary 
medium of commerce." The " tendency " of 
bank bills would be to " palsy the vigor of in- 
dustry and to stupefy the vigilance of econ- 
omy." Among the many other measures of 
permanent interest with which he was iden- 
tified was that of 1803 defining the power of 
justices of the peace. 

With his work in the Legislature, and the 
constitutional convention of 18 14, Judge 
Niles, at the age of nearly seventy-four, re- 
tired from his thirty years of almost con- 
tinuous public service, and passed the rest 
of his days until his death, in November, 
1828, at the age of eighty-eight, at his com- 
fortable home in West Fairlee, and being 
until the end among the most revered of 
our ])ublic characters. A massive granite 
monument, typical of his character, stands 
over his grave in the center of the town. 

Judge Niles was twice married, first to 
a daughter of Rev. Dr. Joseph Lathrop of 
West Springfield, Mass., and second to 
Elizabeth, daughter of William Watson of 
Plymouth, Mass., a lady of the highest ac- 
complishments and the intimate friend and 
correspondent of the most eminent philoso- 
phers and theologians of the period. He 
left two sons of considerable intellectual at- 
tainments ; one of them, also named Nath- 
aniel, became United States consul at 
Sardinia, acting plenipotentiary to Austria, 
and secretary of legation at the court of St. 
James under General Cass. 

Judge Niles was quite a voluminous writer 
and a large number of his sermons, addresses 



HUCK. 1 29 

on one occasion or another, essays and 
poems were published. 

BUCK, Daniel.— One of the state's re- 
presentatives to Congress and speaker of the 
Assembly just after the admission to the 
Union, was one of the earliest settlers of the 
state, a lawyer by profession. He repre- 
sented Norwich for several years, was active 
and prominent in legislation always, and held 
the speaker's chair in 1795-6. He was also 
in the Legislature again in 1806. He was 
in 1792 counsel for Ira Allen in the long 
and bitter fight in the Legislature over the 
latter's accounts, one phase of which re- 
sulted in a political revolution, and ousted 
( 'rovernor Chittenden from office for one 
term. He was a member of the convention 
at Bennington that adopted the act of union, 
but took the lead in opposing that action 
and urging Vermont to continue an inde- 
pendent little republic by herself. He made 
the motion in 1 794, though then speaker, 
by which it was decided after long debate 
not to make provision to pay the debts of 
those Tories whose property had been con- 
fiscated by the state. He took a leading 
part in the passage of the act of 1806, em- 
powering judges of the Supreme Court of 
judicature to grant divorces. He was one 
of the committee in 1805 that drafted the 
resolution to concur in the proposal of Ken- 
tucky to amend the constitution so as to 
limit the jurisdiction of United States 
courts by excluding caiises between citizens 
of different states. He was also active in 
the Legislature of 1806 for the establish- 
ment of a state bank. He appears to have 
served the state as attorney-general in 1794, 
as the records of the (lovernor and council 
show an act in October, '95, directing pay- 
ment for the last year. 

His service in Congress from 1795 to '99 
was in no way noteworthy, except that as 
parties formed he became an ardent Feder- 
alist, while his colleague Matthew Lyon was 
a red-hot Democrat. 

Soon after his last term in the Legislature 
expired he was committed to jail at Chelsea 
for debt, and obtaining the liberties of the 
prison took up his residence there and kept 
up the practice of his profession until his 
death in 181 7. 

BrcK, D. .^ZRO A., son of the former, also 
speaker and representative in Congress, was 
born at Norwich in 1789, and was a young 
man when his father moved to Chelsea. He 
graduated from Middlebury in 1807, and also 
from West Point in 1808, when he entered 
the army, being appointed second lieutenant 
of engineers ; but he resigned his commis- 
sion in 1811. The state offered him a com- 
mission as major in a volunteer corps ordered 
by the Legislature. The next year, Aynil 13, 



I30 



he became a captain in the 21st Regt. in the 
U. S. Army, which was made up of Ver- 
monters, and served creditably through the 
war, but finally abandoned the military pro- 
fession in 18 1 5, and at the age of twenty- 
six established himself as a lawyer at Chel- 
sea, and though not profoundly learned 
reached a reasonable success. His easy and 
courteous address, with the demeanor of the 
real old-fashioned gentleman, made him quite 
effective as an ad\ocate and won rapid polit- 
ical promotion. He was for six years state's 
attorney for Washington county, and was 
Chelsea's representative in the Legislature 
fourteen years, and was speaker in i820-'23, 
i825-'2 7, and i829-'3o, a length of service 
equaled only by (lideon Olin and James L. 
Martin in the w-hole history of the state. 
He was with William Strong and Stephen 
Royce a member of the committee in 1S16 
that drafted the report in favor of electing 
congressmen and presidential electors by 
districts, as proposed by the constitutional 
amendment that had been sent up by the 
Kentucky I^egislature. He was one of the 
presidential electors in 1820 that cast the 
vote of the state for Monroe. He was twice 
elected to Congress, in 1822 and 1826. In 
1836 he moved to Washington, where he 
was connected with the Indian Bureau of the 
War Department, and he died there Dec. 24, 
1841. 

LYON, Matthew.— Elected to Congress 
from three states, the peppery, red-headed 
little Irishman, whose ups and downs in life 
with his big ideas and his untiring enterprise, 
made a career that can but kindle the admira- 
tion of the reader even as it did of some of 
his cotemporaries, while it stirred the pro- 
found animosity of others. He came to this 
country a poor boy, indentured for his pas- 
sage money, and touched, before he got 
through, most of the extremes of human 
experience. His apprenticeship indenture 
was transferred a few months after he reached 
here for a yoke of steers and his favorite oath 
in after years was " By the bulls that bought 
me." 

He was born in Wicklow, Ireland, about 
1 746 ; his parents were poor and his father 
died when he was a boy. He attended 
school at Dublin where he got an English 
education and a respectable smattering of 
Latin. He was then apprenticed to a printer 
and bookbinder, where he got a taste for 
the " art preser\ative " that followed him 
through life ; but at the age of thirteen a sea 
captain, with glowing tales of .America, in- 
duced him to run away and come here, even 
though it meant several years slavery to pay 
his passage. Lyon in after years would be- 
come sentimental instead of combative for a 
few moments whenever he recurred to this 



experience and his last visit to his mother's 
chamber to kiss her good-bye while she 
slept. On the sea voyage he was very sick 
and tenderly ministered to by some aban- 
doned women on board who also suppHed 
his necessities for new clothing, most of his 
old having been rendered unfit for use by 
his illness. This was one of the extremes of 
life which he touched, and perhaps it helped 
to give him the broad human sympathy that 
always accompanied his resolute aggressive- 
ness. He ne\er told, or if he did it is not 
remembered, of his first fifteen years in this 
country, the working out of his indenture 
and his struggles for a livelihood. 

But he was in Vermont in 1776, for he 
then held a lieutenant's commission under 
Captain Fassett and was stationed at Jericho 
w'ith a squad of men to hold a post of obser- 
vation there. The men refused to serve be- 
cause of the unsupported position, and 
cleared out, leaving Lieutenant Lyon to 
report the facts. It was strongly surmised 
that the officers were as willing as the men 
to get away from the post and Lyon and the 
others were court martialed and cashiered 
for cowardice. The story, which his political 
enemies were careful to keep alive all 
through his career was that he was presented 
with a wooden sword, and made to ride 
about the camp, and he was called in derision 
the " Knight of the wooden sword." But 
Ceneral Schuyler reinstated him, and in July, 
1777, appointed him paymaster of the North- 
ern army. 

Before the end of that year and after the 
battle of Bennington, we find him in .Arling- 
ton and a laborer on the farm of Governor 
Chittenden, with whom he had apparently 
come to take possession of the confiscated 
estates of the Tories and who made him also 
deputy secretary for the Governor, and clerk 
of the court of confiscation until 1780. He 
got himself into one of his scrapes in later 
years and suffered some opprobrium, because 
he refused to give up the records of this 
court. 

He married the widow lieulah Galusha, 
daughter of the (Governor, an intelligent, 
warm-hearted and benevolent, though rather 
coarse woman, and was soon a rising man. 
He had before wedded a woman by the name 
of Hosford, who died after bearing him four 
children. 

He became a captain and colonel of the 
militia and served the state in its contests 
with New York. 

He represented .Arlington in the Legisla- 
ture in i779-'82, serving on important com- 
mittees. He was one of the original gran- 
tees of Fair Haven under the new state's 
authority and "moved there in 1783, having 
already established a saw and grist mill there. 
He erected an iron mill in 1785 and a 



paper mill soon after. He manufactured 
paper from bass wood, and with some suc- 
'cess, long years before it was thought of any- 
where else, and in his iron mill he turned 
out hoes, axes and various agricultural im- 
plements, but the business was mainly the 
making of iron, from the ore imported from 
abroad, into nail rods which were then man- 
ufactured into nails by hand. During the 
time of his prosperity he employed a large 
number of hands. He drew distinctions of 
honor between his business and his public 
relations that could well be emulated in these 
days of subsidy and special privileges. Once 
he endeavored to get a legislative act giving 
him the exclusive right of slitting iron in the 
state and he counted every member from 
Bennington county as a supporter of the 
bill because a political friend. But after 
hearing the arguments on both sides he 
refused to support the measure himself and 
when his name was reached in the roll call 
he asked to be excused, because his con- 
science would not permit him to so use the 
trust of the people for his private benefit. 
He was for years the king-bee of Fair Haven, 
was selectman in 1788, 1790, and 1791, the 
town's representative in the General Assembly 
ten years continuously from 1783 to 1796, 
except 1785, 1786 and 1789, and he gave 
most of his time to town affairs till the ad- 
mission of the state to the Union. He was 
•a man of multifarious activities. Besides all 
his other business enterprises he started in 
1 793 a newspaper called " The Farmers 
Library " and later through his son James, 
a political sheet, the " Fair Haven Gazette." 

In I 786 he was assistant judge of the county 
court. He plunged into politics as soon as 
the state was admitted to the Union, 
became a red-hot Democratic leader, and 
immediately a candidate for Congress. He 
contested the election with Israel Smith and 
Isaac I'ichenor in 1791, '93, '95. Party 
lines had not been very clearly formed then, 
but 'I'ichenor stood for the Federalist ten- 
dencies, and between Smith and Lyon who 
were in political sympathy, it was a matter 
of personal choice. Lyon announced his 
candidacy as that of the "commercial, 
agricultural and manufacturing interests in 
preference to any of the law characters." 
At the first election, in August, 1791, he had 
a plurality — 597 votes to 513 for Smith and 
473 for Tichenor ; but at the second trial 
Tichenor withdrew and Smith was elected by 
a majority of 391 over Lyon. The next 
election, in January, 1793, also required two 
trials, but Smith was elected. Lyon's re- 
markable strength among his neighbors was 
shown by the fact that in 1793 he got 355 of 
the 376 votes cast in Fair Haven. 

In 1795 he was elected in a close contest 
in which he and Smith were the onlv candi- 



dates, the vote being 1,804 to 1,783, and he 
took his seat in 1797, having grown steadily 
in the \iolence of his hatred of the Federal- 
ists. His first appearance in debate was in 
a long speech replying to the President's 
message. He and Andrew Jackson in the 
Senate had the distinction of being the two 
most rabid anti-Washington men in Con- 
gress. In January, i 798, he had a personal 
fray with Roger Griswold of Connecticutt 
that ruined his position in that body. In 
the course of a debate Griswold twitted him 
with the "wooden sword" story. Lyon spit 
in his face. Griswold started to give him a 
thrashing, but was prevented by his col- 
leagues. A motion of expulsion against both 
was lost by a less than two-thirds vote, though 
it had a majority. In an address to his con- 
stituents the February following justifying his 
conduct, Lyon said that if he had borne the 
insult he should have been "bandied about 
in all the newspapers on the continent, which 
are supported by British money and federal 
patronage, as a mean poltroon. The district 
which sent me would ha\e been scandalized." 

But perhaps the thing with which Lyon's 
name is most strikingly linked in history is 
his martyrdom to the alien and sedition law. 
At the October term of the United States 
court at Rutland in 1798 he was indicted 
for " scurrilous, scandalous, malicious, and 
defamatory language " about President 
Adams, written in June, fourteen days be- 
fore the passage of the law, but published in 
the \\'indsor Journal the last of July. The 
language, though Lyonesque decidedly, was 
no worse than has been used thousands of 
times in every political campaign without 
other effect than an amused pity that men 
will so lose their heads, and the prosecu- 
tion was an illustration of the dangerous 
and vicious tendency which Federalist 
ideas had taken after their great service 
in consolidating the Union. The article was 
about appointments and removals and the 
use of religion to make men hate each other 
— all legitimate though exaggerated argu- 
ment — and the offensive words about Presi- 
dent Adams were these : " Every considera- 
tion of public welfare swallowed up in a con- 
tinual grasp for power, unbounded thirst for 
ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation or selfish 
avarice." 

He was also accused of having " malic- 
iously" procured the publication of a letter 
from France which reflected somewhat 
severely on the government. Lyon pleaded his 
own case at the trial, but was convicted and 
sentenced to four months imprisonment and 
a S 1,000 fine. He was committed to jail at 
\'ergennes and treated with inexcusable hard- 
ship. But the prosecution only increased 
his ])opularity. While in the jail, he was 
re-elected to Congress bv fi\e hundred ma- 



jority. The sentence expired in February, 
1799, and he only saved himself from re- 
arrest by proclaiming that he was on the way 
to Philadelphia, as a member of Congress. 
His journey was one of triumph in a coach 
and four under the American flag and with a 
succession of fetes along the way, especially 
at Bennington. He was for the time being 
a party and popular hero. Another effort 
was made to expel him, but without success. 
In the prolonged contest over the presiden- 
tial election of iSoo, he became prominent 
by finally casting the vote of the state, which 
had been divided in the House, for Jefferson, 
and in after years when out of temper with 
that great leader, he said, " I made him, and 
can unmake him." This was of course an 
exaggeration, as Bayard, of Delaware, also 
cast the vote of that state for Jefferson, 
while Maryland voted blank, and Jefferson 
had nine of the sixteen states, without ^'er- 
mont. 

But his neglect of his extensive business 
while in jail and so immersed in politics, with 
the bitter antagonisms engendered by the 
prosecution, had ruined him financially and he 
determined to quit Vermont and start anew 
in life. So putting his affairs into liquida- 
tion, and settling his debts as best he could, 
on the expiration of his term in Congress he 
moved to Kentucky, established the first 
printing office in the state at what is now 
Eddyville, and again engaged in extensive 
business operations and was again elected to 
Congress in 1804, serving until 18 10. He 
again fell into business disaster, owing to his 
failure during the war of 1812, to deliver to 
the government in season some ships he had 
contracted to construct, and he again struck 
out to new fields, going to Arkansas, whence 
he was, in 1820, chosen the first delegate to 
Congress, but died at Little Rock, August i, 
before taking his seat. One of his sons, 
Chittenden Lyon, was also afterward a mem- 
ber of Congress. Another, Matthew, was a 
man of considerable business prominence in 
Kentucky, and a Jackson elector. General 
H. B. Lyon of Kentucky was also the latter's 
son. 

That this "ardent, combative, rough and 
ready Irishman" as Pliney H. White charac- 
terizes him, this "rough and wilful man" as 
A. N. Adams, the historian of Fair Haven, 
styles him, was a man of extraordinary 
qualities as his career sufficiently attests. 
Among the men with whom he came into 
friendly contact he was wonderfully popular. 
He was a forceful writer, an independent 
thinker, full of moral courage, and physical 
also, notwithstanding the episode of 1776. 
He dispensed a generous hospitality always. 
He was a business genius, and unsuccessful 
mainly because instead of looking out for 
himself alone he was always ambitious to 



build up prosperity around him. Perhaps 
the personal ugliness that so often appeared 
in him was due to the fact that like Ethan 
-Allen he was often a deep drinker. One of 
the traditions still preserved at .Arlington, 
where perhaps much of the old Tory feeling 
is handed down, is that of often seeing 
.Allen, Lyon and most of the old Vermont 
heroes staggering drunk through the streets 
in squads after their meetings of state. 

In 1S40, Congress refunded to Colonel 
Lyon's heirs the fine that he paid under the 
sedition law. 

MORRIS, LEWIS R.— Six years congress- 
man, prominent in the last days of Ver- 
mont's independence, and in the negotia- 
tions which resulted in her admission to the 
L'nion ; was a native of New York, where he 
was born, Nov. 2, 1760, of one of the most 
illustrious families of the colonial period. 
The family influence secured a grant of land 
for him in Springfield, which was settled 
under a charter from New York, and he 
came to the new state about 1786, and at 
once became prominent in business and 
political affairs of both the town and county. 
Though his land tides originated in New 
York authority, he came to the state after 
the controversy had practically ceased, and 
no distinction w^as made against him on this 
account. He was a member of the Benning- 
ton convention that voted to ratify the 
Federal constitution ; was influential in carry- 
ing the \ote, and was one of the com- 
missioners to Congress that completed the 
negotiation for admission to the Union in 
1791. 

He represented Springfield in the General 
.Assembly in i795-'96, i8o3-'o5-"o6-'o8. He 
was secretary of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion held in Windsor in 1793. From 1797 
to 1803 he was a member of the National 
House of Representatives, and though an 
ardent Federalist in politics, he assisted in 
ending the long contest over the presi- 
dential election of 1800, and to defeat the 
Federalist intrigue to supplant Jefferson with 
Burr, by absenting himself on the thirty- 
sixth ballot and allowing Lyon to cast the 
vote of the state for (efferson. He was 
subjected to much bitter criticism at the 
time, for this action ; but history has amply 
justified it with the revelations of after years 
about Burr's character. 

Many are the anecdotes told of General 
Morris, all going to show that he was kind 
and considerate to those in humble circum- 
stances with whom he had to deal. He was 
a complete gentleman ; the ease and grace 
of his manner under all circumstances made 
him a general favorite. Soon after settling 
in Springfield he married the daughter of 
Re^•. Buckley Olcott of Charleston, N. H. A 



CHAMBKRLAIN. 



iiS 



few years later his wife died, and he later 
married Ellen, daughter of (len. Arad Hunt 
of Vernon. He had children by both wives, 
but the descendants of the family have all 
left the state. 

The last years of (General Morris's life 
were devoted to rural pursuits on his farm 
on the banks of the Conncticut, where he 
died, Dec. 29, 1S25, surrounded by mem- 
bers of his family. 

CHAMBERL.AIN, WILLIAM.— A Revo- 
lutionary soldier, general of militia, councilor, 
judge, congressman and Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, was born at Hopkinton, Mass., in 
1753, and, when twenty years old, moved 
with his father to London, N. H. He en- 
listed promptly when the war for independ- 
ence opened, was in the Canada expedition 
as an orderly sergeant, and one of nine 
officers and privates out of a companv of 
seventy that survived to take part in the 
battle of Trenton, N. ). He soon after re- 
turned to his New Hampshire home, but 
volunteered again upon Burgoyne's invasion, 
and was in the battle of Bennington where 
he distinguished himself by his bravery, and 
brought away some trophies of personal com- 
bat with the enemy. He settled in Peacham 
about 1780, being clerk of the proprietors of 
the town, and was town clerk for twelve 
years ; justice of the peace twenty-four years ; 
town representative twelve years, 1785 and 
'87 to 1796, and in 1805 and 1808; chief 
judge of the Caledonia county court seven- 
teen years, 1787 to 1803, and in 1814, and 
councilor seven years, from 1796 to 1803. 

He was twice elected to Congress, first in 
1802 and again in 1808, serving only one 
term in each case. The Federalist victory 
of 1 81 3 elected him Lieutenant-Governor 
with Martin Chittenden, and they were re- 
elected in 1 8 14. He was an Adams presi- 
dential elector in 1800. He was for nearlv 
two decades one of the party leaders — facile 
and resourceful in tactics, and very strong 
before the people. But he came to the front 
in the period of his party's decline, which 
was particularly rapid in Vermont after the 
war of 18 1 2, and this fact prevented his at- 
taining further distinction. The close and 
hard-fought election of 1815 retired him to 
private life finally, though he ran a little bet- 
ter than Chittenden. He was for fifteen 
years president of the Caledonia County 
Bible Society, and of the board of trustees 
of Peacham Academv. He died Sept. 27, 
1828. 

Personally he was a man of clean and up- 
right life, sincere in all his relations, both 
public and pri\ate, interested in the forward 
movements of humanity, and of a simple 
and earnest religious faith. He had two sons 
of some distinction : Mellin, a I\Iaine law- 



yer, who was drowned in Europe in 1840, 
and William A., jirofessor of languages at 
Dartmouth, who died in 1830. Judge Mel- 
lin Chamberlain of Boston was a grandson. 

ELLIOT, James. — in Congress three 
terms, 1803-9, ^ "i^n ^^'ho had to shift for 
himself from the time he was seven years old, 
and yet, without educational or professional 
advantages, was in Congress before he was 
thirty, and was for some years the foremost 
Democrat of his part of the state. He was 
born at Gloucester, Mass., Au.^ust 18, 1775. 
His fatherwas a seafaring man and lost his life 
while the boy was yet an infant. The widow 
moved to New Salem five years later, and ill- 
health rendering it ditificult for her to sup- 
port the family, young James was placed in 
the family of Colonel Sanderson of Peters- 
ham, as the youngest and most menial 
farm servant. He was, however, taught the 
rudiments of grammar by his employer. His 
mother had before taught him to read, and 
the few books within his reach, the Bible, 
Pilgrim's Progress, Josephus' Wars of the 
Jews, Rollins' Ancient History, Dilworth's 
spelling book, and the catechism, were pe- 
rused and reperused until he was the thorough 
master of their contents. This he was able 
to supplement in later years with other 
books of travel and history, and it may be 
said to have constituted his education. 

He came to Guilford at the age of about 
fifteen, and got a position as clerk in a 
retail store, where he had the advantage of 
an acquanitance and conversations with a 
remarkable circle of literary people, includ- 
ing Royall Tyler, John Phelps, J. H. Palmer, 
John Shepardson, Henry Denison, and Miss 
Elizabeth Peck. According to his own ac- 
count, young Elliot had come to be pretty 
lawless about this time and spent a good 
share of his leisure in gambling. It was 
only a brief aberration, however ; he had too 
much mind to find lasting enjoyment in 
such things. His youthful readings had 
filled him with military ardor, and at the age 
of eighteen he enlisted at Springfield, Mass., 
as the first non-commissioned officer in the 
Second L'. S. Sub-legion, commanded by 
Capt. Cornelius Lyman, and was in the ser- 
vice for three years against the insurgents in 
Pennsylvania, and the Indians in Ohio. Re- 
turning to Guilford, he published in 1798 a 
volume of two hundred and seventy pages, 
called "The Poetical and Miscellaneous 
Works of James Elliot," including a diary of 
his military service, twenty-five short essays 
called "The Rural Moralists," a number of 
fiigitive political pieces, and some twenty 
poetical effusions, chiefly versifications of the 
Odes of Horace, but including several original 
pieces, lines of glorification on the adoption 
of the Federal constitution, an Ode to 



Equality, another to General Lafayette, 
etc. The diary part of the work is notable 
for the views it expresses on the Indian 
question, uncommon for the time, and such 
as would make him a leader in these times 
in the Indian Rights Association. The es- 
says, poems and fugitive pieces had been 
published in the Greenfield Gazette, and the 
New England Galaxy. 

Mr. Elliot had from his youth enthusiastic- 
ally taken the Democratic or Republican side 
in the political division, though he was of too 
candid a cast of mind to ever be so bigoted 
a partisan as was usual in those days. He 
was also a warm admirer and follower of 
Nathaniel Niles and took the lead in politi- 
cal discussions in this part of the state, and 
in 1S03, ha\ing in his leisure moments read 
law, was admitted to the bar and settled in 
practice at Brattleboro. He was elected to 
Congress to succeed Lewis R. Morris. On his 
retirement from congressional ser\ice, in 
1809, he published a paper for a w-hile in 
Philadelphia, then entered the army in the 
warofi8i2asa captain, but after a brief 
service returned to Vermont and resumed 
the practice of law at Brattleboro, being 
sent to the Legislature by that town in 1818- 
'19 ; afterwards removed to Nevvfane, rejjre- 
sented that town in i837-'_38; became 
county clerk, register of probate, and in the 
last two years before his death state's attor- 
ney. 

He died at Newfane, Nov. 10, 1839, 
aged sixty-four. His wife, a daughter 
of General Dow, survived him for thirty 
years, and both are buried in the Prospect 
Hill cemetery at Brattleboro. One daugh- 
ter, Mrs. D. Pomroy, of New York, was at a 
recent date the only survivor of that family. 

Mr. Elliot was a man of fine intellectual 
equipment, thoroughly honest and sincere, 
and with the force of character to make his 
mark. The mistake of his life was that his 
energies were so scattered. Samuel Elliot, 
so long a distinguished citizen of Brattle- 
boro, was his brother. 

OLIN, Gideon. — Congressman, and one 
of the founders of the state, was born in 
Rhode Island, in 1 743, and came to Vermont 
and settled in Shaftsbury in 1776. His ability 
and force of character were such as to at 
once bring him to the front in Vermont af- 
fairs, and he was a delegate to the '\^'indsor 
convention of June 4, 1777, and a represen- 
tative in the first Legislature under the new- 
state government in 1778. He was also ap- 
pointed a commissioner of sequestration that 
year. He was major of the second regiment 
under Colonel Herrick, in 1778, and after- 
wards under Lieutenant-Colonel Walbridge, 
and was often in service on the frontier dur- 
ing the Revolutionary war. During the 



WITHERELL. 

state's independence he was one of its most 
trusted leaders : being in the General Assem- 
bly fourteen years, from 1780 to 1793, and 
speaker six years, from 1788 to 1793 ; judge 
of the Bennington county court from 1781 
to 1798. After the admission to the Union 
he was equally prominent, serving in the coun- 
cil from 1793 to 1798, being again judge of 
the county court from 1800 to 1S02, and 
chief judge from 1807 to 181 1 — a total judi- 
cial service of twenty- three years. He was. 
a delegate to the Constitutional Convention 
of 1 791 and 1793, and was in Congress two 
terms, from 1803 to 1807. 

He died in January, 1823. Martin Matti- 
son says in his sketch of Shaftsbury. "Gideon 
Olin was one of the firmest supporters of the 
state, and in the hours of political darkness, 
not a star of lesser magnitude ; possessed 
great natural talents, an intuiti\e knowledge 
of mankind, was nobly free in his opinions^ 
and decided in his conduct." 

Congressman .Abraham B. Olin of New 
York was his son. Congressman Henry Olin,. 
of this state his nephew, and the descend- 
ants of distinction from him and his brother^ 
of Shaftsbury, have been numerous. 

WITHERELL, JAMES.— Patriot of the- 
Revolution and the war of 181 2, doctor,, 
councilor, congressman and United States 
territorial judge, had a stirring career. 
Born at Mansfield, Mass., June 16, 1759, of 
an old English family, he enlisted at the age 
of sixteen in the Revolutionary service, and 
continued in it from early in the siege of 
Boston, and being severely wounded at 
White Plains, until peace was won and the 
army disbanded at Newburgh in 1783, when 
he came out an officer in the Continental 
line, with just S70 in continental currency 
as pay for his eight years of fighting, bleed- 
ing and suffering for his country. With this, 
it is said, he "treated a brother officer to a 
bowl of punch, and set out penniless to fight 
the battle of life." He studied medicine 
with Dr. Billings of Mansfield, and in 1789 
settled in practice at Fair Haven, where the 
next year he wedded Amy, daughter of 
Charles Hawkins, a lineal descendant of 
Roger Williams. He was the hearty associate 
and coadjutor of Matthew Lyon in politics, 
a red-hot uncompromising Democrat. He 
represented Fair Haven from 1798 to 1802; 
was assistant judge of the Rutland county 
court 1801-3, and chief justice 1803-6; 
councilor 1802 till 1807, when he was elected 
to Congress, where he had the pleasure of 
voting for the act abolishing the slave trade, 
which was passed in 1808. 

But before his term was completed Presi- 
dent Jefferson appointed him one of the 
judges of the territory of Michigan, with 
executive and legislative duties to perform 



1 



iiiiii;ARn. 



as well as judicial, antl with a jurisdiction 
extending over a vast wilderness from the 
Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean and con- 
taining a population of only about three 
thousand in all. Here he helped to lay out 
the new city of Detroit. Here also he had 
an opportunity to again serve his country 
bravely in the war of 1812, and he embraced 
it. He commanded a corps at Detroit and 
when the post fell before the British, he 
refused to surrender his command but 
allowed his men to disperse and escape 
while he and his son and son-in-law re- 
mained to be taken prisoners. He again 
lived in Fair Haven a few years while paroled, 
but when exchanged returned to Detroit to 
resume his mixed judicial and political duties 
which he continued with increasing use- 
fulness and honor until, in i<S26, President 
John (^uincy .Adams appointed him secretary 
of the territory. He died at Detroit Jan. 9, 
1838, aged seventy-nine. One of his sons, 
Benjamin F. H. A\'itherell of Detroit, was 
a judge of the circuit court of Michigan and 
a man of much influence. 

SHAW, Samuel. — Physician, councilor, 
congressman, and Democrat of the Matthew 
Lyon school, was born at Dighton, Mass., in 
December, 176S; came to Putney with his 
parents in 1778, and nine years later, when 
he was only nineteen years old, though he 
had had but a limited education, settled him- 
self at Castleton and began, after two years 
of study, the practice of medicine. He soon 
became a leading politician of that locality, 
and Lanman says in his "Dictionary of Con- 
gress" that he was "one of the victims of the 
sedition law. For his deunciation of the 
administration of John .Adams he was im- 
prisoned, and liberated by the people with- 
out the forms of the law." Walton says he 
is unable to verify this statement, but there 
was probably a demonstration of some kind 
to furnish a foundation for it. \)t. Shaw was 
Castleton's representative from 1800 to 1807, 
when he was elected to both Houses, but 
accepted the office of councilor. He was, 
however, defeated for re-election the next 
year, when the Federalists elected ten of the 
twelve councilors. But he was immediately 
elected a re]3resentati\e to Congress, ser\ing 
from 1808 to 18 13, being high in the confi- 
dence of Jefferson and Madison, and vigor- 
ously supporting the war measures of the 
latter. 

He had, while in private practice, won 
quite an extended reputation as a surgeon, 
and on his retirement from Congress was ap- 
pointed a surgeon in the LTnited States army, 
being stationed at different times at New 
York, Greenbush, St. Louis, and Norfolk, 
and attaining an eminence that was remark- 
able, considering his earlv ilisadvantages. He 



was indis]:iutably a man of decided native 
ability and with physical powers to corre- 
spond. He once rode on horseback from 
St. Louis to .Albany, N. V., in twenty-nine 
days. He continued in his duties as sur- 
geon throughout the war and until 1816. He 
died at Clarendon, Oct. 22, 1827. 

HUBBARU, Jonathan Hatch.— 

Jurist, born in Windsor, in 1768; died 
there Sept. 20, 1849. After receiving a lib- 
eral education he studied law and was ad- 
mitted in 1790, and practiced his profession 
with success until his election to Congress in 
1808. He served until 181 1, and in 1813 
became judge of the Supreme Court of Ver- 
mont, continuing in office until 1845. 

STRONG, William.— At two different 
times in Congress, was born at Lebanon, 
Conn., in 1763, the son of Benajahand Polly 
(Bacon) Strong, descended in the sixth gen- 
eration from Elder John Strong of North- 
ampton, the .American ancestor. Benajah 
Strong was also one of the first settlers of 
Hartford in this state, coming there in 1764 
when William was a baby. The latter was 
necessarily self-educated, denied even the 
advantages of a common school in youth, 
and gaining from contact with men and life, 
and from the reading of such books as he 
could borrow, the knowledge that made him 
a man of power and usefulness in his later 
years. He was in early manhood, for several 
years extensively engaged in making land 
surveys in Grand Isle county, a ])rofessional 
work for which he had fitted himself by his 
own exertions. Returning to Hartford and 
engaging in farming he quickly liecame a 
man of inlluence in the town and county ; 
represented Hartford in the Legislature in 
1798-99, 1801, '02, '15, '16, '17, and '18, 
and taking a leading position among that re- 
markable coterie of Democrats or Republi- 
cans, including (Salusha, Leland, Butler, 
Skinner, Richards, and Meech, who so long 
ruled the state. He w-as also sheriff of \Vind- 
sor county for eight years, from 1802 to 
iSio, judge of the Supreme Court of Wind- 
sor county in 181 7, and a member of the 
council of censors in 1834. He was first 
elected to Congress in 181 r, and served two 
terms with James Fisk, Samuel Sha\v, Will- 
iam C. PJradley, Butler, Skinner, and Charles 
Rich for his colleagues a part or all of the 
time. In 1819 he was again returned. ser\- 
ing one term. 

He died Jan. 28, 1840, at the age of 
seventy-seven. He was a man of sterling 
integrity, hearty and cordial in manner, 
thoroughly democratic in his instincts and 
bearing, broadly generous in views and ac- 
tion, and of ample mental cajiacity. He 
was throughout his public career connected 



136 




n^^^<-(rJifmC^u 



with events of large importance, and always 
acquitted himself creditably in them. 

He married, June 17, 1793, Abigail 
Hutchinson of Norwich, who bore him nine 
children. Of these, Jasper, a man of 
superior abilities, was an extensive govern- 
ment contractor before the war, and two 
others, John P. and Charles, were woolen 
manufacturers at Quechee, and the latter, 
the in\entor of valuable improvements in 
vertical and horizontal motion. One daugh- 
ter, Emily, was the wife of Hon. A. G. 
Dewey. 

BRADLE\', William C— Twice a con- 
gressman, long the leader of the Jacksonian 
Democracy of the state, and its perennial 
candidate for tlovernor, in the opinion of 
Pliney White, " all things considered the 
greatest man \'ermont has produced," and 
whom \Vebster declared to have one of the 
greatest minds in the country, was born at 
Westminster, March 23, 1782, the son of 



Senator Stephen R. and Merab (Atwater) 
Bradley. 

His youth contained abundant promise of 
his brilliant future. He began to write 
poetry when only six years old and at twelve 
his first prose work was published under the 
title of : "The Rights of Youth, composed 
revised and submitted to the candid reader 
by William C. Bradley, Esq., author of the 
poem on Allen's and Tichenor's Duel." At 
nine he had read the Bible through seven 
times and thoroughly saturated his young 
mind with the noble imagery, the right 
thought and sublime eloquence better im- 
bibed from the Scriptures than any other 
source on earth. At eleven he w-as fitted for 
college : at twelve he was studying Hebrew 
and at thirteen he entered Vale, but was ex- 
pelled before his freshman year was ended. 
At seventeen he delivered the Fourth of 
July oration at the U'estminster celebration, 
followed by an ode which he had composed. 
Both exhibited a remarkable maturity of 



137 



thought. At eighteen he was secretary of 
the Commissioners of bankruptcy, ser\ing 
for three years, and before he was of age he 
was state's attorney for Windham county, 
being specially appointed by the Legislature, 
though he had been refused permission to 
practice before the Supreme Court because 
of his youth. He held this position for 
seven years. .\t twenty-four he rei)resented 
his town in the Legislature. At thirty he 
was a member of the Governor's Council 
and at thirty-two was sent to Congress. 

His expulsion from college (for some 
prank, of w^iich he always claimed that he 
was not guilty, though he admitted that he 
deserved it on general principles) greatly 
enraged and mortified his father, who for 
discipline ga\e him a dung fork and set him to 
work on a manure heap and finally expelled 
him from home. He went to .Amherst, Mass., 
and entered upon the study of law with 
Judge Simeon Strong, and soon showed the 
manly, sturdy stuff in him, sufiiciently to win 
back the stern parent's forgi\eness, so that 
on Mr. Strong's appointment to the Supreme 
Court young Bradley returned to his home at 
Westminster and continued the study of the 
law, being admitted to the bar in 1S02. He 
was for a number of years town clerk of 
Westminster, and it was in i8o6-'o7 that he 
represented the town, and in 181 2 that he 
was in the council. Besides all his other 
accomplishments he had, through his father's 
intimacy with the great men and events of the 
time and by constant and instructive corres- 
pondence with that great statesman while at 
Washington, acquired an understanding of 
politics on their practical and personal, as 
well as their philosophic side, that was an 
education of itself. Few men ever entered 
public life so thoroughly and admirably 
equipped or so certain of winning the largest 
fame ; but he soon developed a strong dis- 
taste for office holding, while his love of 
home life was unceasing. Besides, after the 
formation anew of party lines after the ad- 
ministration of John Quincy Adams, he was 
in the minority party, and pleased to be so, 
though he enjoyed leading the Democracy in 
its up-hill fight, and did so with \ery great 
skill at times and with a relish that was in 
inverse proportion to his chance of being 
elected. He was the Democratic nominee 
for Governor in 1S30, i834-'35-',36, twice 
in i837-'38 driving the choice to the Legisla- 
ture, holding the organization together against 
the .Anti-Masonic wave, playing warily but 
unsuccessfully against Seymour to get the 
remnants of that mo\ement when it should 
collapse, and still heading the ticket after the 
Whigs had gained a secure ascendency in the 
state. But when the extension of slavery 
became the issue of our politics he was 
prompt to join the Free Soil jjarty of 184S, 



and afterward the young Republican party, 
in company with many others of his old 
associates, and he headed the Fremont elec- 
toral ticket in 1856. 

He was first elected to Congress as a Jef- 
fersonian Democrat in 181 2, and was an 
ardent supporter of the war policy of the 
Madison administration. He was the friend 
and intimate associate of Clay, .\dams, Web- 
ster, Calhoun, Graudy, Forsyth, Pickering 
and men of that stamp, who were all won and 
charmed by his wonderful versatility. It may 
be that he shone too much in the drawing room 
and social circle for the best achievements 
in committee and on the floor. At the ex- 
piration of his term he was appointed agent 
of the United States, under the treaty of 
(;hent, for fixing the northeastern boundary, 
a work that required five years, and which 
he regarded as the greatest service of his 
public life. He went in person to the wild 
region in dispute and laid down the line 
which, rejected by (^reat Britain and dis- 
puted over almost to the point of war, he 
had the satisfaction of finally seeing adopted 
by the .Ashburton treaty. He was again 
elected to Congress in 1822, and re-elected 
in 1824, and this substantially closed his 
office-holding, though he again represented 
Westminster in the Legislature of 1850 and 
was a member of the constitutional conven- 
tion of 1857. During his last term in Con- 
gress he had a rupture with President .Adams 
over what he considered a breach of faith 
on the latter's part. This was the immediate 
occasion of his retirement, and naturally also 
of his allegiance to the Jacksonians, as 
party lines were reformed, though his sym- 
pathies and antecedents were such as would 
have made him a Democrat anyway. He 
had some part in the tariff debates of that 
time, though always moderate in his views, 
which he well summarized in after years in 
his eulogy of Webster, when he said, "Tariffs 
are, of necessity, alway matters of expedi- 
ency, and an unchanging one would in time 
defeat itself." 

In 1858, he took formal leave of the bar, 
after fifty-six years of constant practice, ex- 
cept when called away by public duties, 
with the most brilliant success, and always 
as the acknowledged head. The banquet 
and toasts on this occasion at Newfane 
formed one of the most interesting annals 
of the Windham county bar. The sunset 
years that followed were indeed beautiful. 
He had been called a free thinker, because 
he was willing to read and to discuss can- 
didly all that was written on the great prob- 
lems of life, the works of the German infidels 
as well as the Scriptures whose thought and 
feeling had been interwoven with every fiber 
of his mind in childhood. He was a truth 
seeker always, but never a scoffer. "Theol- 



138 



ogy'' he once said "is the noblest profession, 
law is second to it." "My boy," he said to 
a pert fellow once, "never make sport of the 
religious worship of any sect, no true gentle- 
man will do it." Shortly before his death 
he remarked to a minister "As I grow older, 
my faith grows simpler ; I come nearer and 
nearer to the simple truth of salvation by 
Christ." A correspondent of a New York 
paper, who visited him about this time, 
wrote, "He was portly and florid, as if fed on 
roast beef and port; but redeemed from the 
sensual by a massive, noble-formed head. 
He had a keen bright eye, which gave me 
at once a glance into that capacious brain, 
as I have sometimes peeped through the 
window of a conservatory and caught a vis- 
ion of rich masses of foliage and rare flowers. 
* * * It is delightful to see this man in the 
green November of life, hale and hearty, 
ripened and mellowed, with all the juices of 
a kindly nature flowing in a full, strong cur- 
rent in his veins. Such a spectacle does 
one good ; we understand better the capac- 
ity and power of the human soul to enjoy 
and impart enjoyment." 

He died at Westminster in March, 1867, 
at the old homestead where he had remained 
after bringing the remains of his fondly 
loved wife from Brattleboro, for interment 
in the family tomb in the .August preceding. 
She was a daughter of Hon. Mark Richards, 
a woman of rare beauty of person, and had 
mingled in the politest society of the time, 
to whom he plighted troth when they were 
school boy and girl together and between 
whom love and devotion grew till at the age 
of eighty-four death separated them. There 
were four children of whom only two, Jona- 
than Dorr and Merah Ann, who afterwards 
married Judge Daniel Kellogg, survived 
until maturity. 

Mr. Bradley with his rich imagination and 
vast stores of learning from English, French, 
German, Latin, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew 
literatures, his keen wit and wholesome 
nature, was a good deal of a poet and some 
of the scraps which he dashed off, notably ".-\ 
Ballad of Judgment and Mercy," may fairly 
be counted among the gems of our litera- 
ture. 

Rev. Pliney H. \\'hite in the estimate above 
quoted of him, says: "Williams may have 
equalled him as a lawyer, Collamer as a 
reasoner, Phelps as an orator and Marsh may 
be a peer in multifarious learning ; but 
neither of them, nor any other Vermonter, 
living or dead, who has come to my knowl- 
edge, has been at once lawyer, logician, 
orator and scholar to so eminent a degree. 
His personal presence was that of a remark- 
ble man." 

And E. P. Walton says, " Rich in the 
wisdom that comes from learning, reflection 



and intercourse with the ablest men of the 
country, he had also a ready wit and a large 
fund of anecdotes, so that in public ad- 
dresses or social converse he was charming." 

Rev. J. F. Fairbanks, says "He possessed 
a wonderful memory, accompanied with rare 
conversational powers. His capacious mind 
seemed an inexhaustible reser\'oir of learn- 
ing, wit and wisdom, which poured forth in 
a full torrent from his powerful, yet melodi- 
ous voice, that would hold the delighted 
hearers entranced for hours." 

J. Dorr Br.adlf.v, was of the third gen- 
eration of this remarkable family, and by 
many good judges rated as the most brilliant 
intellectually of all, with the large practical 



i»«i^ 




J. DORR BRADLEY, 

talent of his grandfather, and the rich origin- 
ality of his father developed into positive 
genius. He held no public office higher than 
that of representative in the Legislature from 
Brattleboro, though he was several times the 
Democratic candidate for Congress from his 
district. Indeed, he had very little ambi- 
tion for official place which he could have 
readily commanded after the formation of 
the Republican party, of which he early be- 
came a member. He was also utterly without 
care for money. His tastes and desires were 
all intellectual ; the only acquisitions for 
which he cared were those of law, literature 
and science, with liberal enrichment from the 
humorous and the knowledge of contact with 
life. 

lonathan Dorr Bradley was born at West- 
minster in 1803, the son of William C. 



139 



llradley. He graduated from \'ale, studied 
law in his father's office, began practice at 
lieliows Falls, but mo\ed to Brattleboro 
about 1S32. It was in 1856 that he repre- 
sented that town in the Legislature, and 
greatly distinguished himself in the debate 
over the new state house question. He was 
prominent in the \'erniont and Massachu- 
setts R. R. enterprise, and was on the first 
board of directors of the company. Pro- 
fessionally, he stood for years admittedly at 
the head in this portion of the state, and one 
of the two or three leaders of the brilliant 
bar of ^'ermont. As a pure lawyer, a rea- 
soner from foundation principles, he was 
great and masterful, and added to that, in the 
words of the tribute of a committee at the 
session of the U. S. circuit court after his 
death, "his varied and elegant acquire- 
ments as a scholar, his general and attractive 
qualities as a man * * professional labors en- 
riched by learning so complete, by wit so 
rare, and sense so full, and inspired always 
by so thorough an appreciation of what be- 
longed to the lawyer and the gentleman," it 
is not to be wondered that he won so large a 
fame. E. P. Walton says of him : "His 
reading was extensive and recherche, his 
memory was retentive, his style of conversa- 
tion was playful and captivating, and always 
appropriate to his theme, his perceptions 
were quick and vivid, his illustrations apt 
and beautiful, and his whole air and manner 
reminded us of the school of elder time.s in 
which he had his training." He was always 
fond of mechanical and scientific investiga- 
tions, and especially strong, of course, in 
those lines of law that were allied to these 
studies. He was facile in adapting himself 
to all grades of intellect, a keen judge of 
human nature, and so a jury advocate of 
tremendous power. Thousands are the 
anecdotes that still linger in local annals 
of his wit and readiness at repartee. Withal 
he was something of a poet and dashed off 
at different times soine good specimens of 
verse, especially of a satirical kind. 

He married at Bellows Falls, in icSii;, 
Susan Crossman, who bore him four children : 
William C, a Harvard graduate in 1851, now 
librarian at Brattleboro : Richards, of EJoston 
and Brattleboro : Stephen Rowe of New York, 
and of the firm of Hall, Bradley & Co., exten- 
sive manufacturers of white lead ; and .Arthur 
C, an .Amherst graduate in 1876, and now of 
Newport, N. H., and who has won fortune 
by the genius of mechanics and scientific 
experiments which he inherited from his 
father. 

Mr. Bradley died after three weeks of ill- 
ness from fe\er, in September, 1862. 

RICH, Charles. — Congressman for ten 
years, was a thoroughly representati\e Ver- 



monter in the first ijuarter of this century 
with its \igorous 1 )emocratic growth, healthy 
hard-working pros]jerity and beautiful home 
life. He was born in Warwick, Mass., Sept. 
13, 1 77 1, and came to Vermont with his 
father, Thomas, in 1787, going all the way 
to Shoreham on foot. Charles at the age 
of twenty-nine vvas elected representative 
from Shoreham to the Legislature and was re- 
elected eleven times. He served as county 
judge six years. He was first elected to 
Congress in 18 12, and constantly re-elected, 
except for the term of i8i5-'i7, till 1825. 
He was there a member of practical useful- 
ness, a ready debater, well and (juite widely 
informed, with a habit of thoroughly study- 
ing every subject that came before him, so 
constantly growing more active and promi- 
nent in service. He had only a limited 
education, attending school only three 
months when he was fifteen years old, his 
aid being required by his father in erecting 
mills, clearing land, etc., but he was always 
a great reader, especially of .Addison's Spec- 
tators, had a retentive memory and a faculty 
of analysing and assimilating his informa- 
tion, and he early began to discipline his 
mind by committing his thoughts to writing. 
.As a youth he was often called upon for ora- 
tions on public occasions. His mind was 
well balanced and considering his opportun- 
ities, a well trained one, his knowledge of 
human nature was penetrating, and his fine 
personal ajjpearance and his open bland 
manners fitted him for the great popularity 
he so long enjoyed. He continued, along 
with his ]Hiblic duties, the mill business 
which his father established, and he took a 
cold from working in the water for several 
days on some repairs, and died from the con- 
sequences Oct. 15, 1824, aged fifty-three. 

He wedded at the age of twenty a daugh- 
ter of Nicholas Wells, to whom he had been 
attached since childhood and toward whom 
he was a lover to his last day, and the affec- 
tion evidenced by his correspondence with 
her and with the children is inspiring for 
the depth and richness of life's possibilities 
which it shows. He commenced life with 
one cow, a pair of steers, six sheep and a few 
articles of furniture, on about forty-five 
acres of land which Mrs. Rich's father had 
given them, but by industry and prudence 
from this small beginning he became a \ery 
wealthy man. 

OLIN, Henry. — Both Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor and congressman and a leader of the 
Jeffersonian Democrats to their long con- 
trol of the state, vvas born in Shaftsbury, May 
6, I 768, the son of Justice and Sarah (l)win- 
ell) Olin, and a nephew of the distinguished 
patriot, Gideon Olin. The family was a 
Rhode Island one. Henrv settled in Leices- 



140 



ter in 1788 and it was there that he passed 
his active life and won his distinction. 
He was chosen to the Legislature in 1 799 
and steadily re-elected, except four years, 
until 1825 and was elected to the council in 
1820 and '21. This twenty-three years of 
legislative service was matched by a similar 
period on the bench. He was elected assist- 
ant judge of the county court in 1801, when 
only twenty-three years old, and held the 
place eight years, then being chosen chief 
judge and serving for fifteen years more. In 
1824 he was elected to Congress to fill the 
unexpired term of Charles Rich. He was 
chosen Lieutenant-C.overnor in 1827, and for 
the three years subsequently. His popularity 
was so great that he had the nearly unani- 
mous vote of his town for Governor in 1827. 
He was a member of the constitutional con- 
ventions of i8i4,'22,and '28. He became 
a \\'hig after that party was formed and 
about that time retired from public life after 
nearly forty years of almost uninterrupted 
service. 

He was undeniably a strong man — one of 
the "self-made," so-called — winning his way 
upward, in spite of his limited early educa- 
tion, by his native wit, shrewdness and 
vigorous common sense. He was almost 
Lincolnlike in his exhaustless fund of stories 
and apt illustrative humor. He had a great 
unwieldy frame, but such was the sense of 
power that went with it that it is said, wher- 
ever he went, men, women and children 
would abandon any task to look at him. He 
mixed his Jeffersonian Democracy with zeal- 
ous Methodism, and of his nine children 
one, .Stephen Olin, I). D., became a famous 
Methodist divine in the South, professor of 
belles lettres in Franklin College, Ga., presi- 
dent of Randolph, Macon and Wesleyan 
Colleges, and author of "Travels in Holy 
Land " and other books. 

Henry Olin died at Salisbury in August, 
1837, having moved there the spring before. 

CHIPM.^N, Daniel.— Brother of Na- 
thaniel, the youngest of seven sons who were 
all distinguished men, congressman for one 
session, legislator, speaker, biographer of 
his brother. Gov. Thomas Chittenden, and 
Seth Warner, and a law writer of some note. 
He was born at Salisbury, Conn., Oct. 22, 
1763, fitted for college with his brother, 
Nathaniel, at Tinmouth, graduated from 
Dartmouth in 1788, studied law with his 
brother, opened an office in Poultney in '90 
but moved to Middlebury in '94. He rep- 
resented Middlebury in the Legislature 
several times between 1798 and 1808, and 
also in 1812-13-14-18 and 21, was speaker 
of the House in '13 and '14, and was a 
meiiiber of the Governor's council in 1808. 
In 1814 he was elected to Congress, but 



had to resign because of ill-health after one 
session. In 1828 he moved to Ripton, 
where he had large property interests and 
where he did most of his literary work. 
His biographies cannot be praised as either 
very interesting or instructive, though of 
course they have preserved a few facts from 
loss, especially in the history of the state 
under Chittenden. 

In 1822 he published a treatise on law 
contracts for the sale of specific articles 
which is highly esteemed by the profession 
and was commended by Kent, Story and 
other jurists. In 1823 the Legislature ap- 
pointed him reporter of the decisions of the 
Supreme Court, the necessity of which work 
he had strenuously urged, and he had pub- 
lished one volume of reports when ill-health 
compelled him to resign. His law pactice 
was extensive and in his younger years took 
him regularly to all the courts in Rutland, 
Bennington, .Addison and Chittenden coun- 
ties. He was state's attorney for Addison 
county for twenty years, from 1797 to 181 7. 
He was a member of five different Consti- 
tutional Conventions in 1793, 1814, 1836, 
1843 and 1850. In attending the latter at 
the age of eighty-four he incurred the 
disease that ended in his death. In the 
convention of 1843 he was conspicuous in 
the debate over the amendment for the 
establishment of the state Senate which was 
adopted by a small majority. E. P. Walton, 
who saw him there, says he strongly re- 
sembled John Quincy Adams in personal 
and intellectual qualities, and " with equal 
advantages in culture and experience in lofty 
statesmanship, Mr. Chipman would certainly 
have won high repute in the nation." His 
ideas were considerably different from his 
brother's, or rather ran to an extreme from 
the same premises, for his writings are not- 
able for the distrust they express of democ- 
racy, while some of his brother's grandest 
achievements had their roots in that trust. 
In state politics Daniel Chipman will proba- 
bly be longest remembered for his part as 
speaker of the Assembly in carrying through 
the seating of Gov. Martin Chittenden. The 
details of the affair are given in the sketch 
of Governor Galusha. Chipman's part was 
to refuse to yield his chair to the Governor 
for a joint assembly the second day, holding 
that the report of the canvassing committee 
the first day, that there was no choice, was 
conclusive, and that the two Houses had no 
power to canvass the votes or to act on the 
subject otherwise than by concurrent resolu- 
tions to meet and elect a Governor. In 
other words he held that the Legislature 
had no power to act on the report of its own 
committee ; if there had been a deliberate 
and palpable falsification of the figures there 
would have been no escape. In this case it 



jEWErr. 

amounted to nearly the same thing, for the 
action prevented any consideration of ques- 
tions of law and- fact, whether (certain votes 
should be counted or not, on which the 
result turned. To the lay mind it looks like 
a curious doctrine for so great a lawyer as 
Mr. Chipman. .-Xt any rate it was unexpected 
for the joint assembly had adjourned to the 
next morning for just that consideration and 
Speaker Chipman's action assumed to dis- 
solve it. 15ut he said he had satisfied him- 
self by an examination of the constitution 
during the night that this was the proper 
action, and Governor Calusha and his sup- 
porters were unable to help themselves with- 
out violence. Afterwards, while the dispute 
over the election was in progress, Chipman 
ended it by escorting Chittenden to the 
chair and having him sworn in as Governor. 

He was a liberal supporter of Middlebury 
College and a member of the corporation 
from the beginning. He received the degree 
of I.L. D. from it in 1849. 

He married, in 1796, Elatheria, sister of 
Rev. Lemuel Hedge, of Warwick, Mass., sister 
of Prof, Levi Hedge, of Harvard. 

J E W E T T, Luther. — Congressman, 
physician, preacher, and editor of St. Johns- 
bury's first paper, was born at Canterbury, 
Conn., in 1772, graduated at Dartmouth in 
1792, and came to St. Johnsbury in 1800. 
He began his career there with the practice 
of medicine and kept it up more or less all 
his active life. He was later licensed to 
preach by the Coos .Association, and supplied 
the pulpits of Newbury and other towns for 
ten years. In 1827 he started the first paper 
in St. Johnsbury, which he styled the Friend, 
and issued chiefly to combat .iXnti-Masonry, 
to which he was strenuously opposed, though 
he gave considerable attention to slavery and 
intemperance. The next year, July 3, 1828, 
he issued the first copy of the Farmers' Her- 
ald, Whig in politics, but ably edited, and 
which he continued for four years, when de- 
clining health compelled him to abandon it. 
In 1815 he was elected to Congress from the 
northeastern district of the state, but served 
only one term. He was a man of varied ac- 
quirements, scrupulously just, and all through 
his later years was one of St. Johnsbury's 
most honored citizens. He died in i860 at 
the age of eighty-seven. 

LANGDON, HON. ChaunCY.— Rep- 
resentative in Congress, i8i5-'i7, state leg- 
islator and councilor, was a man of very 
considerable power, who was kept from the 
public employment his talents merited, by 
the fact that he was a Federalist in a strongly 
Democratic locality. 

Among the families that came early from 
Connecticut to the New Hampshire Grants, 



I.ANGDON. 141 

when it was probable that they would soon 
be admitted into the .Vmerican Union as a 
new state, were the Langdons. Chauncv 
was the second son of F^benezer I.angdon of 
Farmington, Conn., where he was born Nov. 
8, 1763. Having by his own efforts, secured 
for himself a collegiate education, graduating 
at Vale in 17S7, and studied law at Litch- 
field, he determined to seek his fortune in the 
new state, and removing to "the Grants" in 
1788, he pursuaded his parents and his five 
brothers and sisters to go with him, Thev 




went first to Windsor, where his parents and 
older brother, Ira, remained. The young 
lawyer, however, with the younger members 
of the family settled in the new \illage of 
Casdeton, between Rutland and Skeensboro. 
Here Mr. Langdon became an influential 
member of the community, in consequence 
not only of his superior education and abili- 
ties, his force of character and his unflagging 
industry and energy, but even more on ac- 
count of his capacity for public affairs and 
his proud integrity and thorough uprightness. 
He was register of probate, i792-'97, and 
judge of probate in 1798 and 1799. He 
represented Castleton in the General .Assem- 
bly in 1813 and '14, '17, '19, and '20, and 
'22. He was elected to Congress with the 
full Federalist delegation in 1814, during the 
last war with England. But it was nearly the 
last effort of Federalism in Vermont. The 
delegation went out at the end of its first 
term and the party thereafter went rapidly to 



pieces. But Mr. Langdon who had been a 
councilor for one term in 1808, was again 
elected to this body in 1823 and continued 
until his death in 1830, While in Congress, 
and indeed so long as the party lasted, he was 
a Federalist of the most pronounced type, 
strong and sturdy in temper and character, 
a representative Vermonter of the day. He 
was a trustee of Middlebury College for nine- 
teen years, from 181 1 until his death; and 
for many years president of the State Bible 
Society. 

"Squire Langdon" brought with him from 
Connecticut a young wife, Lucy Nona 
Lathrop, daughter of the Rev. Elijah Lath- 
rop of Hebron, who, as "Lady Langdon," 
is remembered by some yet living. Besides 
children who died in early life, they left one 
daughter and two sons : Lucy, who married 
Charles K. Williams of Rutland, afterwards 
chief justice and Governor of the state : 
Benjamin Franklin, who succeeded his 
father as lawyer and judge at Castleton ; and 
John Jay, who removed from Vermont to 
Washington, D. C, and afterwards to the 
South. 

The Hon. Chauncy I^angdon died July 
23, 1830. and with his wife, who survived 
him four years, is buried at Castleton. 

L YON , ASA. — Representative in Congress 
1815-'! 7, member of the Governor's Council 
one year in 1808, for eight years a member 
of the lower house of the Legislature, for 
four years chief judge of the Grand Isle 
county court, a preacher who preached a 
life-time without pay, and yet died the 
wealthiest man in his county, was one of the 
unique characters of our history. He be- 
longed to that remarkable generation of 
clergymen, including Nathaniel Niles, Ezra 
Butler and .Aaron Leland, that had so de- 
cided an influence in the state's adolescent 
period. He was always a hard fighter in 
theology and politics and in money getting, 
a man as cordially hated and roundly de- 
nounced by his enemies as ALatthew Lyon 
(to whom he was in no way related), and 
yet within his range exercised the completest 
influence and commanded the most devoted 
following, which was very likely only strength- 
ened by his eccentricities. 

Rev. Asa Lyon was born at Pomfret, Conn , 
Dec. 31, 1763, graduated from Dartmouth 
in I 790, and for nearly a year, from Octo- 
ber, 1792, to September, 1793, was pastor of 
the Congregational church at Sunderland, 
Mass., where he got into some controversy 
that resulted in his leaving. Soon after he 
appeared at Grand Isle, which was origin- 
ally united with North and South Hero in 
one town under the name of the Two Heroes, 
then divided into two and finally into three 
towns. Here he organized the Congrega- 



tional church, and was its first minister and 
continued to serve it for over forty yeais, 
though he was never installed as pastor, but 
was elected by the members. \Vhen after 
a few years a difficulty arose about its sup- 
port he declared that his pastoral services 
should be gratuitous and so they ever con- 
tinued to be. One of his motives in this 
action was to match the Methodists, who 
were in those days declaiming against sala- 
ries. But while he proclaimed a free gospel 
he had an eye for the dollar in other direc- 
tions, and was all his days a shrewd and ex- 
acting, though strictly just, business man, 
frugal to the point of penuriousness and 
never giving money to any charitable object, 
regarding his contribution of services as 
sufficient for him. 

He secured a fine tract of the most valua- 
ble land in North Hero, richly timbered, and 
built a house of cedar logs containing just 
two rooms and a lobby, in which he lived 
and wrote, reared his family, and transacted 
his business until in later years, after he had 
got wealthy, he built a brick house. He 
never made pastoral calls, except in sickness, 
but required people to come to him on 
church matters as well as other business, 
summoning each one by letter, for which he 
used about a tenth of a sheet of foolscap. 
His economy of time was as severe as of other 
things, and enabled him to do thorough work 
in each of his multifarious employments. 
With all the rest he had, because his wife (a 
Miss Newell from Charlotte) was crazy for 
many years, to carry the cares of the family 
and the rearing of five children. He was 
not too stingy to own a copy of the Edin- 
burgh Encyclopedia, and he studied it and 
made himself master of vast masses of its 
information. With his assimilative powers 
of mind, his vigor and positiveness of logic, 
he was regarded, as he was in fact, a very 
learned man. Theologically, he belonged to 
the Jonathan Edwards school, and he was 
the moulder of the religious thought not 
only of his congregation, but of the minis- 
terial associations of that part of the state. 

He was also for a long period its foremost 
public man and its political leader. He 
represented South Hero in the (General As- 
sembh' 1799 until 1S03, 1804 until 1807, and 
in 1S08 for a short time until he entered the 
council. He was Grand Isle's representa- 
tive from 181 2 until 18 15, when he was 
elected to Congress, being the third of the 
council of 1808 who succeeded in the same 
Congress. He was chief judge of the county 
court in i8o5,-'6,-'8 and '13, being in 
nearly continuous public service for eighteen 
years. 

In politics he was a thorough-going Fed- 
eralist, and W'ith Chipman and .\rad Hunt 
was in constant tilts in the Legislature with 



143 



such leffersonian champions as WilUain C 
I'.radlev, James Fisk, Fzra IJutler, Aaron l.e- 
land, Henry ( )lin, Charles Rich, Mark Rich- 
ards, Titus Hutchinson, and Samuel Shaw, 
who all but two afterward became congress- 
men. 

He leil the opposition to Governor 
Cialusha in the Legislature of iSii, and 
moved a substitute to the address of the 
committee in reply to the Governor's ad- 
dress. When he was elected to Congress, 
so the story goes, he decided that he must 
have a new suit of clothes. So he sheared 
the wool from one of his sheep, did the card- 
ing, spinning and weaving in his own family, 
]irocured butternut-tree bark for the dyeing, 
and had the suit made up by a woman who 
was owing him. Thus he fitted himself out 
for service in the halls of national legisla- 
tion without the expenditure of a penny in 
cash. Though his service in Congress ex- 
tended only through two years, it was 
enough to impress his colleagues with his 
powers. -Another anecdote illustrates this : 
( )ne of the committees on which he served 
had a bill to frame of more than ordinary 
importance, and a member remarked ; 
"Lyon will draft it so strong nothing can 
break it. Let us go down to him to-night ; 
but we must buy the candles." 

The late Charles Adams of Burlington 
said : "There have been two men in the 
state whose intellect towered above all 
others ; one, 'Nat' Chipman of Tinmouth, 
the other .Asa Lyon of Grand Isle." Said 
one of his old parishioners : "People would 
talk about Father Lyon and his peculiarities 
but when he arose in his pulpit every one 
forgot the man, or the peculiarities in the 
man ; with such a dignity he looked down 
upon his assembly, with such a commanding 
power of eye, voice, thought, he drew every 
one up to him and carried them with him. 
All, whether pulpit audience, political op])o- 
nent or theological controversialist to be 
brought over, were not more irresistibly 
than agreeably drawn to his conclusions." 
Rev. Simeon Parmalee in his sketch of him 
for the Gazetteer, describing his personal 
appearance, said : "He was a great man in 
stature and in powers of mind. He had a 
dark complexion, coarse features, powerful 
build, more than six feet in height, large 
boned, giant-framed and a little stooping." 

He died April 4. 1841, in his seventy- 
eighth year. 

MARSH, Charles.— Congressman one 
term, but greatest as a lawyer, standing undis- 
jnitedly at the head of the bar of the state 
tor many years, was a member of one of the 
remarkable families of the state, being the 
son of Lieut. Gov. Joseph Marsh. "He was 
born at Lebanon, (^onn., July 10, 1765, but 



came to Hartford, in this state, with the 
lamily in 177,5. lie was graduated from 
Dartmouth, in 1786, took a course in the 
famous law school of Judge Reeves at Litch- 
field, Conn., and established himself in 
])ractice at Woodstock. His honors were 
nearly all in the line of his profession up to the 
time of his election to Congress. He was ap- 
jiointed in 1797 by President Washington to 
the then comparatively unimportant position 
of district attorney for the district of Vermont, 
ser\ing until 1801. In 1814 he was electecl 
to Congress but served only one term. While 
in Washington he became identified with the 
.American Colonization Society as one of its 
founders. He acquired great popularity as 
a patron of benevolent societies generally, and 
was a highly influential and useful citizen. 
He made three notable speeches while in the 
House, on the tariff, the war with Mexico, 
and the Smithsonian Institution, the latter a 
particularly thoughtful one. He was chosen 
one of the board of trustees of Dartmouth 
College in 1809, and continued as such until 
his death. 'Lhe degree of LL. D. was con- 
ferred on him by this institution. 

He was twice married — first, June 18, 
I 793, to Xancy Collins of Litchfield, Conn., 
and second, after her decease, to Susan, 
widow of Josiah Arnold of St. Johnsbury, 
and daughter of Dr. Elisha Perkins of Plain- 
field, Conn. There were two children by 
the first wife, and five by the second. One 
son, Lyndon Arnold, was a lawyer at Wood- 
stock for thirty-three years, and register of 
probate for that district. Another son, 
Charles, a lawyer at Lansingburg, X. \'., 
died at the age of twenty-seven. Joseph, 
the third son of the second marriage, was 
professor of theory and practice in the Uni- 
versity of Vermont. The youngest son, 
Charles, spent his life on the paternal estate. 
The daughter by the first marriage married 
Dr. John Barnell of Woodstock, and the 
daughter by the second marriage, who died 
when only thirty-four, was the wife of Wyllys 
Lyman, a Hartford lawyer. 

Mr. Marsh died at Woodstock, Jan. 11, 
1849, in the eighty-third year of his age. 

NOYES, John.— Representative in Con- 
gress 1815-'! 7, and for years one of the 
leading business men of the southeast part 
of the state. He was born at Atkinson, X. 
H., a descendant of one of the earlv settlers 
of Massachusetts, and of an unusually learned 
and scholarly family. He was graduated at 
Dartmouth in 1795, and became a tutor 
there, and had among his pupils Daniel 
Webster, who in after life admitted his debt 
intellectually to the tutor. Mr. Xoyes en- 
gaged in theological study and fitted himself 
for the ministry, but gave it up because of 
ill-health and returned to teaching, had 



144 



charge of the Chesterfield, N. H., Academy 
for a time, and in 1800 moved to Brattleboro 
to engage in mercantile trade with (leneral 
Mann, the grandfather of the wife of Gen. 
George B. McClellan. There were several 
famous connections through the firm of 
Noyes & Mann. A partner of one of its 
branches, at Wilmington, was Rutherford, 
father of President Rutherford B. Hayes. 
Mr. Noyes' oldest son was John H. Noyes, 
founder of the (.)neida, N. Y., Perfectionist 
community, which had its first start at Put- 
ney. His eldest daughter was Mrs. L. G. 
Mead, mother of the famous sculptor of that 
name. 

The firm did a heavy business, with stores 
at Brattleboro, Wilmington, \\'hitingham and 
Putney, and rapidly amassed wealth. 

Mr. Noyes represented Brattleboro in the 
General Assembly of 1 80S-' 10 and 181 2, 
and in 1815 was elected to Congress, serv- 
ing one term as contemporary with Clay, 
Randolph and other celebrities. On his 
return from Washington he moved to Dum- 
merston, where he lived for four years, and 
then retired from active life to a farm in 
Putney, where he died Oct. 26, 1841, at the 
age of seventy-eight. He wedded, in 1804, 
Polly, the oldest daughter of Rutherford 
Hayes, the grandfather of the President. 

ALLEN, HEMAN.— "Chili" Allen, as he 
was called to distinguish him from his distant 
relative and long political opponent, but per- 
sonal friend and for many years close neigh- 
bor, Heman Allen of Milton, who was also 
in Congress, was a son of Heber Allen and 
nephew of Ethan and Ira, born at Poultney 
in 1779. After the death of his father he 
was at an early age adopted into the family 
of his uncle Ira at Colchester and given a 
good education, graduating from Dartmouth 
in 1795. He adopted the profession of law, 
but did not practice very extensively as he 
was in public life nearly all his days. 

He was sheriff of Chittenden county in 
1808 and 1809; from 1811 to 1814 he was 
chief justice of the Chittenden county court ; 
from 181 2 to 181 7 he w^as an active mem- 
ber of the state Legislature : was appointed 
quartermaster of militia, with the title of 
brigadier, and was a trustee of the Univer- 
sity of Vermont. He was first elected a 
representative in Congress from Vermont in 
1S17, but resigned in 181S to accept from 
President Monroe the appointment of United 
States marshal for the district of Vermont. 
In 1823 he received from the same President 
the appointment of minister to Chili, which 
he resigned in 1828 ; in 1S30 he was ap- 
pointed president of the L'nited States 
Branch Bank at Burlington, which he held 
until the expiration of its charter, after 
which he setded in the town of Highgate, 



where he died of heart disease April 9, 1852. 
His remains were brought to Burlington and 
interred in the Allen cemetery there. He 
had much of the .Allen ability. 

HUNTER, Willi A.M.- -Was born in Ver- 
mont ; was a member of the Legislature in 
1807, 1809 : was a state councilor in 1809, 
1 8 14 and 1815 ; was elected a representative 
from Vermont in the Fifteenth Congress, 
serving from Dec. i, 1817 to March 3, 1819. 

MERRILL, ORSAMUS C— Printer, law- 
yer, judge, congressman and councilor, was 
born at Farniington, Conn., June 18, 1775, 
came to Bennington in April, 1791, and was 
apprenticed to .Anthony Haswell. On com- 
pleting his apprenticeship he engaged in 
the printing business for himself, and his 
first printed book was a U'ebster's spelling 
book. He then studied law and was admit- 
ted to the bar in June, 1804. 

He entered the military service in the 
war of i8i2-'i5, and was made major in the 
eleventh Ignited States infantry, March 3, 
1813; lieutenant-colonel of the twenty-sixth 
infantry as riflemen, Sept. 4, 18 14, and 
transferred back to the eleventh infantry as 
lieutenant-colonel, .Sept. 26, 1814. He was 
register of probate 1815 ; clerk of the courts 
1816 ; member of Congress i8r7-'i9 ; repre- 
sentative of Bennington in the Constitu- 
tional Convention and General Assembly in 
1822 ; judge of probate court in 1822, 1841, 
1842 and 1846: state's attorney 1823 and 
'24; councilor 1824 and 1S26, and member 
of the first state Senate. Governor Hall 
states that he was also postmaster for sever- 
al years. He was a candidate for re-elec- 
tion to Congress in 18 18, and the joint 
assembly declared him elected, but R. C. 
Mallory, the opposing candidate, contested 
his claim, showed that the result was de- 
clared for Merrill before the returns from 
several towns had been received, and the 
result was that Mallory was given the seat. 

Mr. Merrill lived in the honor and respect 
of his fellow-citizens, until he reached the 
age of eighty-nine, dying April 12, 1865. 
The late Timothy Merrill, of Montpelier, 
who held many responsible positions in the 
public service, was his brother. 

RICHARDS, Mark —Councilor, Lieu- 
tenant-Go^■ernor, congressman, and one of 
the brilliant coterie of Jeffersonian leaders 
that so long ruled the state in the first quar- 
ter of the territory, was born in Waterbury, 
Conn., July 15, 1760, the grandson on his 
mother's side of Rev. Dr. Hopkins, the dis- 
tinguished theologian and divine. He was 
a soldier of the Revolution, enlisting at the 
age of sixteen, and seeing hard service at 
Stony Point, Monmouth, Red Bank and 



145 



X'alley Forge. He afterwards settled in 
lioston, and accumulated property in mer- 
cantile and mechanical pursuits, until in 
1796, he moved to Westminster, where he 
also continued in trade. Five years later, in 
1 80 1, he was elected to represent the town, 
and was re-elected in i8o2-'o4-'o5. From 
1806 to 1810 he was sheriff of U'indham 
county, in 18 13-'! 5 was in the Governor's 
council, and in 1816 was elected to Con- 
gress, serving two terms until 1820. He 
again represented his town in 1 824-' 26, and 
1828, and in i830-'3i was I.ieutenant-Ciov- 
ernor of the state, being associated on the 
ticket with (lovernor Crafts. He was again 
in the Legislature in 1832 and 1834. 

His son-in-law, William C. Bradley, de- 
scribes him as in person " lean and tall, of 
pleasant but somewhat formal manners and 
in spite of lameness a remarkably active man. 
His liberality though great for his means was 
discriminating and well timed ;" his "industry 
and perseverance whenever occasion called 
for it were untiring ; his love of order was 
so precise and descended to such minuteness 
of detail that it appeared almost incompatible 
with much expansion of thought, and yet few 
men can be named who united more knowl- 
edge of human nature, more sagacity and 
promptness in business." 

His wife was the widow Dorr, and their 
(laughter, Sarah, married Mr. Bradley. He 
died at W'estminster, August 10, 1844, at the 
age of eighty-four. 

MEECH, Ezra. — Twice in Congress, 
Democratic candidate for Governor in 
1 830,-3 1 '-32, and afterwards prominent as a 
Whig, and one of the most enterprising and 
far-seeing business operators the state had 
in the early part of the century, was born at 
New London, Conn., July 26, 1773 and 
came with his father to Hinesburgh in 1785. 
He was in his young manhood a hunter and 
trapper, then branched out into the fur 
trade, became associated with John Jacob 
Astor in it, and in 1806, and for a few years 
after, was the agent of the Northwest Fur 
Co. He frequently went into Canada on 
his purchasing trips, bringing large packs 
through the wilderness, and in 1809 was 
agent for supplying the British government 
with spars and timber. In 1795 ^^ opened 
a store at Charlotte Four Corners, still 
keeping up his fur trade. In 1806 he pur- 
chased a farm along the lake shore in Shel- 
burne, moved there, opened a retail store, 
also continuing the purchase of furs ; en- 
gaged in the manufacture of potash and in 
1810 in lumbering, especially with oak, 
which he shipped to the Quebec market. 

At the declaration of the war of 181 2 he 
was caught in Canada with a large quanity 
of timber, and obtained a permit to remain 



and close his business. During the war he 
was an extensive contractor in sup])lying the 
government and army with ])ro\isions. At 
its close he again went into the lumber trade 
with success, and all through his later years 
was also an extensive agriculturist and stock 
breeder, his farm containing three thousand 
acres in a high state of cultivation, on which 
could be seen a flock of three thousand sheep 
and eight hundred oxen. He was probably 
the largest land holder in the state, and at 
his death his real estate was appraised at 
8125,000. 

He was in 1S05 and 1807 elected to the 
state Legislature. In 1S22 and 1823 he was 
chief justice of the Chittenden county court 
and he was a member of the Constitutional 
Conventions of 1820 and 1826. His first 
election to Congress was in 1818 : he served 
only one term but was again elected for 
another term in 1824. His candidacies for 
Governor were during the period that the 
state was swept by anti-.Masonry and it was 
largely under his leadership that the skeleton 
of a Democratic organization was preserved. 
But before 1840 he had become a Whig, 
being then a Harrison presidential elector. 

He was emphatically what is called a " self 
made man" ; with but a limited education he 
won fame and fortune by the aid alone of a 
strong mind, an accurate judgment and 
resolute perseverance. He was a large man, 
physically as well as intellectually, being six 
feet five inches in height and weighing 
three hundred and seventy pounds, and yet 
he was one of the most expert trout fishers in 
the country, following the sport with delight 
to his last years, even as he had the chase 
with his rifle in his youthful days. He was 
always noted for his generous hospitality. 

He died at Shelburne, Sept. 23, 1856, 
aged eighty-three. He was twice married, 
first in 1800 to Mary McNeil, who died 
while he was in Congress, and subsequently 
to Mrs. L. C. Clark who survived him. He 
was the father of ten children, only two of 
whom survived him, sons who lived in Shel- 
burne. 

He joined the Methodist f^piscopal church 
in 1S33, and for the rest of his life was a 
very influential man in his conference. 

MALLORY, ROLLIN CaRLOS.— Rep- 
resentative in Congress from 1819 to 1831, 
and like Morrill in later years the chief 
framer and foremost advocate of the high 
tariff bill of his time, was born in Cheshire, 
Conn., May 27, 1784. He was graduated 
from Middlebury in 1S05, studied law with 
Horatio Seymour at Middlebury, and Robert 
Temple at Rutland, and settled at Castleton 
in 1806, where he was preceptor of the acad- 
emy for a year, then was admitted to the bar 



146 



in 1807 and practiced at Castleton till 1818, 
when he moved to Poultney. 

He was secretary of the Governor and 
Council in 1807, 1809 to 1812, and 1815 to 
1819 — ten years in all — was state's attorney 
for Rutland county, i8ii-'i3 and in 1816; 
was elected to Congress in 1818, serving for 
six terms until 1S31, and becoming a leader 
among the protectionists. He was chair- 
man of the committee on manufactures that 
reported the tariff of 1828, the "tariff of ab- 
ominations" as the Democrats called it, that 
led to South Carolina's act of nullification, and 
Jackson's energetic measures for the Union, 
though it was largely the reaction of the 
country against this tariff bill, which had been 
calculated to strengthen Adams' cause, that 
had made General Jackson President. ]\Ir. 
Mallory therefore was one of the issue-mak- 
ing men of one of the most exciting epochs 
in our national history. He was a thorough 
believer in the principles of protection, like 
Governor McKinley of our day, and it was a 
subject that grew on his hands. This tariff 
was projected at first in the interest of the 
woolen manufacturers but ended by includ- 
ing all the manufacturing interests. He was 
the leader of the House debate on it and ex- 
erted himself greatly to secure its passage. 
He was also prominent in the fight over 
the Missouri compromise which took place 
soon after his entrance into Congress and 
he opposed the admission of the state with 
its slave constitution. 

But sudden death, at Baltimore, Md., 
April 15, 1 83 1, cut short a career which 
promised to become one of continent-wide 
fame, and hardly second to that of his great 
compeers. Clay, Webster and Hayne, in the 
great economic struggle ushered in bv the 
1828 tariff. 

Lanman says of him that " he was held in 
the highest estimation both for his public 
acts and his private virtues." He was a 
brother of Rev. Charles D. Mallory, D. D., 
the Baptist divine and founder of Mercer 
(Ga.) University. 

That branch of the family has produced a 
number of distinguished men of the South. 

KEY'ES, ELIAS. — Representative in Con- 
gress for one term, and a judge, and a coun- 
cilor in state affairs, a native of Ashford, 
Conn., was one of the first settlers of Stock- 
bridge, whither he came in 17S4 or' 85. He 
represented the town sixteen years, i 793 to 
'97, 1798 to 1803, 1818, 1820 and i823-'26, 
and was in the Governor's council fourteen 
years, from 1803 to 18 18, except the one 
term of 1814 ; was assistant judge of the 
Windsor county court eight years, 1806-14, 
and chief judge two years more, 1813-17. 
He also ser\'ed in the constitutional conven- 



tion of T814. He was in Congress from 
1S21 10 1823. 

WHITE, PhineaS. — Representative in 
Congress 182 1-3, was a native of South Had- 
ley, Mass., where he was born Oct. 30, 1770. 
Graduating at Dartmouth in 1797, he studied 
law with Charles ^Nlarsh at ^^'oodstock and 
Judge Samuel Porter at Dummerston and in 
1800 began practice at Putney where he 
made his home the rest of his life. He 
represented the town in the Legislature in 
i8i5-'2o; was postmaster 1802-9 ; wasstate's 
attorney for the county in 1813 ; register of 
probate 1800 to 1809 ; judge of probate for 
several years afterward and chief judge of 
the county court from 1S18 to 1820, or until 
his election to Congress. On his return from 
the latter service he abandoned his law prac- 
tice and devoted himself to farming on quite 
an extensive scale, but was frequently called 
to public duty, nevertheless. He was a mem- 
ber of the constitutional convention of 1836, 
and was a state senator in 1838-40. He 
was for several years president of the Ver- 
mont Bible and Vermont Colonization So- 
cieties, and was prominent in Masonry, 
being grand master of the Grand Lodge of 
the state. He was also one of the trustees 
of Middlebury College. He was a man of 
solid rather than brilliant abilities, always 
fulfilling faithfully and creditably the many 
positions of trust to which he was called. 
He died at Putney, July 6, 1847, at the age 
of seventy-six. His wife, who survived hmi 
for nine years, was Esther, daughter of Xehe- 
miah and Hepziba Stevens of Plainfield, 
Conn., and he married her July 5, 1801. 

WALES, George E.— judge, speaker 
of the lower house of the Legislature and 
four years in Congress, was born in West- 
minster May 13, 1792, studied law in the 
offices of Gen. Stephen R. Bradley at \\'est- 
minster and Titus Hutchinson at \\'oodstock, 
was admitted to the Windsor county bar in 
181 2, and settled at Hartford that year. .-V 
man of brilliant parts, he rapidly rose to 
success and prominence. He was Hartford's 
representative in the Legislature in 1822, 
1823 and 1824. He was in his first term 
elected speaker on the resignation of D. 
.Azro .-X. Buck, and he was re-elected in 1823 
and 1824, holding the position as long as 
he was in the House. .\ nomination to 
Congress followed these triumphs, and he 
was elected in 1825, and re-elected in 1829. 
But here he formed habits of dissipation 
that brought much criticism upon him and 
really wrecked his political career, though 
doubtless his prominence in Masonry, being 
grand master in iS25-'27, just as the wave 
of -Anti-Masonry was beginning its sweep of 
the state, had more to do with it. At least 



■it brought attack for things that would other- 
wise have passed without mention. Doubt- 
less also the attack and defeat aggravated 
the evil. After leaving Congress he located 
in different places in Windsor county, prac- 
ticing his profession, but finally returning to 
Hartford, where he was elected town clerk 
in 1840, and held the position until his 
death. He was elected judge of probate 
for the Hartford district in 1S47, but held 
the office only three years. He was active 
in Masonry, beginning in 181 2, he being 
one of the charter members of the lodge at 
Hartford. 

Personally he was one of the most attrac- 
tive men we have had in public life ; accom- 
I)lished, eloquent, quick-witted, genial and 
large-hearted, ever drawing about him a 
coterie of friends and admirers. 

He married in January, 1813, Miss 
.\manda Lathrop of Sharon, by whom he 
had seven children. He died at Hartford, 
Jan. 8, i860. 

ALLEN, Heman, of Milton — twice a 
representative, serving in all eight years, and 
one of the \Miig leaders of his time, was 
-born in Ashfield, Mass., within limits of what 
was anciently 1 )eerfield, June 14, 1777, 
the son of Enoch Allen. His grandfather 
and several of his other ancestors were \ic- 
tims of the different Indian raids upon that 
historic ground. On his mother's side he 
was descended from Elijah Belding, the 
first town clerk of Deerfield. His father 
died when he was only twelve years old, and 
a few years later the family, a widow and 
younger children came up to (Irand Isle 
where two of their uncles had preceded 
them. Heman remained behind for a time 
and took a course of two years at the old 
■academy of Chesterfield, N. H., then he 
followed to Grand Isle, pursuing his classi- 
cal studies under Rev. Asa Lyon, and read- 
ing law with EInathan Keyes at Burlington, 
and Judge Turner at Fairfield, until in 1S03 
he was admitted to the bar and opened 
practice at Milton. Though a modest and 
unassuming man, very diffident about ap- 
pearing in court, he within a few years 
secured a clientage that extended through 
Chittenden, Franklin and (irand Isle coun- 
ties, won a high reputation for the thorough- 
ness with which he prepared his cases, and 
as the best real estate lawyer in the circuit. 

He represented Milton in the Legislature 
in 1 8 to, and eleven years afterward between 
that time and 1S26, whenever in fact he 
would be a candidate. He was Milton's 
earliest lawyer and a man whom the people 
there almost universally admired. He was 
several times a colleague of his namesake of 
Colchester in the Legislature, and he being 
a Federalist and the other just as warm a 



ALLEN. 147 

Democrat, they helped to keep things inter- 
esting. He was first nominated in 1826 for 
Congress and elected only after a close con- 
test, because his candidacy was entangled 
with that of Governor Van Ness for the 
Senate, so that he was susjjected of being a 
" Jackson man " and jjartly because of a lack 
of understanding with the supporters of 
IJenjamin Swift. He served only one term 
at this time because of these complications, 
but was again elected after a protracted con- 
test in 1832, and three times re-elected. He 
served on the Revolutionary claims commit- 
tee where he stood bravely and efficiently 
with Hiland Hall against the swindlers from 
X'irginia. His lawyer-like habits of pains- 
taking care and thoroughness made his con- 
gressional service efficient. He was defeated 
for re-election in 1S38 because of his vote 
for the neutrality bill proposed by President 
Van Buren against the insurrection which had 
broken out in Canada. Mr. Allen's district 
was a hot-bed of sympathy with the insur- 
rection and he understood fully the risk he 
took with this vote, but it was clearly right 
and even the entreaties of his friends to 
at least absent himself from the roll call 
could not shake his resolution to do his 
duty. The September election failed to give 
a majority for anybody and he peremptorily 
refused to stand for the second contest. It 
had been his idea from the first that the un- 
popularity he had incurred made it injudi- 
cious for his party to nominate him, but he 
yielded to the persuasions of his enthusiastic 
supporters in accepting. There was a move- 
ment afterward to make him the Whig can- 
didate for senator, but it failed. He was also 
offered the Whig nomination for Governor 
but declined it. 

For the next four years he devoted him- 
self with all his energy to his professional 
practice, but died Dec. 11, 1844, after a lin- 
gering illness brought on by a cold contract- 
ed in the service of a client. 

Mr. .\llen wedded, Dec. 4, 1804, Sarah, 
daughter of Dr. John Prentiss of St .-Vlbans. 
There were nine children, of whom five lived 
to maturity. Of these George became pro- 
fessor of Latin and Greek in the University 
of Pensylvania, Joseph W. became a lawyer 
of some prominence, and Sarah was the 
wife of Rev. J. R. Converse. 

His son George describes his personal 
appearance as " of lofty stature, over six feet 
high, and of commanding presence. His 
strongly marked countenance indicated that 
combination of massive strength of intellect 
with inflexible adherence to principle in 
private and public life, which formed the 
salient points of his character. His feat- 
ures, in repose, wore a slight expression of 
severity, which belied the real kindness of 
his disposition. The dignified simplicity of 



his manners was perfectly expressive of his 
habitual absence of all personal pretension." 

HUNT, JONATHAN.— Congressman, 
i827-'32, and dying in the service, a man 
of remarkable popular strength in his day, 
came from a notable \'ermont family. His 
father was Jonathan Hunt, Sr., who was 
Lieutenant-Governor of the state in 1794- 
'96, a native of Northfield, Mass., a leader 
in the early troubles of the settlers, first a 
"Yorker" and afterward appointed a sheriff 
under New York authority, then an advocate 
of the division of the " Grants " between 
New York and New Hampshire, and one of 
the committee of thirteen, with Luke Knowl- 
ton, Charles Phelps and Micah Townshend, 
to prepare a plan to establish still another 
new government out of parts of \'ermont 
and New Hampshire, and only joining the 
"new state" men, as did Knowlton and 
Townshend, when they saw that these 
schemes were hopeless. He was one of 
four brothers, who were all men of superior 
abilities and large influence in the affairs of 
this part of the country. Among them was 
Gen. Arad Hunt, of Yernon, who got his 
title in the command of Yermont militia, 
who was a member of the Wesminster con- 
vention of June, 1776, and who donated 
5,000 acres of land in the town of Albany, 
Vt., to Middlebury College. One of his 
daughters married Governeur Morris of New 
York. The distinguished Hunt family of 
New York is also a branch of this, which 
was also connected by marriage with the 
Seymours of Connecticut. 

Gov. Jonathan Hunt, the father of the 
congressman, married Lavinia Swan of Bos- 
ton, a woman of superior intellectual en- 
dowments, a former pupil of President John 
Adams, and their home in Vernon, with its 
wealth and generous hospitality, was long a 
social center for the best and brainiest peo- 
ple in New England. With such an ances- 
try and such surroundings, Jonathan Hunt, 
Jr., who was born August 12, 17S0, natur- 
ally came up a man of unusual talent and 
promise, uniting as he did uniform industry 
and perseverance to his other advantages. 
He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1807, 
studied law at Brattleboro, and was admitted 
to the Windham county bar in November, 
1792. 

He settled in a practice, which grew to be 
extensive, at Brattleboro, and was promi- 
nently identified with the town's commercial 
and social life. He was chosen the first 
president of the old Brattleboro Bank, after 
its incorporation in 1821, and held the posi- 
tion until his death. He represented the 
town in the Legislature in i8i6-'i7-'24. 
He succeeded ^^'illiam C. Bradley as repre- 
sentative in Congress in 1827 and was twice 



re-elected, holding the office until his death 
in Washington, May 15, 1832, aged only 
forty-two. The news of his death was re- 
ceived almost as a personal bereavement by 
the people of the district, so deep was the 
hold he had obtained on their affections and 
regard. 

Mr. Hunt married Jane Maria Leavitt. 
Among the five children were William Mor- 
ris Hunt, the artist of world-wide renown, 
and Richard M. Hunt, the architect, of New 
York. 

CAHOON, Gen. William.— in Con- 
gress from 1827 to 1833, and Lieutenant- 
Governor 1820-22, was born at Providence, 
R. I., in I 774, the son of Laniel Cahoon and 
brother of Daniel Cahoon, Jr., the first settler 
of Lyndon. The misfortunes of Revolution- 
ary times brought to comparative poverty 
and to Vermont the father, who had been an 
importing merchant and was one of the 
charter grantees of Lyndon, where the family 
has ever been one of prominence. The 
elder Cahoon was town representative eight 
years, selectman eleven, and town clerk fif- 
teen in succession. Ihe son, \\'illiam, suc- 
ceeded to the latter position in 1808 and 
held it uninterruptedly until he went to Con- 
gress. He was elected town representative 
in 1802 and re-elected eight times. He was 
a delegate to the constitutional con\ entions 
of 1814 and 1828, a Madison presidential 
elector in 1808, judge of the Caledonia 
county court i8ii-'i9, and councilor 18 15- 
'20. He was for many years one of the most 
influential Democratic leaders of the state, 
and was one of the candidates for councilor 
counted out in the close contest of 181 3. 
He obtained his title of general in the miL 
itia and was the commander of the fourth 
division at the time of the war of 1812, with 
the rank of major-general. 

EVERETT, HORACE.— Congressman 
for years, one of the strong A\'hig leaders, 
was born in Vermont in 1780. He gradu- 
ated at Brown L'niversity in 1797, studied 
law, and practiced in Windsor. He was 
state's attorney for Windsor county 1813-'! 7 
and became famous as one of the most suc- 
cessful jury advocates in the state. He repre- 
sented ^^'indsor in the Legislature in 18 19, 
1820, 1822, 1824, and 1834, and was a prom- 
inent member of the state Constitutional 
Convention of 1828, and in that year also 
was elected to Congress as a Whig, defeating 
George K. \\'ales. He was re-elected to the 
Twenty-third Congress on the second trial, 
receiving 304 majority; was re-elected again 
to the Twenty-fourth, defeating Anderson 
(Dem.) and Arnold (Whig), and again to 
the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Con- 
gresses, receiving 5,183 votes in the latter 



149 



year against 3,841 votes for Partridge (Dem.), 
and was re-elected to tlie Twenty-seventh — 
2,222 majority — serving from Dec. 7, 1829, 
to Marcli 3, 1843. 

His chief fame in Congress was made by 
his advocacy of the rights of the Indians. 
Among his notable speeches was that of June 
3, 1836, against the Indian bounty bill and 
the removal of the Creeks, Seminoles, Cher- 
okees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws to Indian 
'I'erritory, a very exhaustive one, and he pre- 
dicted that the removal only changed the 
scene of war. He died at Windsor [an. 30, 
1851. 

DEMING, Benjamin F.— Who was 

.sent to the House for one term, i833-'35, 
being elected from the Fifth congressional 
district on the .Anti-Masonic ticket by a 
large majority, was a native of Danville, 
where he was born in 1790. He received 
only a common school education, began life 
as a clerk in a store and then was for a num- 
ber of years a merchant at Danville until he 
gave up his time to his public duties. He 
was for sixteen years, i8i7-'32, the Cale- 
donia county clerk, and eleven years, 
i82i-'32, judge of probate, and councilor 
for six years, 1827 to 1833, winning in these 
positions the reputation which secured his 
nomination to Congress. He served, how- 
ever, only one session, and contracting a 
disease of the bowels at Washington, died 
while on his way home, at Saratoga Springs, 
X. v., July II, 1834, aged only forty-four. 
He left a wife and young family. 

He was a man of " more than ordinary 
talent, of a calm and deliberative mind, 
quick of perception, prompt, apt and up- 
right in business transactions, gentle and 
winning socially, and benevolent in ideas." 

JANES, Henry F.— Congressman 1835- 
'37, councilor from 1830 to 1834, and state 
treasurer from 1830 to 1841, was of a family 
that was among the pioneers in Vermont, 
and prominent in the early history of several 
towns. He was himself born in October, 
1792, at Brimfield, Mass., the third of eight 
children of Solomon and Beulah (Fisk) 
Janes. The family came in his early boy- 
hood to Calais, and he studied law at Mont- 
pelier, enlisted from there in a company 
that was in the battle of Plattsburg in the 
war of 181 2, and settled in Waterbury for 
the practice of his profession in 18 17, being 
reasonably successful with his cases as well 
as in amassing a competence and in winning 
popular favor. He was postmaster for ten 
years, i82o-'29. Then he was immediately 
elected a councilor, serving four years, till 
I S34, and then promoted to Congress where 
he represented the district for one term, and 
then was elected state treasurer, serving 



three years, 1838 to 1S41. This closed his 
political life in a large field, though he was 
a member of the council of censors in 1848, 
and represented Waterbury several terms in 
the Legislature, his last election being in 
1S55. He died June 6, 1879, i" his eighty- 
eighth year. He wedded, in 1826, Fanny, 
daughter of Cov. Ezra Butler ; and Dr. Henry 
Janes, a distinguished physician and war 
surgeon, was their son. 

Mr. Janes is described as a most just man 
in every relation of life, with clear, strong 
judgment, and conscientious devotion to 
duty. 

FLETCHER, GEN. Isaac— Representa- 
tive in Congress for two terms, i837-'4i, was 
native of Massachusetts, born in 1784, and a 
graduate of Dartmouth. After teaching the 
academy awhile at Chesterfield, N. H., he 
studied law with Mr. Vose in that state and 
Judge White at Putney, and established him- 
self in practice at Lyndon. He rose rapidly 
to the front rank of the profession, participa- 
ting for a time in the trial of nearly every 
case in Caledonia, Orleans and Kssex coun- 
ties, and literally wearing himself out with 
overwork. He represented Lyndon in the 
(General .Assembly four years, was state's 
attorney of Caledonia county eight years and 
was adjutant-general on the staff of Gover- 
nor Van Ness, getting his title from that 
source. His health had failed before he got 
far in his congressional service and though 
he was still faithful to his duties, his weak- 
ness prevented his attaining any distinction. 
He died in October, 1842, just after the 
close of his second term. 

He married Miss .Abagail Stone of Chester- 
field who survived him. His only son, C. 
B. Fletcher, a lawyer of Boston, was a man of 
brilliant parts, but died of consumption at 
the age of thirty-four. 

SMITH, John.— Representative in Con- 
gress, i839-'4i, and one of the chief projec- 
tors of the Vermont & Canada R. R., was 
a native of Barre, Mass., born August 12, 
1789, and the son of Deacon Samuel Smith. 
The family moved to St. .Albans in 1800, 
where young John had only the advantage 
of the slender educational facilities of the 
town, studied law first with his brother-in- 
law, Roswell Hutchins, and then with Ben- 
jamin Swift, was admitted to the bar in 1810, 
and formed a partnership with Mr. Swift, 
which continued with high success for seven- 
teen years, until Mr. Swift went to Congress. 
He represented the town in the General 
Assembly ten years, from 1827 to 1S38, with 
the exception of 1834, and was speaker of 
the House in '32 and '33. He was state's 
attorney for Franklin county seven years, 
i827-'33. In 1838 the Democrats of that 



'SO 



district nominated him for Congress, and, 
thougli the district was strongly U'hig, Mr. 
Smith was elected, after a vigorous canvass 
to which his large personal popularity added 
much strength. But it was only for one 
term. The great political storm of 1840 
left him high and dry at home. His con- 
gressional service was of course too short to 
permit any great reputation in it to be won, 
but he made one speech, a defense of the 
independent treasury idea, which was wide- 
ly published and counted one of the ablest 
and most thorough ever made on the sub- 
ject. His defeat for re-election to Congress 
closed his public life and he returned to the 
practice of his profession, until 1845, after 
which he gave his time and energies chiefly 
to railroad enterprises, and it was to him in 
conjunction with Lawrence Brainerd and 
Joseph Clark and to their boldness of action 
through the most critical emergencies, risk- 
ing their entire fortunes in the project by 
borrowing $350,000 on their personal credit, 
that the Vermont & Canada road was made 
a reality and the last link forged that was to 
connect New England with the great lakes. 

The conception was a great one and by 
energy and sagacity was it reahzed, but the 
triumph was followed by perplexing and ex- 
hausting labor to make a business success of 
the enterprise, and the strain and the 
anxiety undermined Mr. Smith's health and 
led to his sudden death, Nov. 20, 1858. 

Mr. Smith was a man of large mold, liberal 
and public-spirited, of clean and worthy ])ri- 
vate life, and in the words of a local biogra- 
pher : " An earnest Christian man, full of 
charity and good works, without partiality 
and without hypocrisy." 

He married, Sept. 18, 1814, Miss Maria 
W. Curtis, of Troy, N. Y., and Gov. John 
Gregory and Congressman W'orthington C. 
Smith were their sons. 

YOUNG, AUGUSTUS.— Representative 
in Congress tS4i-'43, and a scientific author 
of reputation, was born in Arlington, March 
20, 1785, studied law and was admitted to 
the bar at St. Albans in 18 10, began practice 
at Stowe, but in about eighteen months 
moved to Craftsbury, where his active life 
was spent. He represented the town eight 
years, was state's attorney for Orleans county 
four years, and judge of probate in 1 830. 
He was elected state senator in 1836, and 
was twice re-elected. His election to Con- 
gress was in 1840, but he declined a re-elec- 
tion. In 1847 he moved back to St. .Albans, 
and for several years was judge of probate, 
but devoted most of his time until his death. 
Tune 17, 1857, to literary and scientific pur- 
suits, and was appointed state naturalist in 
1856. He was one of the most learned men 
the state ever contained in geologv and 



mineralogy, was a great mathematician and 
a profound reasoner. His intellectual charm 
was such, with his easy and kindly manners, 
as to give him great popularity, and though 
his energies were perhaps too scattered to 
win the greatest success, none knew him but 
to admit that he was a man of great talents. 

MARSH, George Perkins.— Son of 

Congressman Charles Mansh and grandson of 
the Lieutenant-Governor, a lawyer, congress- 
man, diplomat, philologist and of world-wide 
fame as an author and scholar, was perhaps 
the most broadly accomplished man the state 
ever produced. He was born March 15, 
1 80 1, graduated at Dartmouth in 1820, stud- 
ied law in his father's office, was admitted to 
the bar in 1825, and settled at Burlington, 
speedily acquiring an extensive practice. But 
he divided his time between law, literature 
and politics, and, in 1835, he was a member 
of the (Governor's council. In 1842 he was 
elected representative to Congress and three 
times re-elected, until, in 1849, President 
Taylor appointed him minister to Turkev. 
The time and the situation were such as to 
give him opportunity, which he improved to 
the utmost, to render important service to the 
cause of ci\il and religious toleration in the 
Turkish empire. The marked improvement 
of the system of the Porte in this respect in 
the past forty years may truly be said to be 
due to Mr. Marsh more than any other one 
man. He was also charged in 1852 with a 
s])ecial mission to Greece, which he filled with 
added reputation. On the change of admin- 
istration, however, in 1853, he was relieved, 
and returning to Vermont, he was appointed 
one of the commissioners to rebuild the pres- 
ent state house in Montpelier, and, in 1857, 
he was appointed railroad commissioner, 
serving two years. In 1857, also by the ap- 
pointment of Governor Fletcher, he made a 
\aluable and exhaustive report on the artifi- 
cial propagation of fish, laying the foundation 
for much of the work that has been done 
since. In 1 861 President Lincoln appointed 
him minister to Italy, and he held the position, 
being the patriarch of American diplomacy, 
twenty-one years, until his death, in Valom- 
brosa, not far from Florence, July 23, 1882. 

During his residence abroad he travelled 
extensively in the East and in Europe, pass- 
ing some time in Denmark, Sweden and Nor- 
way, where he has long been recognized as a 
leading Scand)na\ian scholar. His published 
works include a " Compendious Grammar of 
the Old Northern or Icelandic Language," 
compiled and translated from the Grammar 
Rask (Burlington, 1838) ; "The Camel, His 
Organization, Habits and L'ses, considered 
with reference to his introduction into the 
United States" (Boston, 1856) ; and "Lec- 
tures on the English Language" (New York, 



i86o) ; originally delivered in 1S59 in tlie 
post-graduate course of Columbia College, 
New York, in which he "aimed to excite a 
more general interest among educated men 
and women in the history and essential char- 
acter of their native tongue, and to recom- 
mend the study of the Faiglish language in its 
earlier literary monuments rather than 
through the medium of grammars and lin- 
guistic treatises. 

He never tired in dehing in the languages 
and literature of the North of Europe, and 
his sympathies appear to be with the Goths, 
whose presence he traces in whatever is 
great and peculiar in the character of the 
founders of New England. In a work en- 
titled "The Goths in New England," he has 
contrasted the Gothic and Roman charac- 
ters, which he appears to regard as the great 
antagonistic principles of society at the 
present day. He was also the author of va- 
rious essays, literary and historical, relating 
to the Goths and their connection with 
.\merica. 

Still another of his works, and one of great 
merit, was "Man and Nature," first pub- 
lished in 1864, and largely re- written and re- 
published in 1874 under the title: "The 
Earth as Modified by Human .Action." He 
was collaborator in the preparation of the 
dictionary of the English language, issued 
under the auspices of the London Philologi- 
cal Society. And his miscellaneous pub- 
lished addresses and speeches are quite 
numerous. Henry Swan Dana says he 
"was a truly learned man, in the variety and 
thoroughness of his acquisitions, in all de- 
partments of human knowledge being almost 
without a peer in the world." His library, 
one of the finest in the country, rich beyond 
compare in Scandinavian literature, he pre- 
sented to the University of Vermont, of 
whose corporation he was chosen a member, 
in 1844. 

Mr. Marsh was twice married. His first 
wife, who lived but a few years after the mar- 
riage, was Harriet, daughter of Ozias Buell, 
of Burlington. The second, whom he 
wedded Dec. i, 181 6, was Carohne Crane, 
of Berkeley, Mass., a woman of literary 
power and an author of some reputa- 
tion. Her published productions are : 
"The Hallig ; or, the Sheepfold in the 
Waters," translated from the German of 
Biernatzki, with a biographical sketch of the 
author (Boston, 1S57) ; and "Wolfe of the 
Knoll, and Other Poems" (New ^'ork, 
i860). 

There were two children by the first wife : 
Charles, who died in childhood, and George 
Ozias, a promising New York lawyer, who 
died when only thirty-three. 

HENRY, William. — Congressman for 
two terms, close friend of Lincoln, and one 



of the fatliersof the now large village of ISel- 
lows Falls, was born in New Hampshire in 
1788. He received only a common school 
education, moved to Bellows Falls, where he 
was cashier of the Bank of Bellows Falls for 
fifteen years, and held various stations in 
l«iblic life. It was on his motion in 1834 
that the act incorporating the village was 
accepted at a meeting of the corporation, 
after it had once been rejected. From that 
time up to and including 1843, Mr. Henry 
was a member of the board of fire wardens. 
He was a member of the Harrisburg conven- 
tion in 1839 which nominated (leneral Har- 
rison and a presidential elector in 1S40. In 
1846 he was elected a member of the House 
of Representatives and was re-elected and 
served two terms. In i860 he was again 
elected a presidential elector and during the 
campaign visited Mr. Lincoln at his home 
in Illinois, with whom he was personally 
acquainted, they having served together in 
Congress where their seats were near to- 
gether and they had been in close sympathy 
asU'higs. The Democratic candidate against 
him at both his elections was William C. 
Bradley. 

Mr. Henry died at Bellows Falls .\pril 17, 
1 86 1, at the age of seventy-three, just as the 
great civil war was breaking upon the 
country. Vp to his last moment almost, he 
followed the progress of events with intensest 
interest. 

PECK, Lucius B. — Representative in 
Congress from 1847 to 185 1, was born at 
Waterbury in October, 1802, the son of Gen. 
lohn Peck. He was admitted as a cadet at 
West Point in 1822, but had to resign be- 
cause of ill-health after a year's study, en- 
tered upon the study of law first with Judge 
Prentiss at Montpelier, and then with Denni- 
son Smith at Barre, and was aidmitted to the 
bar in September, 1825. He formed a part- 
nership with Mr. Smith, who had an exten- 
si\e practice, but was growing old so that 
the burden soon fell upon young Peck's 
shouklers. But he rapidly rose in his pro- 
fession and became one of the leading 
lawyers of Washington and Orange counties, 
and the worthy antagonist in the forensic 
forum of such men as Paul Dillingham, 
William i'pham, and Jacob Collamer. He 
represented Barre in 1831, but soon after 
moved to Montpelier, where he devoted 
himself to his profession with all the ardor of 
his nature, keeping out of politics steadily for 
fifteen years. In 1846 the Democrats of the 
district nominated him for Congress and 
elected him, and re-elected him for a second 
term in 184S. While in Washington he was 
on intimate and familiar terms with such 
great ]5arty leaders as William L. Marcyand 
Daniel S. Dickinson. He was also twice 
the Democratic candidate for Governor, and 



152 



from 1853 to 1857 was United States dis- 
trict attorney by appointment of President 
Pierce. But these were all the political 
honors he ever held, and indeed he had but 
little taste for politics, and little ambition for 
its contests or distinctions. B. F. Fifield, the 
able lawyer with whom he was in partner- 
ship in his later years, says that i\Ir. Peck 
often told him that the greate.st mistake of 
his life was in going to Washington at all. 

He resumed his professional practice after 
his congressional career closed and to the 
end held a rank close to the front at the bar 
of the state and being especially potent in 
railroad litigation. He was president of the 
Vermont & Canada road from 1859 until his 
death. His power as a lawyer and poli- 
tician, too, was in his candor and fairness of 
statement, his fine and unruffled courtesy, 
his masterful analysis, separating the true 
from the false, the essential from the non- 
essential, and the clearness with which he 
piled up proposition upon proposition un- 
answerable. It was true of him, as his 
admiring colleague said of John G. Carlisle, 
that he "never had a clouded thought." 
He was slow and deliberate, cautious in con- 
clusions, but most apt to be convincing 
when he reached them, and a safe and dis- 
criminating adviser. He had little of the 
art of oratory or the embellishments of 
fancy ; he spoke to convince, not to please. 

He married in 1S30 the daughter of Ira 
Day of Barre, an accomplished lady with 
whom his home life was a most beautiful one 
for the fifteen years until her death in 1845. 

He was stricken with paralysis while on a 
professional visit to Lowell, Mass., and died 
there Dec. 28, 1S66. 

HEBARD, William.— Was a self-made 
and self-educated man, and read law with 
William Nutting of Randolph. He was ad- 
mitted to the Orange county bar in 1827, and 
commenced to practice at East Randolph, 
but in 1845 removed to Chelsea, and re- 
mained there practicing his profession until 
the time of his death. He was one of the 
ablest and most popular men of his time, 
represented Randolph four years, and Chel- 
sea five years in the General Assembly ; was 
state senator in i836-'38, and state's attor- 
ney in i832-'34-'36 ; judge of probate in 
1838, 1840, and 1 84 1, and judge of the 
Supreme Court of Vermont from 1842 to 
1844 inclusive. In 1848 he was elected to 
Congress, and again in 1850. In i860 he 
was a delegate to the national Republican 
convention that nominated Abraham Lin- 
coln. Judge Barrett of the Supreme Court 
pays him this tribute ; "I think his promi- 
nent characteristics were candor, consider- 
ateness, integrity and faithfulness. He was 
plain and practical, with substantial common 



sense that gave itself with faithful effort to 
such office as he was called to do, and the 
estimate in which he was held is amply and 
best attested by the fact of his large and long 
continued professional practice with all classes 
of the community, by his early and oft re- 
peated calls to offices of important respon- 
sibility, in which his integrity and assiduity 
were always conspicuous ; by the universal 
respect in which he was held as a citizen, as 
a member of society, as a neighbor, and as a 
friend." 

As an advocate, in the putting of his facts 
and ideas, his propositions and his argument 
into written expression he had unusual facility 
and merit. 

Judge Hebard married Elizabeth Stockwell 
(Brown), Sept. 12, 1830. He died at Chel- 
sea at the age of seventy-five, Oct. 20, 1875. 

MEACHAM, James.— College professor 
and Congregational preacher as well as poli- 
tician, was born in Rutland, August 10, 1810, 
and being left an orphan in early childhood 
was apprenticed to a cabinet maker. But a 
benevolent neighbor, impressed with his tal- 
ents and ambition, assisted him to an educa- 
tion, and he graduated from Middlebury in 
1832, took a course of theology at Andover, 
and was settled as pastor of the Congrega- 
tional church at New Haven in 1838. He 
had been employed before completing his 
education as a teacher in the academies at 
Castleton and St., Albans, and for two years, 
from 1836, had been a tutor at Middlebury. 
In 1846, he was called back to the college to 
take the professorship of elocution and Eng- 
lish literature. His reputation as an orator, 
writer and man of high culture rapidly ex- 
tended and in 1848 he was elected to Con 
gress, served four terms and had been 
unanimously nominated for a fifth at the 
time of his death, August 23, 1856, at the 
age of only forty-six. He resigned his 
chair in the college in 1850 and devoted him- 
self entirely to his public and political 
duties. In Congress he was chairman of 
the committee on the District of Columbia, 
and the severe labors of the position are 
what undermined his health. He was 
prominent in the opposition to the abroga- 
tion of the Missouri compromise, which he 
regarded as a contract which both sides 
were bound to obey in good faith, and he 
warned the Southerners that if they persis- 
ted it was the last compromise that would 
be made between the clashing interests of 
the sections. .\ number of his speeches 
while in Congress have been published. 

MINER, AHLMAN L.— Representative in 
Congress, i85i-'53, was a native of Middle- 
town, the son of Deacon Gideon and 
Rachel (Davison) Miner, and was born 
Sept. 23, 1804. 



I 



'53 



Heworkeilon his father's farm until he 
was of age and then fitted for the sophomore 
class in college, hut instead of entering studied 
law in the offices of Malloney &: Warner at 
Poultney and Royce & Hodges at Rutland ; 
was admitted to the bar in 1832 ; practiced for 
three years at W'allingford and then moved 
to Manchester. He represented the latter 
town four years in the Legislature, 1838, '39, 
'46 and '54 and was also in 1840 county 
senator. He was clerk of the House of 
Representatives, i836-'38 ; state's attorney 
for Hennington county in i843-'44 ; register 
of probate seven years and judge of probate 
three years, i846-'49. His nomination for 
Congress, by the Whigs from the southern 
district of the state, in 185 1, was secured 
after one of the hardest fought pre-conven- 
tion campaigns the state has ever seen. 
Col. Calvin Townsley opposing him. He 
was a man of popular power, social and en- 
gaging personally. He was twice married 
and had eight children. He died July 19, 
1886. 

BARTLETT, THOMAS Jr.— Was a na- 
tive of Burke, the son of Thomas liartlett, a 
man of ability and local prominence in his 
time. \'oung Bardett studied law and set- 
tled in Lyndon in 1839 ; in '41 and '42 he was 
the state's attorney for the county, in 1840 
and '41 was in the state Senate and in 1850 
was elected to Congress for a single term. In 
the former year he was also chosen the town's 
representative and again filled that position 
in '54 and '55. He was also a member of 
the constitutional conventions of 1850 and 
'57 and presided over the former body. At 
that time he was one of the most influential 
men of his district and of the state. 

TRACY, ANDREW. — In Congress for 
one term and speaker of the state House of 
Representatives for three years, was born in 
Hartford, Dec. 15, 1797, the son of James 
and Mercy (Richmond) Tracy. The family 
was one of worthy and prosperous farmers, 
but it was decided to give young .Andrew an 
education, because he was not robust physic- 
ally. He was fitted for college at the Royal- 
ton and Randolph Academies, and entered 
Dartmouth, but remained there only two 
years, because his friend and classmate, 
Leonard Marsh, had to leave on account of 
trouble with his eyes. The two young men 
then struck out into New York state, and 
Tracy taught school at Troy for two years. 
Returning home he studied law in the office 
of George E. Wales, being a portion of the 
time postmaster at White River village, was 
admitted to the bar in 1S26, and began 
]iractice in Quechee village, enlarging his 
clientage and reputation steadily until it be- 
came of state extent. In 1838 he moved to 



Woodstock, where he formed a partnership 
with Norman Williams that lasted until the 
spring of 1839, when Mr. Williams became 
t ounty clerk. The next year he formed one 
with Julius Converse, and in 1849 with Con- 
verse and James Barrett, which lasted until 
he went to Congress. 

For more than a generation Woodstock 
was famous as a place of big lawyers, and 
this firm, and Mr. Tracy at its head, more 
than kept alive the tradition and held its 
rank among some of the ablest competitors 
ever gathered at any bar. Of him W. H. 
Tucker, Hartford's historian, says : " Mr. 
Tracy's power and strength as a lawyer and 
advocate consisted in his wonderful quickness 
of perception, the rapidity with which he 
could adapt facts to legal principles, his 
quick comprehension of the full merits or 
demerits of a case, his keen discriminating 
analysis of facts, the nervous power and 
eloquence with which he presented facts to 
a jury, and in his masterly power of sarcasm 
and invective. Mr. Tracy was not what we 
called a learned lawyer, he rarely read text- 
books or reports, but consulted them in 
connection with his cases. He was well 
grounded in the principles of common law, 
and in his arguments of legal points, rea- 
soned from first principles, and rarely cited 
or referred to decisions." 

H. S. Swan, the Woodstock historian, tells 
of his swift and ready way of speaking, the 
force and compactness of his statements, and 
the keenness of his sarcasm. 

His political career would have been one 
of equal brilliance if his tastes had permitted 
him to persist in it. He was at first a National 
or Adams Republican and then after the Whig 
partv was formed an ardent follower of it. 
He represented Hartford in the Legislature 
for four years, i833-'37, and after his removal 
to Woodstock, he was, in 1839, elected a 
state senator. In 1840 he was a candidate 
against Horace Everett for the Whig nomina- 
tion for Congress, but was defeated after 
a hard fight, much to his chagrin. In 1842, 
however, Woodstock sent him to the Legisla- 
ture, and he was immediately made speaker, 
being re-elected in 1843 and 1844, as long as 
he was in the House and coming out with 
great eclat. In 1852, he was nominated and 
elected to Congress as a Whig, but declined 
re-election after serving one term, being 
thoroughly satiated with political honors and 
a good deal disgusted with what he saw at 
Washington. He returned to the practice of 
his profession with renewed zest and con- 
tinued at it without further distraction through 
his active life. 

Personally, he is described as a tall, slim, 
cadaverous man, who to a stranger would 
seem to be in the last stages of consum])tion. 
But his step was ever quick and elastic, and 



154 



he had a great amount of energy and an in- 
domitable will, though never a well man. 
He died at Woodstock, Oct. 28, 186S. 

SABIN, ALVAH.— Another preacher-pol- 
itician of a power approaching that of Niles, 
Lyon, Leland and the giants of the earlier 
days, was born in Georgia, Oct. 23, 1793. 
the son of Benjamin and Polly ( McMaster ) 
Sabin. He was graduated at Columbian Col- 
lege in the District of Columbia, educated 
for the Baptist ministry, and preached at 
Cambridge, Westfield and Underhill until he 
was settled in Georgia in 1825. Here he re- 
mained, a fine specimen of the old-time 
power of the country minister in the com- 
munity, for forty- two years, removing in 1867 
to Sycamore, 111., where he continued his 
ministerial duties as long as life and strength 
lasted. His only brother, Daniel Sabin, was 
also a Baptist clergyman, and after preach- 
ing at Swanton, North Fairfax, and other 
places for several years, went to Wisconsin. 

Parson Sabin was ten times his town's 
representative in the Legislature, in 1826, 
'35. '38. '40, 47, '48, '49. 5'' '61, and '62, 
and in the latter sessions, though nearly 
seventy years old, was prominent in the war 
legislation. He was three times county 
senator, in i84i,'43 and '45 and was secre- 
tary of state in 1841. He was also county 
commissioner for Franklin county under the 
prohibitory law in 1861 and '62. 

He was first elected to Congress in 1852 
and re-elected in 1854. 

HODGES, George T.— Was born in 
Clarendon, July 4, 17S9, the son of Dr. 
.Silas Hodges, a surgeon in the Revolutionary 
army and for some time in the military 
family of General Washington, and for twenty 
years the leading physician of his section. 
George was the third son of a family of 
eleven children, and took a partial course in 
college, but abandoned it for a business 
career and went to Rutland where he was a 
prosperous merchant for many years and 
until his death. He served repeatedly in 
both houses of the Legislature. On the 
death of Hon. James Meacham, representa- 
tive to Congress, in 1856, he was chosen to 
fill the vacancy. He was a director of the 
old Bank of Rutland from its organization 
in 1825, until his death, and its president 
from 1834. He was also a director and the 
vice-president of the Rutland & Burlington 
R. R., from its commencement. 

He was also a warm supporter of the Ver- 
mont Agricultural Society. He was a man 
of dignified and courteous demeanor and 
with a good deal of ability in both business 
and political affairs. He died at Rutland 
Sept. 9, t86o. 




WALTON, ELIAKIM p.— Representa- 
tive in Congress 
from 1857 to 
1863, one of the 
great editors of 
the state, and a 
valuable c o n - 
tributor to its 
history,wasborn 
a t ^Iontpelier, 
Feb. 17, t8i2, 
the son of Gen. 
E. P. and Prus- 
s i a ( Parsons ) 
Walton. The 
family was of 
Quaker origin, 
and the father, 
who rose to be major-general of the state 
militia, was also for years one of the chief 
editorial powers of the state, who probably 
did more than any other one man towards 
building up the old Whig party and its suc- 
cessor to secure ascendency, and who was 
nominated for ( Governor by the first Repub- 
lican convention in 1S54, but withdrew in 
favor of Judge Royce for the purpose of con- 
solidating the various elements into one 
organization. 

Eliakim, the eldest of his children, was 
educated in the common schools and at the 
Washington county grammar school, but, 
better than all, had a double advantage in in- 
struction by a cultured and discriminating 
mother and of training at the printer's case 
in his father's office. He studied law in the 
ofifice of Samuel & S. B. Prentiss, where he 
also obtained an instructive insight into 
national politics, as the former was then 
United States senator. But instead of giv- 
ing his life to law he was, when twenty-one,, 
in 1833, taken into partnership with his 
father in the publication of the Vermont 
Watchman and State Journal and in the 
general printing and publishing, book-bind- 
ing and paper-making business. Soon the 
main editorial duties fell upon him, while 
General \Valton's attention was chiefly ab- 
sorbed in the other departments of the busi- 
ness, and for thirty-five years, except while in 
Congress and engaged in other public duties, 
he was constantly in the editorial harness. He 
established the first exclusively legislative 
newspaper, which soon expanded into a 
daily. Early in the war he started a daily, 
maintained a li\e correspondent in e\ery 
Vermont regiment at the front and gathered 
and preserved in this way an immense 
quantity of historical data that is of price- 
less value. 

Like his father he was not a seeker for 
office for himself, but in 1853 represented 
Montpelier in the Legislature, and three 
vears later, at the solicitation of ludge Col- 



1 



lamer and other party leaders, reluctantly 
consented to stand for Congress in order to 
solve a political situation that was full of 
com[)lications. He was easily elected by a 
majority of over three to one, and twice re- 
elected, in 1858 and i860. His most notable 
speeches during this service were on the 
admission of Kansas to the Union in March, 
1858; on the tariff question, in February, 
1859 ; on the state of the Union, in Febru- 
ary, 1 86 1, and on the confiscation of rebel 
property, in May, 1862. He demonstrated 
by an exhaustive table of figures the injustice 
to Vermont and seven other states of the 
apportionment act of 1862, based on the 
census of i860, and calling Senator Coila- 
mer's attention to it, the latter procured the 
passage of a supplementary act by whii h 
Vermont's representation in the House wa> 
sa\ed from being cut down from three U> 
two. He performed a similar service for the 
state under the act after the census of 1870, 
and Edmunds and Thurman, producing his 
facts and figures, carried an amendment 
which again sa\ed the threatened states 
from a cut-down. 

Mr. Walton, returning to private life, con- 
tinued in charge of the Watchman until 
1868, when he sold it to J. and J. M. Poland, 
but continued to write much as long as he 
lived. He was a member of the constitu- 
tional con\ention of 1870 and a senator 
from U'ashington county for two terms, 1874 
to '78. He was three times a delegate to 
national conventions, in 1840 to the young 
men's convention at Baltimore, in 1864 to the 
Republican convention at Philadelphia, and 
in 1866 the Philadelphia convention to meet 
and consult with southern men. He was 
])resident of the Vermont Historical Society 
from the retirement of Rev. Dr. Lord in 
1876 until his death, and of the Vermont 
Fxiitors' and Publishers' Association from its 
organization until 1881. He edited Vol. II 
of the collections of the Vermont Historical 
Society, including the Haldimand Papers 
and the eight volumes of the " Records of 
the (;o\ernor and Council," and his notes — 
biographical, historical and explanatory — 
exhibit a painstaking and exhaustive re- 
search, while the ilhnnination of the Haldi- 
mand business, under his careful analysis, 
was a service to the state and to the truth of 
history which cannot be too highly appreci- 
ated, 'j'he "\"erraont Capitol," 1857, consisted 
mainly of his reports, and Walton's Vermont 
Register, up to within ten or a dozen years, 
was under his editorial charge. Printed ad- 
dresses of his include those on Gov. Charles 
Paine, on the Battle of Hubbardton, and on 
Nathaniel Chipman. 

Mr. Walton was twice marrieil, first to 
Sarah Sophia, daughter of Joseph Howes, of 
Montjielier. She" died Sept. 3, 1880, and 



«W 0«%'. 




Oct. 19, 1882, he wedded Mrs. Clara P. 
Field, >ief Snell, of Columbus, Ohio. 
Mr. Walton died Dec. 19, 1890. 

ROYCE, Homer H.— Congressman, 
and chief jus- 
tice of the state 
Supreme Court, 
was born at 
Berkshire, June 
14, 1820, the 
son of Elihu 
Mar V i n , and 
Sophronia (Par- 
k er ) Roy ce . 
His ancestry in 
his father's side 
traces back on 
Z' both directions 

to the fathers of 
the state, Maj. 
Stephen Royce 
and I'2benezer Marvin, and he was a nephew 
of Gov. Stephen Royce. His maternal 
grandfather was Rev. James Parker, the first 
settled minister of Underbill and long 
known as an able preacher of the Congre- 
gational denomination. 

Young Royce was educated in the district 
schools and at the academies in St. Albans 
and Enosburgh, studied law with Thomas 
Childs, was admitted to the bar in 1844, 
was in partnership for two or three years at 
F^ast Berkshire with Mr. Childs, and after- 
wards for about the same time with his rela- 
tive, Heman S. Royce. He was state's 
attorney for Franklin county in 1846 and 
'47. In the same year also he represented 
Pierkshire in the Legislature, was chairman 
of the railroad and a member of the judic- 
iary committees, which had some difficult 
work in a hitherto unexplored field in 
guiding legislation upon the relations of the 
railroads to the state. In 1849, '50 and '51 
and again in 1861 and '68 he was elected 
to the state Senate from Franklin county, 
doing his most notable work on the judic- 
iary committee. 

Professionally and politically he had come 
to be recognized as a man of brilliant parts 
and comprehensive reach of mind, and in 
1856 he was elected a representative in 
Congress, being the youngest member of 
that body, but taking quite an active part 
for a new member, serving on the foreign 
affairs committee, and attracting attention 
by his speech on the Cuban ciuestion, which 
was at that time deeply agitating the country. 
Retiring from Congress he resumed his 
professional practice with increasing renown, 
until in 1S70 he was elected justice of the 
Supreme Court, and regularly re-elected 
until in 1882, on the death of Judge Pier- 
point, Governor Farnham appointed hinv 



'56 



WOODBRIDGE. 



chief justice, a position tliat he held by 
regular re-election, though once or twice 
with a spirited contest, until his death. It 
was under him as chancellor that the long 
and involved litigation of the Central Ver- 
mont R. R. arose. Many of his opinions, 
notably as to the disqualification of jurors, 
as to what constitutes an expert, and as to 
the rights of riparian owners, are often 
quoted. 

Judge Royce was prominent among the 
promoters of the Mississquoi R. R. In 
1882 he received the degree of I.L. 1). from 
the University of Vermont. 

He married, Jan. 23, 185 1, Mary, daugh- 
ter of Charles Edmunds of Boston, who bore 
him three children : Stephen E., Homer C, 
and Mary Louise. 

Mr. Royce died April 34, 1891. 

BAXTER, PORTUS.— Representative in 
Congress 1861- 
'65, the "sol- 
dier's friend," as 
^ he w a s t h e n 

fondly and de- 
ser^•edly called, 
and, for a full 
decade before, 
the Thurlovv 
Weed of Ver- 
mont politics, 
the greatest per- 
sonal political 
force on the east 
side of the 
mountains, was 
born from one of 
iiulies of the state, at 
Brownington, 1806. He was liberally educated 
at Norwich University, but engaged at Derbv 
in 1828 in mercantile and agricultural pur- 
suits, and, with his keen activity, energy, and 
farsightedness, most successfully. His posi- 
tive character, his fine judgment of men, and 
his facile handling of them rapidly won him 
an influential position in politics, first in his 
town and county, then throughout the dis- 
trict and the state, and finally in national 
affairs. But he was never a self-seeker, more 
enjoying power behind the throne, in con- 
ventions and appointments, and in using his 
electric power to lift other men rather than 
himself. 

He repeatedly refused election as town 
representative and once or twice at least 
could have had his party's nomination 
for Congress but preferred it to go to others. 
He was an ardent Henry Clay Whig while 
the party lasted, and was the only delegate 
from New P^ngland in the convention of 
1848 to advocate the nomination of Gen- 
eral Taylor from the beginning. In 1852 
he headed the Scott electoral ticket in Ver- 




the ol.k 



mont, and in 1856 that of the young Repub- 
lican party for Fremont. 

Finally, in i860, he accepted a nomina- 
tion for Congress, beginning services with the 
opening of the rebellion and continuing 
through the momentous events of that pe- 
riod, until in 1866, with the Union secure, he 
declined a re-election, which he had before 
had almost unanimously. He served indus- 
triously on the committees of elections, agri- 
cultural, and expenditures of the navy de- 
partment. He was a close friend of Secretary 
Stanton, and the latter as he said, found it 
about impossible to refuse him anything. 
Mr. Baxter improved the opportunity to min- 
ister with extraordinary zeal to the wants 
of the soldiers in the field. He operated 
by personal efforts, by the charm of his man- 
ners and the magnetism of his conversation 
and social intercourse, rather than by speech- 
making. He never but twice attempted 
any formal speech-making or any real 
argument on his feet. What he had to say 
he said in a few words, so surcharged with the 
intense conviction and the thorough earnest- 
ness of his nature as to well take the 
place of logic and rhetoric. He was in 
every fibre of his being a patriot ; he was a 
man of generous and warm svmpathies. 
These two facts, with his frank and engaging 
manners, explain his remarkable power of 
party leadership. "We never knew a more 
earnest or energetic politician," said one 
eulogist after his death. During the ghastly 
days of the Wilderness campaign and fight 
he was at the front at Fredericksburg to 
minister to the wounded and suffering, and 
all that sunmier both he and his wife 
remained at their post of tender duty until they 
were themselves prostrated, and sickness only 
made an interval in their labors. It was no 
wonder that he obtained such a large place in 
the soldiers' affections. Two of his sons, 
physicians, also rendered invaluable ser- 
vice on the field and in the hospitals, and 
a third, the youngest, entered the service as a 
private, in the i ith Vermont and came out a 
brevet major, with successive promotions, all 
won by gallantry. 

His wife, was Ellen Jannette, daughter of 
Judge Harris of Strafford, whom he wedded 
in 1832. 

Mr. Baxter died at Washington, March 4, 
1868, from pneumonia, after only a few days' 
illness, though he had for years suffered from 
asthma. 

WOODBRIDGE, FREDERICK E.— For 
four years in Congress, was born at Ver- 
gennes, .August 29, 1818, graduated at the 
University of Vermont, 1840, studied law 
with his father, Hon. E. D. Woodbridge and 
was admitted and practiced at Vergennes. 
He was a member of the state House of 



«57 



Representatives, 1849, 1857, 1858, repeatedly 
mayor of \'ergennes, state auditor, i85o-'5i- 
52, prosecuting attorney, i854-'58, engaged 
in railroad management, and was several 
years vice-president and active manager of the 
Rutland & Washington R. R. ; a state senator, 
i86o-'6i, and president pro tonpoie of that 
body in 1861. He was elected a represent- 
ative from Vermont in the Thirty-eighth 
Congress as a Republican, receiving 8,565 
votes, against 3,486 for White, Democrat ; 
was re-elected to Thirty-ninth Congress, re- 
ceiving 9,447 votes, against 3,671 for \\'ells, 
Democrat, was re-elected to Fortieth Con- 
gress, 10,568 votes, against 3,036 for Wells, 
Democrat. 

Mr. Woodbridge died April 25, 18SS. 

SMITH, WORTHINGTON C— Congress- 
man from 1867 to 1873, son of Congressman 
John and Maria (Curtis) Smith, and brother 
of Gov. John Gregory Smith, was born at 
Barre, Mass., August 12, 1789. He gradu- 
ated from the University of Vermont, near 
the head of his class, in 1843, and studied 
law for a while in his father's office, but 
abandoned it before admission to the bar to 
enter business life. He embarked in the 
iron trade in 1845, and carried it along suc- 
cessfully, either alone or in partnership, until 
i860, when he leased the works known as 
the St. Albans Foundry until 1878, then re- 
suming the active management again. The 
business consisted chiefly in the manufacture 
of articles needed by railroad companies. 
He was himself largely identified with the 
railroading of the state, being a director for 
several years and afterwards president of the 
Vermont & Canada, a trustee and manager 
of the Vermont Central and the leased lines 
from 1870 to the crash of 1S73, then vice- 
president for three years of the Central Ver- 
mont, and one of the trustees for six years 
after 1872, and then president and manager 
of the Missisquoi road. He was also presi- 
dent of the \'ermont National Bank, at St. 
.Albans, from 1864 to 1870. 

Up to the war he was a Democrat in poli- 
tics, but promptly identified himself with 
what he regarded as the party of the Union 
after the firing on Fort Sumter. As presi- 
dent of the corporation of St. .'Albans he con- 
vened the first "war meeting" at the place, 
and he helped to raise and equip the Ransom 
Guards, a company in the first volunteer reg- 
iment dispatched from Vermont. In 1863 
he represented St. .'\lbans in the Legislature, 
and in i864-'65 was state senator, being 
complimented by a unanimous election to 
the presidency pro tem of that body in the 
latter year. He had ser\ed so usefully in both 
branches of the Legislature that in 1S66 he 
was sent to Congress, and was re-elected in 
1868 and 1S70. In the two latter terms he 



served on the committee on banking and cur- 
rency, of which Garfield was chairman. His 
position was not a prominent one in Con- 
gress, though its duties were well filled. His 
first speech, on the question of the impeach- 
ment of President Johnson, was a very good 
one in its discussion of constitutional princi- 
ples. Another one which attracted some 
attention was delivered Jan. 26, 1869, and 
took the ground that the way to reach specie 
payments was to retire the greenbacks. 

Mr. Smith was possessed of a good deal of 
executive ability, was keen and farsighted as 
a business man, and personally was a most 
interesting conversationalist, and he had the 
powers of mind that would have adorned 
almost any of the professional walks. 

He married, Jan. 12, 1850, Catherine M., 
daughter of Maj. John \\'alworth of Platts- 
burg, N. v., and seven children, of whom 
five sursived childhood, were the issue of 
the union. 

He died Jan. 2, 1894. 

W 1 L L A R D , Charles W.— Lawyer, 

editor and congressman, was born at Lyndon, 
June 18, 1827, and son of Josiah and Abigail 
(Carpenter) Willard. He graduated from 
Dartmouth in 1851, and came to Montpelier 
where he studied law in the office of Peck & 
Colby, was admitted to the bar in 1853, and 
for a time was in partnership with F. F. 
Merrill. He was a man of refined scholarly 
habit, of a breadth and candor of mind that 
were almost Madisonian, and of high ideals 
and earnest purposes in every relation of life. 
These qualities combined with practical good 
sense and ready courage in contests for what- 
ever he believed to be right, made him a 
power for good in state thought and opinion, 
and though he was lacking utterly in the arts 
of politics secured him steady advancement. 
In 1855 and '56 he was secretary of state, 
until he declined a further re-election. In 
i860 and '61 he was a state senator from 
Washington county, and in the latter year 
became editor and proprietor of the Mont- 
pelier Freeman, which he built up to be one 
of the most influential papers of the state, 
and a fine exponent of the more temperate 
thought of his party. He retained the con- 
trol of its conduct and most of the time did 
its editorial work until 1873, though in 1865 
he was for a time in Milwaukee in the editor- 
torial chair of the Sentinel, and as long as 
life lasted he wrote much and inspiringly on 
current events. 

He was elected to Congress in 1868, and 
re-elected in 1870 and 1872. His service 
was both conscientious and laborious, so 
much so as to undermine his health. In the 
latter part of his service amid the revulsions 
of wholesale corruption, the credit Mobilier, 
salary grab and other scandals, the use of 



iS8 



force to sustain state governments in the 
South, and the progress of the third term 
movement for President Grant, hs got out of 
sympathy with his party, and voted inde- 
pendently on a number of questions, while 
he wrote vigorously in criticism of e\ents. 
The result was that he was defeated for re- 
nomination. 

For some time afterwards his energies 
were given largely, with visits to Colorado 
and other places, in efforts to regain his 
health, but with only partial success. His 
intellectual activity, however, did not cease, 
and in 1879 he accepted an appointment as 
one of the commissioners to revise the 
statutes of the state, and his colleague, Col. 
W. G. Veazey, having gone upon the bench, 
the burden of the work fell on Mr. Willard, 
and he did it, had the copy all prepared and 
about three-fourths of it put to press, before 
death overtook him, June 7, 1880. 

In the state election of 1878 he received 
quite a complimentary vote, without any 
action or approval on his part, from an inde- 
pendent movement in the southeast part of 
the state, consisting mainly of I )emocrats. 
He was a life-long member of the Congre- 
gational church, and a genuine Christian in 
his daily walk. 

He married, in 1855, Emily Doane, daugh- 
ter of H. H. Reed, and she bore him four 
children: Mary, Ashton R. (a lawyer and 
literateur of growing reputation), KlizaMay, 
and Charles Wesley. 

DENISON, Dudley C. -Congressman, 
born in Royalton, Sept. 13, i8ig, was the 
son of Joseph A. and Rachael (Chase) Den- 
ison. The Denison family is of English 
origin, represented now in that country by 
the Earl of Londesborough. The Chase 
family and its distinction in .American life is 
traced in the sketch of Senator Dudley Chase, 
after whom our subject was named. 

Dudley C. Denison was graduated from 
the University of Vermont in 1840, studied 
law in the office of John S. Marcy, was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1845, and has practiced 
continually at Royalton, having his oldest son, 
J. D. Denison, for a partner after 1870. He 
was coimty senator in t853-'54, state's attor- 
ney 1858 '60, and represented Royalton in the 
House in i86i-'62-'63, serving on the com- 
mittee of ways and means, and doing efficient 
work in securing the first appropriation for 
defraying the expenses of the war for the 
Union. In 1864 President Lincoln ap- 
pointed him United States District .Attorney 
for the District of Vermont, and he held the 
position until 1869, having a good many dif- 
ficulties growing out of the war to handle, 
as also those connected with the Fenian 
raid on Canada. 



The political reaction of 1874, so strong 
throughout the country, was intensified in the 
old Second District of Vermont by the an- 
tagonism left by the animated contest for the 
nomination to Congress in 1872 between 
Judge Poland and Judge B. H. Steele. 
Poland won, but he had another hard fight, 
though against a more scattered and more 
poorly led opposition to get the nomination 
in 1874. The result was a bolt after the con- 
tention, the opposition concentrating on 
Denison. The result was no election in 
September and at the second trial in Novem- 
ber the Democrats generally united with the 
dissatisfied Republicans, and Denison was 
elected by a handsome majority, getting 
8,295 ^'otes to 4,079 for Poland, and 1,524 
for Alex. McLane, the Democrat. Mr. Deni- 
son was elected for a second term in 1876, 
by a vote of 14,430 to 5,739 for A. M. 
Dickey, Democrat. His congressional career, 
however, was without notable incident, e.x- 
cept that he was one of the twelve in the 
House to vote against a resolution declaring 
that no man should be eligible to a third 
term for the presidency. 

At the expiration of his term he returned 
to the practice of his profession with renewed 
\igor and success. He was regarded as an 
especially strong jury advocate, full, clear and 
explicit in his statement of the case, and with 
a rare faculty of inspiring confidence. 

He was married Dec. 22, 1846, to Eunice, 
daughter of Joseph Dunbar, of Hartland, and 
seven children, of whom five survive, were the 
issue of this union. Besides Joseph D., his 
father's partner, John H., is a lawyer at Den- 
ver, Col., and three are daughters. 

B A R L OW, Bradley. — Congressman, 
banker, railroad 
operator, over- 
land stage pro- 
prietor and for 
forty years one 
. of the most ac- 

tive and influen- 
tial men of his 
section, was born 
in Fairfield, May 
12, 1814, the son 
of Col. Bradley 
and De b o r a h 
(Sherman) Bar- 
low. His father 
was one of the 
leading citizens 
and business men of Franklin county. 

The son, receiving a common school edu- 
cation, commenced life as a clerk in a store 
at Philadelphia, then succeeded his father in 
business at Fairfield, until he moved to St. 
.Albans, in 1857, to become cashier of the 
bank there. The bank management was his 



..;*i 1«5l 




159 



primary business, first as cashier, then, after 
1S74, as president, until the collapse of all 
his interests in 1883. 

In 1S60 he was drawn through a loan he 
had made into the overland stage and ex- 
press business in the West. He readily saw 
the opportunities and future of the business, 
and for the next twenty years as the chief 
member of the firm of Barlow & Sanderson, 
and in other connections, he was deeply en- 
gaged in it, building htmdreds of miles of 
road, employing hundreds of men, and thou- 
sands of horses and mules, and at one time 
covering an aggregate distance of seven 
thousand miles a day. The enterprise was 
very successful, and when Mr. Barlow re- 
tired it was with a fortune. Hut he was 
also a thorough believer in Vermont and her 
resources, as are all who know the West best, 
and he was full of projects for Vermont 
development, in the water power at Ver- 
gennes, the statuary marble quarries and 
mills at Brandon, in all of which he had in- 
terests, but misfortune prevented the fulfil- 
ment of his plans. He was liberal to every 
project of enterprise, benevolence, or public 
spirit at St. Albans, and especially he put 
some 540,000 into the Welden House at 
that place. 

He became interested in the Southeastern 
Railway of Canada and Northern Vermont 
in 1879, after the death of Col. A. B. Foster, 
whose sons, one of whom had married a 
daughter of William Barlow, found his es- 
tate badly involved. Barlow stepped into 
the breach, purchased one interest after 
another until he became substantial owner of 
the whole property, entered upon an exten- 
sive scheme of equipment, improvement and 
development, acquiring, by lease and pur- 
chase of securities, control of a line 300 
miles in length and connecting the Atlantic 
seaboard with Montreal and the Canadian 
Northwest. He had a contract with the syn- 
dicate controlling the Canadian Pacific and 
went ahead with his improvements in full 
confidence that the contract would be ful- 
filled, because it was a needed property for 
the syndicate. 

But the latter preferred to get control 
cheaper, so at a critical time it refused to 
ad\'ance the expected money, and Barlow 
was compelled to fail, drawing his bank down 



with him and making the beginning of a 
series of crashes that wiped out every bank 
in St. Albans. He turned over everything 
for the benefit of creditors, who almost uni- 
versally felt only sympathy for him, regarding 
the failure, disastrous as it was, as a misfor- 
tune rather than fault. He never recovered 
from the blow, and his remaining years were 
passed in comparative retirement until his 
death. 

Mr. Jjarlovv represented Fairfield in the 
Legislature of 1845, 1850. 1851 and 1852, 
and St. Albans in 1864 and 1865, while he 
was a member of the state Senate from 
Franklin county in 1866 and 1868. He 
was a member of the Constitutional Conven- 
tions of 1843, 1850 and 1857 and assistant 
secretary of the former. In each of these 
bodies and wherever he was placed, his 
ready and resourceful mind, his faculty of 
making winning combinations, and his clear 
and businesslike way of statement whenever 
he spoke, made him a leader in influence. 
Up to the war he was a Democrat in politics 
but afterwards a Republican. He was the 
county treasurer from i860 to 1867, and 
among the other positions of responsibility 
and trust he held were that of director and 
president of the ^'ermont &: Canada R. R., 
and director of the Central \'ermont and 
other companies. 

In 1878 he was ambitious to go to Con- 
gress, but was defeated for the nomination 
by Gen. W. W. Grout. A bolt was soon 
organized, and an independent convention 
held to endorse the nomination which had 
been given him by the Greenbackers, who 
were quite strong in the district, and the 
bulk of the Democrats turned in to his sup- 
port. The result was to prevent Grout's 
election at the first trial and Barlow's easy 
victory at the second. Barlow had the 
unanimous vote of his native town of Fair- 
field and the largest one that was ever cast 
for any candidate of any party in St. .Ailbans. 
But he served only one term. Before that 
was out he got involved in his Southeastern 
enterprise and before the next campaign 
opened withdrew his name in favor of his 
former competitor. Gen. \\'. W. Grout. 

Mr. Barlow married, Jan. 17, 1837, Caro- 
line, daughter of Gen. James Farnsworth of 
Fairfax, and the issue of the union were 
five children, only two of whom survive. 



JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 



By HIRAM A. HUSE. 



The following is a complete list of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Vermont, with 
dates of service, from 1778 to 1894. 



•Moses Robinson, Ch. J., 


tjonas Galusha, 


1807-09 1 Milo L. Bennett, 


1838-50, 


1852-59 


177S-S4. 1785-80 


David Fay, 


1809-1:5 1 William Hebard, 


1842-43, 


1844-45 


John Shepardson, 1778-80 


Daniel Farrand. 


1813-ii 1 Daniel Kellogg, 


1843-44. 


1845-5' 


John Fassett, 1778-86 


ITJonathan H. Hubbard, 


1813-15 


tHiland Hall. 




1846-50 


Thomas Chandler, 1778-79 


Asa.41dis, Ch. J., 


1S15-16 


Charles Davis, 




1846-48 


John Throop, 1778-82 


tRichard Skinner. Ch. J., 




§LukeP.Poland.Ch.J., 


1848-50, 


1857-65 


Paul Spooner, Ch. J., 1779-89 


18.5-17. 


1823-29 


Pierpoint Isham. 




.851-57 


Increase Mosley, 1780-81 


§James Fisk, 


1815-17 


Asa 0. Aldis. 




1857-05 


•ElishaPayne, Ch. J., 1781-82 


tWilliam A. Palmer, 


1816-17 


John Pierpoint, Ch. |., 




1S57-82 


Simeon Olcott, 1781-82 


§Dudley Chase, Ch. I., 


1817-21 


James Barrett. 




1857-80 


•Jonas Fay, 1781-83 


Joel DooHttle, 


1817-23 


Loyal C Kellogg, 




1859-67 


Peter Olcott, 1782-85 


William Brayton. 


1817-22 


tAsahel Peck, 




1860-74 


Thomas Porter. 1783-86 


tCornelius P. Van Ness, Ch. J 




William C. Wilson, 




1863-70 


Nathaniel Niles, 1784-88 




1821-23 


Benjamin H, Steele, 




1865-70 


§Nathaniel Chipman, Ch, J., 


tCharles K. Williams, Ch. J., 




JohnProut 




1867-69 


1786-87, 1789-91, 1796-97, 1813-15 


1822-24, 


1829-46 


tHoyt H. Wheeler, 




1869-77 


•Luke Knowlton, 1786-87 


Asa Aikens, 


1823-25 


jHomer E. Rnyce. Ch. 


., 


1870-Qo 


§Stephen R. Bradley, 1788-89 


§Samuel Prentiss, Ch. J., 


1S25-30 


Timothy P Redfield. 




.870-84 


Noah Smith, 1789-91, 1798-1801 


Titus Hutchinson, Ch. J., 


1825-34 


tJonathan Ross, Ch. J., 




1870- 


Samuel Knight, Ch. J., 1789-94 


tStephen Royce, Ch. J.. 




tH. Henry Powers. 




.874-9° 


§Elijah Paine, 1791-94 


1825-27, 


1829 52 


Walter C. Dunton, 




1877-79 


tisaac Tichenor, Ch. J., 1791-96 


Bates Turner, 


1827-29 




Wheelock G. Veazey, 




1879-89 


Lott Hall, 1794-1801 


Ephraim Paddock. 


1828-31 




Russell S. Taft, 




1880- 


Enoch Woodbridge, Ch. J., 1794-1801 


John C. Thompson. 


1830-31 




John W. Rowell. 




1882- 


tisrael Smith, Ch. J., 1707 98 


Nicholas Baylies, 


1831-34 




William H Walker, 




1884-87 


•Jonathan Robinson, Ch. J., 1801-07 


«Samuel S. Phelps. 


1S3.-38 




James M. Tyler, 




"!?'" 


RoyalTyler, Ch. J,, 1801-13 


Ijacob Coilamer. 


1834-42 




Loveland Munson. 




i88q- 


Stephen Jacob, 1801-03 


tjohn Mattocks, 


i8j4-35 




Henry R. Start, 




1890- 


Theophilus Harrington, 1803-13 


Is.iac F. Redfield, Ch. J.. 


1835-60 




Laforrest H. Thompsor 




1890- 



* Biographical sketch will be found among " The Fathers." t Biographical sketch will be found a 
t Biographical sketch will be found in Part H. § Biographical sketch will be found ; 

V, Biographical sketch will be found among " The Representatives." 



ng"TheGo 



THEIR FIELD OF LABOR. 

There are (since Dec. i, 1893) three terms (October, January and May terms) of the 
Supreme Court, all held in Montpelier. The seven judges of the Supreme Court (one chief 
judge and six assistant judges) all attend these terms, giving them from fifteen to twenty 
weeks' work in a year hearing cases that go up from the county courts on appeal or excep- 
tion. Besides this each judge presides in four terms of county court (our trial court) each 
year. For some years the judges have gone in rotation to their county court work, and, as 
there are fourteen counties in the state, it takes each judge three and one-half years to make 
the entire circuit of the state as presiding judge of the county court. Until about ten years 
ago this county court work was done in a different way, each judge having two or three 
counties where he regularly presided, and till Dec. i, 1893, a term of the Supreme Court was 
held in each county attended by four judges, there being only one general term held in 
Montpelier. 

So that the Supreme Court, as to its own terms, has ceased to be " on wheels," but its 
members still have to wheel about, or slide about the whole state to do their nisi prius 
work. , 

The aboriginal jurisdiction of the Indians was not much interfered with till about the 
middle of the eighteenth century, and till that time they ran things and themselves pretty 
much as they liked, and indeed, for many years after that, now and then ran the whites off 
in a way the latter did not like. 

Governor Benning (hence Bennington, and John and Molly, whose real name was 
Elizabeth Stark, and the battle and the monument) Wentworth of New Hampshire began 



JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT. l6l 

granting towns in 1749, and to 1764 had granted one hundred and thirty-eight towns, on 
what is now Vermont territory. .At the close of the French and Indian war immigration 
set in, and in 1 764 an order of the King in council made the west bank of the Connecticut 
River the boundary between New Hampshire and New York, and New York began granting 
not only lands not before granted by New Hampshire, but also regranting such granted 
lands on which settlements had been made. The King, in 1767, ordered New York to 
cease making these grants, but the New York authorities construed the order to apply only 
to lands already granted by New Hampshire. 

We get to 1764 no counties, for New Hampshire itself was not divided into counties 
till 1769 or 1771, and as her courts between 1749 and 1764 seem to have been held at 
Portsmouth, the luxury of a lawsuit was rather a long-distance blessing for Vermont. From 
I 764, for some years, the privilege of " 'tendin' court " could only be indulged in in Albany, 
for the whole state was then in .Albany county. This " privilege " continued for the west 
])art of the state longer than for the east, and was not highly valued by the settlers of the 
" grants," as is set forth in Judge Taft's excellent sketches of the Supreme Court now publish- 
ing in the "Green Bag." He says: "So many of the recalcitrant settlers were sum- 
moned to the City Hall in .Albany, in which the blind goddess purported to hold sway, that 
a meeting of the settlers was held at Bennington to devise means to get rid of the building. 
Several methods of blowing it up were suggested, when Ethan .Allen, to divert their minds 
from that manner of destruction, proposed that Sim Sears, a famous land speculator, noted 
tor selling property that did not belong to him, 'be employed to sell the d — d thing.' " 

By the way, how Ethan keeps himself to the fore ! Evidently not as much loved by his 
fellows as were Seth \Varner and Remember Baker, his "please mention that I was there" 
gets obeyed by later generations, though it only drew from the parson to whom it was 
directly addressed, the rebuke, "Sit down, thou bold blashemer." He 7iias bold, and strong ; 
not modest : loved to do things deserving praise, and loved praise. Only the other day, 
going down through the State House yard, I met by the gate a man and woman with their 
little girl between them. It would have warmed the cockles of Ethan's heart to have heard, 
as I did when I passed them, the mother say to the girl, "I'll show him to you just as soon 
as we get there." The Bennington cannon and Mead's statue of .Allen flank the State House 
door, and within and above are the battle-flags borne against the rebellion — all symbols of 
the sword that won and preserved the peace in which our courts give justice to those who 
seek it within their precincts. 

.Allen, \Varner, Baker, and their fellow settlers didn't have county seats and court- 
houses on the " Hampshire Grants " for some time, but in the Documentary History of 
New York may be found some " mighty interesting reading," as to how they judged and 
punished those who trespassed on their lands. In fact, these plaints of those who suffered 
from the beech seal, and from the twigs of the wilderness, and from the free and untram- 
meled language of the woodland judges, are excellent specimens of reporting, and would 
make at least as large a volume as N. Chipman. 

New York took measures for the administration of her laws in the territory declared to 
be hers in the order of 1764, beginning in 1766 to establish the county of Cumberland and 
effecting it finally by a charter of March 17 or 19, 1768 — the boundaries were the west 
bank of the Connecticut, thence twenty-six miles to the southwest corner of Stamford, thence 
north fifty-six miles to the northeast corner of Socialborough (Clarendon), thence north 
fifty-three degrees, east thirty miles to the south corner of Tunbridge, thence by the south line 
of Tunbridge, Strafford and Thetford to the Connecticut. The county seat was first Ches- 
ter, then (1772) Westminster. .A Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the 
Peace was authorized to be held twice a year. Thomas Chandler of Chester, Joseph Lord 
of Putney and Samuel Wells of Brattleboro were first commissioned judges of the Inferior 
Court of Common Pleas July 16, 1766, and their commissions were renewed in April, 1768 
and 1772, and in the last named year Noah Sabin was added to their number. So the first 
court ever held in Vermont w-as at Chester, in the county of Cumberland of the state of 



l62 JUDGES OF THE SUPREIIE COURT. 

New York, and the first judges were the above named. I think Charles Phelps of Marlboro, 
the great-grandfather of Gen. John W. Phelps, was the first Vermont lawyer, at any rate he 
had the first law library of any member of the profession in the state and by being a Yorker 
in sympathy and action, got it confiscated. Mr. Phelps got most of his books back after a 
time, but the revisers of the laws in 1782 made use of them in their work and they may be 
said to have constituted the first appearance of a Vermont State Library. 

Solomon Phelps, Crean Brush, Charles Phelps and Samuel Knight were commissioned 
as attorneys. John Grout, of Chester, was also admitted an attorney. They were the first 
"block of five" of lawyers here, and in their lives pretty well exemplified the varying for- 
tunes of the profession. Grout had an especially rocky time in attempting to practice ; 
Brush was a tory, and committed suicide in 1777; Knight was an estimable man and highly 
esteemed after the unpopular stand he took with the Yorkers had grown to be an old story ; 
the Phelpses were men of brains but Charles was always in troubled waters, and Solomon, 
his son, at last killed himself. 

By a New York ordinance of March 16, 1770, Gloucester county was established out of 
that part of Albany county lying north of Cumberland county and east of the Green Moun- 
tains, and May 29 of that year, at Kingsland (or Kingsborough), now Washington, the first 
court for Gloucester county was held. There was not an inhabitant or a house within the 
hmits of Kingsland when the county was estabHshed, but a log courthouse and jail were 
there when court was held in May, and' the stream that flows near by is still called "Jail 
Branch." Governor Farnham's article on the Orange County Bar in Child's Gazetter of 
Orange County sets forth the records of this Gloucester county " courts of quarter sessions 
and court of common pleas." John Taplin, Samuel Sleeper and Thomas Sumner were the 
"judges being appointed by the government of New York." There were also present 
James Pennoc, Abner Fowler and John Peters, "Justices of the Quor'm," as well as John 
Taplin, Jr., High Sheriff. The business recorded is : "The court adjourned to the last 
Tuesday of August next." The last Tuesday of August it met and "adjourned to the last 
Tuesday in November next." In November it had eight cases before it, called them and 
put them over, and adjourned to the last Tuesday in February, 1771. 

The record of the next term shows that when our Supreme Court wheeled and slid 
about the state it was not in the lowest condition attainable, for here was its humble fore- 
runner fairly traveling "on its uppers." This is the record (now at Chelsea), and in read- 
ing it one must remember that Mooretown (Moretown) is now Bradford and not the town 
which now has that name, and that Kingsland is now Washington. 



" Feb. 25th, Sat out from Mooretown for Kings Land travieled untill 
1771. Knight there being no road and the Snow very Depe we 

travieled on Snow Shoes or Racatts on the 26th we travieled some ways and 
Held a Council when it was concluded it was Best to open the Court as we saw 
No Line it was not whether in Kingsland or Not But we concluded we were 
farr in the woods we did not expect to see any house unless we marched tliree 
miles into Kingsland and no one lived there when the Court was ordered to be 
opened on the spot. 

Present John Tapun Jniige 

John Peters of the Qitor^m. 
John Taplin, Jun'r, Sheriff. 

All cases continued or adjourned over untill next term. The Court, if 
unc, adjourned over untill the last Tuesday in May next." 

" If one " is careful and good. 

In 1772 it was ordered that the February and August terms be held in Newbury, and 
the court ran a year or more longer. 

In July, 1774, there first appeared in Vermont a Supreme Court judge doing official 
business. This was at Westminster, and the judge was Robert R. Livingston, one of the 
judges of the Supreme Court of the Province of New York, presiding in a court of Oyer and 
Terminer and general gaol delivery. Judge Livingston was born in New York in August, 
1 718, and died in Clermont, N. Y., Dec. 9, 1775. He was a man of abihty and many 
accomphshments, and the richest landholder in New York — his country home at Clermont 



JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 163 

and his city residence in New York being of the best in their day. He married Margaret) 
daughter of Col. Henry Beekman, and his daughter Janet married Gen. Richard Montgomery. 
Judge Livingston was also a landholder in Vermont, as one of the grantees of Camden, 
(part of Jamaica and vicinity). 

The Revolution was coming on apace and the next March saw the close of courts held 
under authority of a Province of a King, and of New York judicial rule in \"ermont. This 
close was more than dramatic ; it was tragic ; and, while there has been much dispute as to 
whether the uprising was against New York or Britain, and some doubt as to William 
French's right to the title that has been given him, it should be remembered that Benjamin 
H. Hall, than whom no more painstaking, accurate and truthful historian ever wrote, claims 
for him in the History of Eastern Vermont, "the title of the proto-martyr to the cause of 
American liberty and of the Revolution." The Westminster massacre marked the last attempt 
to hold court in Vermont under royal authority ; and William French's epitaph on the old 
gravestone that first marked his resting place, is the testimony of his own day and genera- 
tion as to the cause in which this young man from Brattleboro died. It ran thus : 

" In Memory of William French, 
Son to Mr. Nathaniel French. Who 
Was Shot at Westminster March ye i3lh, 
1775, by the hands of Cruel Ministereal tools, 
of Georg ye s^ in the Corthouse at a 11 a Clock 
at Night in the 22^1 year of his Age. 

Here William French his Body lies. 
For Murder his Blood for Vengance cries. 
King Georg the third his Tory crew 
tha with a bawl his head Shot threw. 
For Liberty and his Country's Good, 
he lost his Life his Dearest Blood." 

Charlotte county had been established by New York March 12, 1772, its territory being 
the northern part of what had been Albany county, and lying partly in Vermont and partly 
in New York. The southern part of what is now Bennington county remained in Albany 
■county. So much of Charlotte county was hostile to New York that, in 1774, the courts of 
Albany county were given jurisdiction of crimes committed in Charlotte county — that was 
the year that one hundred pounds reward was ofTered by New York for Ethan .^Uen, the 
same for Remember Baker, and fifty pounds each for six others. Those named in the act 
of outlawry issued an address threatening immediate death to any one trying to arrest them. 
Charlotte county, whose county seat was Fort Edward, really did no business this side the 
present New York line. After the Westminster tragedy no courts were in operation till the 
organization of the state government. The people took care of public matters by commit- 
tees and by the Council of Safety. The division into counties was recognized, however, as 
may be seen, as well as elsewhere, on the title page of Rev. Aaron Hutchinson's Sermon, 
" preached at Windsor, July 2, 1777, before the representatives of the towns in the counties 
of Charlotte, Cumberland and Gloucester, for the forming of the State of Vermont." 

When Vermont's first Legislature convened the new state was organized into two 
counties, Bennington and Unity. This act was passed March 17, 1778. March 21 the 
name of Lhiity was changed to Cumberland. Cumberland included the territory east of 
the Green Mountains and was divided into two shires by the " ancient county line" — the 
Newbury shire and the Westminster shire. Bennington county had also two shires, Ben- 
nington and Rutland. At the February session, 17S1, Bennington county was divided, keep- 
ing under its own name substantially what is now its territory, and its northern part becom- 
ing Rutland county. The same session Cumberland was divided into three counties — 
Windham and Windsor, substantially as now existing ; and Orange county, comprising every- 
thing to the Canada line north of Windsor and east of Rutland. October 18, 1785, Addi- 
son county was established and Oct. 22, 1787, Chittenden county. November 5, 1792, 
Franklin, Caledonia, Orleans and Essex counties were established, but the Orange county 
territory in the above counties was to "continue to be annexed" to Orange county till Oct. 



164 JUDCES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 

I, 1796. Cirand Isle county was formed Nov. 9, 1802, getting North and South Hero from 
Chittenden and its other three towns from Franklin. November i, 1810, Jefferson county 
was incorporated and it was organized in 18 11, beginning its working existence Dec. i 
iSii. It got its territory from Orange, Caledonia, Chittenden and Addison counties. The 
name of Jefferson was changed to Washington Nov. 8, 1814. Lamoille county was estab- 
lished in 1836. 

Vermont's first Legislature met March 12, 1778, and had a session of two weeks, and 
another session in June. It established a special court, with five judges to each court, for 
each shire, thus electing twenty judges, none of whom, it may be noted, were lawyers. In 
June they re-elected twelve of these, and elected eight new ones, and among the eight not 
re-elected was Maj. Jeremiah Clark, the first judge of the Bennington shire. His court had 
done business, however, before he went out of office, for David Redding was tried for and 
convicted of " enemical conduct." Redding was a spy, and had been detected in his secret 
work, and in carrying off some muskets to the enemy. But June 4, John Burnham, who 
appears never to have been admitted to the bar, appeared before the (Governor and Council 
with a copy of Blackstone, and convinced them that it was all wrong to hang Redding, as 
the jury that convicted him consisted of only six men. They gave the prisoner a new trial. 
Ethan Allen had returned the week before from his captivity in England, and had completed 
the celebration of his return, at which, he records, they " passed around the flowing bowl." 
The Governor and/Council on that 4th of June reprieved Redding, who was to have 
been hung that very day, for one week, and appointed .Allen as prosecutor to conduct 
the case at the new trial. A multitude had gathered to see Redding hung, and on learning 
of the reprieve seemed inclined to appeal to Judge Lynch. Allen mounted a stump, waved 
his hat, and, without speaking through it, called ".Attention, the whole ! " advised the people to 
go quietly home, and to return the i ith, adding : "You shall see somebody hung, for if Red- 
ding is not then hung I will be hung myself." The crowd left ; Redding was tried the gth by 
a jury of twelve men. Major Clark being presiding judge again, and Allen conducting the 
prosecution. The twelve found Redding guilty, as the six had done before, and on the i ith 
he was duly hung, having had the same benefit he would from exceptions, if there had been 
any provision for exceptions, which benefit figured up just seven days more of life. 

June 17, 1778, the General Assembly constituted a Superior Court for the banishment 
of Tories and appointed as its judges Col. Peter Olcott of Norwich (afterwards a judge of 
the Supreme Court), Bezaleel Woodward of Dresden (now Hanover, N. H., and then with 
Piermont and many other New Hampshire towns, represented in the Vermont Legislature), 
Major Griswdld, Patterson Piermont, Esq., and Major Tyler. I think it was this court that 
passed judgment of banishment on James Breakenridge, Ebenezer Cole and John McNeill, 
and which the council, July 17, 1778, recommended to " dissist from any further prosecu- 
tions " till the " rising of the Sessions of Assembly in October next." These men sentenced 
to banishment were reprieved till such rising of the Assembly : S^f Xo]. I, Governor and 
Council, pp. 273, 274. 

The Major Tyler of this court was evidently Major Joseph Tyler of Townsend. Major 
Griswold was doubtless Major John Griswold of Lebanon. Patterson Piermont, Esq., I am 
now unable to place. It is a fact that a Capt. Isaac Patterson was then or soon after a resi- 
dent of Piermont. The ridiculous mistake once made by the .Austrian police, warns me 
however from indulging the notion that Patterson of Piermont was the fourth judge. 

The relation — by consanguinity, affinity, or otherwise — of the Austrian police to the 
Supreme Court of Vermont may be rather distant but this paragraph goes in all the same. In 
Watertown, Wis., Feb. 6, 1857, I heard the brilliant if eccentric Rev. James Cook Richmond 
lecture on Hungary, the body of whose patriot Kossuth is at this writing on its way to burial 
in the land he loved. No better word-painting was ever done at the bar or on the lecture plat- 
form than Mr. Richmond's of the bewilderment of the Austrian police when they had muddled 
their brains by some alleged mental process peculiar to themselves and superinduced by 
James Cook Richmond's peculiar name, and became thereby convinced that there was within 



.H'I)i;ks of the suprkme court. 165 

the bounds of the iMnpire a James Cook (or \'awmess Ko-ok as they pronoiun-ed it) of 
Richmond, who had mysteriously disappeared from their ken. This dupUcation business 
brought on by their own stupidity or carelessness was a horror to the police and an amuse- 
ment to Richmond as it was to his audience as he told of the police inquiries continually 
made of him in the hope that he might give aid by having and imparting knowledge of the 
whereabouts of his interesting countryman, Yawmess Ko-ok. The tragic close of Mr. Rich- 
mond's life brought an incident of peculiar interest to Vermonters. In July, 1866, Rich- 
mond was brutally murdered by two of his servants. Frank A. Flower in his life of Matt 
Carpenter, says : " With perhaps a single exception. Carpenter entertained a deeper regard 
for Rev. James Cook Richmond than for any other man of God he ever knew." The 
December after Richmond's murder Carpenter went from Milwaukee to Dutchess county, N. 
Y., and offered to aid in the prosecution, which offer was accepted. The prisoner's counsel 
tried to prejudice the jury by alleging that Carpenter, by his long journey and free services, 
showed he was seeking revenge and not justice. Carpenter made the closing argument and 
the jury brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree after being out only twenty minutes. 
Judge Gilbert who presided at the trial, after it closed, said to him : " I presume, Mr. Car- 
ter, you were a member of Father Richmond's church." " No," says Flower, was the instant 
reply, " I take my religion by the curtesy." 

And now getting near the beginning of the Supreme Court and mentioning Carpenter 
there comes to mind the picture of the professional beginning of those supreme lawyers, 
Edmunds and Carpenter, in their night struggle with each other in the justice's court in 
Bolton nigh unto Camel's Hump ; a scene on which Edmunds threw a flash light when 
speaking in the Senate on the death of Carpenter. 

There were no lawyers in the territory that is now Yermont before the State of Yer- 
mont was established, except those in Cumberland county. These, in their order of com- 
ing, were : Charles Phelps, who came from Massachusetts to Marlboro in 1764 and was 
then a lawyer before there was any court for the place of his new residence, unless one went 
to Portsmouth or .-Xlbany to find it — according as one stood for the Hampshire or York 
jurisdiction; John (irout, about 1 768, who came to Windsor first and rapidly changed to 
Chester; Crean Brush who was licensed to practice law Jan. 27, 1764, in New York by 
Governor Colden, and who came to Westminster in 1771 ; Solomon Phelps, son of Charles 
whose name perhaps should come before Grout's, as Solomon came to Marlboro with his 
father and was commissioned by Gov. Henry Moore of New York, as an attorney-at-law, 
March 31, 176S, though the (record of his admission to the bar by the court in Cumberland 
county is as of Sept. 8, 1772 ; Samuel Knight (afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court), 
who was admitted as an attorney by the court the same day as Solomon Phelps, Sept. 8, 
1772, though he was "commissioned " as an attorney, June 23, 1772 ; Elijah Williams who 
was admitted at March term, 1773, though it does not appear where he lived— an Elijah 
Williams was one of the first settlers of Guilford in 1754 — and the most that can be hoped 
is that when Patterson Piermont makes his local habitation known Williams will come with 
him; Simeon Olcott, who was admitted, Sept. 15, 1774, but as he was doubtless resident 
in Charlestown, N. H., he can hardly count as a Cumberland county lawyer— he was after- 
wards elected a judge of the Supreme Court but did nothing as such except to resign, and 
still later he was chief justice of and a senator from New Hampshire ; and last but not least 
Micah Townsend of Brattleboro, who was admitted in New York in April, 1770, and came 
to Yermont about 1777. Two of the above killed themselves — Crean Brush shot his brains 
out in New York in May, 1778, and Solomon Phelps after preaching, went crazy and tried 
to beat out his brains with the head of an axe but only broke his skull, whereupon trepan- 
ning saved his life till 1 790, when he cut his throat with a razor. Knight became chief 
judge of Yermont and Olcott chief justice of New Hampshire and senator as above stated. 
Micah Townsend lived long and had the happiness so clerkly, and able, and pious a man 
deser%-ed, and as to Charles Phelps and John (irout, of each the old epitaph is true, " af- 
flictions sore long time he bore." 



100 JUnOES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 

At one of the many sessions in which Lyman G. Hinckley, of happy memory, repre- 
sented Chelsea, somebody who had the notion that the state was being impoverished by the 
emoluments pertaining to the office of justice of the peace, had introduced a new fee bill 
for justices and speech after speech was made, all aimed at abuses real or imaginary that 
needed to be corrected in our fifteen hundred or more "courts of record" that don't have a 
seal, .^t last "Lyme" — it was years after he had been Lieutenant-Governor — who had 
nearly all his life been a justice without being made aware of the disgraceful character of the 
occupation as set forth by his fellow-representatives, came to the rescue of the rank and file 
of the judiciary force and announced that he had heard enough of invective against a re- 
spectable body of men, invective having its moving cause, he said, in nine cases out of ten 
in the knowledge of those who assailed our worthy magistrates, that they never could hope 
to arrive at and be clothed with the dignity of a justice of the peace. The House laughed, 
killed the bill, and, figuratively speaking, took off its hat to the representative from Chelsea 
and his army of justices. 

Well it might, for in early times as well as later, the pathway of the local magistrate was 
not strewn with roses. And in September, 1778, when the Superior Court had not been 
established and the Supreme Court was yet farther off in the future, and the Special Courts 
were not in session and the Superior Court for the banishment of tories had been recom- 
mended to "dissist from any further prosecution," the judicial power of the state was in ex- 
ercise only by the despised justices. The following complaint shows some of the emolu- 
ments and pleasures of the office of justice in early days : 

''State of Vermont ( u u-r c . u ^ o 

Cumberland County f Hallifax, September y 20, 1778. 

To^ His Exellencv the Governoh, to His Honour the Lielt. -Governor, to the Honourable Counsil and House of 
Representatives: 

Greeting— The Complaint of William Hill Most Humbly sheweth that your complainant Did on the 24'li Day of Instant 
September receive a warrant from Hubbel Wells Esqr to arrest the Bodys of John Kirkley and Hannah his wife, of the Town 
and County afore Said for asault and Battery parpetrated in the Highway on the body of David Williams in Hallifax afore 
S-j I therefore took the said John and Hannah persuant to the orders and Brought them Before said athority without any 
abuse the warrant was returned the partys called and the Cort opened— then there came Thomas Clark Thomas Baker Isaac 
Orr Henrey Henderson Alexander Stewart Jonathan Saflord Elijah Edwards Peletiah Fitch With about Sixteen Others of Said 
Town armed With Clubs to attempt to Resque the prisoners or to set the Court aside and in a Tumultuors manner Rushed 
into the House Drew their Clubs and Shok them over the Justices Head and Swore he Should not try the case Called him a 
Scoundral and that he to Shew himself such was forgery Which he Should answer for and Bid Defience to the State and all its 
authority with Many more Insults and abuses which Stagnated the free Course of Justice, in that way overpowered the author- 
ity and Stopt the Court— all which is against the peace of the Community Subversive of the athority of the State against the 
peace and Dignity of the Same Your Complainant prays for your advice and assistance in this Matter that Some Method may 
be taken Whereby the above Said Offenders may be Brought to Justice for such acts of Contempt of athority and for such 
atrotious acts of out rage. 

this Granted and Your Complainant as in Duty Bound Shall Ever pray. 

William Hill, Criisl.iile." 

One gathers from the above that the men with clubs were adherents of New York, for 
they maintained that for ^Vells (who was a justice under appointment of the new State of 
Vermont) " to shew himself such " — that is, to claim to be or shew himself as a justice — was 
" forgery," a rather unique but forcible use of the word. 



THE JUDGES. 

At the October session, 1778, at Windsor, Oct. 23, the General Assembly "Resolved, 
that there be a Superior Court appointed in this State, consisting of five judges ;" also, 
" Resolved, that the Hon. Moses Robinson, Esq., be, and is hereby appointed chief judge 
of the Superior Court, and Maj. John Shepardson, second ; John Fassett, Jun., third ; Major 
Thomas Chandler, Jr., fourth ; and John Throop, Esq., fifth, judges of said court." The 
court was to sit four times a year — at Bennington, \\'estminster, Rutland and Newbury, and 
was not to "sit longer at one sitting than one week." This court existed four years. 

The first session was held at Bennington and began Dec. 10, 177S. The record be- 
gins : 



JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 1 67 

"State of Vermont, Bennington, lo"' December, 1778. 
This day met the Superior Court for said State in the Council-Chamber .at Bennington half shire in the house of Mr. Stephen 
Fay's in said town agreeable to an act of the Geneial Assembly of the state made and provided lor that purpose. 

Prescnt-Thc Hon. Moses Robinson, Esi/uire, Chief Judge, 
John Fassett, Jiin'r, and 
Thomas Chandler, Jutz^r, Esquit-es. 
Havins each ..f them taken the necessary oaths of office proceeded to the choice of a clerk for said court," i^c. 

They chose Joseph Fay, F^sii., clerk. The following account, which was allowed, 
shows what judges attended. It seems that Major Shepardson did not attend, but Jonas 
Fay who was a member of the council, did attend, this coming from a provision of law that 
in the absence of a judge a member of the council might sit as a judge. The account given 
below bears on its back the " aproval " of Thomas Chittenden and the receipt of John Fas- 
sett, Jun., to Ira .Allen, the treasurer, in January, 1779, when it is plain Fassett got his pay 
for the money ad\anced to pay the judges and officers. This is the account : 

Bennington, 14th December, 1778. 

State of Vermont. To the Superior Court, Dr. 

To Moses Robinson, Esq., Chief Judge, 4 days' Service, ^600 

Thomas Chandler, Esq., I2 days' Service, 60 miles Travel, 21 o o 

John Fassett, Jur., Esq., 7 days' Service, 18 miles Travel, 11 8 o 

John Throop, Esq., 11 days' Service, 100 miles Do., ^1 10 o 

Jonas Fay, Esq., 2 days' Do., 300 

John Burnum, Esq., State's Attorney, 2 days' service, 300 
Benjamin Fay, Esq., Sheriflf, 4 days' Service, .\ttend Court, Summoning 

24 Jurymen, 36 miles Travel, 9180 

David Robinson, Constable, Attending i day, o 18 o 

Grand Jury's Bill, 10 16 o 

Joseph Fay, Clk., 3 days' Service, 3 12 o 

^i ' o 
Samuel Robinson, Esq., 2 Days, 280 

i<ii to O 

December 14th, 1778. 

We whose names are heretotore prefi.xed do hereby acknowledge to have Reed, of 
John Fassett, Jur., Esq., the several sums anne.xed to each of our Names in the above 
Acct. in full of all demands on said Acct. Moses Robinson. 

Thos. Chandler, Jr. John Fassett, Jur. 

This may certify that the Grand Joseph Fay. Jonas Fay. 

Jury Reed, the money mentioned in David Robinson. John Throop. 

the above act. Saml. Robinson. Benj. Fay. 

Attest: Jos. Fay, Clk. John Burnam, Junr. 

Ira Allen, Esq., Treasurer. 

.\t this session it seems nothing was done the loth, the day court met, except to appoint 
a clerk and adjourn to the nth. On the nth the court was mainly occupied with the case 
of William Griffin vs. Jacob Galusha for fraudulently taking and detaining a certain white 
horse belonging to Griffin ; the parties appeared and joined issue and the defendant Galusha 
"]3leading" for a continuance for the want of material evidence, it was granted him to the 
third Thursday of February, and to that time the court adjourned on the nth. On the 
14th of December, at a Special Superior Court, "called on special occasion," a prisoner 
pleaded guilty of " enemical conduct against this and the United States and going over and 
joining the enemies thereof," and was sentenced, having prayed the mercy of the court, and 
presumably getting benefit from the prayer, to be banished and transported within the 
"enemies lines at Canada, and to depart this state, on or before the loth day of February 
next ; and to proceed within the enemies lines, without delay ; never more to return within 
this, or the United States of America, on penalty of being, on conviction thereof, before 
any court or authority proper to try him, whipped on the naked back, thirty and nine 
lashes ; and the same number of lashes to be repeated once every week, during his stay ; 
paying cost." The bill for service printed above evidently covers the sitting of the court at 
its regular session on the loth and nth, and at its special session of the 14th. 

It is rather interesting to follow out Griffin vs. Galusha. At the February term, 1779, 
C'Talusha was defaulted, and the court judged " that a certain white horse, now in the custody 
of the sheriff, the property of William Griffin, be delivered up to the said Griffin and that 
the defendant pay cost," which order was discharged by the defendant, who turned up after 



IDS JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 

he was defaulted and asked the court to grant a review ; this it did and on the next day 
tried the cause. Galusha got beaten on the trial and had an additional bill of cost to pay. 
At this February term Timothy Brownson of the Council sat with Robinson and Fassett, 
judges, to make a quorum. 

At the May term, 1779, at Westminster, Stephen R. Bradley and Noah Smith were 
" appointed attornies at law, sworn and licensed to plead at the bar within this state " — 
being the first lawyers admitted by a Vermont court. At the June term, 1779, at Rutland, 
Nathaniel Chipman was appointed attorney at law, sworn and licensed to plead at the bar 
within this state. These three young men were very much in evidence in the state later 
on, and Chipman was the first lawyer to become one of the judges of the Supreme Court, 
Bradley the second, and Smith the third. 

Noah Smith was appointed state's attorney pro tempore for the county of Cumberland 
the day he was admitted, and on the same day exhibited a complaint against Nathan 
Stone, of Windsor, for uttering reproachful and scandalous words of the authority. It 

appears that Stone, on the 15th of March, at Windsor, had said to the sheriff, " 

you, and your Governor and your Council," or, as set forth by Smith in his complaint, " you 
(meaning the high sheriff of said county, John Benjamin, Esq.), and your Governor (mean- 
ing his Excellency the Governor of this state), and your Council (meaning the Honorable 
Council of this state), which opprobrious language was a violation of the law of the land." 
Stone was fined twenty pounds and cost. Lucky for Stone he didn't damn the Court as 
well. At that term all five of the judges were present, so no member of the Honorable 
Council sat in judgment on his reviler. Smith and Chipman were the first lawyers to be 
admitted who resided west of the Green Mountains. Smith had lived in Bennington nearly 
a year and Chipman had come that spring from Connecticut, where he had been admitted 
an attorney in March. 

It is not intended to give here any detailed account of the acts constituting the courts 
of Vermont. It is enough to say that county courts were established by acts of the Feb- 
ruary and April sessions, 1781, and the first county court was held at Westminster June 26, 
1 78 1. In 1779 the Governor, council and assembly were invested with equity powers as a 
court in cases involving more than four thousand pounds and with appellate powers in equity 
cases involving more than twenty and less than four thousand pounds, but the 1785 Council 
of Censors pointed out the inconvenience of that arrangement and in i 786 it was repealed. 
The Superior Court was given equity jurisdiction in cases above twenty and less than four 
thousand pounds. The Governor, council and assembly had one chancery case before them 
in 1785 but gave up the consideration of it. There was no chancery court between 1786 
and 1797. In 1797 the court of chancery was constituted by legislative enactment, and 
till 1839 consisted of the judges of the Supreme Court, and in 1814 each of the Supreme 
Court judges was authorized to make as a chancellor interlocutory orders in vacation in 
chancery cases preparatory to final hearing. The Supreme Court continued to 1839 to be 
the Court of Chancery and of course there were no appeals, but since then (except from 
1850 to 1857, when the circuit judges were chancellors), there has been a court of chancery, 
consisting of one judge as chancellor ( each Supreme Court judge being a chancellor) , sitting 
contemporaneously with the county courts in each county, appeal from all decrees lying to 
the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was constituted in 1782 and five judges elected. 
The Supreme Court judges concluded the work of the Superior Court, and except to have 
this business finished, the latter court ceased to exist after four years from its creation, the 
county and Supreme courts taking its place. Ihe first session of the Supreme Court was 
held at Marlboro, Windham County, F"eb. 6, 1783, after its judges had finished business 
pending in the Superior Court. 

In name no judges elected before October, 1782, belong in the list of Supreme Court 
judges, but the judges of the Superior Court have been treated as though they properly be- 
longed in that list and the Supreme Court took the place of the Superior Court, and four of 
the Superior Court judges of 1782 became Supreme Court judges that same year. The 



SHEPARIISON. 



169 



Superior Court judges will be here treated as though their court had been legally called 
Supreme. 

It was not till i 786, four _vears after the Supreme Court was established, that it had a 
lawyer on its bench, and the Superior Court never had one. Lawyers were scarce for one 
thing, and were either very young or in sympathy with the claims of New York. Out in 
Illinois long ago a sensible business man was nominated for judge, and, thinking there was 
no possibility of election did not take the trouble to decline. To his surprise he was elected 
and thereupon went to a good friend who was a lawyer for advice. The lawyer said, "ac- 
cept," and when the judge-elect protested that he would not know what to do, told him : 
"Hear each case and decide it as seems to you right, and in nine cases out of ten your de- 
cision will be right, but never give a reason for your decision for in nine cases out of ten 
your reason will be wrong." It was not till 1793 that any book of reports of decisions of 
our Supreme Court was published, and "N. Chipman" is a very unpretentious volume. 

Before giving account of the judges who sat in the highest court of the state from the 
October session of 1778, a final word may be said of that first superior court created June 
17, 1778, for the banishment of Tories, etc. A quarter of a century ago Charles Reed when 
working with Gov. Hiland Hall in preparing for publication matter going into the collections 
of the Vermont Historical Society, got on track of a man, real or mythical, of the name of 
Evan Paul, but never found him. And Patterson Piermont, Esq., judge of the brief court of 
banishment, yet stands the shadow of a name. 

The judges of the Superior Court elected in ( )ctober, 1 7 78, were five ; Moses Robinson, 
John Shepardson, John Fasset, Jr., Thomas Chandler, Jr., and lohn Throop. 



ROBINSON, Moses.— Chief judge of 
the Superior Court, 1778 to 1781, and from 
June, 1782, to October, 1782 ; chief judge of 
the Supreme Court, 1782 to 1784, and from 
1785 to 1789. [See Mr. Daxenport's sketch 
in "The Fathers," ante page 55.] 

SHHPARDSON, JOHN. — Major John 
Shepardson, of Cuilford, was born in Attle- 
boro, Mass., Feb. 16, i 729, and died Jan. 3, 
1802. He came to Cuilford soon after its first 
settlement in September, 1761, by iMicah 
Rice and family, and was there when the only 
road, that up Broad Brook, was impassable 
with teams, so that the settlers had " to boil 
or pound their corn, or go fifteen miles to 
mill with a grist upon their backs." The 
first recorded town meeting of Cuilford was 
held May ig, 1772, and John Shepardson 
was chosen town clerk. When the new state 
was organized he and Col. Benjamin Carpen- 
ter were the two leaders of the cause of Ver- 
mont against the New Yorkers. He was 
twice, in 1778 and 1779, elected "second 
judge " of the Superior Court — his name 
standing next to that of the chief judge. He 
attended the court at Westminster, May 
26, 1779, when S. R. Bradley and Noah 
Smith were admitted to the bar, but does 
not seem to have attended other sessions of 
the court. 

This session of May, 1779, which Shep- 
ardson attended was, taken altogether, an 
interesting one. Vermont and New \'ork 



were each claiming jurisdiction over Vermont 
territory. In February, a militia law had 
been passed by Vermont giving the com- 
mander of a militia company the right to 
draft men to serve. In April, U'illiam Mc- 
Wain, a sergeant in Capt. Daniel Jewet's 
company, was drafting men. The Yorkers 
refused to serve, especially Capt. James Clay 
and Lieutenant Benjamin Wilson of Putney. 
McW'ain told them they would be fined, and 
then that they were fined ; they would not 
pay and April 2 1 he levied on two cows, one 
Clay's and the other Wilson's, and advertised 
to sell them the 2Sth. On the 28th the cows 
were forcibly taken from Mc^Vain by a num- 
ber of men of Col. Eleazer Patterson's New 
York regiment. May 18, McWain entered 
complaint against those who took the cows 
from him and, on papers issued by Ira Allen, 
thirty-six Yorkers were arrested and confined 
in \Vestminster jail. Governor Chittenden, 
to protect the \'ermont sheriff, ordered Ethan 
Allen to collect a hundred able bodied \olun- 
teers in the county of Bennington and march 
them mto the county of Cumberland to re- 
main during the sitting of the court. The 
county committee of the New York adherents 
met at Brattleboro, May 25, and sent an ex- 
press to Governor Clinton saying that if aid 
were not rendered, " our persons and prop- 
erty must be at the disposal of Ethan .Allen, 
which is more to be dreaded than death with 
all its terrors." Court met the 26th. Noah 
Smith was appointed state's attorney, f<ro 



lyo 



SHEPARDSON. 



SHEPARDSOX. 



tempore, and complained of the prisoners for 
assembling at Putney, April 28, in a riotous 
and unlawful manner and assaulting McWain, 
a lawful officer in the execution of a lawful 
command, and taking the cows which Mc- 
Wain had taken by legal measures — charging 
that this "wicked conduct" was a violation 
of the common law and contrary to the stat- 
ute [passed in February but not printed and 
published until June], to prevent riots, dis- 
orders and contempts of authority. The 
preliminary proceedings used up the day and 
the prisoners were sent back to jail. Micah 
Townsend w-as one of the thirty-six prisoners ; 
at his suggestion, twenty-eight of them peti- 
tioned the court for a month's delay but the 
only effect of this was to procure the new 
lawyer, S. R. Bradley, as counsel for the res- 
pondents. On the 27th, Smith entered a 
nolle pivsei/iii in the complaints against three 
of the thirty-six, and Mr. Bradley moved to 
quash three other complaints on account of 
the nonage of the parties respondent. Brad- 
ley worked this racket on Smith successfully. 
Benjamin H. Hall, who was far from being 
an admirer of Allen, says : 

" The motion was granted, and the court 
was about to proceed with the trial of the 
remaining prisoners, when an unexpected 
interruption took place. Ethan Allen, who, 
with his men, had been engaged at West- 
minster in assisting the sheriff and guarding 
the prisoners, had watched with interest and 
satisfaction the transactions of the preced- 
ing day, and had expressed great pleasure 
at the manner in which the goddess of jus- 
tice seemed to be preparing to punish the 
rebellious Yorkers. He was not present at 
the commencement of the second day's 
session, but having heard that some of the 
prisoners were obtaining their discharge, he 
resolved to stop such flagitious conduct, and 
teach the court their duty. Accoutred in 
his military dress, with a large cocked hat 
on his head profusely ornamented with gold 
lace, and a sword of fabulous dimensions 
swinging at his side, he entered the court 
room breathless with haste, and pressing 
through the crowd which filled the room, 
advanced towards the bench whereon the 
judges were seated. Bowing to Moses Rob- 
inson who occupied the chief seat, and who 
was his intimate friend, he commenced a 
furious harangue, aimed particularly at the 
state's attorney, and the attorney for the 
defendants. 

" The judge, as soon as he could recover 
from his astonishment, informed the speaker 
that the court would gladly listen to his 
remarks as a private citizen, but could not 
allow him to address them either in military 
attire or as a military man. To this infor- 
mation Allen replied by a nod, and taking 
off his chapeau threw it on the table. He 



then proceeded to unbuckle his sword, and 
as he laid it aside with a flourish, turned to 
the judge, and in a voice like that of a 
Stentor exclaimed. 



He then turned to the audience and having 
surveyed them for a moment, again addressed 
the judge, as follows : ' Fifty miles I have 
come through the woods with my brave men, 
to support the civil with the military arm ; 
to quell any disturbances should they arise ; 
and to aid the sheriff and the court in pros- 
ecuting these Yorkers — the enemies of our 
noble state. I see, however, that some of 
them, by the quirks of this artful lawyer, 
Bradley, are escaping from the punishment 
they so richly deserve, and I find also, that 
that this little Noah Smith is far from under- 
standing his business, since he at one moment 
moves for a prosecution and in the next 
wishes to withdraw it. Let me warn your 
honor to be on your guard, lest these delin- 
quents should slip through your fingers, and 
thus escape the reward so justly due their 
crimes.' Having delivered himself in these 
words, he with great dignity replaced his hat, 
and, having buckled on his sword, left the 
court room with the air of one who seemed 
to feel the weight of kingdoms on his 
shoulders. After a short interval of silence, 
business was again resumed." 

Thirty respondents were before the court. 
Bradley came to the rescue of them as he 
had of the three "infants," and the thirty 
pleaded in bar that though by common law 
they might be held to answer part of the in- 
formation (Hall calls the allegations against 
them at one time complaint, at another in- 
dictment, and again information), yet they 
could not be held to answer that part founded 
on the statute since it was not in their 
power to know the statute when the crimes 
were alleged to have been committed as it 
had not then been promulgated, and this 
they were ready to verify. This invention 
of Bradley's (if Micah Townsend was not the 
originator) succeeded as well as could have 
been expected and the court ordered that 
part of the information brought on the 
statute to be dismissed. To be " boiled in 
oil" was not a part of the statutory penalty, 
but whipping on the naked back and divers 
and sundry other unpleasant things were, so 
Bradley's point was worth making. The 
prisoners then pleaded not guilty and gave 
evidence that they were subjects of New 
York and did the acts alleged against them 
by virtue of authority given them by that 
state. What Smith was doing when Bradley 
put in that evidence does not appear, and 
one can but think of Allen's characterization 
of the two men. The state then put in some 
e\itlence and the court considered the mat- 



SHEPARIlSclN. 



SHEPARliSON. 



171 



ter and adjudged the defendants guilty antl 
fined them from two pounds to forty pounds 
lawful money each. Townsend's fine was 
twenty pounds. The court also sentenced 
the delinquents to pay in equal shares the 
costs, amounting to 1,477 pounds and 18 
shillings. These large figures, it must be 
remembered, were those of a miserably de- 
preciated currency and Mr. Hewitt even 
would regard a coined vacuum with much 
more favor than the paper money of that 
time. 

All these doings Shepardson saw and 
helped Robinson preside at. He went out 
of judicial office in i 780. One more glimpse 
of Allen in the neighborhood of Shepard- 
son's home may be had. In 1782 renewed 
trouble with the Yorkers, who had their main 
strength in Cluilford, induced "one-eyed 
Tom," as the irreverent dubbed His p]xce)- 
lency Thomas Chittenden, to again call out 
Allen and the troops. Chittenden, by the 
way, was not the only Covernor who had a 
nick-name, for, appalling to relate, the, to us, 
venerable Isaac Tichenor, who was elected 
Governor in i 797, the year Chittenden died, 
was called " the Jersey Slick." In Septem- 
ber, 1782, Allen went into Windham county 
and put himself at the head of the Vermont 
militia, and when in Marlboro was boldly 
faced by Timothy Phelps, who, as Allen ap- 
proached, " announced himself as the high 
sheriff of Cumberland county, bade Allen go 
about his business, denounced his conduct 
and that of his men as riotous, and ordered 
the military to disperse. ^Vith his usual 
roughness, Allen knocked the hat from the 
head of the doughty sheriff, ordered his at- 
tendants to 'take the d — d rascal off,' and 
galloped away to superintend the operations 
of other portions of his forces." It was 
probably the same day that .Allen dispersed 
the Cruilfordites by his famous proclamation. 
They had fired on his troops, and he, on 
reaching Guilford, made proclamation to the 
people in these words : " I, F.than .Allen, do 
declare that I will give no quarter to the man, 
woman, or child who shall oppose me, and 
unless the inhabitants of Cluilford peacefully 
submit to the authority of Vermont, I swear 
that I will lay it as desolate as Sodom and 
Gomorrah, by C; — ." The terrified Yorkers 
of (kiilford thereupon fled. Tradition has it 
that .Allen's answer to De La Place at Ticon- 
deroga, when asked by what authority he 
demanded the surrender, had the same two 
words ending as his Guilford proclamation, 
though not so quoted in the books. .A Bos- 
ton newspaper the other day, commenting 
on the assertion that somebody in Brattle- 
boro says "Begad," remarks that is not the 
way Vermonters pronounce it when excited. 
However this may be, the power to hit the 
mark with words, and hit it hard, is a great 



gift, and that gift Allen had in his day, as the 
creator of Mulvaney, Grtheris, and I .earoyd, 
in an altogether different field, has it in this 
day. 

In December, 1783, the Yorkers attempted 
to capture Shepardson and Col. Benjamin 
Carpenter, but did not succeed. These two 
men seem to have hunted in couples some- 
what in their work for the new state. Per- 
haps Shepardson has a monument with par- 
ticulars about him that would go well here, 
for the judge don't seem to cut quite as 
much of a figure in this sketch of him as he 
ought to, but without monumental inscrip- 
tion at hand to give light on him, a few lines 
from Carpenter's monument will have to do 
to show the kind of man his next friend was. 
The tribute to Carpenter on his monument 
after stating among other things that he was 
a field officer in the Revolutionary war and 
a founder of the first constitution and gov- 
ernment of Vermont, concludes with these 
words, "lined" by the monument-maker 
thus : 

" A firm professor of Christianity in tile 

Baptist Church 50 years. Left this worid 

and 146 persons of lineal posterity, 

March 29, 1804. 

.^ged 78 years, 10 months and 12 days, 

with a strong 

Mind and full faith of a more 

Glorious state hereafter. 

Stature about six feet — weight 200. 

Death had no terror." 

In the sth volume of Hemenway's Ver- 
mont Historical Gazetteer are given the 
records of the town of Guilford for many 
years of Judge Shepardson's time. The pro- 
ceedings of the meeting of Feb. 20, 1777, of 
which Major Shepardson (he wasn't elected 
judge till the next year and query whether 
the military title even then gave way to the 
judicial) was moderator, are, like many of 
the other records, well worth reading. The 
meeting appointed a committee of nine " to 
state the Price of Labor, Provisions, Mer- 
cantable Goods, etc., and to make [report] 
to the town for their approbation." Alarch 
6, 1777, at an adjourned meeting the com- 
mittee reported among other things that 
" good merchantable wheat shall not exceed 
60 cts. per bu. * * Good yallow potaters 
shall not in the spring exceed 20 cts. per 
bushel. * * Good West India Rum 
and New England Rum and Molasses and 
Muscovado Sugar shall be sold on the same 
as they are stated in the New England 
states ; Farming laborers in the summer 
season shall not exceed 30 cts. per day and 
so in usual proportion at other seasons of 
the year and the labor of mechanics and 
tradesmen and other labor to be computed 
according to the wages and customs that 
hath been practiced among us computed 
with farm labor." .Among other articles on 
which a price was fixed were Rye, Indian 
Corn, Oats, Peas, and Beans, Flax Seed, Salt 



172 



Pork, Good Grass Beef, Raw Hides, Sole 
Leather, Neat Leather Shoes, Wool, Tow 
Cloth, Coarse Linen, Striped Flannel, Hay, 
Butter, Tallow, Hog's Fat and Pine Boards. 
It was voted if anybody in town should sell 
any named article to any person in the 
neighboring towns at a higher price than 
stated in the re])ort he should forfeit the 
value of the article to the town, and if any 
person directly or indirectly took a greater 
price than stated in the report he should 
forfeit the value of the article sold, one- 
half to the town and one-half to the 
complainant. It was then voted that the 
committee of nine hear and determine all 
cases and complaints in these matters and 
impose costs of suit if they should find 
those charged guilty ; " By a unanimous 
vote of this town and chose Maj. John Shep- 
ardson one of the Committee of Inspection." 

All this was in the "Republic of Guilford" 
and there was no Coxey with his army of 
the Commonweal to march to its capital. 
Political economists can figure the matter 
out to suit themselves. But this wasn't the 
Guilford which \'ermont had on her hands 
to contend with — that Guilford was the 
"other crowd," the York adherents. 

In bidding Judge Shepardson good-bye, 
we bid good-bye to comment on the form 
and pressure of his time 

" When the Hampshire Grants were tracts of land 

Somewhat in disputation, 
Traclced by the most untractable 

Otall the Yankee nation: 
When Ethan Allen ruled the State 

With steel and stolen ' scriptur,' 
Declared his ' beech seal ' war against 

New York, and look and whipt her." 

Vermont's poet, Eastman (born in Maine 
though) makes "My Uncle Jerry" sum it up 
with a free swing of words that matches 
Allen's own : 

" There's much, he says, about Vermont 

For history and song; 
Much to be written yet, and much 

That has been written wrong. 
The old Thirteen united, fought 

The Revolution through ; 
While, single handed old Vermont 

Fought them, and England, too. 



She'd Massachnsei 


tts ar 


id New 


■ York, 


And-so thp r.-,-, 


ird o 


t;tnds — 




New Ham,,v , 


!■ li'jl 


HI.', r, 


uilford, : 


TheU.H.M, .M 








Yet still he, .:,J 








Her hilLs liiuj..p 


li alt. 


^hiine 




And when the smu 


.keo 


i battle 


passed, 


.She'd whipt ther 


n all, 


, alone 





So Modesty survives the flight of time 
and like Charity, vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly. 

FASSETT, J(3HN, JR.— Judge of the 
Superior Court, 1778 to 1782 ; judge of the 
Supreme Court, 1782 to 1786. [See sketch 
in "The Fathers," an^e page 58.] 

CHANDLER, THOMAS, JR.— Judge 
of the Superior Court, 1778 to 1779. [See 
sketch in "The Fathers," an/c page 66.] 



THROOP, John, of Pomfret, was born 
in Lebanon, Conn., Sept. 11, 1733, and 
died Jan. 25, 1802. He was a judge of the 
Superior Court, 1778 to 1781, and February 
to October, 1 782, and had lived in Pomfret at 
least as far back as 1773, when the town was 
organized. He was a delegate to the con- 
vention at A\'indsor June 4, 1777, and was 
also a delegate to the convention forming 
the constitution in July and December of 
that year. Judge Throop was chosen repre- 
sentative from Pomfret in the fall of 1778 
and was a member of the council from 1779 
to 1786. In i787-'S8 he again represented 
Pomfret, and was judge of probate, 1783 to 
1792. 

SPOONER, Paul.— Dr. Paul Spooner 
of Hartland (which was called Hertford till 
1772) was born in Dartmouth, Mass., March 
20 (one authority says March 30), 1746, and 
died at Hartland while a judge of the Supreme 
Court Sept. 4, 17S9. He was the youngest 
of the ten children of Daniel and Elizabeth 
(Ruggles) Spooner and his father moved 
to Petersham, Mass., when Paul was about 
two years old. There Paul grew up, studied 
medicine and from there came to Hertford 
in 176S. His father Hved to the great age 
of one hundred and three years, dying in 

1797- 

Dr. Spooner married m 1769 Asenath, 
daughter* of Amasa Wright, and by her had 
three children, one of whom, Paul, moved to 
Hardwick and was the first town clerk of 
that town in 1795 ^"^1 ''^ first representative. 
His second wife was Mrs. x\nn (Cogswell) 
Post. 

Dr. Spooner was first elected a judge of 
the Superior Court in October, 1779, at which 
session that court was constituted a court of 
equity in matters above twenty and under 
four thousand pounds— the Governor and 
council and House of Representatives being 
given original etpiity jurisdiction in cases in- 
volving over four thousand pounds, and an 
appeal lying to them from the Superior 
Court in cases where the latter had original 
jurisdiction. This provision as to the equity 
powers of the Governor, Council and House 
was, as has been before stated, repealed in 
1786. 

Dr. Spooner was a delegate from Hertford 
to the Westminster convention of Oct. 19, 
1 774, called to condemn the tea act, the Bos- 
ton Port bill and like measures of the mother 
country. He was a delegate to a convention 
of Whigs at Westminster Feb. 7, 17 75' and 
to the " Cumberland County Congress" of 
June 6, 1775, and was chosen a delegate to 
represent that county in the New York Prov- 
incial Congress at its sessions beginning in 
May and November of that year. May 5, 
1777, he was chosen sheriff of Cumberland 



173 



county under New York, but declined the 
otitice in a letter dated July 15, 1777, having 
the week before been appointed one of the 
\'ermont Council of Safety. He was a mem- 
ber of the council from 1778 to 1782 and 
l.ieutenant-Clovernor from 1782 to 1787. 
In 1781 and 1782 he was judge of probate 
for Windsor county, and was agent of Ver- 
mont to Congress in 1780 and 1782. 

ludge Spooner served as a judge of the 
Superior Court from 1779 to 1782, though 
in 1 781 he was left off at the election, when 
Chief Judge Robinson was displaced by 
Elisha Payne and being angry declined to 
serve as assistant. When Robinson declined 
S]3ooner was elected in his place. In 17S2 
ludge Spooner was elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court and served as such till his 
death. From 1784 to 1785 he was chief 
judge. 

.•\ communication, dated Hartland, Sept. 
8, 1789, appeared in Spooner's Vermont 
lournal of Sept. 16, 17S9, from which the 
following is an extract : 

" Frid.iy last, departed this life and on Sunday was decently 
interred, the Honorable Paul Si-oonek, Esq., in the 44th year 
of his age. His character as a skilful and careful practitioner 
in the Medicinal Art, was established here soon after his ar- 
rival from Petersham ; even without the advantages of a liberal 
education. The sprightliness of his genius, his candid and 
generous temper, his discreet and diligent application to busi- 
ness, soon attracted the eyes of his fellow citizens. He was a 
steady friend and steady assistant to his country, through all 
the late unhappy war with Greatbritain: and from the first 
rise to the present advancement of the State of Vermont. 
• * * He died while the other Judges were on the circuit 
for the administration of justice. * * * The honor and 
benefit accruing to the town by his dwelling among them has 
been largely e.xperienced; the loss whereof may be long felt 
and regretted. He was a zealous promoter of learning — a 
great benefactor to the rising generation, * * * As a judge 
he ever aimed to administer judgment in uprightness. * * * 

He left a sorrowful widow (his second wife) and three chil. 
dren (by his first wife) to bemoan their loss The concourse 
to the funeral fwith only two days for the tidings to spread) 
was so great, that one could scarce see so many sad counte- 
nances, without crying out in the heart. Behold hoiv they 
loved hint. The conjectures of people varied as to the num. 
ber, as from five to ten hundred A pertinent and affecting 
sermon (as it is said) was delivered by the Reverend Aaron 
Hutchinson of Pomfret, well adapted to the occasion, from 
Psalm cvlvi 3 4.—- Put not your trust in frii/ees, nor in the 
Son 0/ wan, in lohom there is no help. His breath goeth 
forth, he retnrneth to the earth; in that very day his 
thoughts perish: After sermon the Fimeral Thought was 
sung, which added not a little to the solemnity " 

MOSELEY, 'Increase.— Dr. increase 
Moseley was born in Norwich, Conn., May 
18, 1 7 12, married Deborah Tracy of Wind- 
ham, Conn., May 7, 1735 ; moved to An- 
cient Woodbury, Conn., about 1740 and to 
Clarendon about 1779. Dr. Moseley was 
one of the leaders in .\ncient Woodbury and 
served as representative in the Connecticut 
Legislature from 1 75 1 almost continuously 
till his removal to Vermont. He was mod- 
erator of Woodbury's meeting for the relief 
of Boston, Sept. 20, 1774, and a member of 
her Revolutionary committees. 

He was elected a judge of the Superior 
Court in 1780, but served only one year, 
going off in the election of 1781, when 
everything was mixed up by giving the New 
Hampshire towns representation on the 
bench. In 1782 he was representative from 



Clarendon and was elected speaker of the 
House. 

I )r. Moseley was chief jtidge of Rutland 
county from 1781 to 1787 and was presi- 
dent of the first council of censors — that of 
1785 — a body of which Benjamin Carpen- 
ter, Joseph Marsh, and Micah Townsend 
were members, and whose work was well 
done and . whose "proceedings" — really an 
address to the people — constitute a state 
paper of remarkable merit, the authorship of 
which probably lay largely with Townsend, the 
secretary. Judge Moseley died May 2, 1795. 

PAYNE, ELISHA.— Col. Elisha Payne of 
Lebanon, was elected chief judge of the su- 
perior court in October, 1781, and held that 
place till he ceased to be a citizen of Ver- 
mont, on the dissolution of the union with 
the New Hampshire towns in February, 
I 782. He presided at a session of the court 
held for the county of Washington (an ephe- 
meral county, inade up of New Hampshire 
towns while the Union existed and that went 
out of existence with the Union) at Charles- 
town, N. H., December, 1781. No business 
was done, only Judges Payne and Spooner 
being present. [See sketch in "The Fathers," 
an/e page 64.] 

OLCOTT, Simeon.— At the October 
session, 1781, Bezaleel Woodward, represen- 
tative from Dresden, and a professor in 
Dartmouth College, was chosen a judge of 
the Superior Court. Prof. Woodward de- 
clined the office and Simeon Olcott of 
Charlestovvn (a New Hampshire town then 
in Union with Vermont and situate in the 
short-lived county above referred to) was 
elected in his place. Judge Olcott was the 
first lawyer to be elected to the bench by the 
Vermont Legislature, but he never held 
court, so that Nathaniel Chipman stands as 
the first Vermont lawyer elected judge who 
took judicial service upon himself. Mr. 
Roberts puts Olcott in the list of judges ; 
while Judge Taft leaves him out because he 
didn't 'tend court. Whether it was a mere 
freak that kept Olcott away from sitting with 
Payne and Spooner when they were at 
Charlestown in December, or whether he 
had some constitutional scruple about main.- 
taining that court of justice in Washington 
county, is not known. .At any rate Olcott 
resigned Jan. 28, 1782, and Feb. 13, 1782, 
the .Assembly elected Gen. Samuel Fletcher 
of Townsend, who declined, and, F"eb. 16, 
|ohn Throop, who had been judge till left ofif 
the October before, was elected, and served. 
Simeon Olcott was born in Bolton, Conn., 
Oct. 1, 1735, graduated at Vale in 1761, 
studied law, moved to Charlestown, N. H., 
in 1764, was admitted as an attorney in 
Cumberland county, Sej)!. 15, 1774, and was 



in 1 784 appointed chief justice of the court 
of common pleas in New Hampshire. In 
1790 he was appointed a judge of the New 
Hampshire Superior Court of which he was 
made chief justice in 1795. On the resig- 
nation of Samuel Livermore he was made a 
United States Senator from New Hampshire 
and served as such from Dec. 7, 1801, to 
March 3, 1805. He died in Charlestown, 
N. H., Feb. 22, 1815. He married, Octo- 
ber, 1783, Tryphena Terry and has descend- 
ants now living in Charlestown. He is said 
to have been the first lawyer to settle in 
Western New Hampshire. 

FAY, Jonas. — Dr. Jonas Fay, of Ben- 
nington, was a judge of the Superior Court 
the last year of its existence and of the 
Supreme Court its first year. His two years 
of service were from 1781 to 1783. [See 
sketch in the " P'athers," ante page 50.] 

OLCOTT, PETER.— Col. Peter Olcott 
of Norwich was the first person elected a 
judge of the Supreme Court who had not 
already served as a judge of the Superior 
Court. The Supreme Court was established 
the session of his election thereto, October, 
1782. The Superior Court consisted of five 
judges during the four years it existed ; the 
Supreme Court had five to begin with, the 
number was decreased to three in 1787, in- 
creased to four in 1S24, to five in 1828 and 
to six in 1846. In 1850 the number was 
decreased to three and so continued (during 
the existence of the Circuit Court of four 
judges) till 1857 when the number was 
restored to six at which it remained till in- 
creased to seven, its present number, in 
1870. 

Colonel Olcott served three years as a 
judge of the Supreme Court, his service 
ending in 1785. He is said to have been 
a graduate of Harvard College ; he married 
Sarah Mills and moved from Bolton, Conn., 
(where judge Simeon Olcott was born) to 
Norwich about 176S. He was a member of 
the Windsor convention, June, 1777, and 
also of the convention of July and 1 )ecem- 
ber, 1777, which adopted the constitution. 
In 1777 he commanded a regiment in Glou- 
,cester county and was summoned to march 
to Bennington too late to reach it before the 
battle, but was employed in other military 
service. He was elected to the council in 
1779, and elected again in 1781 ; he served 
till 1790 as a councilor. He was Lieuten- 
ant-Governor four years — 1790 to 1794 — and 
in the latter year declined to be longer a 
candidate for that office. His son Roswell 
graduated at Dartmouth in 1789 and his 
son Mills in 1790. Rufus Choate married 
Helen, a daughter of Mills Olcott. Judge 



Olcott died at Hanover, where his son 
Mills resided, in September, iSoS. 

PORTER, THOMAS.— Thomas Porter 
was born in Farmington, Conn., in 1734, 
served in the British army at Lake George 
in 1755, held local offices in Farmington, 
married Abigail Howe, moved to Cornwall, 
Conn., where he was prominent in town af- 
fairs and from that town he went into the 
Revolutionary army. He was many years a 
member of the Connecticut Legislature. In 
1 7 79 he moved to Tinniouth from which town 
he was elected as representative to the Assem- 
bly in 1780, 1 781 and 1782, in each of which 
years he was elected speaker of the House. 
In 1782 he was also elected to the council 
and resigned as speaker to take the new po- 
sition. He served till 1795 as a councilor. 
Judge Porter was a farmer. 

He was elected a judge of the Sujireme 
Court in 1783 and served till 1786. Judge 
Porter died in Granville, N. Y., in 1833. His 
son, Ebenezer Porter (Dartmouth, 1792), was 
a famous Doctor of Divinity and was presi- 
dent of Andover Theological Seminary. 

NILES, Nathaniel.— Nathaniel Niles,of 
Fairlee (that part which is now West Fairlee), 
teacher, student of law and medicine, preach- 
er, inventor and poet, was judge of the Su- 
preme Court from 1 784 to 1 7S8. [See sketch 
in "Representatives," ante page 127.] 

CHIPMAN, Nathaniel.— Nathaniel 

Chipman of Tinmouth, the first lawyer to 
serve as a Vermont judge, was elected an 
assistant judge of the Supreme Court in 
1786, and served one year; in 1789 he was 
elected chief judge, and served till he was 
appointed U. S. District Judge for Vermont 
in 1 79 1. In 1796 he was again elected chief 
judge, and served one year, and in 1S13 and 
1 8 14 was for the last times elected chief 
judge, serving two years in this, his third 
period of service as chief judge. Judge 
Chipman was the first to report decisions of 
the Supreme Court. Judge Samuel Prentiss 
said that the various traits of his mind and 
constitutional temperament, combined with 
his deep and extensive learning, entitled him 
to rank among the first judges of this or any 
other country. Judge Prentiss further said : 
"I witnessed, during the short period he was 
last on the bench, exhibitions of the great 
strength, vigor, comprehension, and clear- 
ness of his mind, of his profound and accur- 
ate knowledge of Lgal principles, and of his 
remarkably discriminating and well-balanced 
judgment." Judge Chipman was a student 
of the law, and eminently just-minded. He 
was a Federalist, and thought our system of 
electing judges a bad one — ad\ocating an 
appointive system with long tenure. The 



KNI.)\VLTl )N. 



175 



proof of the pudding is in tiie eating, and 
if in any state as small as ours there can be 
found a court that has maintained a higher 
standing for a hundred years than that which 
we have had under our system then we had 
better give it up — and not till then. [See 
Mr. Davenport's sketch of Judge Chi]jman 
in the "Senators," ante page loS.] 

KNOWLTON, LUKE.— Luke Knowlton 
of Newfane was elected a judge of the Su- 
preme Court in 1786 and served one year, 
Ijeing dropped with Nathaniel Chipman in 
1787 when the court was reduced from fixe 
to three members. [See sketch in the 
"Fathers," ante page 59.] 

BRADLEY, STEPHEN R.— Stephen Row 
Bradley of Westminster was elected a judge 
in 1 788 and served one year. [See Mr. Dav- 
enport's sketch of him in the "Senators" 
and of his still more brilliant son, William 
C. Bradley in the "Representatives."] judge 
Bradley was three times married, by the first 
and second of which marriages he had chil- 
dren. His first wife was Merab .Atwater ; 
his second. Thankful Taylor : and his third, 
Belinda Willard. Spooner's Vermont Jour- 
nal of Jan. 19, 1802, has the following 
notice : 

"Died at ^^■estminster, in this state, on 
Sunday the loth instant, of a lingering ill- 
ness, Mrs. Thankfull Bradley, consort of the 
Hon. Stephen R. Bradley, in the thirty-fourth 
year of her age. To those who have ex- 
perienced her tenderness and affection 
as a daughter, sister, wife and mother, her 
loss is irreparable. To the society which 
she adorned as a friend and neighbor, her 
virtues will long be remembered, and the 
loss regretted with tears. 

"Her funeral was attended by a very large 
and respectable assembly on the Wednesday 
following, when a very pathetic discourse 
was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Barber from 
the words of the Apostle : 'For we know, 
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, 
an house not made with hands, eternal in 
the hea\ens.' " 

This excellent step-mother is as worthy of 
remembrance as any just judge on the face 
of God's earth, for her love wrought a per- 
fect work and that is all justice can hope to 
do. Judge Wheeler in his paper on Will- 
iam (i'. Bradley, read before the Vermont 
Bar Association in 1883, said : 

" .\t an early age he encountered what is 
perhaps the greatest earthly loss of a boy, 
the death of a worthy mother. Her place 
was not long after taken by a step-mother, 
who soon became his fast friend and whose 
kindness and care he dutifully and affection- 
ately repaid. Full of both physical and in- 



tellectual life and vigor, he needed at times 
to break forth in somewhat wayward [iranks. 
His father was stern and imperious with him. 
She with kindness and good judgment miti- 
gated the severity of the law. At one time 
when he was going from home alone under 
his father's displeasure, she followed him a 
little way and gave him a little case of 
needles and thread, called a housewife, 
which she had made for him, in the pocket 
of which was a guinea, and spoke some kind 
words of encouragement to him. His father 
soon relented and got him back. He re- 
membered the kindness and forgot the 
strictness. He always cherished this keep- 
sake and would never ha\e the guinea taken 
out. In his last sickness he had it brought 
to him and held so he could see that the 
guinea was still there, and it was handed 
down under his will to a favorite grand- 
daughter." [See sketches, ante pages 104 
and 136.] 

SMITH, NOAH.— Noah Smith of Benning- 
ton was a judge of the Supreme Court from 
1789 to 1791, and again from 1798 to 1801. 
He was born in Suffield, Conn., in 1755, 
graduated at Vale in 1778, and at once came 
to Bennington, where he that summer deliv- 
ered the address at the first anniversary of 
the battle of Bennington. He was admitted 
to the bar May 26, 1779, and went right to 
work as may be seen ante in sketch of John 
Shepardson. He was for some years state's 
attorney and county clerk of Bennington 
county, and was appointed L". S. Collector 
of Internal Revenue in 1791. In 1798 he 
was elected a councilor, but resigned to 
accept the judgeship. He moved from Ben- 
nington to Milton soon after 1800. He 
married Chloe Burrall ; she died in Burling- 
ton in 1 8 10, where he was then confined in 
jail for debt. In 181 1 the Legislature passed 
an act for his relief which freed him from 
jail. He died in Milton, Dec. 23, 18 12. 

His son Albert became a doctor of divin- 
ity, as did his son Henry, who married Abby, 
daughter of President Joshua Bates of Mid- 
dlebury College. Henry became president 
of Marietta College, Ohio, and died while a 
professor and the head of Lane Theological 
Seminary, Cincinnati. Prof. Henry Preserved 
Smith of that seminary and the present day, 
who is with Dr. Briggs in ecclesiastical con- 
troversy with certain strict constructionists 
in theology, by name and locality ought to 
be a grandson of the judge, but there is an- 
other family of Smiths and I do not know 
the professor's pedigree. 

Judge Smith came near being elected sen- 
ator instead of Mr. Bradley in January, i 791, 
and resigned Jan. 24 of that year, perhaps 
with the intent to contest the senatorial 
election but he did not do it. 



1 76 KNIGHT. 

KNIGHT, Samuel.— Samuel Knight of 
Hrattleboro was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1789 and chief judge in 1791 and 
served until 1794, making five years service 
in all. He was born about 1730 and died 
at his home on his farm between Brattleboro 
and West Brattleboro in 1804. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1772 and was on the 
York side in the Westminster trouble of 
March, 1775. He fled across the river and 
did not return to Brattleboro for a year. He 
finally made up his mind that the York cause 
was hopeless and overcame by his character 
the prejudice that existed against him be- 
cause of his early adherence to the authority 
of New York. He represented Brattleboro 
in 1 781, 1783, 1784 and 1785, and was chief 
judge of \\indham county court in 1 786, 
1794, 1795 ^n*^! 1801. 

■ PAINE, Elijah. — Elijah Paine of Will- 
iamstown was judge of the Supreme Court 
from Jan. 27, 1791, ( in place of Noah 
Smith, resigned), till he was elected United 
States Senator in 1794. [See sketch in the 
"Senators," ante page 107.] 

TICHENOR, ISAAC— Isaac Tichenor 
was judge from 1791 to 1794 and chief 
judge from 1794 to 1796. [See sketch in 
the " Governors," ante page 72.] 

HALL, LOT. — Lot Hall, of Westminster, 
was judge from 1794 to 1801. He was born 
on Cape Cod, and was in the early years of 
the Revolution a sailor. Engaged in a naval 
expedition to protect South Carolina, he was 
taken prisoner while acting as lieutenant in 
charge of a prize and carried to Glasgow, 
Scotland, where he was released. On his 
way home he was again captured, but Patrick 
Henry procured hi's release. His marriage 
to Mary Homer, of Boston, in 1786, was as 
romantic as his experiences in war ; she was 
but fifteen. Mary was not, however, the 
woman to whom the Chicago Tribune refers 
when it says that in Boston Sunday schools 
each class recites in concert, when asked 
what became of Lot's wife, " She was trans- 
muted into chloride of sodium." 

He began the study of law at Barnstable 
in 1 782, came that year to Bennington, and 
the next year settled in Westminster, which 
he represented in 1788, 1791, 179- and 
1808. He was a presidential elector in 
1792, and a member of the Council of Cen- 
sors in 1799. 

judge Hall was taken sick while attending 
the Legislature in 1808, and died May 17, 
1S09. 

WOO DB RIDGE, ENOCH.— Enoch 
\Voodbridge of Vergennes was a judge of the 
Supreme Court 1794 to 1798, and chief judge 



I 798 to 1 80 1. He was born in Stockbridge, 
Mass., December, 1 750, and graduated at 
Yale in 1774. In the Revolution he was in 
the Continental service as commissary of 
issues, and was at Hubbardton, Bennington, 
and Burgoyne's surrender. He studied law, 
and on first coming to Vermont began prac- 
tice in Manchester, from which place he went 
to Vergennes, of which city he was in i 794 
elected the first mayor. He represented Ver- 
gennes from 1 79 1 to his elevation to the 
bench, and again in 1802. In 1793 Mr. 
Woodbridge was a member of the Consti- 
tutional Convention. He died in May, 1805. 
Judge Woodbridge was descended from Gov. 
Thomas Dudley, and was a great-grandson 
of Rev. John Eliot, the apostle to the In- 
dians. He married, in 1774, Nancy Win- 
chell, and they had eight children ; one of 
whom, Enoch D., married Cora Strong, a 
daughter of Gen. Samuel Strong, and was 
the father of Frederick E. Woodbridge. 

SMITH, Israel.— Israel Smith of Rut- 
land was elected chief judge in 1897, and 
served one year. In 1801 he was again 
elected, but declined to serve. [See sketch 
in "Governors," ante page 73.] 

ROBINSON, Jonathan.— Jonathan 
Robinson of Bennington was chief judge 
from 1 80 1 to I So 7. [See sketch in the 
"Fathers," ante page 57, and also the follow- 
ing notes on Judge Tyler.] 

TYLER, ROYALL.— Royall Tyler, was 
born in Boston, Mass., July 18, i757- His 
father, Royall Tyler, was a man of distinction 
and died in i 7 7 1 . B. H. Hall says that the son 
was named William Clark Tyler and that on 
the death of his father this was by legislative 
enactment changed to Royall. He gradua- 
ted at Harvard in 1776, went into the army 
and served on the staff of General Lincoln ; 
studied law with Francis Dana at Cambridge, 
was admitted to the bar in 1779, went to 
Falmouth (now Portland), Me., and practiced 
there two years, returned to Boston, and set- 
ded in Braintree, Mass., intending to make it 
his home. When Shay's Rebellion came he 
again served under General Lincoln, and was 
sent by Governor Bowdoin to negotiate with 
New York and Vermont concerning the sur- 
render of the rebels who had fled. 

.About this time he wrote the "Contrast," 
the first .American play ever staged. This 
comedy was played at the old John Street 
Theatre in New York, .\pril 16, 1786. Wig- 
nell, the actor for whom it was written, pub- 
lished it and Dr. Conland of l!rattleboro can 
tell what year, for he has a copy. The state- 
ment here about the play differs from what 
is stated in Hemenway's Gazetteer, Vol. 5, 
from the pen of Thomas Pickman Tyler, son 



1/7 



of Royall, who gi\es the place of production 
as the old Park Theatre and the spring of 
I 7S9 as the time. The editor of the Gazet- 
teer gave only extracts from T. P. Tyler's 
memoirs of Judge Tyler and they are just 
enough to make one hungry for the rest. 
Judge Tyler wrote many other plays and 
books. 




Judge Tyler moved to Guilford, Vt., in 
January, 1791, and soon had a good law 
practice. He married Mary Palmer and 
they had eleven children. In 1801 he was 
elected a judge of the Supreme Court and 
in 1807 was promoted to chief judge. He 
left the bench in 1S12 after eleven years 
continuous service. Tyler's reports are from 
his pen. From 1S15 to 182 1 he was register 
of probate for Windham county and con- 
tinued the practice of law to about 1820. 
He was afflicted with cancer in his later 
years and died August 16, 1826. 

In the memoirs above referred to are 
many letters to and from Judge Tyler that 
light up the past. Jonathan Robinson, long 
on the bench with him and then a Senator, 
writes to him from Washington, Feb. 4, 
1810: "When we come to be judged for 
our judgments, my friend, the question will 
not be whether we pursued legal forms or 
technical niceties, but have you heard the 
cry of the poor and relieved them from their 
oppression. But I hope that the philan- 
thropy of Bro. Fay and yourself will prevent 
all unpleasant results because he does not 
carry the Hopkinsian doctrine to that lofty 



pinnacle of revelation and philosopliy to 
which you so ardently and rationally aspire. 
In one thing I fear, he will ne\er be able to 
arrive to equal resignation, w^hich you once 
expressed, even willingness to see Bro. Rob- 
inson damned. However, good men of all 
faiths will, I hope, be accepted if their 
hearts are but right." Senator Robinson's 
reference may be better understood if it be 
stated { Robinson being of the Calvinistic 
and Hopkinsian school) that he and Tyler 
had debated the alleged need, as evidence of 
regeneration, that one should be willing to 
be lost eternally if it were for the glory of 
God, and Tyler on being detained from 
court on one occasion wrote Judge Jacob 
and requested him to inform the chief judge 
(then Judge Robinson) "that he really be- 
gan to hope that he had made some little 
spiritual progress, for, although he could not 
honestly say that he was willing to be damned 
himself, even if it were needful for the glory 
of the Almighty, yet he believed that by 
great effort he had nearly or quite attained 
to a sincere willingness that in such an exi- 
gency Bro. Robinson should be damned." 

Robinson writes Tyler from Washington, 
June 17, 1812: "All is anxiety. It is four 
o'clock and the Senate has not yet taken the 
question [on a war measure]. I want a 
pipe, and I want my dinner, but I cannot 
start, tack or sheet, until I see, as Bro. Her- 
rington says, ' the last dog hung.' Recollect 
me to Mrs. Tyler, the boys and girls and to 
Miss Sophia. Keep this letter to yourself. 
I cannot continue while Gorman is murder- 
ing language in an endless speech, which 
sounds more discordant to my ears than the 
thundering cannon did thirty-seven years 
ago this day, when I heard more than two 
hundred of them in my cornfield in Benning- 
ton." The thundering cannon w-ere those of 
Bunker Hill. 

In another letter from ^\■ashington Robin- 
son expresses his impatience at delays in 
Congress, and on the outside of the letter 
describes his idea of the scene of its recep- 
tion by their Honors, the Judges of the 
Supreme Court of Vermont, in these words : 
" Bro. Tyler filled his pipe and said, ' Come, 
Brethren, let us see what Bro. Robinson has 
to say.' Reads. Bro. Fay spits and says, 
' Bro. Robinson is as cross as the devil.' 
' Well,' says Bro. Herrington, ' I feel easy 
about it, it is a pack for their backs, not 
mine.' Bro. Tyler smiled, and filled his 
second pipe." 

Judge Tyler was honored and loved by all. 
Judge Royall Tyler of Brattleboro, now in his 
eighty-second year, is his son. That fact, 
though neither the relationship nor the name 
is pat, somehow calls to mind this : 

"Jerry! 
I s.iy, my boy. you'll go it yet 
You're like your uncle, very." 



178 



JACOB. 



JACOB, Stephen.— Stephen Jacob of 
Windsor was born in Sheffield, Mass., grad- 
uated at Yale in 1778, came to Bennington, 
Vt., that year, and read a poem at the first 
celebration of the Battle of Bennington, 
August 16, 1778; married Pamela Farrand 
in 1779, and came to Windsor in 1780. He 
had, before admission to the bar, studied 
law with Theodore Sedgwick of Massachu- 
setts. In I 781 he was a representative from 
^Vindsor, and again in 1788 and 1794, and 
was clerk of the House in 17S8 and 1780. 
He was a member of the able council of 
censors of 1785, delegate in the constitu- 
tional convention of 179,3, chief judge of 
\\'indsor county court 1797 to 1801, and a 
councillor from 1796 to 1802. Mr. Jacob 
was brave and energetic in quelling the 
Windsor county insurrection in 1786, and in 
1789 was a commissioner in settling the 
controversy with New York. 

He was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1801 and served two years. Judge 
Jacob was a high-strung Federalist, aristo- 
cratic in bearing and mode of life and 
bought several slaves and brought them into 
Vermont, where, of course, they could serve 
him or not as they chose. He bought one 
Dinah, a negro woman of thirty, July 26, 
1783, for forty pounds, but Dinah emanci- 
pated herself, fell into want, and the select- 
men of Windsor sued Judge Jacob for her 
support. His views on the slavery question 
were very different from those of his suc- 
cessor next noticed herein. Judge Jacob 
died Jan. 27, 18 17. 

HERRINTON, THEOPHILUS. — Theo- 
philus Herrinton of Clarendon, called by 
others in his own day Harrington, Herring- 
ton, or Herrinton, but who himself wrote his 
name as here given, was born in Rhode 
Island, married Betsey Buck, came to Ver- 
mont in 1785 and became a farmer in Clar- 
endon. Betsey and he were not out, and 
in 1 797 there were living eleven of their 
twelve children. In their school district 
that year were eight families to whom had 
been born 113 children, 99 of whom were 
then living, and none of the husbands in 
these families had a second wife. 

Judge Harrington, to use the name by 
which he is known in history, represented 
Clarendon in 179S, and from 1798 to 1803 
inclusive, being speaker the last-named year. 
He was chief judge of Rutland county court, 
1800 to 1803, and in 1803 was elected a 
judge of the Supreme Court, where he served 
ten years. 

He was no observer of conventionalities, 
if he knew them, and it has been said that 
he sometimes went into court barefooted. 
His business was that of a farmer, and he 
was not admitted to the bar till after his 
election as a Supreme Court judge. Many 



stories are told of him — how that he said he 
didn't know as the court knows what a 
demurrer is, but it knows what justice is, 
and the plaintiff shall have judgment ; how, 
while the other judges doubted whether the 
horse thief who stole in Canada and was 
guilty of asportation in this state, could be 
here convicted, Harrington insisted that 
he not only stole it in Canada, but every 
step of the way he took with it, and so stole 
it all the way through \'ermont ; and how he 
cut the knot about the seal by his " hand 
me a wafer." 

His strong good sense and just mind gave 
him the respect of the people and of his as- 
sociates on the bench, and one of his judg- 
ments ( remember he succeeded Judge Jacob, 
who bought slaves) deservedly made him 
famous. It was upon application for a war- 
rant to be given the claimant, which would 
give him power to remove his escaped slave. 
The claimant's lawyer had a bill of sale of the 
slave and back of that a bill of sale of the 
slave's mother. " Is that all? " said the judge. 
The claimant's lawyer thought going back to 
the two bills of sale was enough, but Har- 
rington said, " you do not go back to the orig- 
inal proprietor." The attorney wanted to 
know what would be sufficient and was in- 
formed that nothing in that court would give 
title to a human being but "a bill of sale 
from .Almighty God."^ 

Judge Harrington died Nov. 27, 1813. 

GALUSHA, Jonas.— Jonas Galusha of 
Shaftsbury was a judge of the Supreme Court 
two years, 1S07 to 1809. [See sketch in 
"Governors," ante page 74.] 

FAY, David.— David Fay of Benning- 
ton, youngest son of Stephen and brother of 
Judge Jonas Fay, was born in Hardwick, 
Mass., Dec. 13, 1761. When sixteen he 
was a filer in Capt. Samuel Robinson's com- 
pany at the Battle of Bennington. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1794, member of the 
council of censors in 1799, state's attorney 
of Bennington county, 1797 to 1801, and 
United States attorney throughout Jeffer- 
son's administration. 

He was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1809 and ser\ed till 1813 when the 
" Vergennes Slaughter House" proceedings 
of 1798 were repeated and the Federalists 
again turned the Republicans or Democrats 
out of the Supreme Court — as in 1801, so in 
18 1 5 the other side had its innings. He was 
judge of probate in 1819 and 1820, and a 
councilor from 1S17 to 1S21. 

Judge Fay died June 5, 1S27, leaving no 
descendants. 

FARRAND, DANIEL.— Daniel Farrand, 
son of Rev. Daniel Farrand, was born in 
Canaan, Conn., about 1760. 



179 



He graduated at \ale, came to Windsor 
•where his brother-in-law, Stephen Jacob, 
ii\ed, began the practice of law but soon 
moved to Newburv which town he made his 
residence till 1800, and represented in 1792, 
1793, 1796, 1797, and I 798, being speaker 
the last named year. He was twice state's 
attorney of Orange county. May i, 1794, he 
married Mary Porter, of Haverhill, N. H., 
daughter of Asa Porter, and sister of Mrs. 
Mills Olcott, of Hanover, N. H. Mr. Far- 
rand went from Newbury to Bellows Falls, 
represented Rockingham in 1802, and was 
state's attorney of \Vindham county in 1801, 
1S02 and 1803, and in the latter year was de- 
feated for Congress by James Fliot. In 181 3 
he was a member of the council of censors and 
the same year was elected a judge of the Su- 
preme Court and served two years. \\'hen 
the Republicans or Democrats got the upper 
hand in 181 5, he was bounced, as he was a 
strong Federalist, and, in 1S14, had presided 
at a con\ention in Williston that roundly de- 
nounced the administration. He was chair- 
man of the committee of arrangements at 
Burlington, when President Monroe was re- 
cei\ed there on his tour, July 24, 1817, and 
did some very good speaking. He was a man 
of vigorous intellect, a good lawyer and of 
extensive learning. He died Oct. 13, 1825, 
and left nine daughters surviving him, all 
brilliant and accomplished women says Judge 
Taft. 

HUBBARD, JONATHAN Hatch.— J. H. 

Hubbard, of Windsor, was a judge of the Su- 
preme Court from 18 13 to 1815. [See 
sketch in " Representatives," ante page 135, 
where 1845 is a misprint for 18 15 — he was a 
judge but two years.] 

ALOIS, Asa. — -Asa Aldis, was born in 
Franklin, Mass., about 1 770. His father was 
a loyalist and moved to Boston, where he 
died in 1775. Asa's mother had died two 
years before and he was brought up by an 
aunt. He graduated at Brown University in 
1796, studied law with Judge Howell in 
Providence and began practice in Che- 
pachet. He married Mrs. Oadcomb, daugh- 
ter of Lieut.-Gov. Owen. In 1802 he moved 
to St. Albar," and there practiced his pro- 
fession. In 1S04 he formed a partnership 
with Bates Turner, but it did not last long. 
When the Republicans drove the Federalists 
off the supreme bench in 18 15 he was 
elected chief judge of the Supreme Court, 
much against his wish, and served one year. 

Judge Aldis was strongly urged to accept 
a re-election, but he absolutely refused. His 
ability was equal to the requirements of the 
ofifice, but he did not like ofificial position. 
He practiced many years after leaving the 
bench, but poor health kept him out of court 



for a long time before his death. He died 
at St. Albans, Oct. 16, 1847, in his seventy- 
eighth year. Daniel Kellogg was his son-in- 
law, and Asa Owen .\ldis was his son. 

SKINNER, Richard.— Richard Skinner 
of Manchester was judge of the Supreme 
Court from 181 5 to 181 7, and the latter year 
was elected chief judge, but declined the 
position. Kiltx his service as Governor, he 
was in 1823 elected chief judge, and pre- 
sided as such till 1S29. [See sketch in 
"Go\ernors" ante page 77.] 

FISK, James. — James Fisk of Barre was 
judge of the Supreme Court from 181 5 to 
181 7. [See sketch in "Senators," ante 
page III.] 

PALMER, William Adams.— William 

A. Palmer of Danville, was elected judge of 
the Supreme Court in 18 16, and served one 
year. [See sketch in "Go\ernors," ante 
page 82.] 

CHASE, DUDLEY.- Dudley Chase of 
Randolph was chief judge of the Supreme 
Court from i8i7toiS2i. He presided at 
the trial of Stephen and Jesse Bourne for the 
murder of Russell Colvin — a case that has 
become famous and which gave Wilkie Col- 
lins the theme for "The Dead Secret." [See 
sketch of Judge Chase in "Senators," ante 
page III.] 

DOOLITTLE, JOEL.— loel Doolittle 
was born about i 773 in Massachusetts, grad- 
uated at Yale in 1799, came to Middlebury 
in the fall of 1800 as the first tutor in Mid- 
dlebury College. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1801 and was a successful lawyer till 
181 7 when he was elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court. He served six years con- 
tinuously on the bench, and after a year of 
practice at the bar was again elected a judge 
in 1824 and served the following year. 

judge Doolittle was a councillor from 
18 15 to 1818, represented Middlebury in 
1S24 and was a member and president of 
the council of censors in 1834. 

He died, March 9, 1S41, at the age of 
sixty-eight. Mrs. Doolittle survived him 
and after his death went to^ Painesville, 
Ohio, where she lived with her children. 

BRAYTON, William.— William Bray- 
ton of Swanton was born in Lansingburgh, N. 
Y., and when thirteen was a student in Will- 
iams College, but never graduated. He 
was admitted to the bar in Franklin county 
in February, 1807, and began jsractice in 
Swanton. He married Hortentia Penniman, 
daughter of Jabez and Frances Penniman. 
Frances was the widow of Ethan Allen. He 



i8o 



was made chief judge of Franklin county 
court in 1815, represented Swanton in 181 7, 
and that year was elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court, and served as such five 
years. While on the Supreme bench he 
moved to St. Albans, and after living there 
several years, and after ceasing to be a judge, 
he removed to Burlington, where he died in 
1828. His son, William, died young, but a 
daughter, if not now, was very lately living 
in Missouri. He published the reports 
known as Brayton's Reports. 

VAN NESS, Cornelius Peter.— Cor- 
nelius p. Van Ness, of Burlington, was chief 
judge of the Supreme Court from 182 1 to 
1823. [See sketch in " Governors ," aw/f 
page 78.] 

WILLIAMS, Charles Kilborn.— 

Charles K. Williams, of Rutland, was a judge 
of the Supreme Court, 1822 to 1S24, again 
from 1826 to 1833, and from 1833 to 1846 
was chief judge. [See sketch in "Gover- 
nors," ante page 88.] 

AlKENS, Asa.— Asa Aikens, of Wind- 
sor, was born in Barnard ; entered Mid- 
dlebury College in 1804; studied three 
years there ; then was a year as a cadet at 
\\'est Point. In 1808 he returned to Mid- 
dlebury and studied law with Joel Doolittle. 
In 1812 he settled in Windsor, which town 
he represented two years and he was state's 
attorney for Windsor county two years. In 
18 1 2 he was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court and served on the bench two years. 
He was a careful, painstaking lawyer and 
judge, and the two volumes of reports pub- 
lished under his name form the first product 
of skilled labor in this state in that line. 
"Aikens' Forms" is thumbed in many a law 
office in the state. Later in life he pub- 
lished "Aikens' Tables." 

In 1843 he moved to Westport, N. ¥., and 
made that his home afterwards. On a visit 
to his son-in-law at Hackensack, N. J., he 
died of nervous prostration, July 12, 1863. 
He was buried in Trinity cemetery. New 
York City. 

PRENTISS, Samuel. — Samuel Prentiss, 
of Montpelier, was judge of the Supreme 
Court from 1825 to 1829, and in 1829 was 
elected chief judge, and held that position 
till elected senator in 1830. [See sketch in 
" Senators," ante page 114.] 

HUTCHINSON, TiTUS.— Titus Hutch- 
inson of Woodstock, son of Rev. Aaron and 
Margery (Carter) Hutchinson, was born in 
Grafton, Mass., April 29, 1771. July 4, 
1776, the family left Hebron, Conn., and 
moved to what is still called the Hutchinson 



Farm, in Pomfret, two miles from Wood- 
stock. Titus graduated at Princeton College, 
studied law with his brother Aaron in Leb- 
anon, N. H., and was admitted to the Orange 
county bar June, i 79S. He settled in Wood- 
stock, where there was already one lawyer. 
In 1S13 he was appointed L'. S. attorney for 
the district of Vermont, and held the office 
ten years. 

In 1826 he was elected a judge of the Su- 
preme Court, served as such till 1S30, when 
he was elected chief judge, which position he 
occupied three years, being defeated by 
Judge Williams in the election of 1833 by a 
vote of 118 to 1 13. 

Judge Hutchinson married Clarissa Sage 
Feb. 16, 1800. She died Jan. 18, 1844. 
Their children were : Edwin, Oramel, Hen- 
ry, Titus, Clarissa S., and Alexander. The 
judge lived in comparative retirement the 
last twenty years of his life. He died Aug- 
ust 24, 1857. A full sketch of him may be 
found in Henry Swan Dana's History of 
Woodstock, as good a town history as was 
ever written in this world — perhaps they write 
town history better on the planets of the 
Pleiades or those of the golden belt of Orion, 
but not here. 

ROYCE, Stephen.— Stephen Royce of 
Berkshire was judge of the Supreme Court 
from 1825 to 1827, again from 1829 to 
1846, and was chief judge from 1846 to 
1852. [See sketch in "Governors," ante 
page 9 I.J 

TURNER, BATES.--Bates Turner of St. 
Albans entered the Revolutionary army at 
sixteen, studied law under Judges Reeve 
and Gould and was admitted to the bar in 
Connecticut. He settled in Fairfield in i 796, 
but moved to St. Albans and in 1804 there 
formed a partnership with Asa Aldis. It 
lasted but a short time and he returned to 
Fairfield and set up a law school. He had 
in his life about 175 law students. In 181 2 
he removed to Middlebury thinking his 
school would do better there, but soon re- 
turned to Fairfield and before long to St. 
Albans again. 

He was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1827 and continued in service two 
years. He was quite old when elected judge 
but on leaving the bench returned to prac- 
tice. Judge Turner, carrying his bag of law 
papers, called on a lady who playfully re- 
minded him that Judas carried a bag. 
"Yes," said the judge, "and kept better 
company than I do." 

Judge Turner died at an advanced age, 
April 30, 1847. 

PADDOCK, EPHRAIM. — Ephraim Pad- 
dock of St. Johnsbury came when a young 



man from Massachusetts to Vermont. His 
opportunities for education were limited to 
the common school, but he made such 
good use of them that he was for two or three 
years employed as an instructor in Peacham 
Academy. He began the practice of law in 
St. Johnsbury and by diligence became 
a learned lawyer. He represented St. 
lohnsbury from 1S21 to 1826, inclusive; 
was a member of the constitutional conven- 
tion of 182S, and of the council of censors in 
1.S41. He was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1828, but preferred the vi^ork of his 
profession and retired from the bench in 
1 83 1. 

Judge Paddock continued in acti\e prac- 
tice till 1848, when he gave up professional 
duties and lived in peace and quiet the re- 
mainder of his days. He died July 27, 1859, 
at the age of seventy-nine. 

THOMPSON, JOHN C— John C. 
Thompson, of Burhngton, was born in 
Rhode Island, studied law in Hartford, 
Conn., and was there admitted to the bar 
about 181 3. He came at once to Windsor, 
where he staid till 1818, in which year he re- 
moved to Hartland. In 1822 he left Hart- 
land and settled in Burlington. He was a 
good lawyer and rose rapidly in public favor. 
In 1827 he was elected a councillor and held 
that ofifice till elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1830. Before his first year of serv- 
ice was ended he was taken sick on his way 
to Montpelier in a stage-coach and in a few 
days died. He had won approval as a judge 
although so short a time on the bench. 

Judge Thompson married Nancy Patrick 
in December, 18 16. His death occurred 
June 27, 1 83 1. He left surviving him a son 
who was drowned in Lake Champlain, Sep- 
tember, 1846. 

BAYLIES, Nicholas.— Nicholas Bay- 
lies of Montpelier, son of Deacon Nicholas 
Baylies, of Uxbridge, Mass., was born in 
I'xbridge, graduated at Dartmouth College 
in 1 794, read law with Charles Marsh of 
^^'oodstock, was admitted to the bar, and 
practiced in Woodstock a number of years. 
He moved from Woodstock to Montpelier in 
1809 and was "warned out" of Mont- 
pelier the 15th of November following — a 
fine old custom for booming a new settle- 
ment ! He was a scholarly man and was 
the author of a three volume " 1 )igested 
Index to the Modern Reports," published at 
Montpelier in 1814, which received the ap- 
proval of James Kent and Judge Parker. 
The " proprietors " of this book were Nicho- 
las Baylies, Samuel Prentiss, Jr., and James 
H. Langdon. Mr. Baylies also published a 
theological work on free agency. He was 
elected state's attorney in 181 3, 1814 and 



1825, and a judge of the Supreme Court in 
1S31, 1832 and 1833. y^ 

He removed to Lyndon about iS35yAvnere 
he lived with his son-in-law, George C. 
Cahoon, and practiced law till his death, 
.August 17, 1847. He was buried in Mont- 
pelier, August 22, 1847. Mr. Baylies was 
probably seventy-nine years of age at his 
death, though some authorities make him 
eighty-two and others onl\' seventy-five. He 
argued a case in the Supreme Court in Mont- 
pelier but a few months before his death. 
He married Mary Ripley, daughter of Prof. 
Sylvanus Ripley, and granddaughter of Pres- 
ident Eleazer Wheelock. She was a sister of 
Cen. Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, who com- 
manded at Lundy's Lane after Scott was 
wounded. Mr. Baylies' only daughter, Mary 
Ripley Baylies, married George C. Cahoon 
of Lyndon, Oct. 27, 1825. His son, Hor- 
atio N. Baylies, was long a merchant in 
Montpelier, and died in Louisiana. An- 
other son, Nicholas Baylies, Jr., was a lawyer. 

PHELPS, Samuel Sheather.— s. s. 

Phelps of Middlebury, was a judge of the 
Supreme Court from 1831 to 1838. [See 
sketch under " Senators," ante page 1 16.] 

COLLAMER, JACOB.— Jacob CoUamer 
of Woodstock, was a judge of the Supreme 
Court from 1834 to 1842. [See sketch under 
"Senators," t?;//^ page 121.] 

MATTOCKS, JOHN.— John Mattocks, 
of Peacham, one of the brightest men that 
ever lived, was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1834, but served only one year, ab- 
solutely declining a re-election. The opinions 
he gave are not only good law but so put that, 
as Horace (Ireeley would have said, they "are 
mighty interestin' reading." [.See sketch in 
"Governors," ante page 85.] 

REDFIELD, ISAAC FLETCHER.— Isaac 
F. Redfield, son 
ofDr.Peleg Red- 
field and Han- 
nah ( Parker ) 
Redfield, was 
born at Weath- 
ersfield, April 10, 
I S04 ; went to 
Coventry when 
his father moved 
there in 1S05 ; 
graduated at 
Dar t m o u t h in 
1825, and was in 
I S 2 7 admitted 
•■ to the bar in Or- 
leans county. He 
began practice at Derby, and so good a law- 
yer was he that he was continuously state's 




l82 



attorney from 1832, till elected a judge of 
the Supreme Court in 1835. He moved to 
Montpelier, and about 1846 to the Judge 
Chase house at Randolph Center, where he 
lived three or four years, and then moved to 
Windsor, where he lived till he went to Bos- 
ton in 1861. He was elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court in 1835, and so served till 
1S52, when he was elected chief judge, 
which office he held till 1800. 

He conferred honor on the court, and it 
was quoted in other states as the " Redfield 
Court. " After he declined further service 
on the bench he went to Boston. He wrote 
many valuable legal works, notably treatises 
on the law of wills and railway law. Judge 
Redfield died in Charlestown, Mass., March 
23, 1876, of pneumonia, and was buried at 
Windsor. He married Mary Ward Smith 
of Stanstead, Sept. 28, 1836, and Catha- 
rine Blanchard Clark of St. Johnsbury, May 
4, 1842. No children survive. 

BENNETT, MlLO L. — Milo L. Bennett, of 
Burlington, was born in Connecticut, studied 
at Williams and Vale and graduated at Vale 
in 181 1. He studied law at the Litchfield 
Law School ; came to .Bennington and soon 
went to Manchester, where he remained till 
1836, when he went to Maine and spent two 
years in the business of lumbering and losing 
his property. 

In 1838 he moved to Burlington; was in 
the fall of that year elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court and served till the court was 
reduced to three judges in 1850. He was in 
1850 elected one of the four judges of the 
newly established circuit court and going off 
the circuit bench practiced law one year, 
i85i-'52, in company with E. E. Kellogg. 
In 1852 he was elected again to the Supreme 
Court and served this time till 1859, se\en 
years. 

After his judicial service closed he was 
commissioner to revise the statutes and this 
revision, when enacted, became the "Gener- 
al Statutes," published in 1863. "Bennett's 
Justice" was also a work on which he spent 
a good deal of time. 

Judge Bennett did good work both at the 
bar and as a judge and good legal work is 
kept up by his descendants in the Boston 
Law School. He died July 7, 1868. 

HEBARD, William.— William Hebard 
of Randolph was elected a judge of the Su- 
preme Court in 1842, served one year, was 
again elected in 1844 and served another 
year. [See sketch in "Representatives," 
ante page 152.] 

KELLOGG, Daniel.— Daniel Kellogg 
of Rockingham was born at Amherst, Mass., 
Feb. 10, 1 791, graduated at ^\'illiams Col- 



lege in iSio, studied law with Gen. Martin 
Field of Newfane, and began practice at 
Rockingham in 1814. In iSigand 1820 he 
was judge of ])robate, secretary of the Gov- 
ernor and council 1823 to 1828, state's at- 
torney 1 82 7, and member of the council of 
censors the same year, L'nited States attor- 
ney for District of Vermont 1829 to 1841, 
member and president of the constitutional 
convention of 1843 and presidential elector 
in 1864. 

He was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1843, but did not accept; in 
1845 he was again elected and served six 
years. He was a scholarly, orderly man of 
excellent legal learning and took great pains 
in writing his opinions. He had the confi- 
dence of both the bar and the people. His 
professional, social, political and business 
life were characterized by the most perfect 
integrity. Judge Barrett said of him, " His 
lawyership was broad, accurate, practical 
and sensible, the result of faithful study, 
faithful and extensive practice, of a large con- 
versancy with current business and aflairs in 
all departments, and a most excellent social 
culture and bearing." He was president of 
the first savings bank of the state. 

Judge Kellogg married, first, Jane McAffee 
of Rockingham : second, Merab Ann Brad- 
ley, daughter of William C. Bradley ; third, 
Miranda M. Aldis, daughter of Asa Aldis. 
His children were : Henry, George B., Sarah 
B., and Daniel. 

Judge Kellogg moved to Brattleboro in 
1854 and died there May 10, 1875. 

HALL, HILAND.— Hiland Hall of Ben- 
nington was a judge of the Supreme Court 
from 1846 to 1850. [See sketch in "Gov- 
ernors," ante page 93.] 

DAVIS, Charles.— Charles Davis of 
Danville was born in Connecticut, and when 
he was a boy his father moved to Rocking- 
ham and in 1806 to Middlebury. Charles 
graduated at Middlebury, studied law with 
Daniel Chipman and was admitted to the 
bar in 1814. He edited a newspaper at one 
time. He stayed two years in Middlebury, 
then went to Barton and afterwards to 
Waterford, but in 1828 settled in Danville. 
He was that year elected state's attorney 
and held that office seven years and again 
served a year by an election in 1838. From 
1840 to 1845 he was L'nited States attorney 
for the district of Vermont and was probate 
judge for a time. In 1846 he was elected a 
judge of the Supreme Court and served two 
years. He represented Danville after he 
was on the bench, though it was a strongly 
Democratic town and he was a firm Whig ; 
in his legislative service he was chairman of 
the judiciary committee. He spent the last 



1 83 



of his life with a son in Illinois and died 
Nov. 2 1, 1863. 

POLAND, LUKE Potter.— Luke P. 

Poland, of St. Johnsbury, was a judge of the 
Supreme Court, 1S48 to 1850: of the Cir- 
cuit Court, 1850 to 1857; of the Supreme 
Court, 1857 to i860, and its chief judge, 
i860 to 1865. [See sketch in "Senators," 
ante page 124.] 

CIRCUIT JUDGES.— Three judges sat 
on the bench of the Circuit Court, which 
existed from 1S50 to 1857, who never re- 
ceived an election to the Supreme bench. 
They were Robert Pierpoint, \\'illiam C. 
Kittredge and Abel Underwood. 

Robert Pierpoint, of Rutland, a brother 
of John Pierpoint, was born in Litchfield, 
Conn., ^Lay 4, 1791 ; came when a child to 
Manchester, studied law with Covernor 
Skinner, and settled in Rutland. He was 
circuit judge from 1850 to 1856, and died 
May 6, 186^5. 

William C. Kittredge, of Fair Haven, 
was born in Dalton, Mass., Feb. 23, 1800; 
graduated at Williams College in 181 2 ; 
studied law in Northampton, Mass. ; went 
to Kentucky, and w'as there admitted to the 
bar ; was six months in Ravenna, Ohio ; 
caine to Vermont, was admitted in Rutland 
December, 1824, and settled in Fair Haven. 
He married three times, and had eleven 
children. For eight years he represented his 
town ; was county senator two years ; was 
speaker two years ; was state's attorney five 
years, and six years a judge of the county 
court. He was Lieutenant-Clovernor in 1852, 
and in 1856 was elected a circuit judge, and 
served one year. He died at Rutland, June 
II, 1869, while on his way to Bennington in 
discharge of his duties as V . S. Assessor of 
Internal Revenue. 

Abel LLnderwood, of Wells River, was 
born in Bradford, April 8, 1799, and was an 
uncle of Levi L'nderwood. He fitted for col- 
lege at Rovalton, and graduated at Dartmouth 
in 1824, teaching to pay his way. He stud- 
ied law with Isaac Fletcher, of Lyndon, and 
was admitted to the bar in Caledonia county 
in 1827. July 12, 1827, he married P'.mily 
Rix, of Royalton, and in 182S began jiractire 
in Wells Ri\er, being about one thousand 
dollars in debt for his education. He ])ros- 
pered in life, was U. S. attorney for this dis- 
trict, from 1849 to 1853, and was a circuit 
judge from 1854 to 1857. Judge L'nderwood 
died .\pril 22, 1879. His daughter and grand- 
daughter live in Montpelier. 

ISHAM, Pierpoint.— Pierpoint Isham, 
of Bennington, was born at Manchester. 
He was a son of Dr. Kzra Isham and his 
mother was a cousin of Judge Phelps and of 
J\idge Pierpoint. After attendance at the 



acaiiemy he studied law with Covernor Skin- 
ner ; was admitted to the bar and first set- 
tled in Pownal but soon moved to Benning- 
ton. In 1 85 1 he was elected a Supreme 
Court judge and served six years. .-Xt the 
end of that time, when the circuit judge sys- 
tem was broken up and the Supreme Court 
judges again made to undertake the task of 
presiding at trials in county court. Judge 
Isham absolutely declined a re-election, for 
his impulsive temperament made him averse 
to sitting at the conduct of jury trials. He 
made an excellent judge in the work of the 
Supreme Court, which was all that a Supreme 
Court judge had to do during the term of his 
service. Judge Isham died May 8, 1872. 

ALDIS, ASA Owen.— .\sa O. Aldis, of 
St. Albans, was born in that town ; graduated 
in 1829 at the L'niversity of Vermont, studied 
law and became law-partner of his father. 
Judge Asa Aldis. His practice was large, 
and in 1857 he was elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court, and served as such till the 
summer of 1865, when he resigned, moved 
to this step by the loss of several children 
and the impaired health of other members 
of his family. He was L'nited States consul 
at Nice till 1870, and in 187 1 was appointed 
president of the Southern Claims Commis- 
sion, the duties of which important position 
occupied his time till 1880, when the com- 
mission ended. He thereupon served till 
1884 on the French and .Alabama Claims 
Commission, and from 1871 made Washing- 
ton City his home. He had the grippe in 
[890, and was thenceforward in poor health 
till his death, which occurred in Washington, 
D. C. Owen Aldis, his son, is a Chicago 
lawyer. 

PIERPOINT, John.— John Pierpoint, 
of \' e rgennes, 
was born at 
Litchfield, Ct., 
Sept. TO, 1805, 
and was the sev- 
enth and young- 
est son of Dan- 
■»' ^ iel and' Sarah 

^. _ ( Phelps ) Pier- 

▼ ,, — ' point. In 18 15 

he came to Rut- 
land to live in 
the family of his 
brother Robert, 
who had mar- 
ried and settled 
there, and years 
after at the Hates House he told Judge Ross 
that he had felt old when there for he had 
hunted that ground all over time and again 
and shot his first game near where the Gen- 
eral Baxter residence stands. llis first 
day's hunting was so successful that his 




1 84 



IIEARDSLFA'. 



brother Robert told him next time he might 
take his new gun. John was as good a 
hunter all his days as he was judge and 
there can be no higher praise of skill than 
that. Tudge Peck once went with him when 
he was hunting and told of his shooting a 
bird on the wing, "firing as much as a min- 
ute after it had gone out of sight behind 
some cedar trees." At his brother's he did 
the chores and went to school ; at eighteen 
began studying law, probably in Manchester, 
and to continue his study he soon went to 
the law school at litchfield and boarded in 
his father's family two miles away. Judge 
Ross thinks that there he got the habit of 
thinking law as he walked and all through 
his life he kept the habit of walking in study. 
He was admitted to the bar in Rutland 
county in 1827 and began practice in Pitts- 
ford, where he wore through the boards of 
his office floor by walking back and forth, it 
is said. 

He mo\ed to Vergennes in May, 1832. 
Here his health broke down and he spent 
the winter of i835-'36 in Fayette, Miss. 
A\'ith bettered health he returned to Ver- 
mont, but was always a man of frail health. 
He represented Vergennes in 1841 and was 
Register of Probate from 1836 to 1857. In 
185s, 1856 and 1857 he was in the state 
Senate and chairman of its judiciary com- 
mittee two years. 

In 1857 he was elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court and his service on the bench 
was thence continuous till his death ; he was 
chief judge from November, 1865 to 1882. 

In 1838 he married Sarah M. Lawrence of 
Vergennes and they had seven children. He 
died Jan. 7, 1882, and Mrs. Pierpoint died 
Jan. 20, 1884. The bar of Vermont erected 
a monument over his gra\e. 

No more lovable man ever was a judge, no 
man more pure, no man more just, no man 
whose work was better done. And of all 
things in him that made him beloved did 
Charity most abound. 

BEARDSLEY, HERMAN R.~H. R. 
Beardsley of St. Albans, son of Ephraim 
Beardsley, was born in Kent, Conn., July 
21, 1800. His father moved to Grand Isle 
while Herman was a boy and sent his son to 
school to Rev. Asa Lyon. Herman entered 
the University of Vermont in 18 ig, but be- 
cause of failing health left college in his 
junior year and soon after began the study 
of law with Bates Turner and afterwards read 
with Asa Aldis. He took high rank at the 
bar and on the resignation of Asa Owen Al- 
dis in the summer of 1865 was appointed by 
Governor Smith a judge of the Supreme 
Court. His service was short, as the Legis- 
lature of that year instead of electing Mr. 
Beardsley chose William C. Wilson. 




Judge Beardsley married .Abigail S. Webb, 
stepdaughter of Bates Turner, and by her 
had three daughters and one son. He died 
in St. Albans, March 9, 1S78. 

BARRETT, J AMES.— James Barrett of 
\\'oodstock, and 
now of Rutland, 
son of IMartin 
and Dorcas 
(Patterson) Bar- 
rett, was born 
in Strafford, 
May 31, 1814. 
He graduated at 
1 )artmouth Col- 
lege in 1838; 
read law with 
Charles Crocker 
of Buffalo, N. v., 
in 1838 and 
1S39, and with 
Charles Marsh 
in Woodstock in 1839 and 1840; was ad- 
mitted and began practice in Woodstock in 
1840; moved to Boston in 1848, and re- 
turned to Woodstock in 1849. He was a 
state senator two years, and state's attorney 
two years. 

In 1857 he was elected a judge of the Su- 
preme Court, and served as such twenty- 
three years, his last service on the bench 
being in 1880. No man of more profound 
knowledge of the law than Judge Barrett was 
ever on the Supreme Court bench unless 
Asahel Peck was that man. It is said of 
Judge Peck that, having taken his position 
in consultation on cases in which he differed 
from his brethren, he was known to confess 
himself wrong and his brethren right in but 
one instance in all his service. Judge Poland 
told me that, in consultation, when he and 
Judge Peck disagreed, he once said to Judge 
Peck : "You are a great deal the better law- 
yer, but I am a great deal the better judge." 
There can be no doubt that the Supreme 
Court, when I. F. Redfield, Poland and Bar- 
rett were on its bench together and after- 
wards when Poland, Barrett and Peck were 
members, was a court that was supreme — 
one that united stood and divided didn't fall 
a great ways. How many times Judge Bar- 
rett gave up that he was wrong is not of 
record. When those men differed, who 
would novi^ dare to say which was right and 
which wrong — unless he could find out 
what John Pierpoint thought, was, taking 
everything into consideration, the right way 
to dispose of the Case. 

Judge Barrett's many opinions, reported 
in the near a quarter of a century that he 
served, exhibit a strength and living force 
that will always in legal circles give good 
repute to Vermont courts and to the state. 



'8s 



The degree of Doctor of Laws conferred on 
him is in his case a truthful as well as 
honorable title — given in accordance with 
the fact. 

After his retirement from the bench he 
moved to Rutland where he practiced his 
profession and where he suffered, Feb. 15, 
1887, the great loss of the death by accident 
of his son James C. Barrett who had though 
yet young in years attained position in the 
very front rank of lawyers. 

Judge Barrett married, Sept. 24, 1S44, 
Maria Lord, daughter of Dr. Simeon Wood- 
worth of Coventry, Conn., and they had 
nine children. He lives in Rutland, adding 
days of good old age to the years of honor 
that lie behind him, and still dignifying the 
profession of which he became a member 
more than half a century ago, by doing good 
work in it. 

KELLOGG, LOYAL CASE. —L. C. 
Kellogg of Ben- 
son, son of John 
and Harriot 
(Nash) Kellogg, 
was born in Ben- 
son Feb. 13, 
1816. He grad- 
uated at Amherst 
College in 183O, 
read law with 
Phineas Smith 
at Rutland, and 
with his father in 
Benson, and was 
admitted in Rut- 
land county, 
September term, 
1S39. He settled in Benson, which town he 
represented in 1847, 1850, 185 1, 1859 and 
1 8 70. He was a member of the constitu- 
tional conventions of 1857 and 1870, and 
president of that of 1857. 

In 1859 he was elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court and served eight years ; he 
was elected for a further term, but declined 
to continue in office. He moved to Rutland 
while judge, but returned to Benson on re- 
tiring from the bench. Judge Kellogg was 
a most honorable and learned judge. His 
love of order was great, and I well remember 
how, years ago, after he had returned to 
practice, he got me to copy one live-long 
night papers that were to be presented to 
the court the next day. They were done to 
his satisfaction — and that was cause of won- 
der when I learned how particular he was — 
except that he had well-defined and positive 
ideas about the place for putting the filing 
which were new- to me, but for which he 
gave reasons at large. His mode I after- 
wards followed till Judge Rowell, who is as 
orderly minded as was Judge Kellogg, insti- 




tuted the present method, for which he has 
reasons as cogent as Judge Kellogg had for 
his way i and now that Judge Rowell's 
method has been embodied in a rule, I try 
to follow that, but always with a mental 
apology to the memory of Judge Kellogg. 
Both ways are good ways — mine wasn't — 
and it is entirely probable that the departed 
judge's respect for a rule of court as a sacred 
thing would lead him to comply with it 
should he return to practice, and if he didn't 
so comply, revisiting the glimpses of the 
court room would be unpleasant for him. 

Judge Kellogg never married. He died 
at Benson, Nov. 26, 1872. 

PECK, ASAHEL.— Asahel Peck of Jeri- 
cho was a judge of the circuit court from 
185 1 to 1857 and of the Supreme Court 
from 1S60 to 1874. [See sketch in " Gov- 
ernors," ante page 100.] 

WILSON, WILLIAM C— W. C.Wilson, 
of Bakersfield, 
was born inCam- 
bridge, July 2, 
181 2. Hisfather, 
John, was a farm- 
er, and till eight- 
e e n William 
worked on the 
farm and attend- 
ed districtschool. 
The boy then 
went to school 
m Jericho and by 
leaching got 
money enough 
^o he could study 
i.iw, which he did 
first in Cam- 
bridge, then fur two years in Fairfax and 
then in St. Albans. Mr. Wilson was admitted 
to the Franklin county bar September term, 
1834, settled in Bakersfield, and obtained 
a large practice. He maintained a school 
for law students for some time after 1850 and 
drilled them carefully in their studies. He 
was state's attorney in 1844 and 1845, assist- 
ant judge of the county court in 1849, 1850, 
and 185 I, member of the Constitutional Con- 
ventions of 1843 s-nd 1850, state senator in 
1848 and 1849, and representative in the 
Legislatures of 1863, 1864, and 1865. In 
1865 he was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court and served five years, till 1870. 

He married Clarissa A. Pratt of Bakers- 
field and by her had three children, three of 
whom survived him : \\'. D. Wilson, Esq., 
of St. Albans ; Mrs. M. R. Tyler of St. 
l^aul, Minn., and Mrs. C. M. Start of Roches- 
ter, Minn. Mrs. Wilson -died in 1869. Soon 
after leaving the bench in 1870 Judge Wil- 
son removed to Rochester, Minn., where his 




i86 



daughter, Mrs. Start, was then H\ing. In 
1873 he married a second time. 'I'he Min- 
nesota climate benefited his health and he 
began writing upon a law work for publica- 
tion, but the sickness and death of his wife 
and then his own failing health compelled 
him to abandon the undertaking. 

Judge Wilson died April 16, 1882, and 
in accordance with his expressed wish was 
buried in the cemetery at Bakersfield. 

STEELE, Benjamin Hinman.— b. h. 

Steele of Derby, son of Sanford and Mary 
(Hinman) Steele, was born in Stanstead, P. 
n., Feb. 6, 1837. Fond of books his progress 




in study was so rapid that when but fourteen 
he taught an advanced school in his native 
town, the next winter he taught in Troy, 
then two winters in Concord, Mass., then 
again in Derby. Governor Dale said of 
him : " He had early selected the road he 
was to take, and was preparing earnestly for 
his journey, teaching, studying, reading ; 
now the most ardent devotee at the Derby 
and Stanstead academies, again reciting 
Latin and French to the kind Catholic 
priest ; then busily learning French five 
months at the College of St. Pierre ; rush- 
ing into a course at Norwich University, 
quickly hurrying from there to Dartmouth 
College for want of time to complete a course 
at both institutions ; prostrated by sickness, 
burdened with the care of a family which 
sickness and death threw upon his capable 
and willing mind, he ran towards the citv of 



his destiny with wonderful courage. Thus 
with a long arm and a strong will, he hewed 
his way through college, over the threshold 
of which he was stepping out into the world 
as the acknowledged leader of his class, 
when I first saw him." 

Graduating at Dartmouth with honor in 
1857 he continued studying law, first in Bar- 
ton (teaching as principal of Barton Acad- 
emy at the same time) ; typhoid fever com- 
pelled him to stop, on recovery he went to 
Cambridge, Mass., intending to pursue his 
studies at the law school. He went into the 
Supreme Court as a spectator and was ad- 
vised by his friends to apply for admission 
to the bar and at the age of twenty-one he 
did so, was examined by Benjamin F. Butler, 
commended by Choate, who heard part of 
the examination, and was admitted. He pre- 
pared to go west, but his old friends were 
loath to let him go and persuaded him to 
begin at Derby Line. This he did and at 
once by untiring application, zeal and elo- 
quence went to the forefront as a lawyer. 

When Judge Poland, in the fall of 1865, 
was appointed to the Senate the other judges 
each went up a peg and the place thus made 
vacant was filled by Governor Dillingham's 
appointing Steele a judge of the Supreme 
Court. Only twenty-eight when he went on 
the bench he was one of the strongest judges 
of his day during his five years' service. In 
1870 he declined a re-election to the bench, 
was appointed a member of the board of edu- 
cation, and in 1S72 was a formidable candi- 
date for the nomination to Congress against 
Judge Poland. The canvass was an active 
one and Judge Poland was barely successful 
in convention. Judge Steele was a member 
of the Republican national convention in 
1872, and the civil service and tariff planks 
of the platform were from his draft. 

Judge Steele had an enthusiastic following 
among the younger members of his party 
and his genius justified their admiration. 
Had he lived he would have taken his 
proper place in the work of national legisla- 
tion and would have stood second in national 
fame to no other of Vermont's representative 
men. He was not only a thorough student 
and profound thinker but an orator by na- 
ture and cultivation. His early death was 
not only a grievous loss to his family and 
friends, but to the state in good service and 
in the honor a worthy and brilliant son 
gives her when he becomes on a broader 
field a statesman and leader of men. 

Judge Steele married, Feb. 6, i86t, 
Martha, only daughter of David and \\ealthy 
(Thomas) Sumner. Two children were the 
issue of this marriage : Mary Hinman, and 
David Sumner. The last years of Judge 
Steele were spent at Hartland, where his 
widow yet resides, and not mnnv miles from 



i87 



the home of his sister, Mrs. Samuel K. I'in- 
gree in Hartford. 

His health had always been delicate, and 
in 1873 he went to Minnesota, hoping its 
climate would arrest the disease that has 
been fatal to so many of New England's 
sons and daughters. He died in Faribault, 
Minn., July 13, 1873. No man who knew 
him can write of him, even after the lapse 
of more than a score of years, without quick- 
ening blood as he remembers the man of 
whom at the commenorative meeting of old 
neighbors and friends at Derby Line, 1 lale 
long ago said : "A pleasant, happy father, 
husband, brother, man. From his couch in 
that far off Western town he looked back 
upon no wild irregularity of his youthful or 
riper years. He looked back with conscious 
rectitude, through the fact that he had done 
all he could, and with regret that he could 
no longer comfort his friends ; and forward, 
across the river lit by the faith of that 
church, the forms and creed of which had 
long been pleasant to his mind ; then quietly 
passed beyond our view." 

PROUT, JOHN.— John Prout, of Rut- 
land, was born in Salisbury, Nov. 21, 1815. 
His training was of the old-fashioned kind, 
and his education was in the common 
schools and academy. He followed the 
trade of a printer several years and then 
studied law in the office of E. N. Briggs and 
was admitted to the bar in Addison county 
in 1837 and began practice with Mr. Piriggs. 
He represented Salisbury in 1847, 1S48 and 
1 85 1 and was state's attorney of .Addison 
county from 184S to 185 1. 

In 1S54 he moved to Rutland and there 
pursued his profession most successfully till 
he retired in 1886. He had at various times 
as partners, Caleb B. Harrington, Charles 
Linsley, W. C. Dunton, N. P. Simons and 
Col. .Mdace F. Walker. He represented 
Rutland in 1865 and 1866 and was a sena- 
tor for Rutland county in 1867. In 1867 
he was elected a judge of the Supreme Court 
and served two years. The work was not as 
congenial to him as that of his profession 
and he declined further service. He was 
honest, learned and wise ; and was a sort of 
counselor-general not only to his clients but 
to the community and his brethren of the 
bar. It has been said of him that " to one 
who knew Judge Prout principally in his 
later life, its most striking characteristic 
was the degree in which his name and his 
opinions were deferred to in the community 
wherein he lived." 

Judge Prout died in Rutland, .August 28, 
1890. 

WHEHLER, HOYT H.— H. H. Wheeler 
of Jamaica, now of Brattleboro, and United 
States district judge for the district of Ver- 



mont, was a judge of the Supreme Court 
from 1869 to his resignation, March 31, 
1877. [See sketch in Part ll,/>os/ page 427.] 

ROYCE, HOMER ELIHU.— H. E. Royce 
of St. Albans was a judge of the Supreme 
Court from 1870 to 1890, serving as chief 
j\idge after the death of Chief Judge Pier- 
jioint in January, 1882. [See sketch in 
"Representatives," atiU page 155.] 

REDFIELD, TIMOTHY PARKER.— T. P. 
R e d fi e 1 d of 
Montpelier was 
one of the twelve 
children of Dr. 
Peleg and Han- 
^ nah (Parker) 

t'^ 'fSf^td Redfield. He 

% \"^ was born at 

, '2i^n Coventry, Nov. 

, I ' 3, 1812, andwas 

educated at 
Dartmouth i n 
the class of 1836. 
He read law 
with his brother, 
Isaac F., was ad- 
mitted to the 
Orleans county bar in the year 1838, and be- 
gan practice at Irasburgh, where he remain- 
ed ten years. In 1848 he was elected sen- 
ator from Orleans county. He moved to 
Montpelier after the session of 1848, prac- 
ticed there till his election as a judge of the 
Supreme Court in 1870, and continued on 
the bench till the fall of 1884, when he de- 
clined a re-election. He married Helen W. 
Crannis of Stanstead, Feb. 6, 1840, and she 
survives him. They had four children, one 
of whom, Alice, the wife of Andrew J. Phil- 
lips, is living in Chicago. .Alice has one 
child living, a son Timothy. The judge, 
after many years, lies with his three other 
children in Green Mount cemetery, that 
pleasant place of rest of which Eastman 
wrote : 

" This fairest spot of hill .ind gL^ile, 

Where blooms the flower and waves the tree. 

."^nd silver streams delight the shade, 
We consecrate, O Death, to thee." 

Judge Redfield was a wise and genial man, 
as well as a profound lawyer and great judge. 
No man at the bar had quite so much the 
flavor of the olden time. Some way he re- 
membered the wise and witty things that 
seemed to be the common stock of the 
ancients of the law, and it was an education 
to hear him discourse of the old lawyers and 
the old practice. .And w-ithal he knew more 
things that were "going on" about him than 
nine-tenths of their actors ; how he became 
possessed of his information was aniystery — 
he must have absorbed knowledge from the 
air as he went along. He was a powerful 



advocate while at the bar ; logical, adroit,with 
play of wit and humor, he was a dangerous 
antagonist. And after he was on the bench 
his power and mastery of the art of putting 
things used to make the lawyer who was 
getting the worst of the charge wince, and 
make the one whose law and facts the judge 
thought were right ashamed of himself to 
see how a real artist could do his work. 
When he had his mind made up he took 
care that his position should be understood. 
When he made decisions as a chancellor he 
would often file reasons with or as a part of 
the decretal order that, when the case went 
up, were a tower of strength in defense of 
the order he had made. 

It is, I find, the general sense of those 
who knew the two Judges Redfield that Isaac 
F. was the more studious in habit, and Tim- 
othy P. the stronger by nature. The elder 
brother cultivated more assiduously, but the 
younger plowed the deeper, and he seemed 
to know intuitively legal fields and what 
grains and fruits they bore. I have been 
surprised, after examining a doubtful point, 
and going over all the authorities attainable, 
to hear him, the moment the question was 
sprung in the court room, start from a prin- 
ciple and go on till he had talked all the law 
there was about the thing — give a better 
summary of the law off-hand than one could 
find in the books of those who had taken 
their time for thought and statement. He 
was solidly grounded in the principles of the 
law, and he remembered a vast deal about 
practice. He was to the younger members 
of the bar a spring of pure and ever flowing 
law, and I believe that his brethren on the 
bench would say that they looked to him as 
to the master of a stronghold of the law, 
with all its weapons available to his hand. 

Judge Redfield died in Chicago, May 27, 
1888, and was buried in Green Mount cem- 
etery, Montpelier. 

ROSS, Jonathan.— Jonathan Ross, of 
St. Johnsbury, now chief judge of the Su- 
preme Court, was elected a judge of that 
court in 1870, and has been chief judge 
since 1890. [See sketch in Parti I, post 
page 342.] 

POWERS, HORACE HENRY. — H. H. 
Powers, of Morrisville, was a judge of the 
Supreme Court from 1874 to 1890, when he 
was elected to Congress. [See sketch in 
"Representatives," /cijV page 324.] 

DUNTON, Walter C — Walter C. 

Dunton, of Rutland, was born in Bristol, 
Nov. 29, 1830. He was educated at Malone 
Academy, N. Y., and Middlebury College, 
graduating at the latter institution in 1857. 
He read law with Dillingham and Durant at 



Waterbury and with Linsley & Prout at Rut- 
land and was admitted to the bar of Rutland 
county in 1858. 

He resided in Kansas some years and was 
a member of its last territorial Legislature in 
1 861. That same year he located in Rut- 
land. In 1862 he went into the army and 
served as Captain of Co. H, 14th Vt. Vols. 
He was Rutland's member of the constitu- 
tional convention of 1870. In 1865 he was 
elected judge of probate for the district of 
Rutland and served till April 14, 1877, when 
he was appointed a judge of the Supreme 
Court by Governor Fairbanks to fill the 
vacancy caused by promotions consequent 
on the resignation of Judge Wheeler. Judge 
Dunton served on the Supreme Court bench 
terminated in the fall of 1879 by his resig- 
nation of the office. 

He resumed practice and died in Rutland 
April 23, 1890. 

VEAZEY, Wheelock Graves.— w. 

G. Veazey of Rutland, now a member of the 
Interstate Commerce Commission, was ap- 
pointed a judge of the Supreme Court Nov. 

I, 1S79, upon the resignation of Judge Dun- 
ton, and served till August, 1889, when he 
resigned. [See sketch in Part \\, post page 
408.] 

TAFT, Russell F.— R. S. Taft of Bur- 
lington has been a judge of the Supreme Court 
since 18S0, and since 1890 has been first 
assistant judge. [See sketch in Part \\, post 
page 391.] 

ROWELL, JOHN W.— John ^V. Rowell, 
of West Randolph, has been a judge of the 
Supreme Court since Jan. 11, 1882, when he 
was appointed by Governor Farnham sixth 
assistant after the death of Chief Judge Pier- 
point. He has been, since 1890, second 
assistant judge. [See sketch in Part II, post 
page 343-] 

WALKER, William H.— W. H. Walker, 
of Ludlow, was elected a judge of the Supreme 
Court in 1884, and served till September, 
1887, when he resigned. [See sketch in Part 

II, post page 41 7.] 

TYLER, James M.— James M. Tyler, of 
Brattleboro, has been a judge of the Supreme 
Court since September, 1887, when he was 
appointed by (iovernor Ormsbee to fill the 
vacancy caused by promotions after resigna- 
tion of Judge \\'alker. He is now third as- 
sistant judge. [See sketch in Part \\, post 
page 405.] 

MUNSON, LOVELAND.— Loveland Mun- 
son, of Manchester, has been a judge of the 
Su])reme Court since his appointment by 



THOMPSON. 



Governor Dillingham in September, 1889, to 
fill the vacancy caused by promotions fol- 
lowing Judge Veazey's resignation. He is 
now fourth assistant judge. [See sketch in 
Part U,/>os^ page 283.] 

START, HENRY R.— Henry R. Start of 
Bakersfield has been fifth assistant judge of 



the Supreme Court since his election in 
i8go. [See sketch in Part \\, post page 373.] 

THOMPSON, LafOREST H.— L. H. 
Thompson of Irasburg has been sixth assis- 
tant judge of the Supreme Court since his 
election in 1890. [See sketch in Part H, 
posip&ge: 397.] 



VERMONT INVENTORS. 

B^ Lt£\ 1 K. FULLER. 

In a search for rare and curious inventions, there has been revealed, among the citizens 
of this state, a wealth of inventive talent, great ingenuity and remarkable achievements, little 
known and long forgotten. It is a pleasing task to rescue from obscurity and to bring into 
more prominent light the efforts of our citizens in this direction. Many inventors are 
found to have been too early, as well as some too late, in the race ; so that they have performed 
their tasks upon a line so slender, in its relation to the then known wants or needs of the 
community, that recognition of their discoveries and the importance of their inventions, by 
the multitude, was not possible until future years and an advanced civilization should disclose 
their true value in industrial affairs. 

In many respects the state of Vermont has been as fruitful in the development of great 
inventions as it has been unique in other interesting phases of .\merican history. A few 
of the wonderful deeds of Vermonters are here recorded and their rightful place in the pro- 
gress of a century pointed out. 

During the century there were 600,000 inventions patented in the United States, of 
which nearly 4,000 have been granted to Vermonters, upwards of 1,000 of these being the 
first of their class. Many of them have indeed been important and controlling, even revo- 
lutionizing, departments of industry ; but in many instances important inventions were 
never patented. 

How came the inventions and improvements of the century to be made? They were 
not conceived or born in the patent office at Washington, or in any government bureau, 
much less brought forward by the order of any public official. They were of an impelling 
force, far different in its nature, strength and magnitude ; a force that had its source in that 
spirit born of freedom of thought, unfettered hands and unbounded opportunities : a force 
that has carved a nation out of the forest, and made the prairie and the desert to blossom 
as the rose ; that has preserved to us freedom, and given to the nation prosperity — indi- 
vidual responsibility and opportunity — with governmental care only so far as is necessary to 
secure this in its largest and noblest sense. 

It has not been my object to speak of inventions merely to show the number or kind, 
but to point out some of those in which citizens of Vermont were the earliest in the field. 

Thus we see, up among the fertile valleys of our little state, and among the green hills, 
where live a hardy, thrifty and self-reliant people, left to carve out their own fame and 
fortune, the ordinary citizen has grappled with the most important inventions of the age, 
has solved successfully the mechanical and industrial problems of the century, reaping, in 
many instances, a fair reward with unusual distinction, many with gratifying honors. 

Patents issued to Vermonters in the last century : 

Richard Rhobotham, Floor Composition, two patents, April 12, 1794. 

William Hodgson, Threshing Machine, April 2S, 1794. 

Toshua Hathaway, Hydraulic Machine, Oct. 29, 1794. 

Samuel Kellogg, Wool and Cloth Shearing Machine, Jan. 31, 1795. 

Lester Fling, Machine for Manufacturing Nails, Dec. 19, 1797. 

Charles Holden, Windmill, Jan. 24, 1798. 

Eliakim Spooner, Cultivator, Jan. 25, 1799. 



DAVENPORl. 



191 



AUAMS, RUFUS, Randolph, invented a 
steel spring pitchfork, about 1827. He 
kejU the secret to himself, until some of the 
men whom he employed discovered it and 
started factories in Brookfield and Hart- 
ford, whence it spread throughout the 
United States. Before his invention was 
used, the sticks were cut in the woods and 
heavy forks were made from iron by the 
blacksmith. 

BRADLEY, J. DORR, of Brattleboro, 
invented in 1852, a rotary pump, consisting 
of a piece of rubber tubing secured to the 
inside of a circular form, through which the 
water was pressed by a revolving wheel 
driving the water before it, as it was made 
to turn either by hand or power. Large 
numbers of these were made and found at 
the time a ready market. [.A biographical 
sketch and portrait of J. Dorr Bradley will 
be found in Part L page 138.] 

DAVENPORT, THOMAS, Brandon.— 
.\mong the most important inventions with 
which mankind has to do at the present 
time, is the use of electricity in its various 
phases. To Vermont belongs the credit of 
having given to the world the earliest suc- 
cessful harnessing of magnetism, or electro- 
magnetism as it was then called, or elec- 
tricity, as we now term it, through the inven- 
tions of one Thomas Davenport, a native of 
W'illiamstown. This ingenious man was by 
trade a blacksmith, and worked at his trade 
in Pirandon until 1832, when he became in- 
tensely interested in magnetism, and many 
years lived, dreamed and worked, surrounded 
by his successful demonstration of his skill 
in the development of various electrical ap- 
paratus. 

In 1B34 he made an electric motor, set- 
ting it upon the top of an earthen drinking 
cuj), which contained a battery which oper- 
ated the motor at the top. It had a horizon- 
tal revolving shaft, with the balance wheel at 
one end. He exhibited this model in New 
York to a syndicate of gentlemen who pro- 
posed to buy it. Among those whom they 
brought to examine it for the purpose of get- 
ting an opinion was Prof. S. F. B. Morse, 
who carefully examined it and then declined 
to give an opinion other than this : "It is 
certainly worthy of careful consideration, 
and the subject is one in which I feel a 
lively interest." 

Davenport also invented a tvventy-four- 
wire telegraph for the sending of communi- 
cations over long distances. This he had 
on exhibition in the city of New \'ork, and 
it was also examined by Professor Morse. It 
consisted of an apparatus for the sending of 
an electric current over each wire and an- 
other set of apparatus for receiving and re- 



cording the same at the other end. This 
twenty-four-wire telegraph of 1 )a\enport's, 
which had a wire for each letter of the 
alphabet and which was examined by Pro- 
fessor Morse furnished the basis of the latter's 
invention. 

Morse did not begin to think of a single 
wire until 1835. He had gone no farther 
than the thought of the use of magnetism 
with the wire, but when he saw the twenty- 
four-wire invention of Davenport, with the 
mechanism at one end for sending the 
electric current and the apparatus at the 
other for registering the signal, the problem 
was solved. 'What Morse did was to invent 
an alphabet enabling him to dispense with 
twenty-three of Davenport's wires and use 
the remaining one. 

Mr. Da\enport also exhibited his invention 
in 1S35 at Middlebury College, then at the 
institution at Troy, presided over by Miss 
W'illard, then at Princeton (,'ollege, and also 
in New ^'ork, Springfield and Boston. Prof. 
Joseph Henry gave him a certificate attest- 
ing the originality of his invention." His 
first patent was dated Feb. 25, 1837, and 
was for the broad use of magnetism as a pro- 
pelling force for motive power. Mr. Ells- 
worth, then at the head of the patent office, 
on the 4th of July, 1838, wrote him that his 
was the first patent issued to anyone for such 
an invention. 

In 1840 he began the publication of a 
newspaper in the city of New \ork, the print- 
ing press of which was driven by one of his 
electric motors, and in one of the editions he 
prints an editorial giving an estimate com- 
parison between the cost of steam when gen- 
erated by the use of wood, and power pro- 
duced from electricity, and showing by his 
logic a large balance in favor of electricity ; 
and then he adds, "The power of electricity 
is far superior to steam, and must and will 
triumphantly succeed," a prophecy which 
fifty years later is being fulfilled. 

Among his inventions is that of a circular 
railway, a model two and one-half feet in 
diameter having been made in 1837, and 
sold to the Troy Seminary, presided over by 
Miss Willard, and it remained in Troy until 
two years ago, when it was procured by 
Professor Pope and presented by him to the 
Society of Electrical Engineers of New York. 
In that model, there is a stand for the bat- 
tery, a circular track, a magnetic field, re- 
volving armature, a divided commutator, 
the connection of the armature by means of 
a bevel gear with the track, embodying every 
essential element of the modern electric 
road. In fact, the divided commutator is 
the only successful means that has been de- 
vised of controlling the electric current. 

The number of electrical inventions of 
this wonderful man was quite large, he ex- 



192 



FAIRBANKS. 



perimented in the making of motors for 
driving different kinds of machines, and ex- 
perimented with an electric piano, since 
then successfully developed. 

Professor Pope, who has studied the work 
of this great mind, says that, at the average 
progress which attended his labors, six more 
months of work, logically, would have led to 
the production of the phonograph. 

Mr. Davenport gave ten years of his life 
to this subject, but when Professor Page re- 
ported to the Congress of the United States 
that the cost of operating by electricity was 
vastly greater than that of steam, Davenport 
became discouraged, the want of public ap- 
preciation disheartened him, and he returned 
to Brandon in 1S42, and resumed his toil at 
the forge and anvil. He was simply a few 
years in advance of his time. 

FAIRBANKS, THADDEUS, of St. Johns- 
bury. The invention of a cast-iron plough 
in 1825 was the beginning of an inventive 
career that was singularly fertile, for the 
number and variety of inventions as well as 
their utility and influence upon trade and 
commerce. The trade in domestic hemp 
suggested greater convenience for weighing, 
a simple platform scale was constructed 
which proved so useful and accurate that its 
development into a commercial article soon 
followed. His first patent for this invention 
was taken out in 1831. The "knife edge" 
bearings which supported the platform and 
working parts, were so admirably disposed 
and the entire scale so carefully worked out, 
that the increasing trade caused the little 
mill to be speedily turned into a scale 
factory, and it in turn giving way to larger 
and more pretentious buildings, until the 
present establishment with its army of men, 
supporting a large and thriving village, is 
known wherever civilization has developed 
the need of accurate weighing machines. 
More than thirty-three patents were taken 
out upon the scale and the means of its pro- 
duction, for in the early days of this inven- 
tion exact duplication of parts was unknown 
and special machines for their rapid and 
accurate production must also be invented. 

His fertile mind led him to improve the 
cooking stove and the ice refrigerator for the 
housewife. For more than sixty years he 
led this life of enquiry, and developed along 
many lines new and useful improvements, 
and at the ripe age of ninety, having com- 
pleted an improvement in hot water heaters, 
receiving with unusual delight his last patent, 
his light went quietly out. [A biographical 
sketch and portrait of Sir Thaddeus Fair- 
banks will be found in Part H, page 129.] 

FIELD, ARTHUR, Springfield.— About 
1830 invented an improvement in hoes. 



The blade of his hoe was made of two layers 
of metal. On the inside, or top, was a thin 
layer of tempered steel, while the bottom 
consisted of a thin soft iron. The two were 
welded together. The soft iron, while it pro- 
tected the steel from breaking, was more ex- 
posed to wear, and as it wore away on the 
bottom edge, left the cutting edge thin and 
so acted as a self-sharpener. The hoes 
made by Mr. Field were lighter and had an 
improved socket for the handle. They were 
made by him as long as he lived, and were 
held in high esteem by farmers wherever 
they were used. 

FULLUM, A. J., Springfield.- Invented 
and patented about 1852, an improved pro- 
cess of manufacturing dies, for stamping 
stencil plates and similar work, by grinding 
and cutting them into shape with burrs in- 
stead of filing them out by hand, by which 
the process of manufacture was greatly 
cheapened, and the form and utility of the 
implements improved, eliminating the wedge 
shape which the hand file always gave. He 
invented in i860 a new method of stencil 
making, and in 1864 a sheep shearing 
device. 

FISK, James, Brattleboro.— About 1878 
invented a contrivance by which a horse 
could be released from the wagon and a 
brake applied to the hub of the wheel for the 
stopping of a carriage. 

GORE, John, Brattleboro.— Was the 
inventor of a steam wagon or carriage, which 
he constructed and operated about the coun- 
try. It was driven by an engine of several 
horse power, and was an object of especial 
interest. It was seen during a period of 
several years running about the country, but 
finally was dismantled and put to other uses. 

GOULD, William, Brattleboro.— Was a 
man of peculiar fertility of mind in matters 
connected with waterworks and appliances. 
In 1856 he invented improvements in fire 
engines, but probably his greatest invention 
was in a machine for making lead pipe, and 
lead pipe with tin lining. This occurred be- 
tween 1840 and 1850. The machine was 
finally sold for old iron about 1880, although 
some of the minor parts of it are now at the 
old shop. .As both of these inventions in- 
volved large interests and immense sums of 
money, it is singular that they never came 
into notoriety, but Dr. Rockwell says that 
J. Dorr Bradley took two strangers there to see 
the machine, who were in the interests of one 
of the parties of the lead or tin pipe litigation. 

HARRIS, Silas, Shaftsbury.— Was the 
first inventor and manufacturer of the modern 



193 



carpenters' square. He began by cutting 
the plates out of old saws. In i8i 7 he came 
to Shaftsbury and engaged Stephen Whipple 
to forge them from bar stock, as he had a 
trip hammer. This business had been con- 
tinued by one and another, developing until 
there were four such manufacturing estab- 
lishments in Shaftsbury, which were consoli- 
dated some time since under the name of 
the Eagle .Square Manufacturing Co., located 
at South Shaftsbury. 

FULLHR, LEVI K., Hrattleboro.— .At the 
age of sixteen Levi K. Fuller, then a tele- 
graph operator at Bellows Falls, constructed 
a steam engine, having a vahe of new and 
novel design. It was exhibited at the U'ind- 
ham county fair and received a premium. 
This invention attracted much attention and 
introduced young Fuller to the world of in- 
ventors and mechanics. 

Many of the most \aluable inventions re- 
lating to, and improvements in the con- 
struction and operating of reed organs, are 
the result of his skill and thought, and for a 
third of a century he has de\oted his efforts 
to this line of work in the interests of the 
Estey Organ Co. Not alone in this depart- 
ment have his eflbrts been crowned with suc- 
cess, but in telegraphy, steam engineering, 
car construction, and artificial ventilation, 
as well, he has originated in many other 
branches of mechanics and science, improve- 
ments and methods of value. 

The manner of drying lumber and numer- 
ous other articles by means of the system 
widely known as the "Common-sense" Dry- 
ing -Apparatus, is one of his inventions. 

It has been said that the road to the 
patent office has been more frequently trod 
by this inventor than almost any other in 
Vermont, and but few men in the country 
have a larger list of patented inventions. 
Upwards of one hundred dififerent patents 
attest the frequency with which the road to 
the patent otifice has been trodden by him. 

HEDGE, L., Windsor, was an inventor 
with rare traits of mental activity ; his mind 
grasped the delicate details of machines of 
precision with startling accuracy. His first 
inventions are dated as early as 181 5, for a 
spring pen ruler ; in 181 7, a revolving ruler ; 
in 1825, a machine for ruling paper; in 
1835, a carpenter's rule joint; followed by 
the wonderful machines for the marking of 
rules, so long employed by E. A. Stearns &: 
Co., at Brattleboro, and later consolidated 
with the Stanley Rule and Level Co., New 
Britain, Conn. The machines made sixty 
years ago have not been surpassed in accu- 
racy in the marking of carpenters' measuring 
rules. 



J.ACKMAN, ALONZO, Northfield.— 
Very soon after the successful inauguration 
of the electric telegraph, scientists every- 
where attempted to grapple with the prob- 
lem of using this means to connect conti- 
nents separated by water and thus bring the 
world into closer communication. Proba- 
bly the honor belongs to General Jackman 
of offering the first successful solution of this 
question. 

His life was spent in the quiet retreat of 
Norwich L'niversity ; he was a mathema- 
tician of rare mental endowments and with- 
out a superior ; whatever he did in this 
matter was the legitimate result of his learn- 
ing, opportunity and scientific investigation. 

In 1842 he devised the scheme and dem- 
onstrated its practicability by successful ex- 
periments ; in 1843, while lecturing at the 
Windsor .Academy, he was asked the ques- 
tion : "How is telegraphic communication 
carried on across large bodies of water?" 
He immediately answered that it was done 
by encasing the wires in India rubber. In 
1846 Amos Kendall published an article 
calling upon scientists to investigate the 
problem, whereupon Professor Jackman im- 
mediately wrote him revealing his plan a-nd 
offered the same for publication to prominent 
newspapers, who declined the same with 
thanks as being visionary and foolish. The 
Vermont Mercury, printed at Woodstock, 
however, published his article on the 14th of 
August, 1846 ; in this he proposed the use 
of a wire or wires coated with rubber and 
enclosed within a lead pipe ; in order to give 
the necessary strength he proposed to wind 
his cable with iron rings suitably connected 
with wires passing through holes in the 
bands and then he proposed to wind the 
whole with yarn to keep the strengthening 
material in place. It must be remembered 
that at this time the use of gutta percha was 
not known to the arts. 

The manner of laying the cable was as 
follows : " Now let two steamers sufficiently 
large, each having seven hundred and fifty 
tons of said pipe judiciously coiled in the 
hold, accompany each other to a point half 
way between Boston and Liverpool, then let 
an artist splice the two halves of the appar- 
atus together, wire to wire, rubber to rubber, 
and pipe to pipe. Next let one ship head 
toward Liverpool and the other toward Bos- 
ton, and each put on steam and pay out pipe 
according to the circumstances of the case." 

The wide circulation of this article through- 
out the world could not have failed to at- 
tract the attention of many readers, for it is 
precisely this plan that was adopted in 1857, 
when the British and .American men-of-war 
proceeded to mid-ocean, and, splicing the 
cable, the Agamemnon started for the Irish 
coast and the Niagara for Newfoundland, and 



194 



the dream of Jackman had been successfully 
accomplished by the commercial enterprise 
of Cyrus \\'. Field. 

HOLTON, S., Middlebury.— Invented a 
large number of intricate and interesting 
things entering into the whole question of 
the manufacture of cottons and woolens. 
He was also a jeweler and made an ivory 
watch, which is running to-day, and which 
is a great curiosity and an invention of re- 
markable ingenuity. He also invented a 
watch with the chronometer escapement. 
He also invented new devices in regard to 
clocks, and made the Garfield clock that 
was taken about the country for exhibition. 

KEYES, Asa, Brattleboro.— Invented in 
1850 the steam cutting machine for cutting 
slate used at the slate quarry at Guilford, an 
invention which at first bid fair to produce 
important results, but with the closing of the 
quarry, nothing further was done with it, al- 
though lately it is being revised and intro- 
duced in Pennsylvania. 

MOREY, Samuel, Fairlee.— in the Life 
of Robert Fulton, by Knox, it is related that 
Samuel Morey, between 1790 and 1794, 
made experiments on the Connecticut river 
by propelling boats by steam. The facts 
appear to be these : Gen. Israel Morey, of 
Hebron, Conn., moved to Orford, N. H., in 
1765, and to Fairlee, Vt., in 1772. He soon 
after obtained a charter for a ferry between 
the towns of F'airlee, Vt., and Orford, N. H., 
across the Connecticut river. He had five 
sons and two daughters. The second son, 
Capt. Samuel Morey, is without doubt en- 
titled to the credit of having invented, built 
and operated a steamboat at his father's 
ferry, between Orford and Fairlee, in 1 790 
to I 794, or more than fifteen years before 
Fulton constructed the "Clermont" on the 
Hudson river, and is the person alluded to 
in the biography of Robert Fulton. 

Rev. Cyrus Mann, of Orford, N. H., states 
that he saw a steamboat made by Morey in 
successful operation on the Connecticut river 
at Fairlee, before 1793. He also states that 
he built a larger boat that ran from Hartford 
to the city of New York in i 794, where it was 
seen by Chancellor Edward and Judge Li\- 
ingston, and many others. He also affirms 
that Morey exhibited the same to Fulton and 
that there was correspondence between him 
and Fulton. Morey built a model of his 
steamboat and took it to New York and there 
exhibited it, as he claimed to Fulton, Liv- 
ingston and others, the model of which is now 
in existence and in the possession of his 
heirs. 

The original engine in the boat which 
Morey first operated across the ferry at Fair- 



lee, he afterwards placed in a larger boat 
which he constructed, called the "Aunt Sally," 
and took to Fairlee Pond (now Lake Morey), 
and plied it there ; but being unsuccessful in 
introducing it into commercial life, he be- 
came discouraged and sunk the boat in Fair- 
lee Pond. 

Morey died in 1842 and down to the day 
of his death he claimed that he gave the idea 
to Fulton : that at one time there was a bar- 
gain between them, and that, because of its 
non-fulfillment, he felt that he was greatly 
wronged, as well as having his invention 
misappropriated. In regard to this charge 
of ^Iorey's, Prof. R. H. Thurston, in his 
Life of Fulton gives full credence to the 
claims of Morey as to the invention of 1 790 
and 1 793 at Fairlee, accepting the story of 
\Villiam .\. Morey, as published in the Provi- 
dence Journal in 1874. 

Much of the correspondence between 
Professor Silliman of New Haven and Morey, 
and also of others, successfully established 
the claims. Some of this correspondence is 
in existence today. Knox, in his life of Ful- 
ton, accepts the statement of Morey's bi- 
ographer that he probably had a boat on the 
Connecticut river at Fairlee between 1790 
and I 793, but in regard to the charge that 
he had exhibited the same to Fulton, it is 
claimed that Fulton was in France at the 
time the plans of the Clermont were made, 
and could not have known of what was tran- 
spiring in the New World with this Ver- 
monter. 

Howe, in his "Eminent Mechanics," also 
accepts the statement that Morey did mature 
and operate a stern-wheel steamboat at Fair- 
lee, in 1793. This last author assigns to 
Fulton the position, not of having been the 
original inventor nor the perfecter, but as a 
successful person, who so satisfied the law 
of the state of New York as to receive its 
prize ; and as the first to establish a regular 
line of steamboats ; and by his genius and 
perseverance so improved them as to lay a 
solid foundation for those who came after 
him. 

This places the success of Fulton entirely 
upon the commercial side of the enterprise, 
and takes him out of the category of an in- 
ventor, leaving the honor to others, which so 
far as i790-'93 is concerned, the problem 
had been completely solved and was in prac- 
tical operation upon the waters of the Con- 
necticut. 

Samuel Morey, who invented the steam- 
boat at Fairlee and Orford, was visited by 
Chancellor Livingston. The patent for this 
invention was issued to Morey and signed 
by the President, George Washington. It is 
singular in its phraseology ; it is a patent 
for the securing of power by means of steam. 
Morey, thinking if he could propel a wheel 



by steam he might do so whenever and to 
whatever it could be apjjHed. 

NICHOLS, George W., Randolph. 

— In 182-, while driving a team to Boston, 
passing through Andover, N. H., had the 
misfortune to break one of the runners of 
his sled. The next day was stormy and he 
conceived the idea of cutting off the other 
runner to the same length as the broken 
one, went into the woods and cut a short 
sled-crook, which he put in place of the 
broken runner, converted his sled into a 
traverse, and continued his journey with the 
other teams to Boston. He found on the 
way that with the wooden shoes he could 
get over the ground better than any other 
team, could turn shorter by this means, and 
could start his load when others failed, turn- 
ing out and getting back into the road with 
greater ease, and the next winter the teams 
on that route changed their sleds to the 
traverse system, setting their wagon bodies 
on them. 

This is one of the most interesting inven- 
tions affecting the farming industry, truck- 
ing interests, and a multitude of vehicles. 
It is a good illustration of the native inge- 
nuity, readiness of resource so characteristic 
of a large class of our people who possess 
the ability to overcome difficulties in an un- 
usual degree. 

PALMER, Frank M., Brattleboro.— 
Among the remarkable things that have con- 
duced to the economical conduct of busi- 
ness and furtherance of social intercourse, 
and have greatly promoted the convenience 
of mankind, is the inxention of the postage- 
stamp, emanating in Brattleboro about 1S45, 
by the postmaster at Brattleboro, Mr. Pal- 
mer, who invented and caused to be made 
the first stamp for the prepayment of post- 
age in the general conduct of postal affairs. 

Thomas Chubbuck, then of this place, a 
most skillful engraver, was the artist em- 
ployed to make the design, and engraved the 
same upon a block of wood. So valuable 
have these become that at the time of writ- 
ing this, one thousand dollars has been 
known to have been paid for a single stamp. 

PIKE, Samuel, Brattleboro.— During the 
summer of 1861, when the war of the rebell- 
ion was making such heavy demands upon 
our army, inxented a portable cannon, to be 
transported about the field by hand, which 
could also be used upon a light gun carriage, 
or upon the deck of a ship. In its best 
form it has since been worked out in the 
tripod class of small cannon, and in the 
rapid-fire form of construction now being 
introduced in the navv. 



•95 



Mr. I'ike was a gunsmith of rare talent. 
He was consulted by Samuel Colt in regard 
to the making for him of his revolver, and 
offered, for the sum of four hundred dollars, 
to construct the first revoher, agreeing to 
make it in good style, perfect in operation, 
and first-class in workmanship, one that 
should serve as a model to be copied in sub- 
sequent manufacture. Mr. Colt thought he 
could get it done cheaper, but afterwards told 
Mr. I'ike of his error in judgment. 

PORTER, Frederick, Springfield.— 

In 1820 Mr. Porter, while engaged in card- 
covering by hand, invented a machine that 
would make the holes in the leather, bend 
the wire into proper shape, cut it off and in- 
sert it into the leather, suitable for cards. 
Work upon this in\'ention was carried on 
under lock and key for many years, with the 
help sworn to secrecy. 

SMITH, D. M., Springfield, was one of 
the brightest inventors that this state has 
ever had. He was the inventor of the spring 
clothespin in common use wherever w-ashing 
is done. 

The manufacture of hooks and eyes was 
carried on at Springfield for many years by 
the D. M. Smith Co., who used the machine 
of Mr. Smith, which was a marvel of ingen- 
uity, taking the wire from the reel, bending 
it into both a hook and an eye, and some of 
the machines went so far as to make the 
swanbill hook and eye, which contained a 
fastener, so that it could not be unhooked 
excepting by a dexterous hand. The same 
machine counted them, put them upon 
cards, and boxed them ready for market, 
although that part which related to the 
putting of the hooks and eyes upon the 
cards was done by one of the workmen, 
named .^Ivin Mason. A single machine to 
do this cost §20,000. 

It is believed that Mr. Smith was the first 
inventor of the typewriter. Parts of the 
original machine are now preserved at 
Springfield. 

STEWART, P. P., Pawlet.-The inven- 
tion of the modern cooking stove by P. P. 
Stewart is an illustration of the fertility of re- 
sources of men bred amid our hills and hav- 
ing to contend with early difficulties. In 
1832, while visiting a friend, he obser\ed 
the needs of a stove in the room ; he imme- 
diately made one, and it served so well that 
an addition of an oven was suggested ; this 
he made of sheet iron, which served the 
family well for many years. He had been a 
sort of industrial missionary to the Choctaw 
tribe of Indians, and performed this work 
after he left Pawlet and prior to his founding 
of Oberlin College. He returned to Pawlet 



196 



WHEELER. 



in 1S36. Having adopted a vegetable diet, 
on account of ill-health, the cooking did not 
suit him, being burned on one side and half 
done on the other. 

This is the way he soliloquized in regard to 
it — twenty-eight years ago I had this story 
from his own lips, it has been confirmed in 
courts of law, and reproduced by his biogra- 
pher, and shows the operations of a logical 
mind while working out a problem. He was 
then struggling for a new start in life. He 
said his stove must be adapted to the wants 
of a poor man, in order to cook his food well 
and thoroughly and bake his bread on all 
sides ; a single stick of wood as large as a 
man's arm was to furnish the fire. He split 
it into three small sticks, laid them side by 
side, but spread out they would not burn ; he 
held in his hand a paper and philosophized 
thus : " If I turn up the sides of the sheet 
bringing the wood so near together that they 
touch, then they will burn, and the sides will 
throw off heat enough to heat the oven, back 
and front," so he cried Eureka and told his 
wife of his invention. He made a sheet iron 
box for an oven, and into this he suspended 
his firebox. No such thing had ever before 
been heard of and with the three sticks of 
wood he performed the work necessary for 
himself and wife, and upon the bed of coals 
already made, a single stick sufficed for 
ironing. 

Thus simply, yet under great distress was 
the modern cooking stove e\olved. 

STRONG, Frank M., Vergennes. — a 
workman in the Sampson scale works of that 
city, made a special study of weighing ma- 
chines with a view of overcoming the wear 
upon the pivots and bearings. It has been 
stated that while engaged in this study, 
holding a grapeshot in his hand, it slipped 
and rolled upon the floor, striking the wall and 
rebounding ; this suggested the novel idea 
which he afterward incorporated in the scale. 
He said, " If I could put the platform of a 
scale upon balls like that, whenever any 
weight struck it rudely, I could arrange the 
platform so as to have the surrounding frame 
receive the shock, and thereby increase the 
life of the scale." By allowing the platform 
to move readily and quickly, all the \ital 
parts of the scale are thoroughly protected. 

WARDWELL, GEORGE J., Rutland.— 
The marble quarries of Vermont were orig- 
inally worked entirely by hand, the blocks 
being cut much as they now are, except that 
they were of less thickness, a large force of 
men being employed for that purpose at 
West Rutland, where the main quarries were 
developed. 



To Mr. William ¥. Barnes of West Rut- 
land is attributed the discovery and working 
of these quarries, which was done for many 
years in a small way, even before the intro- 
duction of railroads, the marble being then 
hauled by teams to Lake Champlain to be 
shipped to more distant markets by water. 
The great expense of cutting by hand, with 
other troubles which frequently occurred, 
induced the owners of the quarries, and 
more especially Mr. George J. \\'ardwell, to 
invent a machine to do the work of channel- 
ling, which machine is still extant and in use, 
and which has proved very valuable in in- 
creasing the output of marble as well as in 
reducing the cost of its production, one ma- 
chine doing the work of many men. 

In these machines the drills are combined 
in gangs consisting of several drills operated 
by machinery, cutting channels to a greater 
depth and much faster than was possible by 
the old process. The same power that op- 
erates the drills also propels the machine 
along the channels as they are cut. 

These machines have, since their introduc- 
tion and use at West Rutland in the quarries 
there, been extensively used in other marble 
quarries of the state, and are now in use in 
many sections of the country in quarrying 
other varieties of stone. [A biographical 
sketch and portrait of Mr. Wardwell will be 
found in Part II, page 419.] 

WHEELER, Franklin, Brattleboro.— 
Mr. ^Vheeler came to Brattleboro about 
1820 to work for Hezekiah Salisbury, mak- 
ing window springs. One Sunday while 
wandering in the woods of West Brattleboro 
he stumbled and fell, hurting his crippled 
leg so that he thought best to rest before get- 
ting up. \N'hile lying on the ground, he 
noticed some of the stones under him 
covered with moss ; by his stumbling and 
fall he had knocked off some of this moss, 
and he noticed shining yellow spots upon 
the stones ; he dug out a quantity of the 
shining metal with his knife, resolving to try 
it in a crucible to see what it was. He shut 
himself up in the shop, melted the ore in a 
crucible, and it came out pure, shining, yel- 
low metal. ^Vith some of it he plated the 
heads of the window springs and showed 
them to his uncle Salisbury, who said it was 
gold ; it was sent to Boston and there pro- 
nounced gold. It is not known of any 
earlier gold plating having been done in 
Vermont. 

While Wheeler was making window springs 
at Brattleboro he invented a breech-loading, 
six-shooting, revolving pistol, in 1S21, which 
was perfect in all its parts and for many 
years was in constant use. This antedates 
Colt by about fourteen years. 



QUEER CHARACTERS. 

BV HIRAM A. HUSE. 

There is hardly a town in N'ermont that has not its tradition of one or more queer 
specimens of hmnanity who left a name of curious fame among those who dwelt near his 
local habitation. These people — odd in different ways and in all degrees — whose name is 
legion cannot be individually described unless one should take up the writing of many 
books of which there is no end. 

Moreover, they run all the way from the class whose eccentricities are tacked to strong 
and forceful natures and form but little part of the real man, to the one that includes those 
whose oddities are about all there is to them. 

Within these wide limits we find many nationalities represented and more than one 
race. Joe and Molly — the Indians w-hose memory is perpetuated by the ponds that bear 
their name — perhaps would rightly head the list — not in degree of strange conduct but in 
order of time ; and many a man whose name rightfully appears in far other kinds of record 
would in certain phases belong in the long list. 

The strong man it is said sooner or later always finds a stronger man than he, and the 
one who has killed his sixty-eight bears can if he seeks find another who has killed one hun- 
dred and twenty-three. And no doubt a large contingent of the noble army of native odd 
men could be recruited from the hunters and fishermen who ha\e lived as well as from those 
who now live in the state. 

Each profession has its contribution ; business, the trades, the farms — all give numbers 
to the ranks of those who are called "odd." 

One who is interested in this phase of human life will find his taste gratified by many 
true "brief mentions" in Hemenway's Gazetteer, and, as Blackstone has it, not to speak 
ridiculously, even in the proceedings of the Vermont Bar Association, where are recorded 
divers and sundry doings and sayings of odd sticks in the profession, as well as those of the 
wise and learned. 

But, after all, the best written history in this line is not dressed up as history at all, but 
comes to us in the guise of fiction. The " Yankee " is pretty much alike in the six states of 
his nativity and with more or less degree of fidelity has been painted in many a novel and 
story. Of the authors who have done this work, D. P. Thompson was a pioneer, and his 
Yankee was the Vermont Yankee. Thompson did not go into analysis of mode of thought 
or attempt photographic accuracy in giving the dialect, but his Vermont Yankees will never 
be turned out of doors by one who knows the genuine article. At this day Rowland Rob- 
inson is introducing to a wide reading public types of the queer folks in Vermont — up to 
date. Nothing better — closer to the fact — has e\er been done in book-making than his 
Vermont Yankee and French Canadian in " Uncle ' Lisha's ' Shop," and in " Sam Lovell's 
Camps" — from the opening chorus of the former, the deestric' school meetin' to the end of 
the books. ^Vhen Thomas W. Wood paints a Yankee, the real Yankee looks at you from the 
canvas — you have seen him, you know him ; when Robinson paints in words what \\'ood 
does in colors, you see and hear Uncle 'Lisha and Sam and all the others who have lived 
and moved and had their being under other names right here in Vermont. So that one 
who wants to know Vermont types can do no better than read Thompson for the old and 
Robinson for the later — if a man has read them once he will read them again and if any 
Vermonter hasn't read both of them it is high time that he did. The odd characters have 



their fair representation in these books — their types there given are well worth study and 
life is too short for writer or reader to deal with the host of oddities who have made \er- 
niont their home. 

If one were to begin, say with Heman W. \\". Miller, where would he end? Miller, who 
was a quondam t/i/asi lawyer, school teacher, orator, what not, with a big voice and flow of 
words to keep it going — early abolitionist, with genuine belief in the cause and zeal, he it 
was who, after the killing of Lovejoy by the pro-slavery mob in Alton, said in an anti- 
slavery speech up in Orleans county : "Fellow-citizens, future ages will erect to him a 
monument which shall have for its base eternal space, and from whose top you can behold 
the throne of Almighty God." 

There is, however, a quartette of natives of this slate that ought to be mentioned bv 
name and have some brief account of them here given. Had they spent their lives in \'er- 
mont those of us who remain within her borders would be modestly reticent about them, 
but it would be hardly just to the Sons of Vermont not to lift the bushel for a moment and 
give a glimpse of these four shining lights. 



JOSEPH Smith.— When Dr. Denison of 
Royalton was called one winter night near 
ninety years ago to attend Mrs. Joseph 
Smith, it never entered his head that he 
was to aid in the advent of a prophet, and 
it is not at all probable that the good doctor 
would have admitted, had he lived to this 
day, the prophetic character of the child 
born that night of his patient. But thous- 
ands in other lands as well as this have done 
so, and the Mormon Church and communi- 
ties bear witness to the power exerted by the 
strange man, who came to be known as the 
Mormon Prophet. And however much this 
man Smith's "revelation" as to spiritual 
wives may have paved the way, it should be 
remembered that polygamy was established 
under the domination of Brigham Young, 
whose authority and doctrine were disputed 
by the surviving members of Smith's family. 

Joseph Smith, son of Joseph and Lucy 
(Mack) Smith was born in Sharon, Dec. 23, 
1805. The family was poor, but it is said 
that the mother, Lucy, was a woman of 
some peculiarities, and had herself a sort of 
"prophetic soul" as to some great things her 
sons were to do in the world. When Joseph 
was ten his parents moved to Palmyra, N. 
v., and four years later to Manchester, N. 
v., near Palmyra. In 1820, a year when 
four of his father's family joined the Presby- 
terian church, Joseph took to the woods to 
pray and claimed to have there had a vision, 
the telling of which excited only ridicule. 

Smith obtained the plates soon after at- 
taining his majority, and told his later 
visions, which were treated with the same 
ridicule that greeted the story of his vision 
in the woods. He thereupon went to where 
the family of his wife lived in Pennsylvania, 
and began copying the characters that were 
on the plates. These characters, bv the 
way, are said to have been a " composite " 



made from several alphabetical forms. Smith 
claimed that he was enabled to understand 
them by the aid of a pair of magic spec- 
tacles, to which he gave the name of " L'rim 
and Thummim." He dictated his transla- 
tion from behind a curtain, the first of it to 
one Martin Harris, and the rest to one Mar- 
tin Cowdery. May 15, 1829, Smith again 
went into the woods, this time taking Cow- 
dery with him, and there they professed to 
have been in receipt of an address from 
John the Baptist, and that he conferred the 
priesthood of Aaron and the spirit of pro- 
phecy upon Smith. 

He claimed to have had another \ision 
Sept. 23, 1S23, and that at this time the 
angel Maroni or Moroni (the orthography 
of the family name of this angel is a little 
uncertain) visited him and told him of a 
book written on golden plates that contained 
the history of former inhabitants and "the 
fulness of the everlasting gospel." The an- 
gel also told him where these plates were de- 
posited, and Joseph went to the place de- 
scribed and saw the plates, but was not able 
to take them away, afterward learning from 
the angel that his inability to remo\e them 
arose from the fact that he prized the plates 
more than what was inscribed thereon, and 
that he could not hope to get into possession 
of them until he was willing to devote him- 
self to their translation. 

In 1S30 the Book of Mormon (the trans- 
lation, by aid of the magic spectacles, of the 
matter on the plates of gold) was published 
at Palmyra by Egbert B. Grandin. It is 
said that its basis was a story written by one 
Solomon Spaulding, entitled "The Manu- 
script Found." On the 6th of .^pril, 1830, 
the Mormon Church was organized by 
"saints "at the house of Peter Whitmer in 
Fayette, N. Y., and on the next Sunday at 
U'hitmer's house Oliver Cowdery preached 



199 



the first sermon and several were baptized. 
In June, t<S3o, the church held its first con- 
ference, and had a membership of about 
thirty persons. Smith at this gathering 
claimed supernatural power, and his first 
" miracle " was casting the devil out of 
Newell Knight of Colesville, N. V. The 
" Prophet " at this time, with his Book of 
Mormon promulgated, and, church started, 
was only twenty-four years old and soon did 
a good business, for a young fellow with his 
opportunities, in drawing people to his new 
doctrines. 

The " Holy Rollers," who infested Hard- 
wick and vicinity more than half a century 
ago, and were preached against by Rev. 
Chester Wright, were not more zealous in 
season and out of season than Smith and his 
lieutenants, and had none of the executive 
ability and constructive skill of the latter. 
His following increased, and he announced 
that Kirkland, Ohio, was the promised land, 
and early in 1831 the new "church" settled 
there and at once sent out missionaries. 
That summer Missouri also was announced 
as promised land, and Smith located a Z ion, 
as lie called it, out there, afterwards return- 
ing to Kirkland, and getting tarred and 
feathered at Hiram, Ohio. His partner in 
this affliction was Sidney Rigdon, a Pennsyl- 
vanian a dozen or more years older than 
Smith, who tried to succeed Smith after the 
Litter's death, but was outgeneraled by Brig- 
ham Young, and who, notwithstanding, ad- 
hered to the Mormon faith till his death in 
Friendship, N. Y., in 1876. 

The Mormons adopted May 3, 1834, the 
name of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- 
ter Day Saints," in February, 1835, organ- 
ized their twelve Apostles, and dedicated 
the first Mormon temple March 27, 1836, at 
Kirkland. A couple of years later there 
were disagreements and the prophet was 
accused of having stirred up some of his fol- 
lowers to take the life of Grandison Newell, 
who opposed him ; on this charge he was ar- 
rested but was discharged. In 1838 he got 
away from Kirkland and went to F"ar West, 
Mo., where for a year conflicts raged between 
his followers and hostile missionaries. The 
militia were called out. Smith lodged in jail 
and indicted for all manner of crimes. He 
escaped from jail and in .April, 1839, with 
most of his fleeing brethren, settled in Illi- 
nois and founded the city of Nauvoo. In 
1840 he obtained a charter for this city of 
Saints — soon organized the Nauvoo Legion, 
a military body of 1,500 men, erected and 
dedicated a new temple and extended his 
missionary work by sending preachers across 
the ocean. 

In 1842, he was at the height of his power, 
but the next year his "revelation" to take 
spiritual wives made a break in the church. 



and was the cause of his death. All through 
his career his enemies had made life mis- 
erable for him, if being arrested forty or 
fifty times was enough to do it ; and now 
two Mormons, Foster and Law, angered by 
his new revelation and its effect on their 
domestic affairs, founded a newspaper to at- 
tack him. 'I'he first number of their paper 
had the affidavits of a number of women 
who charged Smith and Rigdon with im- 
moral conduct. The prophet appears to 
have been a prohibitionist in his way, for he 
had the council adjudge the pajier a nui- 
sance and order it abated, and his friends 
attacked the office, smashed the press and 
burned the paper and furniture. 

Foster and Law escaped to Carthage, made 
complaint on which warrants were issued 
for the arrest of Smith and a score of his 
followers ; the officer who went to serve the 
warrants was driven out of Nauvoo by the 
city marshal. The militia were called out 
and the Mormons ga\'e up the arms they 
held belonging to the state. 

Joseph and his brother Hyrum were ar- 
rested for treason and taken to Carthage 
where the Governor of Illinois visited them 
in jail and promised to protect them from 
the mob. He did place a guard at the jail, 
but June 27, 1844, a mob consisting of more 
than a hundred disguised men attacked it, 
rushed in, and at their first volley killed 
Hyrum. Joseph next fell dead, pierced by 
four bullets. So closed, at the age of thirty- 
eight, the life of this remarkable specimen of 
human kind. Whether he was an enthusiast 
partially self-deceived or whether he was 
a conscious fraud each can determine for 
himself. 

His wife refused to acknowledge the lead- 
ership of Brigham Young as her husband's 
successor and remained at Nauvoo when the 
exodus of the Mormons under Young took 
them to Utah. His son, Joseph, who was 
born at Kirkland Nov. 6, 1832, remained 
with his mother and after attaining manhood 
formed the "re-organized" Mormon Church, 
which professedly in accordance with the 
teaching of "the prophet" and the Book of 
Mormon is antagonistic to polygamy. 

Brigham Young.— The man who suc- 
ceeded Smith as prophet and leader was also 
a native of Yermont. Brigham Young was 
born in Whitingham, June 1, 1801, and when 
he was three years old his folks mo\ed to 
Sherburne, N. Y., and there Brigham re- 
mained till sixteen, his educational advan- 
tages consisting in attendance on school to 
average one day a year. He then went to 
work in Mendon, N. Y., and was there a 
carpenter and joiner, painter and glazier. 

Young came to know of the Book of Mor- 
mon the year of its publication, and in 183 1 



he was converted to its doctrines under the 
preaching of Samuel H. Smith, one of the 
modern Joseph's brethren. April 14, 1832, 
he was baptized, and in the fall of that year 
went to Kirkland, where he became a fast 
friend of Smith, was soon ordained an elder, 
and, Feb. 14, 1835, was chosen one of the 
twelve Mormon Apostles. Till the dedica- 
tion of the Kirkland temple in 1836 Young 
occupied himself in its building, for which 
his trade fitted him, and in the study of 
Hebrew. The year after the dedication, 
when David Whitmer tried to supplant Smith, 
Young was very active and successful in 
keeping the Mormons faithful to Smith. 

He went to Far West, Mo., in 1837, but 
got into trouble with Governor Boggs of that 
state, who ordered him to leave, upon which 
Young went into Illinois. In 1839 Young 
and Kimball went to England to spread the 
new faith and remained there two years. On 
his return he was- one of the founders of 
Nauvoo. 

When Joseph and Hyrum Smith were shot 
in 1844 Young was in New Hampshire, but 
at once set out for Nauvoo, and in .\ugust 
defeated Rigdon for the leadership of the 
church. The body of believers in the fall 
were eager to leave Nauvoo, and Illinois 
soon took its charter away and the Mormons 
were assailed with great enmity. Many were 
plundered and had their houses burned ; 
some were whipped and some killed. 

Young proclaimed his intention to have 
them find a home in the wilderness and to 
start to seek it in 1846. In February and 
March, 1846, they started, and their proces- 
sion of several hundred wagons went west- 
ward. In June they were called on to fur- 
nish 500 men for the Mexican war, and 
Young had the Mormon battalion filled in 
three days. From July to April, 1847, they 
remained with the Pottawattamie Indians 
who gave them kind treatment. April 7, 
Young and 142 followers went as an advance 
guard to select a suitable place for the new 
city of the Saints, and July 24, 1847, he en- 
tered Salt Lake valley, choosing this as the 
place for their future home ; he returned in 
the fall to the main body. He had been 
chosen to succeed Smith as prophet, and 
was now, selected as president by the twelve 
apostles. 

May 26, 1848, Young with his family and 
two thousand Mormons started across the 
plains and reached Salt Lake City, Sept. 20, 
1848. A provisional government for the new 
state of Deseret was organized and Young 
elected its Governor in 1849. The territory 
of LJtah was established by the national gov- 
ernment. Young was appointed by the 
President its Governor and took the oath of 
office Feb. 3, 185 1. Thus these strange 
people found a place to grow undisturbed, 



and the government machinery was in the 
hands of their ablest man. . 

August 29, 1852, Young openly announced t 
polygamy as to be a part of the doctrine and ' 
practice of the church. Isolated as his peo- 
ple were and powerful as they were be- 
coming, he threw away all disguise in this 
matter, and claimed that his action was based 
on a revelation to Smith before his tragic 
death. But in Smith's behalf it may be urged 
that the Book of Mormon forbids polygamy 
and Smith's wife and his four children stren- 
uously denied ever having heard of any such 
revelation. 

The extraordinary character of these events 
has not escaped the notice of writers of 
drama and fiction, as well as moralists and 
legislators. Bayard Taylor felt moved to 
dramatize some of their features, and A. 
Conan Doyle has Young as one of his charac- 
ters in "A Study in Scarlet." Doyle puts a 
sentence into the mouth of one of his Mor- 
mons that shows well the blind faith in 
which they obeyed this unique and powerful 
personality : " Brigham Young has said it, 
and he has spoken with the voice of Joseph 
Smith, which is the voice of God." 

The doings of the Danites, or Avengers of 
Blood, the troubles that led to the military 
expedition of thirty odd years ago, the efforts 
of Young to strengthen and of moralists to 
weaken his pet twin relic — all these belong 
to history rather than to a brief biographical 
notice. At any rate, Vermonters have the 
satisfaction of knowing that it is " the Ed- 
munds law " that of late has done much to 
do away with the evils of polygamy. 

Brigham Young died at Salt Lake City, 
August 29, 1877. He had seventeen wives 
and left forty-four children living. 

Heber Chase Kimball.— This man was 

in 1847, when Young was elected president 
by the twelve apostles, chosen as one of the 
two counsellors to act with Young. Kimball 
was born in Sheldon, June 14, 1801. Some 
ha\e said that Kimball was from the vicinity 
of Strafford as well as that Smith's people at 
one time lived in Tunbridge, but the ac- 
cepted authorities relieve Orange county 
from responsibility for these two men. 
Heber had a common school education and 
as he grew up worked in his father's black- 
smith shop in West Bloomfield, N. Y. He 
then learned the potter's trade and worked 
ten years in Mendon, N. Y. April 15, 1832, 
he was baptized and thenceforward was a 
zealous Mormon, becoming one of the twelve 
apostles in 1835. 

He was in 1838 taken prisoner by the 
militia and released. The next year he went 
with Young on a missionary tour to Eng- 
land, where they spent two years. Kimball 
was of those who left Nauvoo in February, 



1846, and one of the pioneers wlio first en- establishment of tlie widely celebrated 

camped at Salt Lake City in July, 1847. He Oneida Community. For some years the 

died tiiere, June 22, iSOS. community was apparently successful with 

its "Unity House" and farming and manu- 

JOHN Humphrey NOYES.— Altogether facturing enterprises that represented half a 

a different type of man from any of the trio million dollars in value, 

noteil above, |ohn H. Noyes established a 'J'he public would not have concerned 

community thai was for a time a close second itself about his affairs as long as they exem- 

to the Mormons in notoriety. He was born plified a community of property only, but 

in Hrattleboro, Sept. 6, 181 1, graduated at the complex marriage system savored too 

Dartmouth College in 1830, studied law for '""'^h of a community of person and the 

a time, then pursued a theological course at Oneida concern had to abandon its complex 

.\ndo\er and Vale seminaries and was marriage business, and thereupon it soon 

licensed to preached in 1833. The next '^^"^ out of business generally and taded 

year he experienced a new conversion and fom the knowledge of men. It had in ,874 

; , , r -ii, II u J two hundred and thirty-nve members and a 

began to ijreach a new laith. He had some 1 • 1 1 1 ^ , ,,. ,i- <• , ^. , , 

, " ' , , , , , , kindred plant at VVallinsford, Conn., hafl 

theory ot a dual body and complex mar- f^^^^, members 

riage, and ran a small community for some ^oyes died' at Niagara Falls, Canada, 

years before making what was his most April 13, i860. The public condemned his 

famous \ enture. The thing by which he be- institution and its results, but allowed him 

came known all over the country was the credit for good motives. 

Since the foregoing was written a new theory as to the origin of Mormonism has been 
told me. It will be remembered that Gen. John W. Phelps was not only a radical anti- 
slavery man, but a zealous anti-Mason. Years before he got into trouble with Secretary 
Stanton, because of his haste to kill slavery during the rebellion, he had been stationed at 
Salt Lake City. A Brattleboro neighbor, talking about his experience there, asked him what 
he thought of Mormonism, and the general replied : "The whole miseraijle thing had its 
rise in Masonry." They used to lay many things to Van Buren — in respect of which Parson 
Tilton Eastman once said, when asked whether he was going to plant his potatoes in the 
new, full, or old moon, " I think FU plant 'em when I get ready, and if I don't get a good 
crop I'll lay it to Van Buren." 

Van Buren is gone, and " The Total Depravity of Inanimate Things" cannot explain 
everything, and a table of errata is an abomination. I acknowledge the irrepressible tend- 
ency of the comma to insert itself where it never was written, and contemplate with 
ecjuanimity its unexpected appearance in all sorts of places, as where, on page 197, already 
printed and beyond recall, it implies that Blackstone said something about the Vermont Bar 
Association or some of its proceedings, or wherever it does a/ta enormia. But when in the 
account of Joseph Smith, on page 198, the fourth paragraph is made to precede the third, 
I do wish the reader, kind or otherwise, may discover the transposition or lay the present 
arrangement of the plates to Van Buren or some other deceased person — or even to the 
Masons, which will let me out of all but a proportionate share of blame. 

L'ntil "hostile missionaries" appeared suddenly, as from ambush, on page 199, the 
interconvertibility of Missourians and missionaries was wholly unsuspected. 

It would take more than all this to worry any of the queer characters, but what may be 
permitted in a lively theme may not in one severe. So any one whose eye this may catch 
is asked to note that the sketch of Judge Beardsley on page 184 should follow that of Judge 
Peck on page 185, and that the names of the first and sixth assistant judges on pages 188 
and 189 should be Russell S. Taft and Laforrest H. Thompson. 

Judge Beardsley's name is left out of the list of Judges at the head of the article on 
them, as is that of Senator Proctor from the list of Senators heading sketches of them. 
'I'hat is all well enough, as far as it goes, for it would have been ridiculous to attempt to put 
up the Senator in nonpariel — and in fact nonpareil and the users of it ought to be abated as 
nuisances anyway. 

Outside of matters that go to the form only and not to the substance there must be in 
any book purporting to give facts about many persons, errors of substance unless there be 
revision upon revision and verification upon verification. Take, to illustrate, the case of 
I'^than Allen — there are, considering time and place, four differing statements as to his 
birth. i\Ir. Da\en])ort gives the date as Jan. 10, 1737. Were I giving it I would follow 
Allen's statement in his own hand-wTiting in a presentation copy to his second wife of his 
Oracles of Reason, which is that he was born Jan. 21, 1739. The difference as to the day 
of the month is because of the use in one case of old style and in the other of new style. 
But style cannot explain the two years' difference ; and I am not sure Mr. I )avenport's 
statement is wrong or that mine would be right. 



PART II. 



I 



BIOGRAPHIES OF VERMONTERS. 



A. D. 1892-93. 



ADAMS, Bailey F., of Randolph, son 
of Luther and Lydia (Reed) Adams, was born 
in Brookfield, April 11, 1825. 

He received his education in the common 
schools of Brookfield and W'illiamstovvn and 
at Newbury Academy. 

His grandfather, Samuel Adams, was a rela- 
ti\e and namesake of the famous Massachu- 
setts patriot and served seven years in the 
Continental army. His maternal grandfather, 
Jonathan Reed, was also a Revolutionary sol- 
dier and carried on his breast a scar from a 
British bayonet. 



jttM^^ 




BAILEY F. ADAMS. 



Mr. .-Vdams remained on his father's farm 
at Brookfield and Williamstown until 1851, 
when he moved to the farm where he now 
resides, devoting his attention to dairy pro- 
ducts and horse breeding, and owning a fine 
herd of Jerseys. 

Mr. Adams is a Republican in politics ; 
was selectman for five consecutive years from 



1862, and with his associates during that 
period paid out of the town treasury over 
S6o,ooo to the soldiers, together with the 
money compensation offered by the govern- 
ment to selectmen for recruiting services. 
Mr. Adams has been town auditor for seven- 
teen consecutive years ; lister, fourteen years ; 
has represented his town repeatedly at county 
and state conventions ; was member for Ran- 
dolph in the Legislature of 1874; elected 
assistant judge of Orange county court 
i888-'90 ; has been one of the trustees of the 
Normal School at Randolph since its estab- 
lishment and also the trustee of' its endow- 
ment fund. 

He was married May i, 1855, to Lucinda 
S., daughter of Rev. Andes T. and Lydia 
( Lincoln) Bullard. Of this union four chil- 
dren were born : Jairus B., Clinton A., Al- 
bert C. (deceased), and Julius L. (deceased). 

ADAMS, Edward Payson, of Swan- 

ton, son of Lemuel and Sally (Smalley). Adams, 
was born in Sheldon, March 16, 1843. 

His early education was obtained at the 
district school and a course of study at Barre 
.Academy. 

Till he arri\ed at the age of thirty-nine, 
Mr. .Adams remained upon the farm in Shel- 
don which had been in the possession of both 
his father and grandfather. In 1881 he 
changed his place of residence and removed 
to Swanton, where he became a heavy dealer 
in butter. For the last twenty-five years he 
has been engaged in this occupation. 

\\'hen the Swanton Suspender Co. was or- 
ganized in 1885, he was chosen its president, 
discharging the duties of that office with gen- 
eral acceptability. During his business ca- 
reer he has traveled extensively in the United 
States. 

Mr. .Adams espoused, Sept. 7, 1868, Helen 
.A., daughter of Noah and Abigail (Yale) 
Best of Highgate. Four children are the 
issue of this marriage : Mary A., Helen B., 
Lemuel P., and John. 

While residing in Sheldon, Mr. .Adams 
took a leading part in the affairs of the 
town, and was the incumbent of many local 
offices. 



He was elected county commissioner four 
successi\e terms and was appointed railroad 
commissioner during the administration of 
Governor Peck. Upon the incorporation of 
Swanton Milage in 1882 he was elected its 
president, continuing in ofifice two vears. 
He has been vice-president of the Swanton 




he worked with his father on the farm and at 
the trade of boot and shoe-making during 
his minority, enjoying only such opportuni- 
ties for an education as were supplied by the 
imperfect public school of that time and 
place. 

Soon after attaining his majority he mar- 
ried and setded in Fair Haven, where he 
established and carried on for nearly twenty 
years a large manufactory of ladies' shoes for 
the wholesale trade. His goods had a wide 
reputation, and were much sought for over a 
large extent of the countrv. 

He sold out in 1843 'in^l remoxed to Ra- 
cine, ^^'is., but returning to Fair Haven, he 
began, in the spring of 1845, in conjunction 
with Alonson Allen and William C. Kittredge, 
the building of a mill and the sawing of Rut- 
land marble, in Fair Haven. For a number 
of years he had the principal charge and 
management of the business and continued 
his connection with it more or less acti\ ely 
during the rest of his life. He is jiroperly 
considered one of the pioneers of the great 
marble industry of the state. 

He was always public-spirited and enter- 
prising, leading in works of public impro\e- 



National Bank, and in 1890 was honored by 
an election to the upper branch of the Legis- 
lature in which he served with great efficiency. 

He united with the Congregational church 
in 1864, and for sixteen years performed the 
duties of Sunday-school superintendent. He 
has long been a Free Mason and w^hen Mis- 
sisquoi Lodge Xo. 38, L O. O. F. was organ- 
ized he was unanimously elected its first 
Noble Grand. In this organization he at 
present holds the position of grand treas- 
urer of the Grand Lodge of Vermont. 

Mr. .Adams, from his genial disposition 
and unaffected manner, is very popular in his 
section of the state, while his wide experience 
of men and affairs renders him both an enter- 
taining companion and sage counselor. 

AD.-\MS, Joseph, late of Fair Haven, 
the youngest of the seven children of John 
and Mary Ann (Morrison) Adams, was born 
in Londonderry (now Derry), N. H., Feb. i, 
1802. Of pure Scotch parentage, he re- 
tained in a marked degree the characteristics 
of his nationality. 

Having removed with his parents in the 
autumn of i8c6 to East Whitehall, N. Y., 





ment and pnilanthropy. He was^ a trial 
justice of the peace for many years ; was 
president of the Washingtonian Temperance 
Society organized in Fair Haven in 1841 : 
was chairman of the Park Association in 1 855- 
'56, and contributed largely to the establish- 



nient of the park. He was one of the huilding 
committee of the original school and town 
house. He assisted in raising the bounties 
for soldiers during the war. He frequently 
advocated the introduction of public water 
works. He was the original mover in the 
establishment of the First National IJank ; 
was one of the first and largest stockholders, 
one of the first board of directors, and be- 
came its presitlent in 1873, holding the office 
until his death. 

He represented the town in the Legisla- 
tures of i854-'5S, and was an active member. 

He was fearless and indejsendent in poli- 
tics and religion. He early espoused the 
cause of the slave, and was one of the first 
subscribers and readers of the National Kra, 
an anti-sla\ery journal edited by John G. 
^Vhittier at Washington in i846-'48, when 
slaves were bought and sold at public auc- 
tion in the capital of the nation. Though 
lacking early educational advantages, he was 
not an uneducated man. With an active 
mind, and a genius for philosophy and me- 
chanics, he made himself acquainted with 
letters and knew what was in many of the 
best books ; was well informed in history, in 
constitutional and international law, in poli- 
tics, theology, mechanics and science. Of 
his own thought he reached conclusions sus- 
tained by later scholarship and criticism. 

He was a lover and judge of music and no 
unapt performer on the violin. 

Writing at the time of his death, Feb. 26, 
1878, a friend said of him : "For more than 
half a century he has been closely identified 
with the business interests of Fair Haven 
and has been one of its most respected citi- 
zens. In all the relations of life he was re- 
garded as a strictly honest man. In business 
he was remarkable for his energy and tenac- 
itv of puri-wse, working out success where 
most men would have given up in despair. 
In religion he was liberal, in politics a 
Republican, and he was always a warm 
friend of temperance in all things. Although 
economical in his style of living, he was ever 
a friend of the poor — generous and kind- 
hearted. The people of Fair Haven will 
long have occasion to cherish the memory 
of Mr. Adams as a citizen thoroughly identi- 
fied with the interests of the town and vil- 
lage, warmly favoring all practical public 
improvements, advocating good schools and 
all moral reforms." 

Mr. Adams was married Nov. 6, 1823, to 
Stella Miller, daughter of Capt. William Mil- 
ler of Hampton, N. Y., and sister of Rev. 
William Miller. Of this union were eight 
children, only two of whom lived to mature 
age : Andrew N. (see below), and Helen M., 
who married Dadd B. Colton in 1852. 



AUAMS, ANDRKW N., of Fair Haven, 
son of Josejih and Stella (Miller) .\dams, was 
born in I'"air Haven, Jan. 6, 1830. 

His great-great-grandfather, James .\dams, 
came from Ulster, north of Ireland, to .Amer- 
ica in 1 72 1, and settled in Londonderry, N.H. 

Mr. Adams • prepared for college at the 
Oreen Mountain Institute, South Woodstock, 
in iS47-'48; spent two years in the Mead- 
\ ille Theological School, Meadville, Pa. ; en- 
tered the divinity school department of Har- 
\ard Uni\ersity, Cambridge, Mass., in 1852, 
and graduating in 1S55 was ordained to the 
ministry and settled as pastor of the First 
Parish Church, Needham, Mass. ; resigned 
and removed to Franklin, Mass., in the fall of 
1857, serving as pastor of the newly organ- 




ANOREW N. 



ized First L'niversalist Church in that place 
till the summer of i860, when he resigned 
and returned to Vermont. 

Retiring from the ministry he engaged in 
mercantile business in Fair Haven in the 
spring of 1861, and has retained his connec- 
tion with the same, in association with others 
since 1S69, till the present time. 

In company with his father Mr. .Adams 
engaged in manufacturing marble for the 
wholesale trade in 1869, and, with some 
changes, continues to hold connection with 
the business at Belden Falls. 

He has a large farm near the village to 
which he gives personal supervision ; is a di- 
rector in the First National Bank of Fair Ha- 
ven ; has been justice of the jseace ; treasurer 



ALEXANDER. 



of the town and \ illage ; was instrumental in 
establisliing and organizing the graded school 
of Fair Haven in 1874 ; has been many years 
a member of the school board ; principal di- 
rector and manager in the organization and 
conduct of the Fair Ha^•en Public Library ; a 
contributing member and officer of the Rut- 
land County Historical Society from the be- 
ginning ; trustee of the State Normal School 
at Castleton since 1869, and president of the 
board since 1882 ; was chairman of the Rut- 
land County Board of Education during its 
existence in i889-'9o, arranging the contracts 
for the purchase and sale of text books 
through the county. Mr. Adams prepared 
and published the history of the town of Fair 
Haven in 1870, is the author of numerous 
essays and addresses which have been pub- 
lished, and has now in course of preparation 
an extensive genealogy of the Adams family. 

He has been active in politics as Aboli- 
tionist, Free Soiler and Republican, repre- 
senting F'air Haven in the Legislature of 1S84, 
and his county as senator in 1888. 

Mr. .'\dams married in Orwell, Aug. i, 
1855, Angle, daughter of Erastusand Marga- 
ret(Hibbard) Phelps, of Orwell, and has four 
daughters: Alice A. (Mrs. Horace B. Ellis 
of Castleton), Ada M. (Mrs. John T. Powell 
of Fair Haven, died ^Lay 21, 1893 ), Annie E. 
(Mrs. George B. Jermyn of Scranton, Pa.), 
and Stella Miller. 

ALBEE, JOHN Mead, of (Jallups Mills, 
son of John 0. and Sarah S. (Blake) Albee, 
was born Jan. 14, 1S54, in Derby. 



He was eilucated in the public schools of 
Holland and Island Pond, and engaged in 
business as a lumber manufacturer at the 
latter place and at Whitefield, N. H., tmtil 
1882, when he moved to Granby, and was 
employed by the firm of Buck & ^^"ilcox. 
His business capacity soon brought him pro- 
motion, and for several years past he has 
filled the position of foreman of the exten- 
sive works of C. H. Stevens and the North- 
ern Lumber Co. 

Mr. .Mbee is a member of the Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he 
has been a worker in the ranks of the Re- 
publican party. He has been selectman and 
represented the town of Granby in the Leg- 
islature of 1888. 

Mr. Albee was married Oct. 31, 1876, to 
Alivia, daughter of John and Nancy Web- 
ster. Their children are ; .\ustin G., Bertha 
M., and Myra G. 

ALEXANDER, JOHN P., of Saxtons 
River, son of Willard H. and Eunice (Scott) 
Alexander, was born Feb. 21, 1838, in Ches- 
terfield, N. H. 




W. 



JOHN MEAD ALBEE. 



JOHN F. ALEXANDER. 

After jiassing the common schools of his 
nati\e town, he entered the high school at 
Brattleboro. 

In 1853, as an apprentice, he entered the 
employ of Gates & White, cabinet makers, 
Brattleboro, and remained with the firm three 
years. Removing to Bellows Falls in 1856 
he served in the dry goods store of Gray & 



Perrv. l-"iiuling the business congenial lie 
bought Mr. I'erry's interest in it, conducted 
suicessfiilly his department, and at the end of 
two years sold his share in the store to engage 
with S. I'erry & Co. in the manufacture of 
woolen goods at Cambridgeport, residing at 
.Saxtons River. In 1866 Mr. Alexander sold 
iiis interest in the firm of S. Perry & Co., 
buving out that of Theophilus Hoit in the 
Farnsworth & Hoit woolen mills at Saxtons 
Ri\er. Mr. Farnsworth lately selling his in- 
terest, the firm is now known as Alexander, 
.Smith & Co. 

I'olitically Mr. Alexander is a Reiniblican, 
and in 1886 he represented the town of Rock- 
ingham in the Legislature. 

Mr. Alexander is a prominent and widely 
known member in the order of F. & A. M., 
a member of King Solomon Lodge and 
Abenaqui Royal Arch Chapter, Bellows Falls, 
and of the council and encampment at 
\\'indsor. 

Mr. Alexander was married Oct. 31, i860, 
to Mary S., daughter of George and Hannah 
(Chandler) Perry, of Saxtons River. Of this 
union were four children : John F., Jr., 
Charlotte M.,(wife of Dr. H. G. Anderson, 
of New York), Anna E., and George P. 



ALLEN, Charles Edwin, of Burling- 
ton, son of Joseph Dana and Eliza R. (John- 




CHARLES EDWIN ALLEN. 



son) Allen, was born in Burlington, Nov. 28, 
JS38. 



He was educated in the Burlington pub- 
lic and high schools, and was graduated 
from the University of Vermont, August, 
1859. During the year 1861 he studied law 
with Hon. Isaac F. Redfield at Windsor, 
and in i862-'63 with Hon. Milo L. Bennett 
in Burlington. He entered the Albany Law 
School (Lfnion College) in September, 1S63, 
and was graduated in June, 1864. After 
practicing his profession in the New York 
courts for three years, Mr. .Allen returned 
to Burlington in the spring of 1867, and 
there opened an office, making a specialty 
of patent law. 

Mr. Allen was elected assistant secretary 
of the Senate in i862-'63. He is a Republi- 
can. In I S 78 he was elected alderrnan from 
ward I for two years, and re-elected for a 
like term in 1880. In 1882 he was elected 
city assessor ; in 1883 school commissioner, 
re-elected in 1884, and successively chosen 
for terms of two years. During this period, 
with the exception of one vear, he has 
served as clerk of the school board, and his 
annual reports of the census and condition 
of the city schools are highly esteemed for 
their accuracy and completeness. In Sep- 
tember, 1886, he was elected city clerk, and 
has been unanimously re-elected each year 
since. In 1870 he was chosen secretary of 
the Alumni Association of the LIniversity of 
Vermont, and has held the office since that 
time. During the years i867-'68 Mr. Allen 
was local editor of the EJurlington Free 
Press, and reported for New York pa|)ers. 

Mr. Allen is a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal church, of which he is now, and 
has been for several years, a vestryman and 
its Sunday-school superintendent, and a fre- 
quent delegate to its diocesan conventions. 
He is a member of the Algonquin Club 
of the Vermont Press Association, and has 
published, in pamphlet form, statistics of the 
town and city of Burlington from 1763, in- 
cluding complete meteorological observa- 
tions since 1840, besides several historical 
papers connected with his native town. 

Mr. .\llen was married Oct. 31, 1S67, to 
l'',llen C, daughter of Elias and Cornelia 
(Hall) Lyman. Of this union are three 
children : Joseph Dana, Lyman, and Flor- 
ence L. 

ALLEN, Ira R., of Fair Haven, son of 
Ira C. and Mary E. (Richardson) .\llen, was 
born in Fair Haven, March 29, 1859. 

Ira C. Allen was a man of ability and 
was well known in the state, ser\ing five 
terms in the state Legislature. 

Ira R. Allen obtained his early education 
in the schools of Fair Haven and in 1877 
studieil at Colgate .-Xcademv. He graduated 



from ISroun Lniversity in 1882. His busi- 
ness experience has been varied and exten- 
si\e and he has traveled in the States and 
upon the other side of the AUantic. From 
1882 to 1884 he resided in the city of New 
Vork and was engaged in the produce com- 
mission business. In 1886 he became inter- 
ested in mining operations in Virginia, and 
in 1887 returned to Fair Haven where he 
has been interested in banking, slate indus- 
tries and railroads. His family has the prac- 
tical control of the Rutland I'v: Whitehall R. R. 
and he is vice-president of the Allen National 
Bank. Mr. .^Uen is the fortunate possessor 
of one of the best private mineralogical cab- 
inets in the state. While in Virginia he was 
enabled to obtain many fine specimens of 
garnets, some of which were loaned by him 
for the purpose of exhibition at the World's 
Fair in Chicago. 

Mr. Allen is a Republican and one of the 
most public spirited men of his town. He 
has served as selectman and was considered 
as an available candidate to place in the field 
for town representative in a community where 
Democratic opinions had hitherto prevailed. 
This position he easily won and served in 
the Legislature at the session of 1892. An 





ardent anil enthusiastic member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, he has attained the 32d 
degree and represented Mt. Sinai Temple at 
Cincinnati in 1893. In religious views a 
Baptist, and though not a member of the 
church has always been a liberal supporter 
of all Christian enterprises. 



AMSDEN, Charles, of Amsden, son 
of .America and Nancy (Child) .\msden, was 
born in ^\■est Windsor, ^lay 6, 1S32. 

His grandfather, Abel Amsden, was a pio- 
neer of the town of Reading, a soldier during 
the Revolution, and a prominent man of his 
lime. His mother, Nancy Child, was born 



£P9 




CHARLES AMSDEN. 

in Westminster, Mass., July 20, 1790, and 
li\ ed one and one-half years after the cele- 
bration of her centennial, retaining her men- 
tal vigor to the last. 

Charles Amsden was educated at the com- 
mon schools and passed his early boyhood 
on his father's farm. At the age of seven- 
teen, with a capital of Sioo, he went to what 
is now called .Amsden and engaged in trade, 
opening the following year a lime kiln, which 
he still works, producing about 10,000 bar- 
rels annually, and carries on an extensive 
business in general merchandise. 

Mr. -Amsden is a Republican in politics. 
He represented the town of AVethersfield in 
the Legislatures of 1870 and 1890, and was 
elected a senator for Windsor county in 
1892. He has been town treasurer since 
1876, and postmaster since 1875, except 
when holding state office. Beyond his own 
town his business ability has been and is still 
appreciated. During the years i886-'87 he 
was a director of the Rutland R. R. and he 
is at the present time a director of the Na- 
tional Black River Bank of Proctorsville, and 
of the Howe Scale Co. 

January 20, 1S50, Mr. .Amsden married 
-Abbie E., daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann 



ANDROSS. 



(C'arev) Craigue. Of this union is one 
child : Mary Alelvina (Mrs. Charles 1',. Wootl- 
ruff, of \\oodslock.) His second marriage 
was with Miss ]^Iary L. Stockin. 

ANDREWS, John ATWOOD, of John- 
son, son of Asa'and Jane ( Hogg) Andrews, was 
born at New Boston, X. H. 

When John was three years of age, his 
father, who was a farmer, hoping to better 
his condition moved to Johnson. The son 
received such education as could be obtained 
in the common schools of that period, and 
afterward pursued his studies at the Lamoille 
county grammar school. 

.\t the age of twenty-one he purchased a 
farm situated about half a mile west of the 
town, where he has ever since resided, and 
here his father and mother found a home 
until their death. His estate of one hun- 
dred and fifty-four acres is one of the best 
adapted for cultivation in the neighborhood, 
and is pleasantly located on the Lamoille 
river, commanding a broad view of moun- 
tains, hills and stream. 

He is a member of the Republican party. 
In 1882 he was sent to the Legislature, 
where he served on the educational com- 
mittee, and he has just completed his fourth 
year as assistant judge of Lamoille c^ounty 
court. Judge Andrews was a member of the 
L O. G.T. 

He was united in marriage March 28, 
1844, to Angeline, daughter of Daniel and 
Lydia Scott (Eaton) Davinson of Craftsbury. 
Four children have been born to them : Sum- 
ner .\., Lydia (Mrs. Lyndley Fullington , 
Abner (died in infancy), and Wallace Gale 
of Montpelier. 

ANDREWS, Sumner A., of \'ergennes, 
son of J. Atwood and Angeline (Davinson) 
Andrews, was born in Johnson, Dec. 28, 1844. 

Mr. Andrews received his education at the 
public schools of his native town and at the 
Lamoille county grammar school. 

He remained with his father on the home 
farm until he enlisted in the army at the age 
of seventeen. He was a member of Co. 
E. 13th \'t. Vols, and was at the battle of 
Gettysburg. 

.■\fter the war he worked six years in a store ; 
and in 1875 went to the State Primary School, 
Monson, Mass., as supervisor, remaining 
there eight years. In 1883 he became a 
member of the firm of Andrews Brothers, 
dealers in general merchandise, in his native 
town where he remained until 1889 when he 
was appointed superintendent of the Ver- 
mont Reform School. 

Mr. Andrews is a Republican in politics, 
and represented Johnson in the Legislature 
of 1884, serving on the committee of educa- 



tion. In 1888 he was elected assistant judge 
of Lamoille county court. 

His church connection is with the Bap- 
tists, and for several years he served his 
denomination as deacon in Johnson. 



^^^ -• 




SUMNER A. ANDREWS. 

Mr. .Andrews was married Sejit. 28, 1868, 
to Mary \., daughter of Ozias and Charlotte 
Story. ' 

AN DROSS, Dudley Kimball, of 

Bradford, son of Broadstreet Spafford and 
Mary ( Kimball) Andross, was born in Brad- 
ford, Sept. 12, 1823. He comes of old 
\'ermont stock, one of his grandfathers. Dr. 
Bildad Andross, having been an early settler 
in the town of Bradford, and a member of 
the first convention which met to organize 
the Commonwealth of Vermont ; and another, 
Capt. Broadstreet Spafford, having been the 
first settler in Fairfa.x in 1783. His great- 
uncle, Obadiah Kimball, was killed in the 
battle of Bennington. 

In early life Mr. .-Xndross worked as a lum- 
berman, then as a railroad builder, and as 
such he helped to lay the first rail of the 
Rutland & Burlington R. R ; later he was a 
successful gold-miner in California. During 
his whole life his love of sport has led him to 
make hunting something more than a pas- 
time. 

When the ci\ il war broke out he was in 
business as a miller and was lieutenant of the 
Bradford company of militia. In its reor- 
ganization for service, uj)on the first call for 



ARCH HULL). 



troojjs in April, 1861, Lieutenant Andross 
was elected captain and served as such with 
the I St \'t. Regt. throughout its term. At 
the battle of Big Bethel, when the three com- 
panies of the 1st regiment attacked the 
rebel earthworks, Captain Andross was the 
first man upon the embankment. .At the 
close of the three months' service he returned 
to the army as lieutenant-colonel of the 9th 
Vt. Regt., his commission dating May 26, 
1862. .\t Harper's Ferry he was taken pris- 
oner, the 9th regiment having been sur- 
rendered under Cleneral Miles. The pri.soner 
was speedily released and at once promoted 
to the rank of colonel, which position he held 
until ill health compelled him to tender his 




Dudley k andross. 



resignation June 23, 1S63. Since the war 
Colonel -Andross has led a quiet life, farming 
and hunting. 

Colonel .Andross was married March 17, 
1878, to Mrs. Marcella Wasson, daughter of 
Rev. Horatio Harris. Their three children 
are : Mary Kimball, Walter Carpenter, and 
Alice Caroline. 

Colonel .Andross is believed to be (ex- 
cept Stephen Thomas, always known as (Gen- 
eral ) , the senior surviving colonel of Vermont 
troo] IS. 

ARCHIBALD, S. HENRY, of Walling- 
ford, son of the Rev. Dr. T. H. and Susan 
(Tuck) .Archibald, was born in Dubuque, 
Iowa, Nov. 10, 1848. 

He received his preparatory education at 
the New Hampton Institution, Fairfax, and 



later graduated from Colgate University, in 
the class of 1873. 

Having completed his college course and 
after further study he ministered to a con- 
gregation at West Pawlet, and during this 
pastorate he was ordained to the ministry of 
the Baptist church. Being settled by the 
church at Wallingford in 1876, he has since 
that time remained in that parish, and is at 
])resent the senior clergyman of his denomi- 
nation in the state, with regard to the num- 
ber of years of service in one church. 

His father was a clergyman of high repu- 
tation, and was formerly settled over parishes 
in .Addison, Bennington and Rutland coun- 
ties, but has now retired to private life, 
making his residence at Middlebury. .Mr. 
.Archibald occupies a prominent position 
in the Baptist church, and is well known 
and popular throughout the state, and has 
for twelve years served as the secretary of 
the board of managers of the state conven- 
tion of that denomination. 

He was united in marriage at West Paw- 
let, Feb. 13, 1877, to Esther .A., daughter of 
Daniel D. and Mary E. (Townsend) Nel- 
son. Four children have blessed their 
union: Nelson Henry, Eva E. (deceased), 
Walter, and Mary Townsend. 

In his political creed Mr. .Archibald is a 
loyal Republican, but his energies and time 
have been mainly devoted to his profes- 
sional studies and duties, yet he has sers-ed 
as superintendent of schools in ^\'allingford 
for seven different years, and is now chair- 
man of the board of directors. 

ARNOLD, FeNELON, of Westminster, 
son of .Ambrose T. and Priscilla ( Farnum ) 
.Arnold, was born in Westminster, Jan. 25, 
1817. 

He obtained his education in the public 
schools of his native town, and began farm- 
ing at an earlv age, first with an uncle until 
the latter's death in 1840, and then at the 
age of se\enteen, with a brother, he took a 
farm, wiped out a debt contracted in the pur- 
chase and acquired an unincumbered home. 

In 1855 he began the business of silver 
and brass plating, continuing it until i860 
under the firm name of Arnold & Cook. 

Mr. .Arnold's political preferences are Re- 
publican. He has served as selectman thir- 
teen years, several as chairman of the board. 
\Mth the exception of clerk and treasurer he 
has filled every office in the gift of the town, 
serving in the Legislatures of 18S0 and 1884, 
and was a member of the committee on elec- 
tions, banks and banking. .As custodian for 
ten years of the Campbell Trust Funds he 
showed excellent ability, making safe and 
profitable investments in the interest of the 
peojjle. Finding himself physically disquali- 
fied for service in the field durins: the war 



Mr. Arnold took an active part in raising 
troops for the nation's defence. 

He was married Nov. 4, 1840, to Amanda, 
daughter of Luther and Mary Richards. Of 
this union were two children : Charles F., 



ICast, filling the master's chair of ^\'hite 
River Lodge, Xo. 90. 

He was wedded Oct. 17, 1882, to Martha 
I'., daughter of Amos and Nancv White of 





FENELON ARNOLD. 



and George R. Mrs. Arnold dying Dec. 24, 
1867, he married, March 13, 1872, Emily A., 
daughter of Edmund A. and Isabella (Hos- 
mer) Marsh. Of this union is one child : 
Seth F. 

ARNOLD, Fred, of Bethel, son of 
Thomas and Jane ^L (Wellington) Arnold, 
was born in Randolph, Dec. 7, 1856. 

.After receiving his education in the com- 
mon schools and the Randolph State Normal 
School, he adopted the profession of the 
law, and since 1S80 has pursued that voca- 
tion in Bethel, combining his practice with 
the occupation of an insurance agent. In 
both of these pursuits he has met with grati- 
fying success. His business ability and un- 
doubted integrity have called him to many 
positions of honor and usefulness in the 
town, which he represented in the General 
Assembly in 1892. In this body he was an 
able and earnest advocate of the town sys- 
tem of schools, and was largely instrumental 
in the establishment of that important 
measure throughout the state. 

Mr. .Arnold has knelt at the altars of Free 
Masonry, having received the degrees of the 
blue lodge at Bethel, the chapter in West 
Randolph and commandery in Mont]ielier. 
In the first named he has i)resi<le(l in the 




FRED ARNOLD 

Providence, R. I. Six children have been 
the issue of the union ; five boys and one 
girl. 

ATKINS, Hiram, late of Montpelier, son 
of John S. and Margaret (Smith) Atkins, 
was born Dec. 22, 1831, in Esopus, N. Y., 
and died at Montpelier, Oct. i, 1892. 

When he was about three years of age his 
father moved to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where 
for the next ten years Hiram lived the usual 
life of a farmer's bov. -At the age 01 four- 
teen he entered the office of the Poughkeep- 
sie I^agle as an apprentice, and at the age 
of eighteen was employed on the Journal, 
Kingston, N. Y., having charge of the paper 
during the editor's absence. In 1853 he 
came to \'ermont and started a small paper 
called the Battle Ground, at North Ben- 
nington. He had one dollar in cash when 
he arrived in Bellows Falls a few weeks later 
to take charge of a local ])a])er, the .\rgus. 
In February, 1S63, Mr. .Atkins went to 
Montpelier, bought the Patriot, and estab- 
lished the .Argus and Patriot, of which from 
that time until his death he was publisher 
and editor. 

During his residence in Bellows Falls Mr. 
.Vtkins was for a time deputy postmaster in 
President Pierce's and postmaster in Presi- 



(lent BiK'hanan's administration, and during 
I'resident Cleveland's first term he was super- 
intendent of construction of the government 
building at Montpelier. He was at his de- 
cease one of the four World's Fair commis- 
sioners from N'ermont, and also by an act of 
the Legislature one of the Columbian com- 
missioners of Vermont. He attended every 
Democratic national convention but one 
after attaining his majority, and in i8S8 was 
the member from Aermont of the Demo- 
cratic national convention. From 1863 he 
was a member of the Democratic state com- 
mittee, and its chairman since the early 
seventies. 




Mr. .Atlcins was a communicant in the 
Protestant Episcopal Church : tor many years 
a vestryman of Christ Church at Montpelier, 
and often a delegate to the diocesan con- 
vention. 

In 1854 he married ISIaria .Abeel, daughter 
of John'L. DeWitt, of Windham, N. Y." She 
died Dec. 5, 1S59, leaving three children, 
two of whom, Catherine Abeel, and Eliza- 
beth DeV\'itt, wife of Major Osman D. Clark 
of Montpelier, survive their father ; the 
third, Margaret Smith, died about six months 
after her mother's decease. Mr. Atkins, 
June 27, 1864, married Julia M., daughter 
of Ezra F. Kimball, Bellows Falls. 

Mr. .\tkins was a man of strong individ- 
uality ; honest, rugged, and at times out- 
wardly harsh and rough, made to contend 
in stormy times for principle, but kind at 



heart, and winning the respect and friend- 
ship of men who opposed him, and whom 
he opposed in many things. 

ATWOOD, Frank C, of Salisbury, 
son of Hiram and Phcebe (Frank) Atwood, 
was born in Starksboro, Dec. 14, 1828. 

He was educated at the common schools 
and at the Bristol Academy. In 1851 he 
settled on a farm in Salisbury, where he is 
widely known as a catde buyer and stock- 
man, ha^■ing had a large exjierience in the 
industries he represents. 

Mr. .Atwood is prominent in Masonic cir- 
cles and has been a member of Union Lodge 
F. & A. M., Middlebury, for nearly forty 
years. 

I." His political affiliations are with the Re- 
publican party. He represented the town 
of Salisbury in the Legislature of 18S2, serv- 
ing on agricultural and other committees. 
Over the county and district conventions of 
his party he has presided for many years past. 

Mr. Atwood was married April 2, 1851, to 
Sarah i\L, daughter of Solomon and Sarah 
Thomas of Salisbury. They have two sons,: 
Henry S. (now deputy county treasurer of 
LaBette County, Kan.), and Julius W., who 
has been rector of St. James Church at Prov- 
idence, R. I., since 1887. 

AUSTIN, ORLO Henry, late of Bar- 
ton Landing, son of Asa and Nancy (Gregg) 
Austin, was born in Eden, August 13, 1838, 
and died at Barton Landing, Sept. 15, 1893. 

Mr. Austin acquired his education first in 
the jjublic schools of Eden. On removing 
to Craftsbury in 1848, he attended the L^lssex 
Classical Institute. He was admitted to the 
class of '63 in the L'niversity of Vermont and 
was a teacher until the breaking out of the 
civil war, when, in the spring of 1862, he en- 
listed in Co. F, nth Regt. Vt. Vols., was 
chosen 2d lieutenant and successively pro- 
moted to I St lieutenant and captain of Co. 
.A., Sept. 2, 1864, while in active service 
under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Vallev. 
He was in e\ery action engaging his regi- 
ment except the assault at Petersburg. Cap- 
tain .Austin came of patriot stock, his father 
having joined the Vermont Volunteers in 
1 814, was in the batde of Plattsburg. 

.At the close of the war, Captain Austin 
built a store in Barton Landing and became 
a dealer in general merchandise. He entered 
into partnership November, 1869, with C. E. 
Joslyn and together they built up a large trade. 
J. C. Parker and I. D. R. Collins joined the 
firm in the fall of 1873, adding to its business 
an extensive lumber trade. Decline in prices, 
losses by fire, increased through defective 
insurance, caused a suspension of the firm in 
the spring of 1877. Captain Austin suffered 
a second time by fire, and then built the 



present large business l)lork, which is an 
ornament to the village, entered into ])art- 
nership with A. C. Parker, studied law^ and 
was admitted to the bar in iSPo. In Novem- 
ber of the following year he was appointed 
judge of probate to fill the vacancy caused by 
the death of Hon. I. N. Cushman and hel<l 
that office till his death. 

In ]iolitics he was a Republican and held 
imi>ortant town otifices. 



He was an active member and su|)porter 
of the Congregational church and served it 
many years as Sunday-school superintend- 
ent. 

Captain Austin was married Oct. 15, 1S68, 
to Sophia M., daughter of Captain Timothy 
J. and Melona (Wilder) Joslyn of Hrowning- 
ton. The children of this union are : Fred 
(). (deceased), Clara M., Kmma S., Helen A., 
.Arthur O., and (irace F. 



BAILEY, ALDEN Lee, of St. Johnsbury, 
was born in Compton, P. ()., May 31, 1845, 
the only child of Lewis and Nancy Bailey. 

He was early bereft of both parents, his 
father dying iiefore he reached his fourth 




England. Two well equipped warerooms, 
one in St. Johnsbury, the other in Burling- 
ton, with twenty traveling salesmen, attest 
the fact. He has been a director in Citi- 
zens Bank from its organization, his business 
tact and good judgment doing much toward 
giving it its present good reputation. 

These qualities have also done much 
toward removing the debt and placing on a 
good financial basis the Young Men's Chris- 
tian .Association, of which for several years 
he has been a director. In early life he 
connected himself with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, of which he has always been 
a generous supporter, and to it he has given 
his best service as one of its stewards, and 
also for many years as its successful Sunday- 
school superintendent. He is possessed in 
an eminent degree of the quality rudely 
termed "push," giving an enthusiasm to what- 
ever he undertakes, which insures success. 

He is a sunny man with a cheerful word 
for all, and ever ready to dispense sub- 
stantial aid as well as wise counsel when- 
ever and wherever needed. 



ALDEN LEE BAILEY. 

year, and his mother when he was only ten 
years of age. Alone in the world, he was 
"bound out" during the remaining years of 
his minority to his uncle, a farmer, whom he 
faithfully served until he reached his major- 
ity. Greater opportunities, with less of hope 
and resolution might have disheartened 
him. He had nothing to lose, but every- 
thing to win, and he was determined to suc- 
ceed. This spirit found him ready employ- 
ment, and also opened the way for him to 
enter into the business in which his success 
has proved his fitness. From very small 
beginnings he has built up the largest trade 
in musical merchandise in Northern New 



BAILEY, Horace Ward, of New- 
bury, son of ^Villiam and .Abigail (Eaton) 
Bailey, was born in Newbury, Jan. t6, 1852. 
His father's family was of English descent, 
coming to Newbury in 1780. His mother 
came of Scotch parentage and was the daugh- 
ter of the late Jesse F^aton of Wentworth, 
N. H. 

Educated in the common schools of his 
town and at Newbury Seminary, Mr. liailey 
first entered the employment of John Lind- 
sey at the Fabyan Hou.se in the White 
Mountains, at C)kl Orchard Beach and in 
p:astman. In 1882 he opened a grocery 
store in Newbury Village, where he built up 
a large and profitable business, but finally 
sold out in 1890. Since retiring from the 
mercantile profession he has been chiefly en- 
gaged in the settlement of estates in North- 
ern Vermont and New Hampshire. In 1886 
he was elected town clerk, which office he 
still holds. He was superintendent of schools 
in iS85-'86-'87 ; for two years chairman of 



board of listers ; member of county board of 
education in 1889, and chairman of board of 
school directors in 1893; also several years 
a trustee of the Bradford Savings Bank. 

His political creed is Republican and in 
religion he is a liberal. -Mr. Bailey is a man 
of strong literary tastes, possessing an excel- 




olutionary war, while his son, John Bailey, 
Sr., was a hardy pioneer and farmer. 

Descended from such stock, John early 
showed his lineage, and from earliest youth 
lent a helping hand upon the farm, on which 
he resided for nearly fifty years. Though 
his educational advantages were limited, 
being restricted mostly to the district school, 
he has borne a very prominent part in the 
public affairs of the town and state. Though 
he has filled many imiMrtant town offices, 
he is perhaps best known as sheriff and dep- 
uty sheriff of Orange county, and is consid- 
ered as one of the best executive officers that 
has ever served the county and the state. 
Among his best known exploits the pursuit 
and capture of the notorious Barre bank rob- 
bers may be regarded as singularly proving 
his shrewdness, intelligence and daring, show- 
ing that he fully inherited the courage of his 
ancestors. Mr. Bailey was appointed post- 
master in 1889 and still holds that ])Osition. 
He was representative in 1 869-' 70, '84, and 
elected senator in 1886. 

He married, Oct. 21, 1847, Isabel, daugh- 
ter of George and Margaret (CJardner) Nel- 
son. They have six children : Ellen M.(Mrs. 
Newton N. Field), Albert H., Margaret J. 
( Mrs. Eugene D. Carpenter), Lizzie (Mrs. 
Oscar Warden of Mclndoes Falls), Nelson 
H., and Clara (Mrs. Simeon Clark). 



HORACE WARD BAILEY. 

lent miscellaneous library, selected with great 
care and which is not surpassed in his sec- 
tion of the state. 

A man of most benevolent impulses, he is 
always a staunch su])porter of all good works 
and charitable enterjirises in his neighbor- 
hood. 

BAILEY, John, of Wells River, born at 
Newbury, Jan. 30, 1822, was the son of John 
and Martha, granddaughter of Rev. Peter 
Powers, the first settled minister in New- 
bury. The latter lived with John until he 
died in his eighty-ninth year. 

(ien. Jacob Bailey, the great-grandfather 
of the subject of this sketch, was an officer 
in the old French and Indian war and was 
captured at Fort \\ illiam Henrv, where his 
courage and promptness of action alone saved 
him from destruction in the treacherous and 
bloodv massacre which followed the surren- 
der of this important post. He lived to be- 
come ijrominent among the Cireen Mountain 
boys, who took such an active part in the 
dispute concerning the New Hampshire 
grants, and was a member of the Council 
of Safety. Col. Joshua Bailey, son of Gen. 
Jacob Bailey, was a daring scout in the Rev- 



BAILEY, Myron W., of St. Albans, 
son of Richard and Sally (Barrows) Bailey, 
was l)orn at Waterville, Feb. 9, 1837. 

Commencing his education at the common 
schools, and at the Bakersfield .Academy he 
afterwards attended the People's .\cademy 
at Morrisville, where he prepared for college, 
but ill health obliged him to resign his hope 
of a liberal education. In the spring of 1S57 
he commenced the study of law in the office of 
Hon. Homer E. Royce, and continued the 
same under ^Valdo Brigham until the summer 
of 1858, when he entered the law de])artment 
of the L'niversity of .-Mbany, where he 
graduated in May, 1859, and was admitted 
as an attorney and counselor at law in the 
supreme court at .Albany, N. Y., and at the 
.■\pril term was admitted to the bar of Frank- 
lin county. He then commenced the prac- 
tice of his ])rofession at Bridport and con- 
tinued until June, 1861. 

When the war began he determined to 
serve his country, and enlisted in Co. H, 
3d Regt. Vt. Vols., and was mustered into 
service July 16, 1861, and soon after went 
to the front with his regiment, which was 
stationed near the Chain Bridge. He was 
present at the battle of Lewinsville, Va., 
Sept. II, 1 86 1, but in the last of the month 
while on picket duty he was severely wounded 
in the lower part of the back, the result of 



13 



which was a jjaralysis of the lower Hmbs, 
and he was discharged Feb. 5, 1862. 

He has held many town offices and has 
been judge of probate for Franklin county 
and district from Dec. i, 1867, \\p to the 
present time, and was railroad commissioner 
from 1872 to 1878. 




MYRON W. BAILEY. 

He is a member of the Masonic order, 
and is a past olificer of Missis(|uoi Lodge, 
No. 9. 

Judge Bailey married ISIary L., daughter 
of Sherman W. and Catharine Sears. Their 
children are : Carrie M. (wife of E. W. 
Thompson), and Katharine S. (wife of Kben 
E. McLeod). 

BAKER, Austin S., of Danby, son of 
Stephen and Susanna (Matthewson) Baker, 
was born in Mount Holly, March 16, 1824. 

Receiving a thorough and practical educa- 
tion in the public and private schools of 
Danby, he entered the battle of life fully 
equipped for an energetic struggle. Pos- 
sessing a strong and well developed phys- 
ique and highly trained reasoning powers, he 
adopted the profession of teaching for some 
years. Setding on the homestead in Danby 
he has devoted himself to farming for twenty- 
eight years, giving much attention to dairy- 
ing and horse breeding. 

As an ardent Republican, Mr. Baker has 
been honored by his fellow-townsmen with 
an election to nearly every office in their 
power to bestow. He has performed the 



duties of selectman, superintendent of schools 
and justice of the ])eace, serving with equal 
credit in each capacity. He has been assist- 
ant judge of Rutland county court for six 
years and has already established an enviable 
reputation in the ministration of this office. 
During the war Judge Baker was greatlv in- 
strumental in raising men. 

He is a member of the Masonic frater- 
nity, taking an active share in the work of 
Marble Lodge, No. 76, of Danby. 

Judge Baker was united in wedlock |an. 
27, i<'^48, to Betsy M., daughter of Rev. 
Orange and Maria (Jones) Green. Two 
children have been born to them : Helen M. 
(Mrs. L. P. Howe of Mount Tabor), and 
Charles S. Baker of Trov, N. Y. 




AUSTIN S. L 

BAktfR, Joel Clarke, of Rutland, son 
of Edia and Seleucia A. (Davenport) Baker, 
was born in Danby, .April 16, 1838. 

Mr. Baker seems to have inherited a goodly 
share of the sterling character and sturdy in- 
dependence of his Scotch progenitors. 

Educated at the public schools of Danby, 
\\'allingford, and at Poultney Academy, in 
1858 he began the study of Latin and Creek 
with Philip H. Emerson. In 1859 he com-' 
menced the study of law in the office of 
Spencer Green of Danby, then changed to the 
office of David E. Nicholson of \\allingford, 
where he remained until 1862, when he was 
admitted to the bar of Rutland county court. 

In 1862 he enlisted as private in Co. B, 
9th Regt., Vt. Vols., was mustered into the 
service as sergeant, and before his discharge 



■was successively promoted to the grades of 
ist sergeant, 2d and ist lieutenant, and finally 
captain. At the surrender of Harper's Ferry 
he was sent as a paroled prisoner to Camp 
Douglas at Chicago, where he remained until 
his exchange, Jan. 9, 1863, afterwards serving 
as guard over five or six thousand rebel pris- 
oners. He then returned to the front, par- 
ticipating in many battles and skirmishes, 
and with the Army of the James, was present 
at the engagements of Chapin's Farm, Fair 
Oaks and the capture of Richmond. He 
was among the first to enter the city, reach- 
ing the residence of Jeff Davis where the 
Confederate flag was still flying, which he 
pulled down and took away with his own 
hands. While he was in North Carolina, 
Congress organized provost courts in which 
Captain Baker had a good deal of practice. 
After his return from the army he pursued 
his profession in Wallingford, but in t868 
removed to Rutland, where he still resides. 
He has attained a very high reputation as a 
lawyer, in both civil and criminal practice, 
and has conducted several cases of notable 
importance in Rutland and Bennington 
■counties as well as in the 4th district in 
New York, and also before the United States 
circuit and supreme courts. 

Mr. Baker has important real estate in- 
terests in Rutland ; is director in the Clem- 
ent National Bank, Howe Scale Co., the P. 
E. Chase Manufacturing Corporation, the 
Rutland Herald and Globe Association, 
having been the editor of that paper from 
i86g to 1873. 

He has discharged the duties of superin- 
tendent of schools and grand juror in the 
towns of Wallingford and Rutland, and has 
been register of probate and deputy county 
clerk. He is a Republican and was elected 
state senator in 1886, serving on the com- 
mittees on the judiciary, railways, and the 
insane. He was for two years county audi- 
tor, and is now city attorney. 

Mr. Baker has also joined the ranks of 
Masonry, affiliating with Chipman Lodge, 
No. 52, of which he has been junior and 
senior warden, and is now a member of Cen- 
ter Lodge, No. 34. He also belongs to the 
Rutland Royal Arcanum, and is interested 
in the V. M. C. A. of that city. He is a 
companion of the M. (). of L. L., and a 
■comrade of the C. A. R. In his religious 
preference he is an Ei)iscopalian. 

He married, Oct. 8, 1866, Ada O., daugh- 
ter of Luther P. and Mary .\. (Rounds), 
Howe of Mount Tabor. One daughter, 
Mabel, is the issue of the marriage. 

BALCH, William EVERARD, of Lun- 
enburg, son of Sherman and Eliza (Clines) 
Balch, was born in Lunenburg, Feb. 3, 1854. 



.■\fter pursuing the usual educational 
Lourse in the public schools and at St. 




WILLIAM EVERARD BALCH. 

Johnsbury Academy, he entered his father's 
carriage shop to learn that trade, and 
after a two years' sojourn in the West, in 
1S76, he returned to his native place and 
again entered the employ of his father. 
From his early boyhood, Mr. Balch had de- 
voted all of his spare time to the study of 
natural history and the collection of speci- 
mens illustrating that science. On his re- 
turn to Vermont he learned taxidermy, and 
employed his leisure in forming a collection 
of the birds and mammals of the state, with 
such success that in eight years he had gath- 
ered specimens of all the representative 
birds and mammals of Vermont. This col- 
lection was sent to the World's Fair at New 
Orleans as the state collection, and about 
this time he was offered the position of state 
taxidermist, which he still holds. The high 
scientific standard of his work is amply at- 
tested by the specimens of his skill exhibited 
at the Fairbanks Museum at St. Johnsbury. 

Mr. Balch represented the town in the 
Legislature of 1892. 

He wedded, Sept. 27, 1876, Ella, daughter 
of Jordan and Lois A. Mutt. They have 
two children : Florence May, and \Valter. 

BALDWIN, Charles, of Dorset, son 
of Thomas and Polly (Lanfear) Baldwin, was 
born in Dorset, Oct. 30, 181 6. 




JoUj €*. fb CLJt^j.^\ 



i6 



His education was obtained in the ])u\)\\f 
and select schools of Dorset. In 18.55 he 
went to work for his brother and learned the 
trade of a cooper and after four years of this 
employment he removed to Rutland, where 
he entered the em])loy of (iersham Cheney. 
He then returned to his brother, and finally 
purchased the business in if-'4i, and till ii^'gi 
continued to follow his vocation in that 
locality. 

Mr. Baldwin was married Feb. 4, 1848, to 
Susan, daughter of Rev. William and Susanna 
(Cram) Jackson of Dorset, who died in 
November, 1878. His second wife was Mary 
E. Willard of Castleton, whom he married 
June 4, 1879. She died in July, 1889. He 
"married, Dec. 30, 1 889, a third wife, Sarah, 
daughter of Charles and .-Vdah (Eells) Bangs 
of Lenox, Mass. 

He has been a strong Republican since 
the formation of the party and has held most 
of the town offices, serving as county com- 
missioner since i8fc2. Mr. Baldwin is a 
stockholder in the Factory Point National 
Bank and the Battenkill Industrial Society 
as well as a large owner of real estate. 

William J. Fuller, while living with Mr. 
Baldwin, enlisted in Co. G, ist Vt. Cavalry 
and died in Andersonville in August, 1864, 
and in honor of his memory W. J. Fuller 
Post, No. 52, C. A. R., in Dorset is named. 

In his religious views Mr. Baldwin is a 
Congregationalist and has always taken a 
deep interest in the welfare of the Sunday- 
school and all other means for the advance- 
ment of religion in the church and society. 

BALDWIN, A. T., of Wells River, son 
of E^rastus and Lucinda (Richardson) Bald- 
win, was born at Topsham, Aug. 31, 1841. 

Erastus Baldwin, his father, located at 
Wells River early in the present century, 
settled upon a farm in that town and later 
engaged extensively in the trade of a har- 
ness manufacturer, which vocation he pur- 
sued until the time of his death, which oc- 
curred July 16, 1889. 

Mr. A. T. Baldwin received his education 
at the common schools of the town and at 
St. Johnsbury Academy and at the age of 
twenty-four he formed a partnership with his 
brother, Mr. E. Baldwin. The firm engaged 
in the wholesale boot and shoe business and 
for twenty years did a larger business than 
any other concern in the state. In 1879 
Mr. A. T. Baldwin was a partner in the firm 
of Henry, Jay & Baldwin," which operated at 
Fabyan's, and continued for three years. 
Then, in connection with Erastus, Jr., he 
purchased a mill and timber lands at Groton 
Pond, where the brothers conducted an ex- 
tensive and profitable lumber business till 
shortly before the death of Mr. A. T. Bald- 
win. Soon after his brother's death Mr. E. 



P.aldwin entered into copartnership with 
Mr. L. D. Hazen of St. Johnsbury, which 
continued for three years. 

Mr. A. T. Baldwin was one of the bright- 
est business men ever reared in the village 
of Wells River, and left one son, who died 
three weeks after his father, making his 




uncle sole heir to the bulk of his property, 
and the latter, desirous to keep the family 
name in honorable remembrance, has erected 
a structure for the village library association 
as a memorial, which is styled the Baldwin 
Library Building. 

Mr. Erastus Baldwin takes a lively inter- 
est in agricultural pursuits and is perhaps 
best known as the proprietor of the Baldwin 
Valley Farm, which covers a large area and 
is one of the leading stock farms in New 
England. This he has now sold to his son, 
H. T. Baldwin. 

Mr. Erastus Baldwin is president of the 
Wells River Savings Bank which position 
itself confirms his character for unstained 
integrity and business sagacity. 

He acts with the Republican party, but, 
though interested and well informed in 
national and state affairs, he has chosen to 
remain a private citizen in spite of many 
urgent calls to accept important and re- 
sponsible positions of trust. 

He was united in marriage Jan. 6, 1S63, 
to Ellen, daughter of William B. and Mary 
A. (Chamberlain) Abbott. One son has 
been born to them : Hammon T. 



BALDWIN, Frederick W., of I'.anon, 

was born at Lowell, Sejit. 29, 1848, the son 
of Asa and Rosalinda (Shedd) Baldwin. He 
is of English descent, this branch of the Bald- 
win family being derived from John Baldwin 
who appears in Billerica, Mass., as early as 
1655 and who came from Hertfordshire, Eng- 
land, about 1640. 

Frederick was brought up on his father's 
farm and enjoyed only such advantages for 
education as the average ^'ermont farmer 
gives his children. He attended the district 
school in his native town until he was seven- 
teen years of age and afterward the ^Vestfield 
grammar school, the normal school at John- 
son and the Vermont Conference Seminary 
at Montpelier. 




FREDERICK W. BALDWIN. 

fT'At the age of twenty-two he entered the 
law office of Powers & deed at Morrisville 
and was admitted to the bar of Lamoille 
county at the December term, 1872, and 
soon afterward formed a copartnership with 
Gen. William \\'. Clrout which continued till 
1875. Since then Mr. Baldwin has been in 
the successful practice of his profession in 
Barton. 

In politics he has always been an ardent 
Republican. In 1872 he was elected assist- 
ant secretary of the state Senate and secre- 
tary of the same in i874,-'76,-'7S and state's 
attorney of Orleans county in 1880. He has 
been successively elected the Orleans county 
member of the Republican state committee 
since 1884. His ability as a member of that 
committee has been fullv demonstrated bv 



his having been elected the secretary and 
treasurer of the committee in 1886 and in 
1888 its chairman, which position he still 
holds. ']"his year, as a recognition of his 
zealous work for the party he was elected a 
l)residential elector at large for Vermont, and 
was the messenger to carry the vote of Ver- 
mont to Washington. Mr. Baldwin has 
always been deeply interested in biography 
and history, especially that of Vermont, and 
his library of Vermont books is one of the 
choicest in the state. In 1886 he published 
the " Biography of the Bar " of Orleans 
county, containing a sketch of every lawyer 
admitted or who had practiced in that county 
since its organization. Mr. Baldwin has 
given liberally of his time and money for the 
development of business in Barton Village, at 
present being a stockholder and secretary of 
two corporations for that purpose, the Bar- 
ton Manufacturing Co. and Barton Hotel Co. 

Mr. Baldwin belongs to the Congrega- 
tional church and has labored earnestly in 
its behalL 

He married Miss Susan M. Grout, Sept. 
24, 1873, by whom he had one child, Edward 
(Irout Baldwin. Mrs. Baldwin died in 1876. 
Mr. Baldwin was united in a second marriage 
Oct. 28, 1878, to Miss Susan M. Hibbard of 
I!rooklyn, N. V. 

BALL, Franklin P., of Rockingham, son 
of Abraham and Hannah (Edwards) Ball, was 
born in Athens, May 2, 1828. 

His education was derived from the cus- 
tomary course at the common schools of the 
times. 

His early life being spent at the home of 
his parents, he removed at the age of twenty- 
three to Springfield where he resided and 
was engaged in manufacturing for thirty 
years, during this time occupying many 
responsible positions and representing that 
town in the General Assembly of i867-'68. 
In 1883 Mr. Ball removed his manufacturing 
business to Bellows Falls in the town of 
Rockingham, and since that time he has 
successfully conducted his business from this 
point. 

Politically Mr. Ball has always afifiliated 
with the Republican party and at its hands 
he has been honored with positions of trust, 
representing the town in the Legislature of 
i88S-'90, serving on the committee on rail- 
roads, and also as a senator from Windham 
county in 1892. 

Mr. Ball offered his sen-ices to his country 
when the call was made, but owing to his 
constitution was not accepted. 

Mr. Ball first married Margaret Wilson in 
May, 1852. She died in January, 1855, with- 
out issue. He contracted a second alliance 
with Elizabeth, daughter of Asa and Margaret 
^[eacham, in July, 1857. This union has been 



1 8 



blessed with four children : Margaret E., 
C.eorge F., Everett M., and Winifred E. 

Mr. Rail's religious preference is that of 
the Methodist Episcopal faith, and he has 





admitted to practice in the I'nited States 
district and circuit courts. 

Mr. Ballard has obtained a well-earned 
distinction in the practice of his profession, 
and while he has the reputation of being one 
of the best criminal lawyers in the state, he 
has also been equally successful in the trial 
of civil cases. He is emphatically a trial 
lawver and as a jury advocate he stands 
among the best. His practice has not been 
confined to his own locality but has extended 
into many counties in the state. .Among the 
notable cases in which he has been engaged 
are the celebrated crim. co?!. case of Shackett 
against Hammond in Addison county; the 
National Bank of Brandon against John A. 
Conant et als, a suit to recover §125,000 lost 
by reason of alleged forgeries ; the Rutland 
Railroad Co. against e.\-Governor John B. 
Page, noted as the longest jury trial ever had 
in New England, lasting nine weeks ; the 
cases that arose out of the Hartford bridge 
accident against the Central \'ermont Rail- 
road Co. ; the slander case of Lizzie J. Cur- 
rier against J. B, Richardson in Windsor 
county ; State against Edwin C. Hayden for 
the murder of his wife at Derby Line ; and 
State against Smith for the murder of his 
wife by poison at Vergennes. He is an 



FRANKLIN P. BALL. 

been closely connected with the societies of 
both Springfield and Bellows Falls, always 
contributing liberally to their support. 

BALLARD, HENRY, son of Jeffrey B. 
and Amelia (Thompson) Ballard, was born 
in Tinmouth, April 20, 1839. 
;: His early education was obtained in Tin- 
mouth and at Castleton Seminary, and im- 
mediately after his preparatory studies he 
entered the LTniversity of Vermont, from 
which he graduated with high honors in the 
class of 1861, having been selected to de- 
liver the master's oration at the college com- 
mencement three years later. 

In September, 1S62, he became a student 
in the Albany (N. Y.) Law School and he 
graduated from that institution in May, 1863, 
and at the time of his graduation the Hon. 
Amos Dean, the founder and dean of the 
school, said of him that he was one of the 
best students that ever was graduated from 
that institution. He at that time gave prom- 
ise of what he has since been noted for — a 
popular and successful advocate. 

After his graduation, in 1S63, he at once 
entered the office of Daniel Roberts, Esq., 
of Burlington, and there remained until he 
was admitted to the bar in September, 1863, 
when he opened an office in that city, where 
he has resided ever since. In 1864 he was 




4 



HENRY BALLARD. 



effective speaker on political subjects, and 
since 1868 his services on the stump have 
always been in demand during political cam- 
paigns, not only in Vermont, but in New 
York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 
He has sometimes made as many as one 



liundred speeches in a single campaign. 
He is a ready sjjeaker upon all occasions 
and he has frequently appeared upon the 
lecture platform. 

Soon after the commencement of the civil 
war in the summer of 1861, and immediately 
after his graduation from college, Mr. ISal- 
lard enlisted as a private and was mustered 
into service as 2d lieutenant of Co. I, 5th 
Vt. Vols., and served with this regiment 
through the Peninsula campaign, being pres- 
ent at the battles of Lee's Mills, \\"illiams- 
burg and the seven days' fight before Rich- 
mond, but he was obliged to resign in July, 
1862, on account of ill health. 

Mr. Ballard belongs to the Republican 
party, and was elected to the state Senate 
from Chittenden county in i878-'79, serv- 
ing on the committees of judiciary, state 
prison, and federal relations. In i888-'89, 
he represented the city of Burlington in the 
lower branch of the Legislature and did 
•effective service on the judiciary and general 
committees, of which last body he was the 
chairman. He has been city attorney of 
Burlington for two years. In 1884 he was a 
delegate to the Republican national conven- 
tion at Chicago, where he was chairman of 
the important committee on credentials. 
There were forty-five cases of contested del- 
egates' seats before the committee and much 
•credit was given to him for the manner in 
which he acquitted himself in that responsi- 
ble and difficult position. He was one of 
the reading clerks at the Republican national 
convention in 18S8. 

He is a member of the Stannard Post, G. 
A. R., and was a delegate from that body to 
the national encampment in San Francisco, 
in 1 886, and has been judge advocate for 
that order in Vermont. For many years he 
has been a member of the Webster Histori- 
cal Society of Boston, and of the Home 
Market Club of Boston, also of the American 
Institute of Civics, New York City. He was 
a charter member of the A'ermont Command- 
ery of the Loyal Legion. He is a member 
of the .\lgonquin Club, Burlington, and of 
the Lake Champlain Yacht Club, and of 
the Vermont Fish and Game League. 

In religious belief he is an Episcopalian, 
and he takes an active interest in the Young 
Men's Christian Association. 

He was united in marriage, Dec. 15, 1863, 
to Annie J., daughter of Robert and Huldah 
(Bailey) Scott of Burlington, and he has 
four children: Kate (Mrs. James B. Hen- 
derson of Burlington), Frank Scott, Mary E., 
and Maude. 

BALLOU, HOSEA BeRTHIER, of Whit- 
ingham, son of Hosea Faxon and Mary 
(Ballou) Ballou, was born Jan. 8, 1826, in 
Monroe, Mass. His father was a L'^nixer- 



salist minister, and he is a grandson of the 
Rev. Hosea Ballou, father and founder of 
Universalism in .America. 

Mr. Ballou's education was obtained in 
the district schools and at the old Whiting- 
ham Academy. Early in life he served an 
apprenticeship and became a carpenter and 
joiner, which occupation has employed him 
more or less during his life. 

Mr. Ballou has held every town office of 
importance, has been town clerk continuously 
since 1857, and was assistant clerk for fourteen 
years previous to that time ; this is a record 
of service unsurpassed by any in the state. 
He was deputy sheriff for some fifteen years, 
and has been a justice of the peace for a long 
period. In 1876 he was made an assistant 
judge of the county court, and held that 
office six years. 

In his political views Judge Ballou is a 
Republican. In the time of the war he was 
enrolling officer for his district, and was 
active in filling the required quotas, and 
urging men to enlist. He has never belonged 
to any secret societies, and is a ilniversalist 
in his religious preferences. 

Perhaps no man in his vicinity has oltener 
been called upon as an arbitrator ; and for 
forty-five years he has been conspicuously 
engaged in probate matters. 

Judge Ballou was married June 22, 1856, 
to Adelia A., daughter of Samuel and Mercy 
(Bowen) Murdock. Of this union there is 
one daughter : Flora A. (Mrs. F. D. Stafford 
of North .Adams, Mass.) 

BARNEY, Herbert R., of Chester, son 
of Allen and Mary L. (Willet) Barney, was 
born in Shrewsbury, .August 27, 1S56. 

He received his early education in the 
public and private schools of Shrewsbury. 
Leaving home at the age of fifteen he went 
to Plattsburg, N. Y., remaining there one 
year as clerk and telegraph operator. Re- 
turning to Shrewsbury at the age of nine- 
teen, he assumed the responsible position of 
train dispatcher, the duties of which he dis- 
charged for two years. In 1877 he settled 
at Chester, and has acted in the capacity of 
station agent there till the present time. 

He was elected as a Republican to the 
Legislature of 1888, and was an efficient 
member of the committee on corporations. 
He has been a prominent member of the 
Masonic order, holding several eminent po- 
sitions, as well as Past Grand of Chelsea 
Lodge, No. 39, of I. O. O. F. 

He married, June 7,1880, F.mma F., daugh- 
ter of Alden and Mary (Stuart) Howe of Lud- 
low. They have one child : Florence M. 

BARRETT, BYRON SIMEON, of Bur- 
lington, son of Solomon and .Apphia (Mil- 



ler) liarrett, was born in Madrid, N. V., Dec 
II, 1 83 1. 

His father, Solomon Barrett, was well 
known as the anthor of a series of gram- 
mars of the English, Latin, Greek, German 
and French languages, and the subject of 
this sketch was also the author of a work on 
English grammar, having been educated at 
the Utica (N. Y.) Academy and the Roches- 
ter Collegiate Institute. 

He married, June 6, 1855, Ellen P., daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Rispah (Burlingame) Jones 
of Madrid, X. V. Four children have been 
born to them, all now living : William Wal- 
lace, Nellie (Mrs. E C. Browne), John Fran- 
cis, and Franklin Clark. 




BYRON SIMEON BARRETT. 

From i860 to 1869 Mr. Barrett was asso 
ciated in business with the firm of John F. 
Henry & Co., druggists, and had the man- 
agement of the Montreal branch of their 
business. He then removed to New York 
where he was associated with Mr. Henry in 
the New York house. He then engaged in 
printing and literary work and contributed 
for several years to Puck and other metro- 
politan journals. 

He visited Pairope and spent two years 
in traveling through the states and territo- 
ries west of the Missouri ,and from the mate- 
rial gathered during the course of his trav- 
els there he has prepared a lecture entitled 
"Out West," which he is now delivering. 

In 1889 he located at Burlington and es- 
tablished the newspaper The Earth, and in 



1893 his firm, Barrett cS; Johnsons, bought 
the Vermont Farmers' Advocate and since 
then he has had editorial' charge of both 
papers. 

Mr. Barrett has never been an office- 
seeker, but did some campaign work for 
.Abraham Lincoln in 1859, and during his 
residence of nearly twenty years in Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., he was active in Republican pol- 
itics and was for several years connected 
with the Sons of Temperance and Good 
Templars, and was at one time an officer in 
the Grand Lodge of the S. of T. in the 
Province of (Quebec. He is also an ama- 
teur musician of some note, having com- 
posed over sixty vocal and instrumental 
pieces that have been published by 1 )itson 
and other publishers. 

Mr. Barrett is not a native Vermonter, but 
has cast his lines with us and takes a deep 
interest in the welfare of the people of this 
state, whose interests he conserves in both his 
papers with all the ability he can command. 

BARSTOW, JOHN L., of Shelburne, 
son of Heman and Lorain (Lyon) Barstow, 
was born in Shelburne, Feb. 21, 1832. His 
parents were of English descent, and several 
of his ancestors served in the colonial and 
Revolutionary wars. 

He received his education in the schools 
of his native town, and began to teach in the 
district school at the age of fifteen. He 
went West at an early age and was engaged 
in active business in Detroit, but in 1857 
returned to Shelburne and began farming, 
assuming the charge of his aged parents. In 
the fall of 1 86 1, while serving as assistant 
clerk in the House of Representatives at 
Montpelier, he was appointed on the non- 
commissioned staff of the 8th Regt. Vt. Vols., 
and was afterwards successively promoted 
to the rank of adjutant, captain, and major, 
and was honorably discharged at the e.xpira- 
tion of his term of service June 22, 1864. 
He entered the service with robust health 
and vigorous constitution, but nearly three 
years of arduous service in the swamps and 
miasmatic climate of Louisiana shattered 
both, and for many years malarial diseases 
deterred him from entering upon any active 
business pursuit. W'hen he was made major, 
the rank and file of his old company pre- 
sented him with a beautiful sword, and when 
he left the regiment, the men who were mus- 
tered out with him presented him with 
another still more elegant. These two 
memorial gifts are justly preserved with great 
pride as evincing the regard of the enlisted 
men after thev had served with him in the 
field. 

The historian of his regiment says : "When, 
after the bloody fight of June 14, 1863, in 





'^^^^^^, 



'^^i/?/ 



front of I'ort Hudson, (ieneral Banks called 
for volunteers to head a storming column 
for a final attack, Captain Barstovv was one 
of the brave men who stepped forward to 
form the forlorn hope." He was acting 
adjutant general under Generals Thomas 
and W'eitzel ; participated in all the engage- 
ments in which his regiment took part; was 
complimented for eminent service in the 
field, for gallantry in the assault on Port 
Hudson, and honorably mentioned for his 
personal services. He had hardly reached 
home after leaving the army before he was 
called into state service by the offer of a 
responsible position in the recruiting service 
by Adjutant General Washburn, which office 
he was obliged to decline on account of 
shattered health. In September, 1864, he 
was elected a member of the Legislature, 
and it was during this session that the St. 
Albans raid occurred. At the request of 
General Washburn, Major Barstow immedi- 
ately repaired to the scene of action and was 
sent into Canada on a special mission, sub- 
sequently was made commander of one of 
the brigades of militia raised by the state in 
consequence of that daring raid. He was 
jjlaced in command of the forces on the 
northwestern frontier of the state, and re- 
mained on duty until relieved by General 
Stannard in January, 1865. In September 
of that same year he was again elected to the 
Legislature by the unanimous vote of his 
town, and in the years 1866 and 1867 he 
was elected senator from Chittenden county. 
In 1870 he was appointed by President 
Grant to the office of U. S. pension agent at 
Burlington which he held for nearly eight 
years. He at once set about reforms that 
were of great benefit to the needy pensioner, 
and so discharged the duties of the office as 
to call from Hon. Carl Schurz, then secre- 
tary of the interior, an autograph letter of 
thanks. In 1879 Governor Proctor appointed 
him state commissioner for the centennial 
celebration of the surrender of Cornwallis at 
Vorktown, and he rendered effective service 
in securing government aid for the under- 
taking, and for the monument, and in the 
arrangements for the celebration. 

In 1880 he was elected Lieutenant-Ciov- 
ernor for the biennial term, and in 18S2 was 
elected (lovernor, the nominations to each 
office having been made by the unanimous 
vote of the respective conventions. He was 
the first Governor of Vermont to call the 
attention of the law-making power to the 
alleged discriminating and excessive rates 
of freight by transportation companies, and 
urged the creation of an effective railroad 
commission. 

Colonel Carpenter, in his history of the 
8th regiment, says : "The Ely riots occurred 
during Governor Barstow's term of ofifice. 



and his course in requiring that justice 
should precede force, and that the riotous 
miners be paid their honest dues, attracted 
much favorable comment throughout the 
country." 

The resolution of the Legislature of 1884, 
requesting the Vermont delegation in Con- 
gress to use their best efforts to secure the 
passage of the interstate commerce law, was 
passed in pursuance of Governor Barstow's 
recommendation. At the close of his ad- 
ministration the Rutland Herald gave utter- 
ance to the general opinion of his constit- 
uents when it declared that "he had been as 
careful, independent, able and efficient a 
ruler as Vermont had enjoyed for twenty 
years." 

The above sketch might be largely ex- 
tended, as he has held many other appoint- 
ments of trust and honor, such as president 
of the Officers' Reunion Society ; trustee of 
the University of Vermont and State Agri- 
cultural College : trustee of the Burlington 
Savings Bank ; commissioner to fix and pur- 
chase a site for the Bennington battle monu- 
ment, etc., etc. In 1891 he was appointed 
by President Harrison to serve on a com- 
mission with Gen. A. McD. McCook, U. S. 
A., to treat with the Navajoe Indians, and 
the work was brought to a successful and sat- 
isfactory conclusion. He was also disbursing 
officer of the commission, and to the aston- 
ishment of the treasury officers, returned 
nearly one-half of the appropriation for 
expenses. In 1893 at the request of Gov- 
ernor Fuller he has acted with the executive 
committee of the national anti-trust society. 
In regard to these elective offices it can l)e 
stated, as was said by Ashael Peck when he 
was elected Governor, "Neither solicitation 
nor hint of ambition for this dignity ever 
emanated from him." Governor Barstow 
never directly nor indirectly solicited the vote 
or influence of any man for any elective office. 

He is, in religious preference, an Episco- 
palian, and has been a Mason since 1853 ; he 
is also a member of the Grand Army and 
Loyal Legion. 

He was married Oct. 28, 1S5S, to Laura 
Maeck, granddaughter of Dr. Frederick 
Maeck, the first physician settled in Shel- 
burne. Mrs. Barstow died March 11, 1885, 
leaving two sons : Frederick M., born March 
3, i860, who was graduated from the Uni- 
versity of Vermont in 1880, and is now a 
civil engineer; and Charles L., born May 23,. 
1867, who was graduated from Union Col- 
lege in 1889, and is now in New York City. 

BARRON, Lyman P., of Washington, 
was born in Washington, Nov. 27, 1820. 

His grandfather, Isaac Barron of Brook- 
field, Mass., held the commission of lieuten- 
ant in the Revolutionary army signed by John 



Hancock, president of the Continental Con- 
gress, was captured by the British and held 
a prisoner in an E nglish man-o'-\var for 
several years. His family supposed him 
dead. Recaptured after a daring attempt 
to escape, during which he suffered incredi- 
ble peril and hardship, he was at length 
exchanged, and, with a bullet in his thigh, the 
unfortunate result of his effort to free himself 
from prison, he was restored to his family 
and was soon afterward drowned in the Con- 
necticut river. His son Eleziah, when a boy 
often, in the company of Thaddeus White, 
went from Hanover to \Vashington, then a 
wilderness, over a route marked by blazed 
trees a distance of forty miles, whence the 
boy returned alone. Soon the family re- 
moved to W'ashington. In due time Eleziah 
married and the subject of this sketch was 
the youngest of ten children. His mother's 
maiden name was Albea Dickenson. 

Mr. Eyman Barron has lived upon his 
farm for fifty-two years, an active and influ- 
ential man in business and public affairs, 
represented Washington for six years in the 
Legislature, has served as sheriff or deputy 
sheriff a nearly continuous term since 1S50, 
a position for which he is well adapted from 
his shrewd perception and fearless action. 

He married, March 22, 1852, Emily A., 
daughter of Henry and Betsey (Little) (God- 
frey. They have one daughter : Ada Louise 
(Barron) Dwinell of Taunton, Mass. 

BATES, Edward L., of Bennington, son 
of William and Melissa (Scribner) Bates, was 
born in Bennington, June 24, 1869. 

He received his education in the graded 
schools of Bennington, supplemented by a 
course of instruction at the Kimball Union 
Academy, Meriden, N. H. Choosing the 
legal profession as a business of life, in 1875 
he entered the office of Gardner & Harman, 
of Bennington, where he remained until 
1S82, when he formed a partnership with 
James K. Batchelder, Esq., which continues 
to the present time. 

Mr. Bates was admitted to practice at the 
bar of the Bennington county court June 
12, T882, and more recently to that of the 
United States district and circuit courts. 
He has also been appointed United States 
commissioner for Vermont. 

Though a general practitioner he gives 
especial attention to criminal and office 
practice. Outside of his profession he deals 
largely in real estate in Bennington, Peters- 
burg and Cambridge, N. Y. 

He is a firm adherent of the Republican 
party, and through their votes has been ap- 
pointed to many positions of trust and honor. 
For several years he discharged the duties 
of auditor and village clerk in Bennington, 
was state's attorney, and was commissioned 



by Governors Page and l'"uller as special 
prosecutor of criminal offences. He has 
acted as corporation counsel for the village 
of Bennington, and was secretary of the 
citizens' committee of fifty at the dedication 
of the Bennington battle monument. In 
1892 he was made a member of the staff of 
Governor Fuller, with the rank of colonel. 
He is very active in town and ])olitical affairs 
and is an eloquent and powerful orator in 
political campaigns. 

Colonel Bates was united in wedlock in 
May, 1882, to Jennie M., daughter of Buel 
and Mary (Fames) Rockwood, who died in 
1884. He contracted a second alliance May 
17, 1887, with Estella, daughter of Perry W. 
and Lucy (Green) FJbred, of Hoosick, N. Y. 
Of this latter marriage there are issue Beulah 
Bell and William Leroy Bates. 

Colonel Bates is a member of the Baptist 
church and of the Masonic order, having 
held several offices in the local lodge as well 
as that of Grand Orator of the Lodge of Per- 
fection. He belongs to the Bennington 
Council and the Oriental Temple of Nobles 
of the .Mystic Shrine, and he has also affili- 
ated with Tucker Lodge, I. O. O. F. 

BAXTER, Edward K., of Sharon, was 
born in Barton, Feb. 3, 1840, the youngest 




EDWARD K. BAXTER. 

in a family of seven children of Harry and 
Deborah (Steele) Baxter. 

.\fter the death of his father he removed 
to Sharon and lived with an uncle, and this 
town has since been his home. 



24 



His education was received at the com- 
mon schools and Kimball Union Academy, 
Meriden, N. H. He studied medicine with 
Drs. Dixi and A. B. C'rosby of Hanover, X. 
H., attended three courses of lectures at 
Dartmouth Medical College, and one course 
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
New York, and graduated at Dartmouth Med- 
ical College in 1S64. Has been assistant 
phvsician at the Hartford, Conn., Insane 
Retreat, and at Sanford Hall, a private asylum 
at Flushing, L. I., and is a member of the 
State Medical Society and of the American 
Medical Association. 

Dr. Baxter is a Republican, and has always 
been active and prominent in the politics of 
the town, having for several years served as 
chairman of the town committee, superin- 
tendent of schools and represented the town 
in the General .Assembly of 1886. 

Not being dependent on the practice of 
his profession he has had time and oppor- 
tunity to indulge a natural fondness for agri- 
cultural pursuits and the study of the natural 
sciences, especially botany, mineralogy, orni- 
thology and microscopy. 

He was one of the principal organizers and 
promoters of the Sharon Co-operative Cream- 
ery Association, and has served as its presi- 
dent and treasurer. 

Owing to impaired health and the pressure 
of business cares. Dr. Baxter has recently 
withdrawn from the practice of his profes- 
sion, and will henceforth devote himself to 
the care of his own business and the execu- 
tion of certain large and important trusts 
now devolving upon him. 

Religiously Dr. Baxter is a Congregation- 
alist, and for many years has been clerk and 
treasurer of the church and society in 
Sharon, and its most liberal friend and sup- 
porter. Humane, philanthropic and educa- 
tional work have claimed his interest and 
support to a considerable degree, as a recent 
gift of five thousand dollars to Kimball Union 
Academy in her hour of need can testify. 

Dr. Baxter was married, Sept. 5, 1880, to 
Sarah S., daughter of Col. Gardner and Susan 
(Steele; Burbank. 

BEAN, Cromwell Phelps, of West 

Glover, was born in the town of Glover, 
.April 4, 1846, was the son of .Amos Phelps 
and Phila E. (Sartwell) Bean. 

Since his education at the public schools 
and Orleans Liberal Institute he has devoted 
himself to the cultivation of the old home- 
stead. He has also extensively dealt in farm 
products and is an extensive breeder of 
Morgan and George Wilkes horses. 

.A strong Democrat in politics he has held 
about every town office that could be con- 
ferred upon him, and in 18S2. by the help 
of the Republicans, was elected to the Leg- 



islature, being the first Democrat who had 
been sent there since his father in 1859. 

He is a member of Orleans Lodge, F. & 
.A. iM., and his religious preferences are those 
of Universalism. 





CROMWELL PHELPS BEAN. 

He married, Dec. 22, 1S67, .Alpa M., 
daughter of Ira and Lavina (Camp) Emery 
of Burke, by whom he has had two chil- 
dren : Carl W., and Ida L. 

BECKETT, George, of Williamstown, 
son of William S. and Polly (Pool) Beckett, 
was born in Williamstown, May 14, 1833. 
The father was a prominent and highly re- 
spected citizen of that town, filling several 
offices of trust and usefulness : thirty years 
justice of the peace, town clerk thirty-five 
years, and captain of the local militia com- 
pany, besides being four times representative 
from the town. The son received a common 
school education only, which he has sup])le- 
mented by extensive reading and intelligent 
self-culture. He has been successful in bus- 
iness, amassing a modest competence, a part 
of which he has invested in real estate in his 
native town. He has been influential in found- 
ing several stock companies, especially the 
Williamstow-n Granite Co., giving a great im- 
petus to the business of that place. As 
librarian he has been an untiring worker for 
the \^'illiamstown Social Library, which was 
started in 1801 with only thirty-five volumes. 

Mr. Beckett is a Democrat, is town clerk 
and treasurer, having held these positions for 



more than ten years. He was an incorpora- 
tor of the Barre Savings Bank & 'I'rust Co., 
and now holds the position of treasurer, anil 
is a deacon in the Congregational church. 

He married, June 21, i<S55, Belle R., daugh- 
ter of Calvin and Dolly ( Delano) Flint. I'hey 
have one son, Charles Henry, who graduated 
with distinguished honors at Dartmouth and 
afterwards at Columbia Law School. He is 
the author of "Who Is John Noman?" and is 
now a member of the eminent law firm of 
Booraem, Hamilton, lieckett tv Ransom, of 
New York City. 

BEDELL, Henry EdSON, of Newport, 
son of James G. and Amanda (Smith) 
Bedell, was born in Troy, July 26, 1836. 

He was educated in the district schools of 
AVestfield and before the war was a farmer, 
while his present occupation is that of an 




HENRY EDSON BEDELL. 

auctioneer. In August, 1862, he enlisted in 
Co. D, nth Regt. In this organization he 
was successively promoted from private 
through the grades of corporal and ser- 
geant to that of 2d lieutenant. The regi- 
ment was first stationed in the defenses of 
Washington, but was afterwards engaged in 
the battles of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, 
and on the \\elden R. R. ; returned to 
\Vashington, and driving back the rebels 
at Berryville, then up the Shenandoah Val- 
ley, again returned to Washington and was 
afterwards detached to Harper's Ferry and 
after many forced marches and skirmishes 
around that place finally met the enemy at 



UKNEDICT. 25 

( )pe(iuan, where Lieutenant Bedell, acting 
as captain of the second company was 
struck by a shell which carried off his left 
leg and injured him severely in the right 
hand. He was conveyed to the temporary 
hospital on the field and suffered the ampu- 
tation of his leg. A few days later the sick 
and wounded were ordered to be transferred 
to Harper's Ferry .As Lieutenant iiedell 
was so much exhausted it was impossible to 
move him and he was left in the hands of 
the rebels, and would have perished had it 
not been for the kindness of a rebel lady in 
the neighborhood of the battlefield, who 
removed him to her own house and though 
her means could but barely furnish the 
necessities of life she nursed him with such 
care and attention that he was finally able 
to be transported within the Union lines. 

Lieutenant Bedell married, March 3, 1856, 
Kmeline, daughter of .Aaron and JAicinda 
(Hitchcock) Burba of Westfield. Si.K chil- 
dren have been born to them : De Etta L 
(died March 9, 1879), Lucena A. (Mrs. Nol- 
ton McClaflin of Montgomery), Alden N. 
(died Nov. 3, 1892), Herman A., Betty 
Nanny, and James .A. 

Mr. Bedell is a Republican and while in 
Westfield acted as the constable of the town 
.■\fter the close of the war he was for twenty 
years an employe of the LTnited States as 
custom house officer. For five years of this 
period he was stationed at Richford and 
Berkshire and for fifteen years discharged 
the duties of inspector and deputy collector 
at Newport. 

He is a Methodist in his religious creed ; 
was one of the charter members and found- 
ers of Baxter Post, No. 5 i, (i. -A. R., and has 
been its junior commander. 

BENEDICT, George Granville, son 

of Ceorge Wyllys and F,liza( 1 )ewey) Bene- 
dict, was born in Burlington, Dec. 26, 1826. 

Mr. G. G. Benedict prepared for matricu- 
lation at college in the academy at Burling- 
ton, entered the L'niversity of Vermont and 
graduated with honors in 1847, receiving 
the degree of Master of Arts in 1S50. In 
1865 he was elected member of the corpo- 
ration of the university and was also ap- 
pointed its secretary. 

Subsequent to his graduation Mr. Bene- 
dict taught in the city of New York for about 
twelve months, and for the three following 
years was employed in building the lines of 
the Vermont & Boston Telegraph Co. In 
1853 he acquired a proprietary interest in 
the daily and weekly Burlington Free Press, 
became associate editor, and is now editor- 
in-chief of the same paper. He was also 
postmaster of Burlington and president of 
the Vermont & Boston Telegraph Co. from 
i860 to 1864. 



26 



In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private 
in Co. C, 1 2th Regiment, Vermont Vohmteer 
Militia. In January, 1S63, he was promoted 
to a lieutenant, and later was appointed aid- 
de-camp on the staff of Gen. George J. Stan- 
nard, commanding the 2d brigade of ^■t 
Vols. At the expiration of Lieutenant Hen- 
edict's term of service he was honorably dis- 
charged on the 14th of July, 1863. In 1865 
he held the office of assistant inspector gen- 
eral with the rank of major. 

In 1866 he was appointed aid-de-camp 
on the staff of CJov. Paul Dillingham, with the 
rank of colonel. In 1869 he was elected to 
the state Senate from Chittenden county, 
and served in the committees on education 
and military affairs. Re-elected to the same 
body in the following year, he served therein 
as chairman of the committee on education 
and in the committee on military affairs. 

In civil life Colonel Benedict also served 
as director of the old Farmers' and Me- 
chanics' Bank. Very appropriately, too, in 
view of his antecedents, he has been cor- 
responding secretary of the \'ermont His- 
torical Society for a long series of years. In 
1879 Colonel Benedict was appointed by 
Governor Proctor state military historian to 
prepare a history of the part taken by Ver- 
mont in the war for the Union, which work 
he did with painstaking care and great liter- 
ary ability. 

He was married on the 27th of October, 
1853, to Mary Anne, daughter of Edward 
and Abigail Frances (Warner) Kellogg of 
Canaan, N. Y. One daughter was the issue 
of this union. Mrs. Benedict died on the 
9th of November, 1857. Mr. Benedict mar- 
ried as his second wife on the 2 2d of Decem- 
ber, 1864, Catherine Almira, daughter of 
the Rev. Alvin Pease, D. D., and Martha 
(Howes) Pease of Rochester, N. Y. A daugh- 
ter, who died in infancy, and one son were 
the fruits of his second marriage. 

BENTON, JOSIAH H., of Maidstone son 
of Samuel S. Benton, was born in Waterford, 
Aug. 8, 1816. 

He received his education in the common 
schools of Waterford and St. Johnsbury and 
at Lyndon .\cademy, concluding his studies 
at Burr Seminary, Manchester. He left his 
paternal home at the age of seventeen to 
pursue his education, relying on his own 
unaided efforts to effect this praiseworthy 
endeavor. After teaching several successive 
terms at Belchertown, Mass., and Montpelier, 
and in the meanwhile pursuing his theolog- 
ical studies, he was ordained as minister of 
the Congregational church and settled in 
West .\ddison, but soon went to Northfield, 
and afterwards to Michigan as a conventional 
delegate and settled at Clinton, Mich. Then 
he received a call to Port Huron, but in a 



year returned to Clinton. Malaria compelled 
him to return East. He now resides upon 
his farm of eight hundred and fifty acres 
on the Connecticut river. " * ^ 

An outspoken advocate of the Republican 
party, Mr. Benton has filled several impor- 
tant town offices and was a member of the 
constitutional convention in 1870. 

He married at Putney, August 12, 1841, 
Martha E., daughter of David and Hulda 
Danforth. From this marriage there were 
four children : Josiah H., Jr., Martha E., 
Mary, and Robert. At Newbury, Oct. 9, 
1856, he married for his second wife Harriet 
B., daughter of Nathaniel and Silence Niles. 
From this union there were eight children : 
Samuel S., Harriet Maria, Ben Butler, Joseph, 
Caroline E., Hugh Henry, John Edwin, and 
Mary Edith. 

BENNETT, Edward Dewey, of Ben- 
nington, son of Daniel J. and Martha 
(Dewey) Bennett, was born in Middlebury, 
Dec 6, 1843. Descended from Daniel Ben- 
nett, a soldier of the war of 18 12. 

His early education was derived from an 
attendance in the schools of Middlebury, 
where he fitted for college, and taught school 




EDWARD DEVv-Er BENNETT. 



in Upton and Middlebury. In 1863 he was 
employed as foreman of a construction gang 
by the Western Union Telegraph Co. (Gain- 
ing a knowledge of the art from this expe- 
rience, he removed to Lansingburg, N. Y., 
where he was placed in charge of the office, 
and was also employed by the Bennington 



27 



& Rutland R. R. in a similar capacity at the 
former city. Here he remained until 1885, 
when he was made superintendent of that 
railway, a position which he still retains. 
In addition he has acted in the capacity of 
train dispatcher and auditor of passenger 
and freight accounts of the Harlem exten- 
sion and superintendent of the Lebanon 
Springs and Bennington & Glastonbury R. R. 

Mr. Bennett is affiliated with the Repub- 
lican party, but his business has left him no 
time to hold or seek office ; nevertheless he 
is now serving his third term as member of 
the Bennington graded school board, and 
in 1892 was made president of that bod\'. 
He has joined the Bennington Historical 
Society, and was one of the committee of 
fifty who served at the dedication of the 
Bennington monument. In 1888 he re- 
ceived an appointment on the staff of Gov- 
ernor Dillingham, with the rank of colonel. 

Colonel Bennett was wedded Sept. 15, 
1870, to lillizabeth, daughter of John and 
Sophronia (Hurd) Cushman. Their union 
has been blessed with three children; Edward 
Cushman, Charles Henry, and Bessie Dewe\ 
Bennett. 

Colonel Bennett is a Congregationalist 
in his religious belief, and has occupied the 
positions of deacon and superintendent of 
the Sabbath school. He is much interested 
in the Y. M. C. A., and has been a member 
for three years of their state executive board 
as well as charter member of the local or- 
ganization. He is allied to the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and has presided in the East in Mt. 
Anthony Lodge, No. 1 3. 

BILLINGS, Frederick, son of ()ei and 

Sophia (Wetherbe) Billings, was born in Roy- 
alton, Sept. 27, 1823. 

He received his preparatory education at 
Kimball L'nion Academy and graduated at 
the L'niversity of Vermont in 1844. He 
then studied law in the office of Oliver P. 
Chandler of \\'oodstock and was admitted to 
the bar in 1848. In the spring of 1849 Mr. 
Billings began the practice of law in San 
Francisco, Cal., and for thirteen years con- 
tinued it as a member of the firm of Halleck, 
Peachy & Billings. Three years later he 
made a trip to Oregon and Washington to 
restore his health, after which he returned 
to the East and settled in Woodstock, pur- 
chasing, about 1870, the property known as 
the Marsh estate. There he made the most 
beautiful home in Vermont. 

Mr. Billings not only took first rank as a 
lawyer but was equally prominent among the 
men of great business ability who spanned 
the continent with railways. His energies 
were specially devoted to the Northern Pa- 
cific R. R. in which he was long a director, 



tor many years the manager of its land de- 
partment and for two years its president. 

He did signal service in saving California 
to the LTnion during the rebellion, and when 
President Lincoln was considering the recon- 
struction of his cabinet for his second term 
he assured the California delegation of his 
intention to appoint Mr. Billings a member 
to represent that state. After the death of 
Mr. Lincoln the Legislature of California 
passed a resolution requesting his successor 
to give Mr. Billings a cabinet position as the 
representative of the Pacific coast. 




FREDERICK BILLINGS. 

He was married in New York, March 31, 
1862, to Julia Parmly, daughter of Dr. Elea- 
zer and "Annie M. (Smith) Parmly. Their 
children were seven: Parmly (died, 1888), 
Laura, Frederick, Mary Montagu, Elizabeth, 
Ehrick(died, 1889), and Richard. 

Mr. Billings died in Woodstock, Sept. 30, 
1S90. 

His was a manhood not absorbed in great 
professional and business successes ; it went 
out to his fellow-men in benefactions large 
and innumerable. 

Rev. L. G. Ware, himself since deceased, 
wrote of him in November, 1890, the follow- 
ing words of one Christian gentleman of an- 
other : " The trustees of the Vermont State 
Library desire to place on their record, and 
to express in their report to the General 
Assembly, their regret in the lamented death 
of their' fellow-trustee, the Hon. Frederick 



28 



Billings. CJccurring within the first of his 
membership of the board, it leaves them to 
miss the friendly presence and genial com- 
panionship which they promised themselves, 
and deprived of the sympathy and aid they 
were looking forward to from the wise inter- 
est he was known to have in library affairs : 
an interest in the collection of valuable 
books and their proper bestowal, which he 
specially manifested in the gift he made to 
the University of the State of the scholarly 
library of the late Hon. George P. Marsh, 
and in the erection of the beautiful library 
building which bears his name and has be- 
come his fit and noble monument. But 
regret in Mr. Billings' decease, the trustees 
are well aware, is to be had on larger grounds 
than those personal to themselves in the in- 
timacy and conduct of their board. They 
have to lament in his departure the loss of a 
true lover of Vermont, who had a quick eye 
for the beauty of its hills and a heart quick 
for the tradition of patriotism and integrity 
among its people. He was the large-minded 
citizen, to whom all the interests of his native 
state were dear, but dearest its highest con- 
cerns of education and all intellectual advan- 
tage of moral worth and religious conviction." 

BISBEE, Edward W., of Barre, son 
of Elijah W. and Lydia (Brown) Bisbee, 
was born in Waitsfield, Feb. 27, 1856. 




He received his early education in the 
public schools of his native town and later 
at Barre .Academy, from which he was grad- 



uated in 1875. He studied law in Mont- 
pelier and was admitted to practice at the 
Washington county bar at the September 
term of court, 1879. He located at Barre 
in the following Xovemlier and has since 
practiced his profession there 

Mr. Bisbee has been an enterprising and 
successful young man, a public-spirited citi- 
zen, and has assisted in supplying the needs 
of the town, being popular with all classes 
of the community as a gentleman of good 
judgment and sterling integrity In 1886 he 
was one of the incorporators and organizers 
of the liarre Water Co., which furnishes the 
village and its inhabitants with an abundant 
supply of water for public and domestic 
uses, and since its organization he has been 
a director and its secretary. He is also a 
stockholder in the electric light company, 
which furnishes lights for the towns of Mont- 
pelier and Barre. In 1892 he was one of 
the incorporators and commissioners to ef- 
fect the organization of the Barre Savings 
Bank & Trust Co., and is one of its stock- 
holders. 

He was state's attorney for Washington 
county four years, i886-'90. He is a Mason 
and an Odd Fellow. In politics he is a Re- 
publican ; religious preference Universalist. 

Mr. Bisbee was married in Montpelier, 
Jan. 20, 1886, to Julia B., daughter of John 
and Maria (Wilson) Snow. 

Bingham, William Henry Harrison, 

of .Stowe, was the son of Elias and Martha 
(Robinson) Bingham. His birthplace was 
Fletcher, and he was born .\pril 15, 1813. 

His father, Elias Bingham, in early life 
came from Connecticut and settled in 
Fletcher, which he represented in the Legis- 
lature, dying in 1839. 

William H. H. Bingham received his edu- 
cation in the schools of his native place and 
at the St. .\lbans Academy. When of age 
he began the study of law in the office of 
O.W. Butler, Esq., of Stowe and was admit- 
ted to the bar of Washington county in 1836. 
He first opened an office in Stowe, entering 
at once upon an active professional practice 
and continued there until 1874. He has 
deservedly obtained a very high local repu- 
tation as a business lawyer and collector, 
which specialty has brought him into inti- 
mate relations with nearly all the merchants 
and business men of his vicinity. These 
circumstances combined with his great per- 
sonal popularity gave him a most extensive 
practice for a rural community. Relying on 
his good judgment and jirofessional skill 
very many cases were referred to him by 
the county and supreme court in his capac- 
ity of auditor, referee, commissioner and 
master in chancery. He has served four 
terms as state's attorney for Lamoille county. 




r /:^^^=^"52^-^^-/^ 



30 I'.ixiJV. 

Mr. Bingham has always been and blill is 
identified "with the national Democratic 
party. In 1S53 he represented Stowe in the 
Legislature, the same year was elected county 
commissioner and in 1S62 a member of the 
Council of Censors and was its clerk. From 
1853 to 1857 he was pension agent for the 
eastern department of Vermont. A member 
of the last constitutional convention in 1870, 
he was appointed in 1878 one of the direc- 
tors of the state's prison and house of correc- 
tion and for fourteen years served in that 
capacity. On three occasions Mr. Bingham 
-was Democratic candidate for the chief 
magistracy of Vermont and has received the 
largest number of votes ever cast for a mem- 
ber of that party. Twice he has been selected 
as congressional candidate from his district. 

He was for many years director of the 
Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Co., of Mont- 
pelier, and for ten years its president. He 
has also been a director of many banks, in- 
surance and railroad companies and is now 
a director of the Central Vermont R. R., 
and director of the National Life Insurance 
Co., and Waterbury National Bank. He 
also organized a company, of which he be- 
came a president, to erect a magnificent ho- 
tel in the village of Stowe near the base of 
Mt. Mansfield, and under his careful super- 
vision this enterprise was successfully accom- 
plished, as well as the building of a smaller 
house upon the summit with a carriage road 
leading from the valley to its door, thus 
attracting multitudes of strangers and tour- 
ists. He is always known as Ciovernor Bing- 
ham, and now that he counts more than four- 
score years is yet young in mind and is always 
gladly greeted by the younger men of his 
profession for that, like all who know him, 
they respect and love him. 

Mr. Bingham married, July 31, 1S38, Or- 
pha R., daughter of Riverius Camp, Esq., a 
prominent citizen of Stowe. She died with- 
out issue in November, 1891, mourned by 
all who knew her. 

BLXBY, ARMENTUS BOYDEN, of Poult- 
ney, son of William Armentus and Hannah 
(Stoddard) Bixby, was born in Mount Holly, 
June 26, 1834. 

He is of English descent on both sides 
and is of the seventh generation from Joseph 
Bixby, who emigrated from the mother 
country in 1637 and settled in Massachu- 
setts. The English branch of the Bixby 
family are of Danish origin. On the Stod- 
dard side he is of the sixth generation from 
Anthony Stoddard who came from London 
to Boston in 1639. Anthony Stoddard was 
a descendant of William Stoddard, a knight 
who came from Normandy to England, 
A. D. 1066, with William the Conqueror, who 
was his cousin. 



While he was still an infant his parents 
moved to Shellersville, ()., where both of 
them died, leaving him an orphan at the 
age of seven years. He returned to Ver- 
mont and obtained his support by labor 
upon the farm during the summer, while de- 
voting his winters to attendance at the district 
schools. At the age of nineteen he decided to 
educate himself as a physician. Commencing 
his preparatory studies at Black River .\cad- 
emy, Ludlow, and Kimball L^nion Academy, 
of Meriden, N. H., he entered Castleton 
Medical College from which he graduated in 
1858, completing his course at the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. 
He began his professional labors at London- 
derry in i860, and built up a large and ex- 
tensive practice in that and the adjoining 
towns. Obeying the call of duty, he offered 
his services to the government and was made 
assistant surgeon of the 4th Regt. Vt. Vols., 
continuing in the army from Oct. 6, 1S62, to 
Sept. 30, 1864, when he returned to his 
former labors. In 1882 he was compelled 
to abandon his practice on account of ill 
health and removed to Poultney, where he 
now resides. 

In his religious belief Dr. Bixby is a liberal 
Baptist. He has always been an active 
worker in the church, but his labors have 
never been characterized by narrow secta- 
rianism. For some years he was a licensed 
preacher in the IMethodist church and 
labored as a revivalist with marked success. 

During the agitation of the slavery ques- 
tion he was a strong opponent of that insti- 
tution and has ever acted with the Republican 
party till 18S4, when he withdrew and became 
an active Prohibitionist. He was a member 
of their state committee for a number of 
years and chairman of the state convention 
of 1888. He was sent as a delegate to the 
national convention which nominated Clin- 
ton B. Fisk for the presidential chair. His 
eminent qualifications for official position 
were demonstrated by the fact that he was 
the choice of his constituents for the posi- 
tion of state treasurer in 1888 and his popu- 
larity was evinced by his running ahead of 
his ticket. He also received the nomination 
for the position of judge of probate for 
Rutland county in 1892. In the presidential 
campaign in 188S he took the platform and 
advocated the principles of his party in 
nearly all parts of the state, speaking elo- 
quently and effectively. 

Dr. Bixby was united in marriage March 
17, 1857, to Annie, daughter of Luther and 
Polly (Hemmenway) French of Mt. Holly, 
who died June 10, i860, leaving one daugh- 
ter, Lola Ann. He married for his second 
wife, Oct. 9, 1862, Elnora E., daughter of 
Lewis and Mary (.\iken) Howard of London- 



32 BISHOP. 

derry. One daughter has blessed the union : 
Salome Eliza. 

Dr. Bixby is pre-eminently a self-made 
man, who, left an orphan in early childhood, 
yet struggled successfully to educate himself 
and by unaided efforts attained an honored 
position in the community. Independent in 
idea and action he is respected by all who 
know him for the probity of his life and 
character and has always proved himself a 
firm friend to those in adversity and a kind 
and considerate neighbor ; of him it can be 
truly said in the words of Sir Henry Walton, 
" his armor is his honest thought, and simple 
truth his highest skill." 

BISHOP, William H., of island Pond, 
son of John R. and Harriet (Kemp) Bishop 
was born at Margate, Kent county, Eng- 
land, .August 24, 185 I. 

He obtained his education in the English 
schools of Margate, came to this country in 
June, 1868, and ten years after settled at 
Island Pond. Soon after his arrival, he pur- 
chased the Essex County Herald and has 
conducted this paper ever since. Mr. Bishop 
has established a lively local correspondence 
in every quarter of the county and made 
his paper in fact as well as name the Herald 
of Essex County. 

Mr. Piishop is a Republican from convic- 
tion and though born a foreigner is instinct- 
ively American. He has been a delegate 
to state and county conventions, a member 
of the Republican county committee for 
several years and has acted more than once 
as its chairman. 

He has been for ten years one of the 
wardens of the Protestant Episcopal church, 
secretary of Island Pond Lodge No. 44, F. 
& A. M., and he is prominent in the lodge 
and encampment of the I. (). O. F. 

He was married Sept. 22, 1875, to Clara 
M., daughter ofjames and Matilda( Hay ward) 
Wyatt. They have had five children : .'Al- 
fred Ernest, William Henry, Roy A., Hubert 
Stanley, and Arthur William (deceased). 

BISSELL, Edgar N., of East Shore- 
ham, son of Solomon L. and Martha M. 
(Atwood) Bissell, was born Sept. 4, 1840, at 
Shoreham. 

He obtained his early education at home 
and later on at Newton .•\cademy. Engaged 
in the occupation of farming and cultivating 
a large portion of the land upon which his 
grandfather settled in 1777, Mr Bissell has 
been principally known as a breeder and ex- 
porter of Merino sheep and is considered as 
one of the best authorities of the state in 
this matter. He is a frequent and valued 
contributor to various agricultural journals. 
He represented the town in the Legislature 
of 1882 ; was state cattle commissioner 



under Governor Ormsbee : president of the- 
Vermont Merino Sheep Breeders' Associa- 
tion, i88o-'8i ; also president of the Ver- 
mont Sheep Shearers' Association from 1S86 
to 1 89 1 and occupied the chief executive 
office of .\ddison County Agricultural Soci- 
ety from 1886 to 1892. He is now serving 
on the committee of the Natural \Vool 
Growers' .Association, and for three years 
has been chairman of that committee. .Ap- 
pointed a member of the State PSoard of 
.Agriculture by Governor Dillingham he re- 
signed the office to give his attention to 
other matters. 

Mr. Bissell has received the Masonic de- 
gree, conferred in the lodge, chapter and 
commandery. 

He married, first, Sophia N., daughter of 
Daniel and Nancy Needham of Whiting, on 
March 4, 1863, at Shoreham. From this 
union five children were born : Henry E., 
Edward S., Helen N., .Annie J , and Maude 
S. His first wife died in .August, 1888. On 
Dec. 28, 1889, he was married to Franc F., 
daughter of Jerry and Susan Parker of Shore- 
ham. 

Having a large acquaintance, not only in 
but beyond his native town, he is universally 
esteemed and no one is considered to have 
acquired a greater skill in his specialties than 
himself. 

BISSELL, William Henry Augustus, 

late of Burlington, son of Dr. Ezekiel and 
Elizabeth (Washburn) Bissell, was born in 
Randolph, Nov. 10, 18 14. 

He received his preliminary education in 
the Randolph public schools and academy, 
and was graduated from the classical course 
of the V. V. M. in 1838. In the following 
year he was employed as a teacher in Bishop 
Hopkins' School for Boys, at the same time 
studying for the ministry. Later, in part- 
nership with G. B. Eastman, he established 
a private school in Detroit. In 1838 he was 
a candidate for Holy Orders in the diocese 
of New York, in which state, for a brief 
space, he was instructor in the institution at 
Troy. In 1839 he was ordained deacon by 
Bishop Onderdonk of Cavalry Church, New 
York City. Soon after his ordination he 
was established as rector at West Troy, and 
was afterwards called to Lyons, where he 
remained till 1848, then changed his pas- 
torate to Genesee, N. Y. In 1868 he was 
elected bishop of the diocese of Vermont, 
with his residence at Burlington. 

Bishop Bissell was an Independent in his 
political views, always voting for the man 
fitted for office, irrespective of party. He 
was much interested in missionary work, 
being connected with all societies working 
under the authority of the Episcopal church. 



33 



He was united in marriage August 29, 1838, 
to Martha, daugliter of Phineas and Maria 
(Cotton) Moulton of West Randolph. Five 
children blessed this union ; Martha E.(Mrs. 
Willard S. Pope of Detroit), Laura A. 
(widow of Surgeon Charles S. Oray, U. S. 
Navy), Mary A. (Mrs. G. Shaw of Burling- 
ton), John H., and William A. 

BIXBY, HIRA L., of Chelsea, son of Icha- 
bod and Susanna (Lewis) Bixby, was born 
in Chelsea, Sept. 13, 1833. 

Educated in the common schools and at 
the academy at Chelsea, he remained upon 
his father's farm until he was thirty-one years 
of age, when after studying the art of pho- 
tography he pursued that occupation in 
Burlington for eight years and then returned 
to his native place, occupying himself chiefly 
with farming and photography. 

In 188 1 he originated a plan for signaling 
the weather forecasts by means of steam 
whistles, which was received with favor by 
the weather bureau, and after the latter was 
transferred from the war to the agricultural 
department, it was adopted and is now in 
successful operation. 

In politics a Republican. Mr. Bixby has 
held most of the town offices and is esteemed 
a prudent and public-spirited citizen by his 
fellow-townsmen. He represented Chelsea in 
the Legislature of 1886, where he introduced 
a proposal for the first secret ballot system 
ever brought before that body, and though 
it failed at the time its principles were to a 
great extent embodied in the law of 1890. 

BLAISDELL,EDS0N G., of Bridport,son 
of Josiah and Cleora (Munsill) Blaisdell, was 
born in Richford, Dec. 13, 1846. His 
grandfather was one of the original settlers 
of the place and his father, for several years, 
represented the town in the state Legislature. 

He received his early training in the pub- 
lic schools of Richford and at the high school 
of Fairfax. Graduating from the Commer- 
cial College at Burlington in 1S64, he pur- 
sued his studies at the Dartmouth Medical 
School, and finally graduated, in 1871, from 
the medical department of the University 
of Vermont, as the valedictorian of his class. 
Clerk at quartermaster's department at City 
Point during the civil war, he afterward 
went to Texas, but in 187 1 established him- 
self as a physician at Bridport, where he has 
built up a lucrative practice. 

A Republican in politics he has held sev- 
eral town offices, notably that of superin- 
tendent of schools ; is a member of the Ad- 
dison County Medical Society and of the 
Masonic order. For the past twelve years 
he has been the clerk of the Congregational 
Society of Bridport. Somewhat reserved 
and an opponent of all display in his man- 



ner of living he jiossesses the affection of all 
who come into intimate relation with him. 
He was married in Uridport, June 1 7, 
1874, to Mary L., daughter of Oliver and 
Sarah Eldredge. From this union two chil- 
dren are living : Cleora G., and Harry K. 

BLISS, JOSHUA ISHAM, of Burlington, 
son of Moses and Sophia (Isham) Bliss, was 
born in Burlington, Nov. 19, 1830. 

His ancestors originally came from the 
county of Devonshire, in England, emi- 
grating to Boston in 1635. ^^^- Kliss, after 
a preparatory course in the academies at 
Shelburne and Burlington, entered the L'ni- 
versity of Vermont, from which he grad- 
uated with high honors in 1852. He then 
took a position in a private school in North 




*5I^ <^ 



-^fe^ ^ 



JOSHUA ISHAM BLISS. 

Carolina, but on account of his delicate 
health was obliged to resign, and in order 
to recuperate he spent some time in travel- 
ing in Europe and the East. In 1857 he 
again resumed the profession of teaching in 
Parkersburg, Xa. Soon after he was ordered 
deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church 
at Burlington, and two years later was or- 
dained priest at Jericho. 

In 1863 he was called as assistant rector 
to St. Luke's parish in St. .Albans, and after- 
wards assumed the sole rectorship, till 1S69, 
when he again visited Europe. On his re- 
turn, after a year of missionary service, he 
assumed the rectorship of St. Peter's Church 
Bennington. In 1877 he was complimented 



34 



by an apijointment to the chair of professor 
of rhetoric and English literature in the U. 
V. M., where he remained for eight years, 
when he was invited to assume the charge 
of St. Paul's Church in Burlington, which 
arduous position he has ably filled to the 
present time. In 1885 his alma mater con- 
ferred upon him the degree of D. D., having 
previously bestowed those of A. M. and A. 
B. He is president of the standing com- 
mittee of the diocese of Vermont, and has 
been elected several times deputy from that 
diocese to the general convention. 

He was married Sept. 10, i860, to Anne 
E., daughter of Carlos and Caroline (Dem- 
ing) Baxter, of Burlington. 

BLACK, Henry Fayette, of East Cov- 
entry, son of Timothy and Almira (Baldwin) 
Black, was born in Co\entry, June 28, 1842. 

Educated at the common schools and 
academy of Coventry. He has from early 
age been a large and successful farmer, mak- 
ing dairying a specialty. He has been prom- 
inent in town affairs, and held different town 
offices almost continually. He was town 
representative in i88o-'82, serving on the 
committee on the Grand List, which origi- 
nated the present system of sworn inventories 
which makes personal property bear nearer 
its share of taxation. Has also been almost 
continually acting under the authority of the 
probate court, in the settlement of estates 
and the management of trust funds. 

In his political preferences he has always 
been a Republican, and though a Baptist in 
his religious belief, he attends and supports 
the Congregational church. 

He married, Oct. 19, 1 865, Melvina, daugh- 
ter of Childs and Ann (Chesney) Brooks. 
Their children are: iVIyra (Mrs. John H. 
Howard, Albion, N. Y.), Orrin H., Mabel, 
Carrie, Freddie, and Harry A. 

BOGUE, Homer A., of Bristol, son of 
Virgil P. and Florentine (Larkin) Bogue, 
was born in Enosburgh, June 4, 1861. 

His grandfather was the first settler of 
Enosburgh, and on his mother's side he 
traces his lineage to the Winslow family of 
the Mayflower. 

He attended school both in Enosburgh 
and Irasburg and then continued his studies 
at the academy at Newport. Since he came 
of a family noted for its physicians, he re- 
solved to study medicine, and at the age of 
fourteen commenced under the tuition of 
Dr. Templeton, of Irasburg, and later vifas 
instructed by Dr. C. B Bogue, of Chicago. 
He then entered the medical department of 
the LIniversity of Vermont and later that of 
the LIniversity of New York. Visiting Chicago 
for private instruction and hospital practice, 
he finally graduated at the U. V. M. in 1886. 



He first pursued his profession at Monkton, 
but soon removed to Bristol, where he has 
met with much success. 

In politics he is a Republican, is justice 
of the peace and health officer. He is a 
Mason, belonging to both lodge and chapter. 

Dr. Bogue was married in Irasburg Dec. 
6, 1882, to Ida M., daughter of .Abner and 
Clorinda (Stock) Miles. Their three children 
are : Ruth S., George H., and Helen M. 

BOND, George Herbert, of Brattie- 

boro, son of Luke T. and Elsie (Stoddard) 
Bond, was born in Dummerston, Ian. 31, 
1846. 

Educated in the common schools, at the 
age of sixteen he enlisted in Co. I, i6th 




GEORGE HERBERT BOND. 

Regt. Vt. Vols. He served for a period of 
nine months when he received his discharge. 
Returning, he lived five years at home, after- 
wards in Orange, Lowell and Boston. 

In 1864, at the time of the St. Albans 
raid, he enlisted in the National Guard as a 
private, and since then has passed through 
all grades until he has reached that of 
lieutenant-colonel, which position he now 
holds. 

In January, 1870, he married iVIiss .Addie, 
daughter of George and Elishaba ( Maynard) 
Carpenter, of Orange, Mass. Two daughters 
have been born to them : Lizzie C, and Nel- 
lie G.,the latter Mrs. W. F. Root of Brattle- 
boro. 

In 1872 he took up his residence in Brat- 
tleboro, where for fourteen years he was in 



the employ of the Kstey Organ Co., but 
since 1887 has been engaged in the coal 
business. 

He is a prominent Odd Fellow and Mason, 
being a member of Wantastiquet Lodge, No. 
5, I. O. O. F. ; Brattleboro Lodge, No. 102, 
F. cS; A. M. ; Fort Dummer Royal Arch Chap- 
ter, No. 12, and IJeauseant Commandery, 
Knights Templar, No. 71. 

BOLTON, PlYNN, of Peacham, son of 
Luther C. and Julia (Hooker) Bolton, was 
born in Barnet, Sept. 16, 1S24. 

Obtaining such educational advantages as 
lay in his power in the public schools of 
Danville and Newbury, in the intervals of 
labor upon a farm, when he had attained 
his majority he went to Boston, where he 
found employment. Returning to Danville 
in the spring of 1859, he purchased a farm 
and cultivated it for five years. He then 
again went to Boston where he continued a 
year and then removed to Peacham, follow- 
ing the life of a farmer till 1869. He then 
commenced the business of a dealer in pro- 
duce, and purchased horses for parties in 
Massachusetts. In 1873 he changed the 
scenes of his labors to Peacham Corner, 
w-here he operates a small farm, making a 
specialty of the products of the dairy. 

His religious preferences are Congrega- 
tional, and he has always voted the Repub- 
lican ticket. For four years he was called 
upon to discharge the duties of trustee, 
lister and selectman, and has held many 
minor offices. He was elected to the state 
Legislature as representative for Peacham in 
1882, and served on the general and dis- 
tributing committees. 

He was united in marriage April 8, 1858, 
to Phebe B., daughter of Moses and Phebe 
(Brock) Wesson, who died Sept. 13, 1862, 
leaving one son, George Bolton, ^L D., of 
West Burke. Mr. Plynn Bolton contracted 
a second alliance May 1 1, 1S65, with Martha 
J., daughter of Ira and Recta (Wheelock) 
McLoud. By his second wife he had issue : 
Helen Phebe (deceased). May Evelyn, and 
Recta Gertrude (deceased). 

BOOTH, ISAAC Phillips, of North- 
field, son of Isaac Billings and Lydia Olney 
(Phillips) Booth, was born in Union, Conn., 
Sept. 10, 1843. 

He early evinced a love for books, and the 
height of his youthful ambition was to obtain 
an education ; but the circumstances of his 
parents were such as to give him but little 
encouragement, yet he availed himself of his 
slender opportunities to the utmost, and by 
private reading and study, succeeded in ob- 
taining a fair preparation for college. Feel- 
ing himself too poor to pursue a collegiate 
course, he concluded to settle down to a 



l',(lnlH. 35 

business life, but his first venture proving 
unsuccessful, he resolved to return to the 
vocation of a teacher, some experience of 
which he had had in his earlier days. He 
first opened a private school in White's Cor- 
ners, N. Y., but was soon called to take 
charge of a new graded and high school in 
that place ; and after remaining there two 
years was elected principal of the Kent, O., 
grammar school. Having spent his vaca- 
tions and other leisure in reading law, in 
1870 he was admitted to the Portage county 
bar, and shortly after entered the office of 
M. S. Castle, of Cleveland ; but this profes- 
sion he also found uncongenial to him, and 
he turned his attention to the church. Ac- 




cordingly, he entered St. Lawrence Univer- 
sity, from which he graduated with honor in 
1874, taking both the theological and uni- 
versity course, and immediately entered upon 
his pastoral duties at Huntington, L. I., 
where he remained two years, and then 
changed the scene of his labors to Morris- 
ville, and subsequently to Northfield, in 
which place he soon was elected to the pro- 
fessorship of Latin and Greek in Norwich 
University, receiving from this institution in 
due course, the degrees of A. M. and D. D. 
In 1S85 Dr. Booth resigned his position 
in the university and became principal of 
the graded and high school in Northfield, 
where he remained till his appointment to 
the office of county supervisor of schools. 
In iSSo he represented Morrisville, and 



36 P.OO'IH. 

sened as chaplain in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and six years after was elected a 
member of that body from Northfield, serv- 
ing on the committee on education, and 
earnestly advocating the present school law. 
In 1891' he again took charge of the graded 
and high school, but has now accepted a call 
from his old parish at Morrisville. 

Dr. Booth has always taken a deep inter- 
est in educational matters and has discharged 
the duties of town superintendent in nearly 
every place of his residence. 

He was married. May 1, 1S66, to Julia E., 
daughter of Laurens Crawford, t^sq., of Staf- 
ford, Conn. Fourteen children have been 
born to them : Lydia J. (deceased), Earnest 
V. (deceased), Laurens C. (deceased), Al- 
fred P., Clarence H., Louis P., Edwin, Frank 
L., Maud G., .i^nnie M. (deceased), Ralph 
A., Mabel E., Julia B. (deceased), and Paul C. 

Mr. Booth is past master of the local Ma- 
sonic lodge, a member of the L O. O. P., 
and chief templar of the lodge of that order 
in that town, and a trustee of Norwich 
University. 

BOOTH, William W., of Waltham, 
son of Ezra and Sophia (Whalley) Booth, 
was born in Ferrisburg, May 26, 1841. 

Educated at the district school and at 
Vergennes Academy, at the wish of his par- 
ents he remained with them on the old 
homestead till he became of age. In 1875 
he sold his estate in Ferrisburg and removed 
to Waltham. He represented that tow-n in 
the Legislature of 18S0, and has served as 
selectman, as well as in other town offices. 

He was married March 26, 1872, toThirza, 
daughter of Aaron and Lottie Field, of Fer- 
risburg. They have two children : Agnes 
P., born Tune 26, 1874, and .Arthur E., born 
April 28," 1878. 

BOSWORTH, David, of Bristol, son 

of Hezekiah and Myra (Miller) Bosworth, 
was born in Hampton, N. V., June 9, 1814. 
His ancestors were among the earliest set- 
tlers of Boston. 

Commencing his education at the com- 
mon schools of Hampton, he entered the 
Castleton .Academy and afterwards the Troy 
Conference Academy. Leaving school at 
the age of eighteen he returned to assist his 
father in the management of his farm, and 
while here taught school for several seasons. 
Buying an estate adjoining that of his father 
he carried on both for about fifteen years. 
During this time he first felt the inclination 
to preach, and this he did with much success 
at the .\d\ ent church in Hampton. Subse- 
quenilv he removed to Bristol where he 
labored for five years. The next four years 
he was in Waterbury, engaging in business 
in conjunction with his labors for a strug- 



BOSWORTH. 

gling church. Later, Mr. Bosworth lived in 
Fair Haven and Cuttingsville, giving all the 
aid in his power to the .Advent churches near 
those places. In 186S he returned to Bris- 
tol and became permanently identified with 
the Bristol Manufacturing Co., of which he 
became one of the largest stockholders as 
well as its secretary and treasurer, which 
position he has held since. A large share of 
its success is owing to his business ability 
and enterprise. 

Never taking any especial interest in poli- 
tics, Mr. Bosworth was first a Democrat and 
later on a member of the Free Soil party. 
Since that time he has been a consistent 
Republican. He has been prominently con- 
nected with the schools wherever he has 
resided. 




DAVID BOSWORTH 



One of the best-known members of the 
Evangelical .Advent church in the state he is 
at present president of the Society of .Advent- 
ists of Vermont and the Province of Quebec. 

Rev. Mr. Bosworth was married, Nov. 15, 
1842, to Melina, daughter of William Hotch- 
kiss, of Hampton ; her death occurred Feb. 
13, 1864. Of this union were born five 
children : Alice E , Amanda M., Evangeline 
A., Ida M , and William H. His second 
marriage was contracted with Carrie M., 
daughter of Harvey and Samantha (Bump) 
Boardman, March 14, 1865. By her he has 
had five children : B. Boardman, M. Helen, 
Myra M., Grace M., and David R. 



BOYCE, OSMC^RE Baker, son of Rich- 
ard 'r. and Joanna (Banfield) I'.oyce, was 
born in Newbtiry, Nov. 24, 1841. 

Born and brought up on a farm he received 
only such education as was afforded by the 
district schools. .After becoming of age he 
turned his attention to accjuiring an educa 
tion, following anv employment which offered 
the best inducements, spending as much of 
his time at liarre .Academy as his means 



37 



organization : also serving as grand director, 
anil represented that body in the supreme 
lodge for four annual sessions. He is also a 
member of the local lodge I. ().(). F. 

He was married in June, 1871, to .\melia 
.\. French, of Northumberland, N. H., who 
died September, 1S77, leaving one child: 
F.dith .A. In January, 1S81, he married 
Louisa I,., daughter of Oraneel B. Dodge, of 
liarre. 







JSMORE BAKER BOYCE. 



would permit, and following teaching suc- 
cessfully. .Acquiring a taste for professional 
life, he decided on the law and read for a 
time in the office of his brother, W. .A. Boyce, 
and then took a course at the .Albany (N. Y.) 
1 .aw School, from which he graduated in 1871. 

Mr. Boyce first began the practice of his 
profession at (luildhall where he also edited 
for a year the Kssex County Herald. In 1S74 
he removed to Barre and formed a law ]5art- 
nership with his brother, W. .A. Boyce, which 
has successfully continued to the present 
time, the firm enjoying a large practice in 
Orange and Washington counties. 

Politically Mr. Boyce is an adherent of the 
Republican i>arty, and has been honored 
with many positions of trust, viz. : superin- 
tendent of schools, justice of the peace, vil- 
lage trustee, and state's attorney for F^sse.x 
county in 1872, and a senator from \Vash- 
ington county in 1S92, serving on the 
judiciary committee. 

Mr. Boyce is a member of the Knights of 
Honor, and has held various offices in that 



BOYCE, William A., of Barre, son of 
Richard T. and J. (Banfield) Boyce, was 
born in Newbury, Dec. 3, 1839. 

He was brought up on a farm, educated 
in the common schools and at Barre .Acade- 
my, taught several years in the public schools 
of the state with marked success, two of 
these as principal of the Cabot high school. 

Having decided to enter the profession 
of the law for his life work, he studied three 
years in the office of the late 1.. C. Wheelock 
and of the late E. E. French, and was ad- 
mitted to the Washington county bar at the 
March term in i86g, and soon after opened 
an office in Barre and engaged in the active 
jiractice of his profession. In 1875 he took 




WILLIAM A. 



into partnership his brother, (). B. Boyce, 
and since that time the firm have enjoyed a 
large and successful general practice. He 
has also been extensively and successfully 
engaged in real estate transactions. .At the 
organization of the Barre Savings Bank & 
Trust Co. he was elected one of its directors 



38 BOVDEN. 

Mr. Boyce has repeatedly held the office of 
town treasurer, superintendent of schools, 
and lister, and he has also represented Barre 
in the Legislatures of i872-'73. He is a 
member of Hiawatha Lodge, Xo. 20, L O. 
O. I". 

BOYDEN, Nelson L., of Randolph 
Center, son of Luther and Hannah (Gofif) 
Boyden, was born in Barnard, July 19, 1836. 

His educational advantages were derived 
from the district schools, the Royalton 
Academy and Orange county grammar 
school. Left an urphan in his earliest boy- 
hood, he was brought up on a farm, after- 
wards read law with Hon. Philander Perrin, 
being admitted to the Orange county bar 




NELSON L. BOYDEN 



in 1S65. He commenced the practice of his 
profession at Randolph Center where he has 
always remained and enjoyed a large and 
fairly successful business. In addition he is 
the owner of a large farm and one of the 
finest herds of Jerseys in the state, and pays 
much attention to the breeding of fine horses. 
Mr. Boyden is a Republican and has filled 
many offices of trust. He has been super- 
intendent of schools in Barnard and Ran- 
dol]jh, and town clerk in the latter place for 
twenty-five years. He was chosen senator 
from Orange county in 18S2, and was chair- 
man of the committee on education and re- 
form school, besides serving on the judiciary 
committee. In i8S8-'8g he represented the 
town of Randolph in the Legislature, being 
chairman of the committees on railroads and 



Grand Isle bridge and also a member of the 
judiciary committee. He was state's attor- 
ney for Orange county in i87o-'72-'74-'76, 
and has been both member and president of 
the board of trustees of Randolph State Nor- 
mal School. For the interest of this institu- 
tion Mr. Boyden has labored assiduously, 
and when their building was burned in the 
summer of 1893 he was unanimously chosen 
chairman of the committee to erect a new 
edifice, and to this end he has given his clos- 
est attention with flattering prospects of 
success. 

He is a member of the Masonic fraternity 
and the I. O. O. F,, has filled the chairs in 
the four local bodies of the former society 
at West Randolph, and is a member of Mt. 
Zion Commandery Knights Templar at 
Montpelier. 

Mr. Boyden was united in marriage to E. 
Angene, daughter of Oeorge and Arminda 
(Miner) Carpenter. They have had five 
children, two of whom survive : Charles I., 
and Florence L. 

BOYNTON, THOMAS JEFFERSON, of 
Montpelier, the son of David F. and Lydia 
(Roberts) Boynton, was born in \Vestfield> 
Dec. 30, 1856. 

Educated in the common schools of \Vest- 
fieldand the State Normal School at Johnson, 
where he graduated, he taught several terms 
in common and graded schools. In 1878 he 
began to read law, but ill health compelled 
a cessation of study. In 1S79 he resumed 
his legal studies and was admitted to the bar 
at the April term of Lamoille county court 
and afterward received the same privilege 
in Suffolk county, Mass., on Nov. 16, 1889. 
He practiced law m Johnson till July 15, 
1875, when he was appointed P. O. Inspec- 
tor in charge of the New England division, 
which position he resigned June 25, 1889, 
when he resumed the practice of his profes- 
sion and located in Montpelier, continuing 
until November, 1S93, when he again re- 
ceived the appointment of P. O. Inspector 
with headquarters in Boston, where he now 
resides. 

A Democrat in his political faith, Mr. 
Boynton has filled the usual town offices, 
and he represented Montpelier in the Gen- 
eral Assembly of 1892, being the leader of 
his party during that session and intluential 
in the work of the House. He was a mem- 
ber of the 1 )emocratic state committee from 
1882 to 1886 and is now its chairman. 

He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, 
being on the roll of Waterman Lodge, No. 
83, F. & A. M. 

Mr. Boynton married, Dec. 27, 1879, Miss 
Hattie L., daughter of Elizah O. and Judith 
Story, of Johnson. They have one child i 
Marion J. 



39 



BOYNTON, William Seward, of St. 

Johnsbury, son of David and Harriet (Cham- 
berlain) Boynton,vvas born in St. Johnsliviry, 
.\pril 2, 1853. 

His earlv education was received at the 
public schools of that town. He afterwards 
attended the St. Johnsbury Academy, where 
he was graduated in 1873. He entered Cornell 
University with the class of 1S77, where he 
pursued a scientific and literary course of 
studies. In 1877 he became treasurer and 
a trustee of the Passumpsic Savings Bank, 
which position he has since held. He has 
also served as treasurer of the village, county 
and union school district. 

In politics he is a Republican, and an hon- 
orary member of the National Cuard of 
Vermont, having served as ist lieutenant of 
Co. n, ist regiment. 

.A member of Passumpsic Lodge, F. & A. 
M., he also for fifteen years has been junior 
warden of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church 
of St. Johnsbury. 

September 8, 18S1, Mr. Boynton was 
married to Ida P. Bancroft, formerly of 
Chelsea, Mass., daughter of \\'illiam and 
Statira (Haskell) Bancroft. Their three 
children are : Helen Agnes, Alice Harriet, 
and William Henry. 

BRADY, Charles N., of Newport, son 
of Patrick and Hannah (O'Connor) Brady, 
was born in Haverhill, N. H., Feb. 9, 1855. 

His education was obtained at the public 
schools and the Methodist Seminary at 
Newbury. 

He began business life at the age of thir- 
teen by mastering the art of telegraphy, 
which he practiced in summer until 1877, 
when he entered the general offices of the 
Passumpsic R. R. at Lyndonville, filling 
various minor positions until he was made 
night train dispatcher in 1879, which occu- 
pation he relinquished after one year's 
service on account of ill health. Two years 
afterwards he entered the train service in the 
passenger department. In 1886 he took up 
his abode in Newport, and until the early 
part of t8S8 devoted his time entirely to the 
real estate business. In February of that 
year, he became a partner in the firm of 
Sherman & Brady, successors to Sherman & 
West, wholesale and retail dealers in flour, 
feed, etc., taking charge of the affairs of the 
concern and doubling its general business 
and storage capacity the first two years, also 
adding to its facilities a steam grist mill 
with elevator, etc. ; and at the present time, 
is conducting one of the most important in- 
dustries in Northern Vermont. 

Mr. lirady was one of the incorporators, 
and at present is a director of the Newport 
Board of Trade, and vice-president and treas- 
urer of the Memphremagog Driving Park 



.\ssociation. Mr. l!ra<ly is one of the prime 
movers and ablest supporters of all the im- 
provements that Newport at present enjoys ; 
to him is due in a great measure the estab- 
lishment of both the water and sewer system 
in the town, also the electric lights and con- 
crete sidewalks. He is vice-president of the 
Moir Granite Co., which has recently located 
the United States branch of their works at 
Newport, largely through the efforts of Mr. 
Brady. He is also a director in the New- 
port Loan and Building Club, and an ener- 




CHARLES N. BRADY. 



getic citizen who never allows any opportu- 
nity to escape him to promote the welfare 
of the community in which he resides. 

He was united in wedlock Dec. 20, 18S6, 
to May, daughter of Solomon M. and Louisa 
(Sias) Field. 

Mr. Brady is an ardent Democrat who has 
never sought jiolitical preferment. 

BRADFORD, PHILANDER D., late of 
Northfield, was born in Randolph, .April 9, 
iSii,and was the son of John and Lucy 
(Brooks) Bradford. His father was a lineal 
descendant in the sixth generation from 
Governor William Bradford, who came over 
in the Mayflower. An orphan at the age 
of seven years, he found a home with the 
relatives of his mother at Alstead, N. H., 
but returned to Randolph at the age of 
fifteen, and entered the Orange county 
grammar school. Five years later he com- 
menced the study of medicine with his 



40 



brother, Dr. Austin Bradford, and at the age 
of twenty-three graduated from the Wood- 
stock Medical School, then a branch of Mid- 
dlebury College. He practiced medicine in 
Braintree, Randolph and Bethel In 1850 
he received the degree of A. M. from the 
University of \'ermont. In 1S54 he perma- 
nently settled in the town of Northfield. In 
1857 he became professor of physiology in 
the medical college of Castleton, and held 
that position until December, iS62,when he 
resigned. An antiquarian by nature, he 
made a large collection of objects of inter- 
est and historical value, as well as a fine col- 
lection of minerals, which he donated to 
Norwich L'niversity, where they are known 
as the Bradford collection. 

Dr. Bradford belonged to the Republican 
party. He was elected to the Legislature 
from Randolph in iS53-'54. In the latter 
year he was made commissioner of the in- 
sane and served the state in this capacity 
for two years. In 1862 -'63 he was elected 
senator from Washington county, and in the 
last year president of the ^'ermont Medical 
Society. .\ strenuous advocate of the cause 
of human rights, of temperance and all 
moral reforms he was elected a trustee of 
Norwich University. In December, 1S62, 
he was commissioned surgeon of the 5 th 
Regt. \'t. \'ols., but from ill health was com- 
pelled to resign the ensuing April. 

In i860 he was made G. M. of the Grand 
Lodge of I. O. O. F., and was also placed 
at the head of the grand division of the Sons 
of Temperance. In 1875 he was a member 
of the Right Worthy (Irand Lodge U. S. I. ( ). 
O. F., and in 1879 of Right Worthy Grand 
Lodge I. O. G. T. 

He was a liberal supporter of, and a con- 
stant attendant at the services of the Pro- 
testant P^piscopal church, and was senior 
warden of the same at the time of his 
death. 

Dr. Bradford married first Susan H. Edson 
of Randolph in 1835, who died in October, 
1865, leaving one child, Mrs. George W. 
Soper, who died in 1889. In May, 1867, 
Dr. Bradford married Mrs. Olive Moore, 
widow of Hiram Moore, Esq. The second 
Mrs. Bradford died .August 5, 1890. Dr. 
Bradford died at Northfield, July 16, 1892. 

BRAGG, AZRO D., of Fayston, born 
in Warren, Nov. 25, 1834, was the son of 
William and Chloe (Buck) Bragg. 

His father being crippled from rheuma- 
tism when .Azro was a young lad, he took 
charge of the farm, manifesting even at that 
age the energy, self-reliance and persever- 
ance that has made him a successful man. 
He has passed most of his life in the town of 
Fayston. Here he occupies himself with 
dairying and stock raising. From a fine 



sugar orchard of two thousand trees he sends 
to the West large quantities of maple syrup 
each season. 

Mr. Bragg is an active Republican and 
has attended as delegate every county con- 
vention but two for the last thirty years ; 
represented Fayston in the Legislature in 
i870-'7i, besides holding many town offices. 

He was four years Master of Waitsfield 
Grange, P. of H., is a member of I. (). G. 
T., and was for six years superintendent of 
the M. E. Sabbath school of Waitsfield and 
Favston. 




AZRO D. BRAGG. 

He was married, Jan. 9, 1855, to Anna 
B., daughter of John C. and Lydia (Bixby) 
(iriggs. Thev have had five children : 
Francis A., Emily L. (died, 1881), Hattie 
E. (Mrs. Ci. F. .Ainsworth of Minneapolis), 
William ( '., and an infant son, who died in 
1862. 

BRANCH, Charles Franklin, of 

Newport, son of (Jrson and Rodilla (Felton) 
Branch, was born in Orwell, Dec. 9, 1845. 

His preliminary education was received 
in the village schools, and he was fitting for 
college when the civil war destroyed all 
taste for study. Eager to participate in the 
stirring events of the times, he enlisted in 
Co. C, 9th Vt. Vols., and was successively 
promoted from pri\ate, through the grades 
of corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and cap- 
tain, which last position was assigned him 
for gallant and meritorious conduct in the 
field before Richmond ; later he was breveted 



41 



major for conspicuous conduct at the cap- 
ture of Richmond, Ai)ril, 1S65. He was an 
active participant in all the varied experi- 
ences of his regiment, including their unfor- 
tunate capture at Harper's Ferry, and was 
among the first to enter the rebel capital. 
He was twice wounded . in battle, and was 
honorably discharged from the service in 
December. i.S6^. 




centennial. He is medical examiner for 
nine prominent life insurance companies, 
and surgeon for the southern division of the 
C. P. r" R. 

He has taken a deep interest in educa- 
tional matters, and for many years was su- 
perintendent of schools in Coventry. He is 
esteemed one of the best speakers on the 
subject of the war in the state, and is in de- 
mand as a Memorial Day orator. He has 
no disposition to seek office ; is a Congrega- 
tionalist in his religious belief, earnest and 
conscientious in his every-day life, and ever 
ready to strive for the public weal. 

Dr. Branch was united in marriage at 
Orwell, March, 1S6S, to Emma, daughter of 
James and Lucretia (Calkins) Cook by 
whom he had issue : James ()., May E., and 
Alliene E. Mrs. Branch deceased, Septem- 
ber, I S76. In Coventry he was again united in 
marriage to Ida H., daughter of Hon. Sam- 
uel Burbank. From this union was born 
one daughter, Helen L. His second wife 
died in February, 1888, and he contracted a 
third alliance, at Derby, with Martha J., 
daughter of Hon. Emera and Julia (Dag- 
gett) Stewart, in October, 1.S91. 

BREWSTER, GEORGE BENJAMIN, of 
Irasburgh, son of Phineas and l.ydia (Isham) 
ESrewster, was born in St. (leorge, August 
4, 1823. 

He was educated at the common schools 
of St. deorge, Shelburne, and at Hinesburgh 
Academv. In 18^1 he rtmo\ed to Iras- 



CHARLES FRANKLIN BRANCH. 

At the close of the war, returning home, 
he was anxious to continue his studies, but 
his parents desired that he should remain on 
the farm, which he did until 1875, when he 
decided to adopt the profession of his choice. 
Graduating with honors, and pursuing fur- 
ther instruction in hospital work, he settled 
in Coventry, and in 1887 moved to Kewpoit, 
and has become one of the leading physi- 
cians of his section. He has been United 
States pension examiner for several years, 
also professor of state medicine and hy- 
giene in the State University. He is an 
active member in the Orleans County Medi- 
cal Society, the Vermont State Medical 
Society, and the American Medical Associa- 
tion. For several years was surgeon to the 
ist Regt., V. N. G., and was surgeon-gen- 
eral of Vermont in i886-'88. He is an 
ardent G. A. R. man and member of the 
Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He is 
a member of Central Lodge F. & A. M., 
Cleveland Chapter and Malta Commandery 
K. T. ; of this last body he was chief mar- 
shal at the celebration of the ]!eunin<;ton 




3eORGe BENjAMIf 



42 



burgh, where he now owns n farm of four 
hundred and forty acres. In addition to his 
farming interests, he has for more than 
twenty years been an extensive dealer in 
butter and agricultural implements. He has 
always been ambitious to advance the inter- 
ests of the farmer and was the first to organ- 
ize a farmers' league in the state. 

Always a Republican, he served in the 
state Legislature in 1 869-' 70. He is in 
religious belief a Universalist, and for many 
years was instrumental in maintaining Uni- 
versalist preaching in his town. 

He married, first, June 16, 1852, Emily 
Holbrook, daughter of Peletiah Holbrook, 
and second, Sept. 26, 1855, Mary A. Leon- 
ard, daughter of \\illard and Amy (Lary) 
Leonard of Glover. He has two sons and a 
daughter: ^\'. F.Brewster (living in Iras- 
burgh), Leonard K. Brewster (of Boston), 
and Emily F. Brewster (wife of Dr. E. M. 
Shaw of Spokane, Wash.) 

His high moral principles and progressive 
nature demonstrated in his every-day busi- 
ness life, together with his cheerful, indus- 
trious comiianion, has given to him a 
beautiful countrv home, where he now lives 
a comfortable retired life, and a respected 
citizen. 

BRIDGMAN, DORMAN, JR., of Hard- 
wick, son of Dorman and Achsah (Mitchell) 
Bridgman, was born in Hardwick, Feb. 7, 
1837. His grandfather, Capt. John Bridg- 
man, was the first settler (1795) in the 
southern part of the town, where he cleared 
the farm on which his son was born, and 
which has always remained in the family. 
The son was the first postmaster of Hard- 
wick and the first and most prominent mer- 
chant of the place. Both Capt. John and 
Dorman, Sr., were prominently identified 
with the business interests of the town. The 
former was a volunteer at Plattsburg in the 
war of 18 1 2, and in addition to his agricul- 
tural pursuits was an inn-keeper, furnishing 
good entertainment for man and beast at the 
homestead farm under the sign of the "Half 
Moon and Dove," A. ]). 1800. 

Dorman Bridgman, Jr., received the cus- 
tomary education at the public schools, then 
attended the Hardwick and afterwards the 
Peo])le's .-\cademy at Morrisville. After 
teaching several terms in various towns, 
the California gold fever seized him in 1858, 
and he started for Pike's Peak. In i860 he 
returned to Hardwick and employed himself 
as proprietor of the hotel in that place till 
1862, when his father took the house, the son 
retiring to the paternal farm, where he re- 
mained for five years, then purchased an 
estate in \\'oodbury. In 1879 he engaged 
with M. V,. Tucker in the lumber business 
and erected a mill in Mack\ille, where he 



remained till 1886, when he returned to 
Hardwick village. Since his return he has 
occupied himself principally in the advance- 
ment of the material interests and prosperity 
of the village, the rapid growth of which is 
largely attributed to him. During this time 
he has been chosen to different town and 
village offices, and is at the present time 
(1893) chairman of the board of selectmen 
and justice of the peace of the town. He 
was largely interested in securing the incor- 
poration of the village in 1890, and was 
elected its first president : and again in 1892- 



■'^*^ 



/-^ 




DORMAN BRIDGI.Al., jr. 

'93. He has been at various times Demo- 
cratic candidate for town representative, 
polling very much more than the party vote. 
Mr. Bridgman early interested himself in the 
establishment of the Hardwick Savings Bank 
& Trust Co., organized in July, 1893, and is 
at present a director and one of its largest 
stockholders. 

He was united in marriage, November, 
i860, to lennie R., daughter of (ieorge and 
Eliza (Renfrew) W'hitcher of Albanv. 

BRIGHAM, Charles Orson, of Rut- 
land, son of Leander D. and Eliza ( Bates) 
Brigham, was born in Ogdensburg. N. V., 
Dec. 23, 1847. 

His early childhood was passed in Oshawa, 
Ont., until the death of his parents, when 
with his brothers and sisters he came to re- 
side with his grandmother at Westford. As 
she was a woman who held fast to the Puri- 
tanical faith of her ancestors and was well 



versed in nil business operations, her iiitlu- 
ence strongly impressed the boy who devoted 
his attention to study during his evenings, 
after the steady daily toil upon a rocky hill- 
farm, the care of which he manfully took 
upon his young shoulders. Ha\ing availed 
himself of the best possible advantages 
afforded him by the district and "select 
school " of the village, Mr. Brigham com- 
menced a course of study at the age of 
twenty, in the Essex Academy, which was 
unhajiiiilv interrupted before it^ coiniiletion 




r.KIUHAM. 43 

his town, and was e\er liberal in helping 
other societies besides his own. 

He was married, on April 25, 1876, to 
Sarah A., daughter of Samuel G. and Phebe 
{Dimicki Bishop, who has liorne him one 
son : Lynn B. 

In 1880, while making improvements on 
the farm of his father-in-law in Westford, 
urgent calls for nursing in that vicinity 
seemed to develoj) a special aptitude and 
interest in this occupation, and eyesight and 
health appearing established now on a firm 
basis, he commenced a study of medical 
works, which resulted in his entering the 
medical department of the University of 
\'ermont in the spring of 1883. Dr. Brigham 
received his diploma in 1886, after having 
taken a full course of surgery and medicine, 
and has practiced with marked success ever 
since in Pittsford and the adjoining towns. 
He is thoroughly in earnest in his work, and 
his reputation has made him an acti\e mem- 
ber of the Rutland County Medical and 
Surgical Society, which has a\ailed itself of 
his services as secretary and treasurer. He 
is also a member of the State Medical Soci- 
ety. In 1893 he removed from Pittsford to 
Rutland, where he now resides. 

BRIGHAM, Frederick Lucian, of 

Pittsfield, son of Charles W. and Mary L. 
Brigham, was born in Pittsfield, July 7, 
1862. 



CHARLES ORSON BRIGHAM. 

by the destruction of the school buildings by 
fire, and the bursting of a blood vessel in one 
of his eyes. Overwork and hard study had 
been a double draft on wearv nature, and 
partial blindness seemed about to blot out 
his prospect of a professional career, doing 
with one of his fellow-students to his home 
at Pittsford, he labored as he was able for a 
short period, little thinking that in the future 
he would return here in a professional capac- 
ity, after an interval of fifteen years of weary 
waiting and uncongenial occupations. I'his 
time he spent mostly in Westford as clerk in 
the store of a general merchant, or teaching 
school in the long winters and employing the 
summer season in agricultural pursuits and 
in fire-insurance agencies, when his health 
and eyesight would permit. 

He was e\er an active worker in church, 
Sunday-school and choir. Uniting with the 
Congregationalists in early manhood, he was 
always prompt to engage in any enterprise 
which would promote the public welfare in 




FREDERICK LUCIAN BRIGHAM. 



His 



early education was obtained in the 
State Normal School at Randolph, and the 



44 



Vermont Methodist Seminary in Montpe- 
lier, and he graduated from the medical col- 
lege at Dartmouth in 1887, receiving the 
diploma of M. D. He immediately settled 
in his native town where he has remained, 
enjoying a very successful practice as a 
regular physician. In 1892 he was appoint- 
ed health officer of Pittsfield, and in the 
same year was elected town representative. 

I )r. Brigham is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity in which he took the Blue Lodge 
degrees at Rochester in 1885. 

He was united, Feb. 9, 1887, to Keta L., 
daughter of George W. and Eldora A. Davis. 



Ills discharge May i-j, 1865. He then re- 
ceived an appointment as clerk in the 
Treasury Department at Washington, which 
position he resigned in September, 1866. 

Returning to Vermont he gave his atten- 
tion to farming, and has pursued this voca- 
tion with success. 

Captain Brookins was elected by the Re- 
publicans of the town to the Legislature of 
1 8 76-' 78, and has creditably served on 
several committees. He also served his 
town as constalile from i872-'8o, when he 
resigned, and has held other town offices. 



BROCK, WiLLIA.M Wallace, of New- 
bury, son of William and .\nna (Wallace) 
Brock, n-as born in Newbury, June 7, 1819. 

His father, a prominent citizen of New- 
bury, had him educated at the public schools 
and seminary of that place. He lived on 
the farm on which he was born until 1858, 
when he removed to the old Brock home- 
stead, where he now resides. .\ daughter, 
making the fourth generation of Brocks, still 
resides with her parents. This farm, from 
the neatness of its surroundings, its appear- 
ance of thrift and comfort, presents the 
picture of a typical New England home. 

Mr. Brock has also the care of several 
estates in the town, whose owners are resi- 
dents, showing how much he enjoys the con- 
fidence of those who know him. A Repub- 
lican in his political belief, he has been 
justice of the peace for forty years, was a 
member of the Legislature in i865-'66, and 
has held numerous other offices of trust con- 
ferred upon him by his fellow-citizens. 

He married Sophia Lovewell TapHn. Five 
children have been born to them : Benjamin 
F., Kugene, Clarence T., ^\■illiam \\'allace, 
Jr., and Clara Belle, the first three prosper- 
ing in the state of Washington, and the last 
two still residing in Newbury. 

BROOKINS, Harvey S., of Shoreham, 
was born Jan. 25, 1835, in Shoreham. He 
was the son of Philip C. and Lucina (Forbes) 
Brookins. 

Receiving his early education at the com- 
mon schools of his native town, he after- 
wards graduated at Bakersfield .Academy. 
In 1856 he went to Minnesota where he 
found employment as a surveyor, and was 
there elected sheriff of Wright county. 

He enlisted in the Sth Minnesota Regt. 
in August, 1862, and was promoted to the 
rank of captain May i, 1863. As the trouble 
with the Sioux Indians came about this time, 
he served as a scout in Minnesota till 1S64. 
He then marched across the plains, and on 
returning the regiment was sent to Mur- 
freesboro, Tenn., where Captain Brookins 
received a severe wound, which necessitated 




HARVEY S. BROOKINS. 

He belongs to Simonds Lodge of the 
Masonic order, and is its Senior Warden, 
and to John .\. Logan Post, No. 88, G. -A. R. 

He married in Shoreham Sept. 3, 1S66, 
Emma L., daughter of Myron W. C. and 
Tryphosia Wright. Three children are born 
from this marriage : Lura E., F^dna E., and 
Arthur H. Captain Brookins is looked upon 
as a man of marked ability in his town and 
section of the county. 

BROWN, ADNA, of Springfield, son of 
Isaac and .Sarah (Flagg) Brown, was born in 
Antrim, N. H., Dec. ii, 1828. 

.A pupil of the common schools of his 
birthplace, he' left home at the age of sixteen 
to battle with the world. First entering a 
woolen mill to learn the trade, he gave this 
up and served his apprenticeship as a 
machinist. Rising rapidly, he successively 
became foreman, then superintendent, and 



finally master in the Parks \- Woolson 
Machine Co., of which he is now the 
president and general manager. In this 
position Mr. Brown has furnished many 
improvements in cloth-finishing machinery, 
and is the holder of many valuable jjatents 
covering the same. He is also president and 
managing director of the Jones & Lam- 
son Machine Co., especially prominent as 
the builder of the Hartness flat-turret lathe. 
He organized the Springfield Klectric Light 




-^^ ^' 




ADNA BROWN. 

Co., and is president of the Brown Hotel 
Co., chartered under the laws of the state 
in 1892, which has erected a handsome brick 
hotel, named in his honor, " The Adna- 
brown." He is the presiding officer of the 
local board of trade and of the Black River 
Railroad Co. 

Mr. Brown is a staunch and active Repub- 
lican, and though never seeking office, has 
filled many positions of trust both in town 
and county. In 1882 he was sent to the 
Legislature, and in 1890 was a state senator. 
Mr. Brown was one of \'ermont's delegates 
to the national Republican convention in 
Minneapolis in 1892, and was a member of 
the committee which drafted the platform for 
the party in the campaign of that year. In 
1893 he received the appointment of state 
World's Fair commissioner from Coxernor 
Fuller. 

A Congregationalist in belief, he does not 
confine his religion to the church, but carries 



UKUWN. ^c 

his Christianity beyond its doors and is well 
known for his active benevolence and inter- 
est in all worthy enterprises. 

BROWN, ALBERT L., of Lunenburg, 
born in Lunenburg, |an. 12, 1828, was the 
son of Isaac and Lucretia (Wood) Brown, 
and was educated in the schools of Lunen- 
burg. Remaining with his father till the 
age of eighteen, he went to Boston and 
worked as a cabinet maker, then took u[) 
his abode in Portland, Me , where for eight 
years he kept a hotel. At the close of the 
war he sought his fortune in the West, and 
for a long period was employed as an agent 
by the Chicago Scale Co., after which he 
engaged in the grocery business. Satis- 
fied with the competence, which was the 
result of his industry and business ability, 
Mr. Brown returned to his native town and 
purchased the beautiful and picturesque 
estate, which was the early home of his first 
wife. 

A lifelong and stalwart Republican, he has 
been elected to almost all the offices in' the 
gift of his fellow-townsmen, including a seat 
in the Legislature in i888. In creed he is a 
Congregationalist. 




September 17, 1849, he married Lucretia 
S., daughter of Stephen and Almira Powers. 
To them a son was born, George Albert, who 
died Aug. 18, 1864. He married at Chicago, 
June 13, 1878, Julia F., daughter of James 
and Susan Trow. From this latter union 
there is one daughter : Mabel E. 



46 



RROWNELL. 



BROWN, Curtis, of Behidere, son of 
I.ylieout and ISetsey W. (Ward) Brown, was 
born in Co\entry, Oct. i6, 1825. 

His father was the first Republican repre- 
sentative in the Legislature of the state, to 
which both his son and grandson have been 
elected. 

Mr. Brown was educated in the common 
schools of Coventry and afterwards at Wa- 
terbury, N. Y., residing with his parents till 
the age of twenty-one. .4t that time he pur- 
chased a farm in Behidere, and in order to 
]3ay for it went to Massachusetts, where he 
worked industriously in a mill for several 
years until he had accomplished his object. 
For a time he engaged in the manufacture of 
butter tubs and lumbering, but has given this 
up and now resides upon his farm. 

Mr. Brown is said to be the champion bear 
hunter of the state, having shot or captured 
sixty-eight of these animals, once performing 
the feat attributed to General Putnam of 
Revolutionary times by entering a cave and 
crawling a distance of forty feet on his hands 
and knees, when with unerring aim by the 
light of a torch he brought down the object 
of his pursuit. 

He is one of the best representatives of 
the old class of sturdy woodsmen, who have 
given such lasting fame to the hunters of the 
Cireen Mountains, so few of whom remain to 
narrate the deeds of their early days. 

He married, March 13, 1852, Helen M., 
daughter of Edmund L. and I,ucy (Hodg- 
kins) Crozier of Calais, by whom he has had 
five children : Reuben J., Edmund L., Alex- 
ander (deceased), Francis B., and Nora. 

BROWN, William A., of Jacksonville, 
son of Amos A. and Mary (Temple) Brown, 
was born in Whitingham, April 15, 1856. 

He received his education at the common 
schools of his natixe town, and after its com- 
pletion devoted his time to teaching, dealing 
in real estate and lumbering, continuing until 
1884. He then opened a store for general 
merchandise in Jacksonville, and meeting 
with success, formed a partnership with H. 
A. Wheeler, purchasing the stock of goods 
owned by N. L. Stetson. After a year he 
bought out his partner and continued the 
business alone, selling out to C. H. Shepard- 
son, and formed a stock company which 
bought out the Cooking Mill, Stetson Bros., 
and the E. E. Putnam estate, for the purpose 
of manufacturing butter tubs and boxes. At 
present he is president and manager of the 
com])any. 

Brought up a Republican, on reaching his 
majority he concluded that Vermont was run 
by a ring for their personal interests and not 
in the interest of the people, he cast his first 
Yole for a Democrat. At that time he, with 
several other young men who had formerly 



been Republicans, began a fight against the 
ring. He was elected to the Legislature in 
1890 and re-elected in 1892, serving on the 
committee on insane and on the Grand List. 
He thoroughly advocated the Australian sys- 
tem of ballot, weekly payments, and the town 
system of schools. 




He was married Oct. 3, 1S89, to Ada M., 
daughter of Mervin M. and Almeda (Fowler) 
pjrown, of Whitingham. Two children have 
been the fruit of this union : Greely A., and 
William Russell. 

BROWNELL, ChaUNCEY WELLS, born 
in \Villiston, Sept. 13, 181 1, was the son of 
Samuel and Zeruah ( Forbes) Brownell. His 
paternal and maternal grandfathers were 
both Revolutionary soldiers ; the latter, John 
Forbes, distinguished for his ready wit and 
quick power of repartee, came to Williston 
in very early times. Samuel A.., the father 
of the subject of the present sketch, came 
with his parents from Connecticut to \\'illis- 
ton and purchased land in the northeast 
corner of the original town of Burlington, 
now Williston, embracing a large portion of 
the grant to Governor Benning Wentworth 
of New Hampshire in this township. 

In this new country which his hands 
helped to clear, C. W. Brownell grew to 
manhood, his early days being devoted to 
hard labor, and his evenings to study by the 
light of the huge logs burning in the old- 
fashioned fire-place, or the occasional aid of 
the glimmer of a pine knot. Here, with a 



board and piece of i-harcoal, he solved 
many a problem in mathematics that after- 
ward served him in good stead when he 
taught the district school. 

In 1840 he purchased a large farm in the 
southwestern corner of Williston, on which 
he continued to reside during life. It was 
his ambition to build up and improve and 
leave to those who should come after him 




CHAUNCEY WELLS BROWNEL 



more comforts and sources of income than 
he had been wont to enjoy. He set out 
large orchards and grew all varieties of fruit 
that the climate would permit. He sought 
to beautify the roadways, and planted large 
numbers of maple, elm, butternut, walnut 
and other domestic trees, which today ex- 
tend along the street for more than a mile, 
making a shady and attractive drive. He 
added to his real estate from time to time, 
seldom parting with any he had bought, and 
it was owing to this peculiar phase of char- 
acter that at his death, notwithstanding con- 
veyances to his children, he was the pos- 
sessor of more than one thousand acres. He 
gave much time and thought to the improve- 
ment of stock, and bred and owned some 
of the best horses, cattle and sheep in the 
state. 

Strongly attached to the principles of the 
Republican party, Mr. Brownell was a useful 
public-spirited citizen, and was called to 
nearly all the duties entrusted to town 
ofificials. An uncompromising believer in 
protection for American industries, he was 



(]uiikly out of patience with those who ad- 
vocated a free trade |)oiicy. He repre- 
sented Williston in the Legislature of 1860- 
'61, and was chosen a member of the state 
Senate from Chittenden county for the first 
biennial term in 1870. In his business rela- 
tions, upright, of genial temperament and of 
untiring energy as his last words strongly 
indicate, "My work is but half accom- 
plished" he has rarely been surpassed as a 
good citizen and useful friend. 

On March 4, 1841, he married Miss 
I. aura C, daughter of Isaac and Laura 
(Chapin) Higbee, from whom the following 
children were born : Samuel A., of Essex ; 
/eruah F., wife of William F. Whitney, of 
Williston ; Chauncey W., lawyer, of Burling- 
ton ; Laura H., wife of John A. Collier of 
Brooklyn. One, Eliza, died in 1S62. Mrs. 
Brownell dying in November, 1852, in May, 
1S54, he married for his second wife Miss 
Martha M., daughter of Hon. John Van 
Sicklen of South Burlington. Hi's children 
by the second marriage are Sarah V., Mary 
A., Mrs. E. H. Thorp of Middlebury, and 
Crove L., of Essex ; one, John Lester, died 
in 1885. Mrs. Brownell's death occurred 
Jan. 5, 1891. Mr. Brownell died Tune 4, 
1892. 

BROWNELL, Chauncey Wells, son 

of C. ^V. and Laura (Higbee) Brownell, was 
born in WiUiston, Oct. 7, 1847. 

Receiving a preparatory education in the 
common schools and at the academies at 
Williston and Alburgh Springs, he was grad- 
uated from the University of Vermont in the 
class of 1870, and afterwards pursued his 
studies at the Albany (N. V.) Law School. 
After graduation he established himself at 
Burlington and commenced to practice his 
profession. He was four years city grand 
juror and prosecuting attorney. Belonging 
to the Republican party, Mr. Brownelf has 
been called to many public offices. For two 
years he was state's attorney for Chittenden 
county and assistant secretary of the Senate 
from 1874 to 1880, when he was elected to 
the office of secretary, a position he held 
from that time until 1890 by successive re- 
elections. He was elected Secretary of State 
in 1890 and in 1892 was re-elected. He was 
secretary for a number of years and is now 
president of the Champlain \'alley .Associa- 
tion for the Promotion of .Agriculture and 
the Mechanic Arts, and is a director of the 
electric street railway company. 

He has the management and personal su- 
pervision of the large estate of his late father, 
C. W. Brownell. 

In 1873 Mr. Brownell received the degree 
of A. M. from his alma mater. He is a Con- 
gregationalist in his religious preferences. 



48 liRUCE. 

Mr. Brownell married, Oct. 12, 1875, Elva 
M., daughter of the late Baxter and Laura 
(Chase) Brighani of W'estford. Four chil- 
dren have been born to them : Carl Brig- 
ham, Elva Mabel, Chauncey .Sherman, and 
Henry Chase. 

BRUCE, George Asa, of South shafts- 

hury, son of Charles M. and Phebe (Smith) 
Bruce, was born in Danby, June 17, 1857. 

He received his early education at the 
district schools and at the hands of a private 
tutor, followed by a course at Burr and Bur- 
ton Seminary, and graduated from Williams 
College with the class of '79. 

Following his graduation Mr. Bruce for 
a time was a bookkeeper, and in 1881 he 
located at Sioux City, la., where he became 
a member of the firm of Cottrell, Bruce & 
Co., wholesale and retail dealers in farm 
implements, when he returned East and con- 
nected himself with the Waterbury Clock 
Co., of Waterbury, Conn., in the capacity of 
bookkeeper and cashier, remaining with 



of North Bennington, and Temple Chapter 
and Taft Conimandery No. 8, of Bennington. 
Mr. Bruce married at South ShaftslDury, 
May 27, 1880, May V., daughter of William 
P. and Sarah C. Mattison. Of this union is 
one son : Kenneth Mattison. -^j 

BUGBEE, Herman, of North Pomfret, 
was born Nov. 21, 1S34, in Pomfret, the son 
of Rufus and Elizabeth (Hunter) Bugbee. 
His father was a captain of militia, justice 



^ '9f**%, 




GEORGE ASA BRUCE. 

them until 1S87, since which time he has 
been engaged in the mercantile business as 
a member of the firm of W. P. Mattison & 
Son, of South Shaftsbury. 

Mr. Bruce has affiliated with the RepubU- 
can party, and by that body has been 
honored with many positions of trust, being 
at the present postmaster and chairman of 
the Republican town committee. 

He is a member of the Phi Betta Kappa, 
and also of the Blue Lodge, Tucker No. 48, 




of the peace, and a highly respected citizen 
of the town. Mr. Bugbee was educated in 
the common schools of Pomfret, and has 
spent the greater portion of his life upon the 
old homestead farm settled by his grand- 
father, Abial Bugbee, in 1788, except from 
March, 1862, till June, 1874, he was in Bos- 
ton with Sampson, Davenport & Co. In this 
occupation he traveled extensively in New 
York and New England. 

Mr. Bugbee possesses fine musical ability, 
and is a well known instructor in the art in 
the neighborhood of Pomfret ; this in addi- 
tion to his labor as a progressive farmer and 
dairyman. 

Republican in politics, he has filled many 
positions of trust. In i8go elected to the 
Legislature, he served on the Grand List 
committee. 

In 1867 he married Eunice E., daughter 
of Stephen S. and Deborah Stinson, of Tops- 
ham, Me. His wife died July 26, 1887, and 
their only child, Earle Rufus, in infancy. 



I!ULI.oc;k. 



49 



BUCKHAM, Mathew Henry, of Bur- 
lington, son of Rev. James Buckham, was 
born July 4, 1832, at Hinckley, Leicester- 
shire, England. 

He pursued his preparatory studies in the 
academy at Ellington, Conn., and also at a 
private school in Canada. Entering the 
University of Vermont in September, 1847, 
he graduated from it in August, 1851. 

He was principal of the Lenox Academy 
at Lenox, Mass., from 1851 to 1853. In 
Se|)tember of the latter year he became tutor 
of languages in the L'niversity of Vermont. 
In August, 1854, he sailed for Europe, spent 
there two years in travel and stud}', and 
returned in 1856 to enter upon a professor- 
ship in the L'niversity of Vermont. He 
occupied the chair of Greek in that institu- 
tion from 1856 to 187 1, and also performed 
the duties of professor of English literature 
from 1865 to 187 1. In August of the latter 
year he was elected to the presidency of the 
University, and was duly inaugurated as the 
successor of Dr. James B. Angell. President 
Buckham received the degree of D. D. from 
Dartmouth College in 1877, and also in the 
same year from Hamilton College, N. Y. 
With all the educational interests of \'ermont 
he was intimately identified as a member of 
the State Board of Education from 1867 to 
1874. His published writings have princi- 
pally taken the form of articles in reviews 
and educational pubUcations ; of addresses, 
sermons, etc. 

He married on the 3d of December, 1857, 
Elizabeth Wright of Shoreham. 

BULKLEY, George, of Moretown, 
son of Roger G. and Sally (Taylor) Bulkley, 
was born in Berlin, Sept. 11, 181 5. 

Roger G. Bulkley was a native of Colches- 
ter, Conn. He graduated from Vale College 
and afterward studied law at Montpelier. He 
was admitted to the Orleans county bar in 
1809 and practiced law in \Mlliamstown until 
the war of 181 2, when he enlisted and served 
throughout the struggle. He purchased a 
farm in 1818 but still continued in the 
practice of law. 

The early education of George Bulkley 
was limited to the common schools of Dux- 
bury. He commenced the manufacture of 
sashes and blinds, and afterward, in connec- 
tion with his brother-in-law, purchased the 
old cloth dressing mill at Aloretown and 
put in a plant for a saw mill and also for 
making doors, sashes, and blinds. He pur- 
chased the entire interest of the business in 
1861, but sold it in 1879. During much of 
this period he had owned and carried on a 
small farm, and since 1883 has resided with 
his daughter, Mrs. Haylett of Moretown. 

Mr. Bulkley cast his first electoral vote for 
Martin Van Buren and was an adherent of 



the Democratic ]iarty until 1864, when he 
was elected to the Legislature as a war Dem- 
ocrat, since which time he has been a 
Re])ublican. He has passed through the 
usual routine of town and (■onnt\- offices. 




'.P^' 



GEORGE BULKLEY. 

In 1848 he was united to Sarah, daughter 
of Hubbard and Lucy (Redway) Guernsey 
of Montpelier, and of this marriage three 
children ha\e been born : Clara (wife of Dr. 
James Haylett, died in 1877), George W., 
and Lilla (second wife of Dr. James Haylett). 

An extensive reader, he still manifests a 
lively interest in local and public affairs, 
enjoying the esteem and confidence of the 
community. 

BULLOCK, Elmer J., of Readsboro, 
son of James and Cynthia (Baker) Bullock, 
was born in Whitingham, July 21, 1S49. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of Readsboro. After leaving school he 
served as clerk in several stores in \'ermont 
and Massachusetts. In 1870 he entered 
into partnership with his father in a general 
store in Readsboro. In 18S2 he sold out 
and engaged in the real estate and insurance 
business in North Adams, Mass. In 1885 
he returned to Readsboro, and in 1886 
formed a partnership with his mother, under 
the name of E. J. Bullock & Co. It was 
through the influence of Mr. Bullock that the 
telephone line from North Adams to Jack- 
sonville was built, and he was president of 
the company until the line was sold to the 
New England Svstem. He had also much 



5° 



BUNKER. 



to do with the organization of the Readsboro 
Chair Manufacturing Co., and has been 
its secretary and treasurer ever since. Mr. 
liullock worked ^unceasingly until Reads- 
boro had a good water system and ample 
protection against fire. In 1891 the firm 
built the Bullock block at a cost of Si 0,000, 
in whi( h they at present do business. 




fession. He was a member of the I'si Upsi- 
lon and Phi Beta Kappa societies. In 1867 
he received from his alma mater the degree 
of A. M. In 1869 he was elected town 
superintendent of Peacham, which office he 
held sixteen years, and was always a strong 
advocate of the town system of schools. In 
1883 he was elected president of the ^'er- 
mont State Teachers' Association. 

.\n adherent of the Republican party, he 
has held the minor town offices, and in 1886 
was chosen state senator from Caledonia 
county, and served as chairman of the com- 
mittee on education, and was a member of 
that on federal relations. Re-elected in 
1888, he again acted as chairman of the 
educational committee, also served on the 
special committee on temperance legislation. 
The ne.\t year he was made a member of the 
Caledonia County Board of Education. 

Mr. Bunker was married May 20, 1869, to 
Nellie, only daughter of Dr. Jeremiah and 
.\deline( Carroll) Blake. 

He is a member of the Congregational 
church, and all his life has labored in the 
Sabbath school. He exerted great influence 



r~> 



ELMER J. BULLOCK 



<R; tsfe. 



I 



Mr. Bullock has never cared to enter into 
political life, though frequently urged to do 
.so. 



BUNKER, Charles Albert, of 

Peacham, son of Alfred and Mary Emerson 
(Hodgdon) Bunker, was born at Barnstead, 
N. H.^ July 21, 1840. 

He attended the public schools of Barn- 
stead, and then was a pupil of the Pittsfield 
Academy for three years, afterwards pursuing 
his studies at Phillips and Pembroke Acade- 
mies. He entered Dartmouth College in 
the fall of 1S60, teaching during the winters 
throughout his college course in the home 
district in Barnstead, and Pennacook, N. H., 
Waitsfield, Vt., and Barnstable, Mass. Soon 
after his graduation in 1864, he was made 
the principal of Mclndoes Falls .Academy, 
Barnet, and two years after was called to 
Peacham as principal of Caledonia county 
grammar school, an institution which was 
chartered in 1795, opened in 1797, and is 
now styled the Peacham Academy. 

While at Dartmouth Mr. Bunker ranked 
high as a student, as he has since in his pro- 




CHARLES ALBERT BU 



in the Senate, availed himself of every op- 
portunity to benefit the cause of education, 
and was specially interested in passing the 
law requiring scientific temperance instruc- 
tion in the public schools. He has written 
much which has been printed in different 
periodicals and lectured upon various educa- 
tional, social and political topics. 



BURIjHTT, Jesse, of Rutland, son of 
Jacob and Rebecca (Talbot) lUirdett, was 
born in ISrookline, Jan. 19, 1826. 

\\hen quite young his family removed to 
Newfane, where having received his educa- 
tion in the public schools, he was appren- 
ticed to learn the trade of a blacksmith, and 
followed this employment for eleven years. 
After a short interval, during which he 
worked at his vocation in Bratdeboro, he 
removed to Arlington, where he has since 
resided and where he was appointed station 
agent. In 1852 he became conductor on 
the passenger train running from Rutland to 
Troy on the Western Vt. R. R., now the 
Bennington & Rutland. In i860 he was 
employed in a similar position on the Hud- 
son River road, between Albany and New 
York, and afterwards acted as trainmaster in 
the employ of the same corporation. In 
187 1 he was appointed superintendent ol 
the Rutland division of the Central \'t. R. 
R., which position he now holds, making his 
headquarters at Rutland. 

Mr. Burdett is a Democrat in his political 
creed, and though he has never occupied 
himself in office-seeking, he has held manv 
minor offices in Arlington and represented 
that town in the Legislature in 1857, but of 
late years he has been obliged by his profes- 
sional duties to be so frequently away from 
his home, that he has not been eligible for 
the discharge of the responsibilities of any 
position of public trust. 

He is a member of St. James' Episcopal 
Church in Arlington, of which he has been a 
vestryman for more than twenty years. 

Mr. Burdett married, Oct. 21, 1851, 
Cornelia C, daughter of John C. and 
Amanda (Hill) Lathrop, by whom he has 
one son : John L. 

BURNHLL, MlLO S., of Wolcott, son 
of Chester A. and Amanda A. (Skeels) Bur- 
nell, was born in Swanton, Aug. 18, 1846. 

From the age of thirteen he supported 
himself, working whenever he found an 
opportunity to gain his livelihood, and in 
1868 he began to read law in the office of 
the Hon. Richard F. Parker of Wolcott. In 
1 87 1, at the advent of the P. & O. R. R., he 
was appointed depot master at Wolcott, and 
has continued in this employment ever since, 
though to some extent occupying himself 
with the bark and lumber trade. 

He has served both as deputy sheriff and, 
sheriff of his county and has been elected to 
both branches of the Legislature, where he 
has been chairman and member of several 
important committees, as well as filling the 
principal town offices. 

As a Mason, Mr. Burnell has been Wor- 
shipful Master of Mineral Lodge, No. 93 F. 



BUTI.F.R. 51 

I.V A. y\., district deputy of 13th district, and 
member of Tucker Chapter of Morrisville. 

He married, July 4, 1871, Abbie A., 
daughter of Hon. Richard F. and Sophronia 
(Andrews) Parker. One child was born to 
them : Harry Parker. 

BUTLER, Fred Mason, of Rutland, 
son of Aaron and F-meline (Muzzey) Butler, 
was born in Jamaica, May 28, 1854. His 
great-grandfather, Aaron Butler, settled in 
Jamaica about the time of the close of the 
Revolutionary war. His grandfather, Aaron, 
with the assistance of his brothers (their 
father having died while he was an infant), 
made a clearing in the forest and erected a 




RED MASON BUTLEN 



frame house in place of the log cabin. 
.■\aron Mason Butler, the father of the sub- 
ject of the present sketch, was a prosperous 
farmer, and held at different times nearly all 
of the most important town offices. 

Fred Mason Butler was educated in the 
public schools of Jamaica and at Leland and 
Gray Seminary. Before leaving school he 
had resolved upon a professional career, and 
began the study of law with Jonathan G 
Kddy, Esq., of Jamaica, and afterward spent 
a year and a half in the office of Hon. E. L. 
Waterman and Hon. H. H. Wheeler. 

He was admitted to the Windham county 
bar at the March term of court, 1877, and 
iluring the same summer entered into a co- 
]iartnership with Hon. Joel C. Baker of Rut- 
land, which was discontinued at the end of a 



52 BUITERFIELD. 

year. He then practiced alone for a time, 
but early in 1879 he formed a copartner- 
ship with Hon. 1,. ^^■. Redington, which 
arrangement continued si.\ years. In 1884 
he formed a partnership with Hon. Thomas 
\\. Moloney, which copartnership continues 
at the present time. 

Mr. Buder was attorney for the defence in 
State vs. O'Neil ; was counsel for respondent 
in the notes cases entitled in re Bridget 
Kennedy, James Kennedy and Patrick 
Ready, 'reported in Vol. 55, p. i, of the 
Vermont Reports ; was the leading attorney 
in the cases endtied Vaughan vs. Congdon 
and Riley \s. Mclnlear, Est. ; coimsel for 
munici])a'lity in Bates vs. Village of Rutland, 
Bates vs. Horner et al, also fully reported, 
and in many other important cases which an 
examination of the Vermont Report will dis- 
close. 

He is a Republican, has been town grand 
juror and city attorney. He held the posi- 
tion of city attorney until he was appointed 
judge of the municipal court ; and was suc- 
cessively re-a])pointed to that office by Gov- 
ernors i)illingham. Page and Fuller. Upon 
the organization of the city go\ernment, he 
was appointed judge of city court, which 
office he now holds. 

He has been a director of the New 
England Fire Insurance Co. since its 
organization, and obtained the charter of 
the corporation from the Legislature. He 
became a member of the Rutland Bar Asso- 
ciation when he established himself in Rut- 
land ; and is also a member of the \'ermont 
Bar Association, having served on sexeral of 
its important committees. 

On Nov. 25, 1875, he married IJUian, 
daughter of Josiah and Octavia (Knight) 
Holton of r)ummerston, and has three chil- 
dren : .Anza, Helen, and Florence. 

BUTTERFIELD, ALFRED HARVEY, of 
North Troy, son of Nathan S. and Mary 
(Hatch) Butterfield, was born in Lowell, 
Sept. 5, 1857. 

Mr. Butterfield is of the eighth in lineal 
descent from Benjamin Butterfield of Eng- 
land, who was the first one of the name to 
settle in .\merica. His grandfather, Joseph 
Butterfield, was the ninth settler who estab- 
lished his household in the town of Lowell, 
Vt., removing thence from Dunstable, Mass., 
in iSio. He comes of Revolutionary ances- 
try on both sides ; his great-grandfather, 
John Hatch, was a commissioned officer in 
the war of 18 12. 

Mr. Butterfield received a common school 
education, which he afterwards supple- 
mented at the village academy at Water- 
bury. He was a resident of Burlington for 
several years till 1878, when he took up his 
abode in North Troy, where he made him- 



BU'lTERFIELD. 

self master of the printer's trade. Three 
years sufficed to give him a practical expe- 
rience of that vocation, and he purchased 
from his uncle the North Troy Palladium in 
conjunction with C. R. Jamason. This con- 
nection lasted for six months, when Mr. But- 
terfield bought out the interest of his partner 
and since that time has been sole proprietor 
of the paper. 

He espoused, Tune 22, 1880, Gertrude E., 
daughter of Mitchell and Henrietta (Porter) 
Hunt. Their union has been blessed with 
four children : Alfred Mitchell, Hugh Har- 
vey, Ross Hunt, and Mary Ruth. 




ALFRED HARVEY BUTTERFIELD. 

Mr. Butterfield is affiliated with the Pro- 
testant Episcopal church, and for three years 
he has been secretary and treasurer of the 
local society, the Church of St. Augustine. 

He is a staunch supporter of the princi- 
ples of the Republican party, has served as 
town clerk and as chairman of the Republi- 
can town committee, chairman of that on 
text books, and several minor positions. 
Since 1890 he has been clerk of the North 
Troy Corporation, and the previous year 
was appointed a deputy collector of customs 
at Newport, where he remained till 1890, 
when he returned to North Troy as deputy 
in charge. This position he voluntarily re- 
linquished, Nov. I, 1S93, and resumed the 
active management of the Palladium. 

BUTTERFIELD, EZRA TURNER, late 
of Jacksonville, son of Deacon Zenas and 
Sally (Turner) Butterfield, was born in Dum- 



BUTl'ERKIELD. 



DiriTK.RFIEI.I). 



53 



merston, April 14, 1815, and died ^[ay i, 
1887. His education was obtained at the 
little red schoolhouse on the hill, "the glory 
of Puritan New England," and at the age of 
twenty he removed to Wilmington, where he 
became one of the most progressive farmers. 
For a short time he was engaged in trade, 
but agriculture was the chief occu])ation of 
his life. For forty years justice of the ]>eace, 
he was also assistant judge of the county 
court several years. In 1886 he recei\ed an 




EZRA TURNER BUTTERFIELD. 

appointment from the Department of Agri- 
culture at Washington, which failing health 
compelled him to decline ; was representa- 
tive from Wilmington in the Legislature in 
iS57- 

In the old "June Training" days Judge 
Butterfield was captain of the first company 
27th Regt. Vt. Militia. In his early youth he 
became a member of the Free Will IJajJtist 
church in Dummerston and was church clerk 
at the age of nineteen, and later in Whit- 
ingham, and was the last clerk of the \\'hit- 
ingham society, but after this denomination 
had quitted their field of labor in the \icin- 
ity he attended the M. E. Church, lilierally 
contributing to its support and laboring for 
many years in the Bible class. He was a 
man of pleasant address and much given to 
anecdote. 

Judge Butterfield was wedded, Jan. i, 
1835, to Mary, daughter of Rev. Abner and 
Chloe (Bucklin) Leonard and by her had: 
Mary Angelia, Sarah Amelia, Oscar K., A. 
Augustine, and Lucius Alonzo. 



BUTTERFIELD, A. AUGUSTINE, of 
Jacksonville, son of Kzra Turner and Mary 
( Leonard) Butterfield, was born in Wilming- 
ton, June 25, 1844. 

Educated in the common and high school 
of \\'ilmington and by private tutors, he read 
law with the late Charles N. Davenport and 
Hon. Abisha Stoddard, and was admitted to 
the bar .April 30, 1867. In 1868 he removed 
to the village of Jacksonville, where he has 
since resided and practiced law, excepting 
one year in Massachusetts. Mr. Butterfield 
has always taken a dee]) interest in educa- 
tional matters and has held all the district, 
town and county ofiices connected with this 
department. He has also devoted much 
attention to insurance and for some years 
has been a director in the Union Mutual Fire 
Insurance Co. of Montpelier, has been a 
master in chancery twenty-two years, and 
twenty years justice of the peace. 

As a Republican, he represented the town 
in i88o-'82 and was the originator of the bill 
taxing telephone and telegraph companies, 
which was the father of the ])resent corpora- 
tion tax law of Vermont. He was also state's 
attorney i882-'84 and senator iSSS-'go. 




A. AUGUSTINE BUTTERFIELD 

Made a Mason at the age of twenty-two, 
he has been several times Master of his lodge, 
was twice district deputv (i. M., and is now 
chairman of an important committee in the 
( Irand Lodge of \'ermont. He is deeply 
interested in genealogy and is preparing a 
historv of the Butterfield familv. 



54 



BUITERFIELD. 



BUTTERFIELD. 



He is a member of the Bajnist church, 
and one of the board of managers of the 
Vermont Baptist State Convention. 

October 2, 1869, he married ]\Iarcia 
Sojjhia, daughter of Rufus and Elizabeth 
(Winn) Kdvvards Brown, by whom he has 
had two sons and six daughters, two of whom 
are deceased. 

BUTTERFIELD, FREDERICK DAVID, 
of Derby Line, son of David and Elmira 
Ward (Randall) Butterfield, was born in 
Rockingham, May 14, 1838. 

He was educated at the common schools 
and the Saxlnti's l\i\er Arndemv. Choosing 




FREDERICK DAVID BUTTERFIELD. 

a practical business edtication rather than a 
college course, he, at the early age of sixteen 
entered the hardware house of A. & [. H. 
AN'entworth of Bellows Falls. In 1859 he re- 
moved to Derby Line and became con- 
nected with the house of Foster & Cobb. 

At the breaking out of the rebellion he 
gave up his business prospects and entered 
the LTnion army, enlisting as a private in 
Co. B, 8th \'t. X'ols., and was successivelv 
promoted to 2d lieutenant, ist lieutenant 
and captain. 'Lhe original term of service 
for the regiment expired June r, 1864 ; Col. 
Butterfield however remained in service some 
time thereafter, but after his campaigns in 
Louisiana and Texas, he became so utterly 
broken in health that an immediate return to 
the North was the only means of saving his 
life. He accordingly resigned his commis- 
sion August 6, 1864. Flarly in 1862 he was 



detached from his regiment and appointed to- 
a position in the signal corps, where he re- 
mained during the balance of his military 
service. In the capacity of a signal officer 
he was attached to the personal staff of Gen- 
eral Godfrey Weitzel, General Butler, Gen- 
era! Franklin and General Dana. At the 
battle of Labadieville, La., while carrying an 
order under a terrific fire he had his horse 
shot from under him by a shell from the 
enemy, narrowly escaping instant death. 
For his gallantry on this occasion he was 
complimented in general orders. His ser- 
vices were highly appreciated in the signal 
corps. 

In 1888 he was appointed an aid-de-camp 
with the rank of colonel on the staff of Gov. 
William P. Dillingham. On his return from 
the army he engaged in business at Derby 
Line until 1866, when he was appointed 
deputy collector of customs for that port, 
which office he retained until 1872, when he 
resigned to engage in the manufacture of 
the Reece sewing machine. On account of 
the panic of 1 873-' 75 this business failed of 
success, and in 1879 he commenced the 
manufacture of taps and dies. Beginning 
with a small force of men, by careful and 
painstaking efforts, he gradually built up a 
large and important industry. The works- 
are located at Derby Line, with a second 
complete plant at Rock Island, P. Q. The 
firm is known as Butterfield &: Co., and they 
man\ifacture taps and dies and tools for en- 
gineers' and steam fitters' use. In 1888 his 
younger brother. Gen. F. (1. Butterfield, 
became associated with him in business. 

Colonel Butterfield is a member of (lolden 
Rule Lodge, F. & A. M., of Stanstead, 
Canada, a member of Golden Rule R. A. C. 
at Sherbrooke, a member of Sussex Precep- 
tory Knights Templar of Stanstead, of which 
he has been Eminent Commander. Is a 
member of Baxter Post, G. A. R., at New- 
port, a charter member of the Vermont 
Commandery of the Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion, V. S. ; a member of the Ver- 
mont Society of the Sons of the American 
Revolution and numerous other military and 
social organizations. 

At Sta'nstead, P. Q., Oct. S, 1868, he 
married Ellen Jeannette Morrill, daughter of 
Ozro and Charlotte Juliette (\Vay) Morrill, 
who died July 5, 1874, leaving two daugh- 
ters : Charlotte, and Ellen. 

BUTTERFIELD, FRANKLIN GEORGE, 
of Derby Line, son of Da\id and Elmira 
\\'ard (Randall) Butterfield, was born in 
Rockingham, May 11, 1842. 

He attended the common schools and 
Saxtons River Academy, and entered Mid- 
dlebury College in 1859. Entering the army 
in the fall of his junior year he did not grad- 



S6 



BUITERFIF.LD. 



uate with his class. After the war of the 
rebelhon, however, Middlebury College con- 
ferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. 
October 4, 1861, he enlisted at Middlebury 
as a private in Co. A, 6th Vt. Vols. He was 
promoted successively to 2d lieutenant, ist 
lieutenant, captain, and, on October 21, 
1864, to lieutenant-colonel, commanding the 
regiment, at the age of twenty-two years. 
Having been seriously wounded, he was 
obliged to relinquish his command and 
tendered his resignation. He served with 
his regiment, which was a part of the " Old 
Vermont Brigade," in the 6th Army Corps 
through its campaigns in Virginia with the 
army of the Potomac, participating in all its 
battles up to 1865. He was first in batde 
at Lees Mills, April 16, 1862, where he dis- 
tinguished himself by carrying off the field 
Capt. E. F. Reynolds of Rudand, who had 
been mortally wounded. Later in the 
Peninsular campaign, he was mentioned in 
general orders for conspicuous gallantry at 
the battle of (iolding's Farm and also two 
days later at White Oak Swamp, both engage- 
ments being a part of the seven days' fight. 
During the year 1863, including the Chan- 
cellorsville, Gettysburg and Mine Run cam- 
paigns, he served as an aid-de-camp on the 
staff of Maj.-Gen. Lewis A. Grant, command- 
ing the Vermont Brigade. In May of that 
year at Banks Ford he again attracted notice 
by his bearing under fire. 'I'he following 
year, at the battle of the Wilderness, though 
his command was literally cut to pieces, he 
l)rought off his surviving troops in good 
order, and was promptly engaged with the 
enemy in the advance at daylight in the fol- 
lowing morning. Throughout his service 
his conduct was such as to win the com- 
mendation of his superiors, and he was 
awarded a medal of honor from Congress 
"for gallantry at Salem Heights." The gen- 
eral commanding the army, in making the 
recommendation, said : " The record of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Butterfield is an exceed- 
ingly brilliant one, his conduct on several 
separate occasions well merited a medal of 
honor, but the affair of May 4, 1863, is prob- 
ably the one most worthy of such special 
recognition, since Colonel Butterfield not 
only displayed there his accustomed bravery, 
but also soldierly qualities of a high order." 

After the close of the war, the Legislature 
of Vermont in joint assembly unanimously 
elected him judge advocate general of the 
state, with the rank of brigaclier-general, as 
a recognition of his faithful service with his 
command and his gallant conduct in the 
field. 

From 1865 to 1877 he was engaged in 
mercantile pursuits at Saxtons River. In 
August, 1877, he commanded a brigade of 
veterans at the celebration of the looth 



BUTTERFIF.LD. 

anniversary of the batde of Bennington. In 
that year he returned to his original inten- 
tion, broken up by his army service, the 
study of law. In 1880 he was appointed by 
President Hayes supervisor of census, and 
had charge of the state of ^'ermont in the 
taking of the tenth census. On completion 
of this work he was selected by the Presi- 
dent, the Secretary of the Interior, and Gen. 
Francis A. Walker, superintendent of the 
tenth census, to take charge of the investiga- 
tion of the alleged census frauds in the state 
of South Carolina. Leaving Vermont early 
in November he remained in South Caro- 
lina till Feb. I, 1 88 1, when he returned to 
Washington and made his report. A pre\i- 
ous investigation had been made which 
had proved unsatisfactory. General Butter- 
field's report settled this vexed question to 
the entire satisfaction of all parties. He was 
urged by tieneral \\'alker to remain in \\'ash- 
ington to assist in completing the work of 
the tenth census, and consented. In 1882 
he was transferred to the Bureau of Pensions, 
where he served through all the various 
grades and became a principal examiner in 
July, 18S4. In 1890 he was made chief of 
the special examination division and during 
that year had three hundred and fifty special 
agents in the field and an office force of 
upwards of one hundred. Finding the work 
much in arrears, he brought it up to date 
and in a period of three years had reduced 
the expenditure of that division in the hand- 
some sum of $426,000. In 1888 he formed 
business connections in Vermont and in July, 
1 89 2, after great reluctance on the part of 
the Secretary of the Interior and Commis- 
sioner of Pensions, his resignation was ac- 
cepted, and he returned to Vermont to devote 
his entire time to private business. He is 
associated with his brother. Col. F. D. But- 
terfield, under the firm name of Butterfield 
& Co., in the manufacture of taps and dies 
and other thread cutting tools at Derby Line. 
General Butterfield is a charter member of 
Lodge of Temple, No. 94, F. & A. M., of Bel- 
lows Falls ; a charter member of Abenaqui R. 
A. Chapter No. 19 of same place, of which 
he has been High Priest ; member of Hugh 
de Payn's Commandery Knights Templar of 
Keene, N. }l. ; member of E. H. Stoughton 
Post G. .'\. R. of Bellows Falls ; has been a 
member of the Department and National 
staff ; is a charter member of the Vermont 
Commandery of the Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion of the United States, having 
previously been one of the officers of the 
District of Columbia Commandery of U'ash- 
ington, D. C. ; member of the District of 
Columbia Society of the Sons of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, having served as vice- 
president of the same, and for several years 
one of the board of managers and was a 



57 



member of the National Congress of the 
order : was vice-president of the Society of 
the Army of the Potomac in 1893, and is 
also connected with various other social and 
military societies. 

On June i, 1S66, he married Maria Smith 



Frost, only daughter of Benjamin and Phebe 
Ann (Smith) Frost. They have two chil- 
dren: P,enjamin Frost (U. S. Consular 
Agent at Stanstead, P. Q., born ."Xpril 25, 
1867), and Esther I'^lmira (born August 4, 
1871). 



CAMP, ERASTUS C, of Orange, was 
born in Orange, March 8, 1823. He was 
the son of Ceorge and Lydia (Paine) Camjj. 
Erastus was the oldest of a family of four 
sons and one daughter. 




ERASTUS C. CAMP. 



Educated in the common schools of Or- 
ange, and Newbury Academy, he remained 
with his father until he was twenty-three 
years old, when he married and mo\ed to 
one of the finest upland farms in Orange 
county, where he, still active and energetic, 
now resides, and carries his years lightly. 

.A stalwart Republican, he has held most 
of the town otfices during the past twenty 
years. He represented Orange in i864-'65 
and again in 1888, and was senator from 
Orange county in 1890. A plain, practical 
man of sterling common sense, he was 
elected by the town of Orange during the 
war as a special agent for the enlistment of 
recruits. 

He married, April 14, 1846, Caroline E., 
daughter of David and Eleanor ( Fuller) 



Piatt. Three children were born to them : 
Homer D., Clayton F., and Oscar F. 
(deceased). 

CAMP, LVMAN L., of Elmore, son of 
Abel and Charlotte ('I'ajjlin) Camp, was born 
in Elmore, June 10, 1838. Of English 
descent, his grandfather served under Israel 
Putnam. His father, Abel Camp, a life-long 
citizen of Elmore, three times represented 
his native town in the Legislature. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Elmore and at Barre Academy and then 
worked for a time on farms in Wolcott and 
Barre. After his return from the war he 
bought a farm near that of his father, and 
in 1S89 came into possession of the old 
homestead. 

A Republican in politics, he has repeat- 
edly held many important town ofTfices, and 
represented Elmore in the Legislature. He 
was also a member of the advisory council 
on farm culture and cereal industry at the 
World's Exposition at Chicago. 

In June, 1861, Mr. Camp enlisted as a 
private in Co. E, 3d Regt. Vt. Vols. He 
was with his company in the skirmish at 
Warwick Creek near the old historic field at 
\'orktown. He afterwards jjarticipated in 
the battles at \\'illiamsburg, the seven days' 
fight, battle of Savage Station, second and 
third battles of Fredericksburg Heights, 
Salem Church, Funkestown, Brandy Station, 
Antietam, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North 
and South Anna, Cold Harbor, and Peters- 
burg. He was twice hit, but not wounded, 
luckily escaping unharmed in all these con- 
tests. He was discharged July 27, 1864. Mr. 
Camp is a member of the J. M. Warren 
Post, No. 4, G. A. R. of Morrisville. 

He married, March 19, 1868, Hattie E., 
daughter of Thaddeus and Miranda White 
of Wolcott. Four children were born to 
them: Elmer, Mary (Gertrude (Mrs. Henry 
Puffer of Richford), Abel Newton, and Lucy 
( deceased ) . 

CAMPBELL, ALFRED H., of Johnson, 
son of Smith and Sophia (Hills) Cami)bell, 
was born in Litchfield, N. H., Sept. 2<S, 
1850. 

Bred on a farm, Mr. Campbell received 
his earlv education in the Nashua high 



58 



CAMPBELL. 



school, New London Academy, State Nor- 
mal School at Bridgevvater, Mass., and Ait. 
\'ernon Academy. He graduated from 
Dartmouth College with the degree of A. B. 
in 1877, recei\ing the degree of A. M. in 
1880, and, having completed the post 
graduate course, that of Ph. D., from the 
University of Vermont in 1888. 

After teaching in the public schools and 
serving as principal of Kingston, N. H., 
Academy three years, and associate princi- 
pal of Gushing Academy, Ashburnham, 
Mass., five years, he was elected and has 
been for ten years principal of the State 
Normal School at Johnson. An extensi\e 
traveler in this country, he has twice visited 




Europe and devoted much time to the study 
of the school systems of different nations. 
He has been \ery successful in his adminis- 
tration of the State Normal School at Johnson. 
A member of the Republican party, he 
has never devoted much time to politics, 
confining his energies to the educational 
field. An officer of the American Institute 
of Instruction, and a member of the Na- 
tional Educational Association, he is now 
(1893) president of the New England Nor- 
mal Council, and also president of the Ver- 
mont State Teachers' Association. He was 
appointed by Go\ernor Page county exam- 
iner of Lamoille county in 1 891, and was for 
years secretary, and now holds the office of 
president of the Lamoille County Sunday 
School Association and chairman of its 
executive committee. 



Dr. Campbell is a member of Waterman 
Lodge, No. 83, F. & A. M., and serves the 
lodge as chaplain. He is a member of the 
Congregational church in Johnson and one 
of its deacons. He has been licensed as a 
minister, and occasionally supplies the pulpit 
in the vicinity of his home. 

He married, Nov. 29, 1877, Hattie E., 
daughter of N. W. Winchester, who died 
Feb. II, 1888. Of this marriage were born 
four children ; Arthur W., Hattie Louise, 
Carrol .Alfred, and Alice Gary. In a second 
union. Dr. Campbell was married to Carrie 
L. Kingsley of Rutland, March 27, 1890. 
(She died. May 16, 1891.) On July 20, 
1S93, he married Marian E., daughter of A. 
P. Blake of Boston. 

CAMPBELL, Wallace H., of Roches- 
ter, son of George M. and Philette ( Pear- 
sons) Campbell, was born July 18, 1S54, in 
Brockton, Mass. 

George M. Campbell was a nati\e of \er- 
mont, to which state he returned before his 
son was a year old. The latter was educated 
at the common schools of Rochester and at 
Springfield Academy. Bereft of paternal 
guidance by the death of his father, he car- 
ried on the old homestead at the age of 
eighteen. He then emigrated to California 
and remained there three years as foreman in 
an establishment for reducing gold ore. In 
1879 he returned to Rochester, where he 
engaged in the hardware business for ten 
years with great success. 

Mr. Campbell married, Sept. 10, 1882, Eva, 
daughter of Orlando and Helen (Sterling) 
Kenedy of Clranville. The fruits of this 
marriage are : Leon, Adolph (died in in- 
fancy), Helen Catherine, and Jessie. 

A member of the Republican party, Mr. 
Campbell has been six years member of the 
town committee and justice of the peace, 
and was the town representative in i892-'93, 
a school director, and sugar inspector of 
Rochester. He is a member of the Masonic 
order, belonging to Rural Lodge of Roches- 
ter, to Whitney Chapter R. A. M., and the 
Montpelier Commandery of K. T. 

CANFIELD, Thomas Hawley, son of 

Samuel and Mary A. (Hawley) Canfield, was 
born in Arlington, March 29, 1822. He de- 
scended on the father's side from Thomas 
Canfield, descendant of James de Philo, a 
French Huguenot, who came from Yorkshire, 
Eng., to Milford, Conn., in 1646, while his 
maternal ancestor was Joseph Hawley, who 
was born in Derbyshire, Eng., in the earliest 
years of the seventeenth century and emi- 
grated to Stratford, Conn., where he died in 
i6go. Nathan Canfield, the great-grandson 
of Thomas Canfield, removed to .\rlington 
in 1768, and was the grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch. 



6o 



During the early trouble arising from the 
disputes concerning the New Hampshire 
grants, the Canfields, Hawleys, Hards, 
Aliens and Bakers were the most prominent 
leaders in the struggle. 

Thomas Havvley Canfield was brought up 
on a farm and his early education was re- 
ceived in the common schools of the place 
of his nativity. Evincing a strong desire for 
a more extended course of study than these 
institutions could afford he was placed by 
his father at Burr Seminary in Manchester, 
where he remained until he was fitted for 
college at the age of fourteen. Not desiring 
to commence his undergraduate course at 
this early age, he returned home and for two 
years worked on the farm, then was trans- 
ferred to the Troy Episcopal Institute, with 
reference to a scientific course of study, but 
while there was persuaded by Bishop Alonzo 
Potter, then acting president of Union Col- 
lege, Schenectady, to abandon his idea of 
becoming an engineer, and he entered the 
junior class in the last named institution in 
the fall of 1839. 

Before the completion of his collegiate 
course, however, he was summoned to Xer- 
mont by the sudden death of his father, and 
as he considered the duty he owed to his 
mother and only sister ])aramount to his own 
wishes, he again took up the burden of farm 
life, l)ut finding agricultural labor too severe 
for his slender constitution, he removed in 
1844 to Williston, where he became a mer- 
chant. 

Mr. Canfield was married in 1S44 to Eliz- 
abeth A., only daughter of Eli Chittenden, a 
grandson of the first Governor of \"ermont. 
She died in 1848, and he was subsequently 
united to Caroline A., daughter of the Right 
Reverend John Henry Hopkins, D. D.,"L- 
L. D., first Bishop of \'ermont, by whom he 
had two sons and three daughters : Emilv, 
John Henry Hopkins, Marian, Flora, and 
Thomas H., Jr. 

In 1S47 Mr- Canfield remo\ed to Burling- 
ton, where he still resides, and here becanie 
a member of the firm of Bradley & Canfield, 
who carried on large wholesale stores and 
warehouses on the wharf at Burlington : also 
ran lines of boats to New York and Mont- 
real. About this time, Professor Morse hav- 
ing brought his telegraph into operation, 
Mr. Canfield visited Vergennes, Orwell, Mid- 
dlebury, Rutland, and many other towns 
along the line, securing stock and organizing 
the company connecting these places with 
Troy, N. Y., and Montreal in February, 
1848. The following year the firm of 
Bradley & Canfield, with two or three 
other parties, were concerned in building 
a railroad from Bellows Falls to Burling- 
ton by way of Rutland, which was com- 
pleted Dec. 19 of that year. He also, 



in conjunction with others, was engaged 
in con.structing the Rutland & Washington, 
the Ogdensburg, as well as many other rail- 
ways in New York and Pennsylvania. From 
the great knowledge he had already acquired 
of trans])ortation, the services of Mr. Can- 
field were eagerly sought as superintendent 
and afterwards president of the Rutland & 
Washington R. R., of which he subsequently 
took a lease, operating it on his own account. 
This, it is believed, was the first railroad in 
the United States leased to an individual. 
He took a prominent part in the struggle of 
connecting Boston and Burlington by rail- 
wav, when two routes were proposed, one 
\ia Montpelier and Concord, and the other 
by Rutland and Fitchburg, he being strongly 
in favor of the latter, the result of which 
controversey was that both lines were con- 
structed. In the final disposition of affairs, 
the Rutland & Burlington R. R. was left at 
lUirlington without any through direct con- 
nection by rail with Ogdensburg or Montreal, 
and to meet this defect, as the Rutland road 
had not the right by its charter to build and 
operate boats, Bradley & Canfield, within 
ninety days, constructed a steamer and four 
barges with a capacity of three thousand 
barrels of flour each and towed them be- 
tween Burlington and Rouse's Point, thus 
enabling the Rutland line to compete suc- 
cessfully with the Vermont Central. His 
next enterprise was the establishment of a 
line of propellers from the upper lakes to 
Ogdensburg to connect with the railroad to 
Boston and New England, which opened up 
for the first time a route for the products of 
the West by the lakes and St. Lawrence 
ri\er which had heretofore found their out- 
let only by the Erie Canal and roads from 
Albany. While thus engaged he formed the 
acquaintance of Mr. Edwin F. Johnson, 
one of the most experienced engineers in 
America, and from information received 
from him relative to the belt of country 
between the great lakes and the Pacific 
ocean, he became thoroughly impressed with 
the importance of a railroad to the Pacific 
I'oast by the Northern route, and he deter- 
mined to devote his life to the accomplish- 
ment of that object. As the first active step 
toward the enterprise, in 1852, before even 
there was any railroad into Chicago from 
the East, he contracted with others to build 
what is now known as the Chicago & 
Northwestern R. R., from Chicago to St. 
Paul, Minn., and Fond du Lac, ^^'is. Mr. 
Edwin F. Johnson was made chief engineer 
of this railroad. The Hon. Robert J. 
^^'alker, Secretary of the Treasury of the 
V. S., and other prominent men were direc- 
tors. While engaged in the construction of 
this railroad Mr. Canfield and Mr. Johnson 
discussed very fully the subject of an over- 



CANFIEI.D. 



6i 



land railroad, and Mr. Johnson i5re]:>ared an 
exhaustive treatise embracing their views 
upon Pacific railroads, coming to the con- 
clusion that one by the Northern route was 
not only the most feasible, but important in 
a military and commercial point of view, 
being so near to the British line. 

Mr. Walker learning of this, desired a loan 
of the manuscript to lay before his associ- 
ate in the cabinet of President Pierce, the 
Hon. Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, who 
was at that time very desirous to extend the 
territory of the South and its "peculiar insti- 
tution." Mr. Davis, knowing Mr. Johnson 
to be an engineer of extensive knowledge and 
whatever he had written was important and 
reliable, saw upon examining the pa])er that 
it came in conflict with his cherished |jlans, 
and he came on to New York and hatl a per- 
sonal interview with Mr. Johnson and en- 
deavored to convince him that he was in 
error and did not realize the difficulties of 
the Northern route nor appreciate the great 
advantages of a Southern one. Mr. John- 
son listened attentively to what Mr. Davis 
had to say and replied "that he had given 
the subject much thought and patient inves- 
tigation, but his conclusions were strictly 
logical from the facts and that he had no 
doubt of the full verification of his estimates 
by actual measurements hereafter to be 
made," which have been confirmed since 
by the actual surveys of the Northern Pacific 
R. R. 

Mr. Davis finding that he could not 
change the conclusions of Mr. Johnson and 
Mr. Canfield, and that the manuscript could 
not be suppressed, but would be published 
by them, he, on March 3, 1S53, procured 
the passage of a resolution by Congress 
authorizing him, the Secretary of \\'ar, to 
make such explorations as he might deem 
advisable to ascertain the most practical 
route for a railroad to the Pacific coast, hop- 
ing thereby to discredit the arguments in 
favor of the Northern route, which resulted 
in sending out the three great Pacific rail- 
road expeditions and in later years the con- 
struction of a railroad over each of the three 
routes, the Southern being the last to be 
built. 

During the civil struggle, when Colonel 
Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania R. R. 
was made Assistant Secretary of War and 
general manager of trans])ortation of the 
armies of the United States he sent for Mr. 
Canfield and entrusted to him the charge of 
the railroads about Washington as assistant 
manager. This was a very trying position, 
since every avenue of communication by 
land and water with the District of Colum- 
bia was in the hands of the rebels, except 
the single iron track between Baltimore and 
Washington, over which the three hundred 



thousand soldiers for the .Army of the Poto- 
mac were to be transported for the defense 
of the Capital, as well as all proxisions for 
man and beast about the city. Never before 
or since has so much business been done on 
a single track and that, too, without any ac- 
cident or the loss of a single life. How 
promptly, ably and successfully this duty was 
discharged by Mr. Canfield the page of his- 
tory tells. In connection with these labors 
in behalf of his country, Mr. Canfield, with 
the assistance of Hon. Solomon P'oote, re- 
ceived permission from the go\ernment to 
raise a cavalry regiment in \'erniont and 
the result of their efforts was that Col. L. B. 
Piatt, with the ist Regt. Vt. Cav., mounted, 
armed, and equipped, reported for duty 
within sixty days at \Vashington, rendering 
service during the war second to no other 
regiment in the army. 

After the close of the struggle, for several 
years Mr. Canfield was superintendent of the 
steamers on Lake Champlain, but his mind 
and thoughts were still absorbed more or 
less with his favorite project until he con- 
ceived and organized the syndicate to con- 
struct the Northern Pacific R. R., in 
connection with which magnificent enter- 
prise he has gained his chief renown. The 
space of this article will hardly pennit a 
bare mention, much less a detailed account 
of his indefatigable labors for many years in 
its behalf. One incident, howe\er, out of 
very many, may be mentioned, which will 
give a slight idea of the persistence and 
energy required to carry this enterprise for- 
ward. Ailer several years of preliminary 
work and advances made by the syndicate, 
as the contract with Messrs. Jay Cooke & 
Co. was under consideration for negotiating 
the bonds of the company, Mr. Cooke re- 
quired that his own engineers and men 
should first examine the country through 
which the road was to be built before he 
would sign the contract, and if their report 
was favorable he would execute it. Mr. Can- 
field was selected by the directors of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad Co. to conduct 
Mr. Cooke's party from the Pacific coast 
east and to show them a practicable route 
for a railroad. He met them at Salt Lake 
City June 9, 1869, took them to Sacramento 
by rail, thence by stage nine hundred miles 
to Olympia, Washington Ter. .After ex- 
ploring the bays and harbors of Puget Sound 
he returned to Portland, ascended the Col- 
umbia river to \\'alla Walla, then the end of 
settlements. Here he fitted out a pack train 
of fourteen horses for a trip across the 
mountains to Helena, Mont., fixe hundred 
miles on horseback, haxing to carry on the 
backs of the horses all the provisions for the 
whole trip from Walla Walla through the In- 
dian Territorv, where there were no roads or 



62 



settlers, his party lying on the ground at 
night without a tent or other covering except 
a blanket. From Helena he came on to the 
Yellowstone river, where Livingstone now is, 
one thousand miles east from Puget Sound, 
which was about as far as Sitting Bull, then 
in command of that country, would allow 
him to come. 

In this trip he had to cross the two main 
ranges of the Rocky Mountains several times 
back and forth to examine different passes 
in order to satisfy Mr. Cooke's engineers 
that a line across them was feasible. Once 
he encountered an Indian outbreak, having 
nearly all his horses stolen by the Indians, 
and had this occurred at an earlier stage of 
the journey the party might all have per- 
ished for want of food and transportation. 
After being gone four months and traveling 
about eight thousand miles, Mr. Canfield 
was able to show to the entire satisfaction 
of the engineers a practicable route, and, 
their report to Mr. Cooke being favorable, 
he executed the contract for negotiating 
§100,000,000 of the bonds of the company, 
and the work of construction at last 
commenced. 

It is not a little remarkable that the route 
shown by Mr. Canfield was after subsequent 
instrumental surveys adopted by the com- 
pany, and from the cars now on their course 
from Livingstone to the coast can be seen 
more or less of the way the identical trail of 
Mr. Canfield and his party, and it is difificult 
now to believe that such a trip could have 
been made by him under such circum- 
stances, most of the way on horseback, 
requiring about sixty days, which is now 
made in luxurious sleeping and dining cars 
in less than sixty hours. 

Notwithstanding the apparently insur- 
mountable obstacles which presented them- 
selves in the course of the long and bitter 
struggle to effect this object, the fact that it 
twice almost lost its charter, which was 
mainly saved by the active vigilance of Mr. 
Canfield, the discouraging opposition of the 
rival lines, and the physical obstructions of 
the country through which the railroad was 
built, triumphant success finally crowned his 
efforts and those of his fellow- workers and 
the road was completed. 

How much this enterprise has accom- 
plished for the rapid and extensive develop- 
ment of the whole country through which it 
passes, an empire in itself, and which is to 
become an important factor in the govern- 
ment, is a matter of history, and the personal 
adventures of Mr. Canfield on the frontier, 
through Indian Territory with its savage in- 
habitants, and the exciting scenes of which 
he was a witness during the construction of 
the line would alone fill a large and \ery 
interesting volume. 



Notwithstanding all the discouragements 
of the early days of the Northern Pacific 
and the hostility of Congress to its applica- 
tions for aid, amid all the financial panics 
and storms, Mr. Canfield has always main- 
tained the same abiding faith in this mag- 
nificent undertaking, and he still believes 
that being the only company which has a 
charter from Congress for a continuous line 
from water to water it will become the great 
transcontinental route across the continent 
to Europe, not only for the products of 
farm, forest, and mines along its border, but 
for the trade of Japan, China and the Indies. 
In fact, it will become the world's highway, 
over which will pass the travel and business 
of the most enlightened and civilized por- 
tions of the globe. 

In view of the great diversity of produc- 
tions of this country and those of the Cen- 
tral American states and the Dominion of 
Canada, the commercial relations between 
them and the United States must be con- 
stantly growing stronger and stronger until 
their interests shall be separated by no 
transatlantic influence. Mr. Canfield be- 
lieves that within a half century there will 
be but one English-speaking nation in North 
America, and that under a republican form 
of government, extending from the .Atlantic 
to the Pacific and from the (lulf of Mexico 
to the Arctic ocean : a nation over which 
will float but one flag, that of the stars and 
stripes of the United States ; one republic, 
whose free and enlightened institutions will 
confer upon hundreds of millions of people 
all the benefits of the highest and most 
enlightened civilization and be the control- 
ling power among the nations of the earth. 

Since his retirement from the company he 
has devoted more or less time to the super- 
vision of his large farm at Lake Park, Minn. 
He has now been engaged in active business 
for fifty-three years, during which period he 
has never taken a day specially for recrea- 
tion or pleasure, but has found his enjoyment 
in the work in which he has been engaged, 
believing thereby he has been the source of 
some good to his fellow-men and to his 
country. 

.Although of a slender frame and fragile 
constitution, he is yet apparently as active 
and moves with the same elastic step as 
twenty years ago. He is a good judge of 
human nature, enabling him to be an excel- 
lent organizer and manager of men, quick 
in observation, clear in judgment, and rapid 
in execution. Modest in his pretensions, he 
is ever ready to give to others the credit of 
any good work, although he may have been 
mainly instrumental in bringing it about. 
Having been engaged most of his life in 
work of a public character and connected 
with many great enterprises, he has an ex- 



tendeil knowledge of the whole conntiv, 
broad and comprehensive ideas as to its 
capacity and resources, and entertains the 
most sanguine views as to its future great- 
ness and power. When once enlisted in any 
scheme which commands his approbation 
he is very persistent and persevering until it 
is accomplished, no matter how difficult it 
may be or how serious the obstacles to be 
overcome. The idea of defeat never enters 
into his calculations. He is generous almost 
to a fault, a true and firm friend to those 
who gain his confidence, and many are the 
men in prominent positions in different parts 
of the country who are indebted for them to 
his early aid and assistance. 

At different times he has been actively 
engaged in political matters, but always 
refusing to accept office of any kind. .Ar- 
riving at his majority when the old Whig 
party was prominent, his first vote was cast 
for its nominees, and he continued identi- 
fied with it until it was succeeded by the 
Republican party, to which he has since 
belonged. He understands thoroughly all 
the great political issues, as well as the great 
commercial, which involve the business and 
prosperity of these United States. Few men 
have had a more extensive acquaintance and 
knowledge in the last two generations of the 
prominent men of the nation, whether in 
politics or business. 

Mr. Canfield is an active member of the 
Protestant Episcopal church, having been 
born in the house occupied by his grand- 
father, Nathan Canfield, in Arlington, and 
who was the first lay delegate to the first 
convention of the diocese of Vermont, 
organized at Arlington, i ygo. His great- 
grandfather on his mother's side, Capt. 
Jehiel Hawley, officiated as lay reader and 
maintained the service of the church from 
1764, which was the first service of the 
Episcopal church in Vermont, being before 
there was any clergyman there. These two 
men built the first church in Vermont and 
in that church Thomas H. Canfield was bap- 
tized by old "Priest" Bronson seventy years 
ago. He has attended every convention of 
the diocese of Vermont for forty-one 
years, during thirty-one of which he has 
been the secretary of the organization. He 
was one of the original incorporators and 
trustees of the Vermont Episcopal Institute 
at ?!urlington, chartered in 1S54, and for 
twenty-eight years has had charge of the 
funds of the establishment. He was mainly 
instrumental in the erection of Bishop Hop- 
kins Hall for the purpose of a church school 
for young ladies, and he has so ably man- 
aged the finances of this corporation that 
the diocese of Vermont now possesses this 
beautiful property of one hundred and fifty 
acres on the banks of Lake Champlain, 



u[)on which is an {•'.jiiscopal residence, a large 
gothic stone building for the theological 
department and boys' school, with another 
of equal dimensions and materials for the 
use o( the young ladies, both in successful 
operation and not a dollar of debt outstand- 
ing nor any lien of any kind on the ])roj)ertv. 

Mr. Canfield was a potential factor in 
raising the funds for building Trinity Chapel, 
Winooski, and the Episcojial church at 
Brainerd, Minn., and he also furnished the 
site for churches at Moorhead, and Lake 
Park, Minn. ; Bismark, N. 1 )., and Kalama, 
W'ash. He has represented the diocese of 
Vermont in the general conventions of the 
church in the ignited States, held in Phila- 
delphia in 1856, in Richmond, Va., in 1859; 
in New Vork in 1874, in Boston in 1877, 
and in Chicago in 1886. 

Few men have had a more busy life, 
which from present indications is likely to 
continue in the same way to the end, and he 
probably will, as he says he expects to do, 
"die in the harness." In conclusion it may 
be truly said what the late Rev. Dr. Wick- 
ham of Manchester so beautifully expressed : 
"If Burlington can boast of her Edmunds, 
the leader of the L'nited States Senate, and 
of Phelps, the eminent jurist and distin- 
guished representative at the Court of St. 
James, she has not another citizen that has 
honored her more than Thomas H. 
Canfield." 

CARLETON, HiRAM, of Montpelier, 
son of David and Mary (Wheeler) Carleton, 
was born in Barre, August 28, 1838. 

His father, David Carleton, was twenty- 
fifth in descent from Baldwin de Carleton, 
and seventh in descent from Edward Carle- 
ton, who emigrated from the mother country 
in 1639 and settled in Old Rowley, Mass. 
Baldwin de Carleton, of Carleton Hall, 
Cumberland, Eng., was a remote ancestor. 

He received his early education in the 
common schools of Barre, and pursued his 
preparatory studies for college at the acad- 
emy of that place. He then entered the 
LIniversity of Vermont, graduating in i860, 
after which he was principal of the Hines- 
burgh Academy. He then removed to Keese- 
ville, N. Y., where he was employed as in- 
structor in natural science, mathematics and 
Greek, in the Keeseville Academy, of which 
he was afterwards made the principal. In 

1865 he completed the study of the law 
with Ephraim E. French, Esq., of Barre, and 
was admitted to the bar of Washington 
county court at the September term. In 

1 866 he located in Waitsfield where he 
began, and contined for ten years, the prac- 
tice of his profession. He then changed 
his residence to Montpelier in order to be- 
come a member of the firm of Heath & 



64 CARNEY. 

C'arleton, which continued till 1883, when he 
was appointed judge of probate by Governor 
Barstow. He has since held this office by 
successive elections. 

In T,S6g Judge Carleton was the represen- 
tative of the town of Waitsfield in the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and the following year was 




^ 



/ 



HIRAM CARLETON 



re-elected by a unanimous vote. In that 
body he served as chairman of the com- 
mittee on education, and was largely instru- 
mental in the passage of the act permitting 
the establishment of the town, system of 
schools. In 1870 he was the delegate from 
Waitsfield to the state constitutional conven- 
tion, and was chosen state's attorney for 
Washington county for two years. 

|udge Carleton has been recently elected 
president of the Vermont Historical Society, 
and has acted as treasurer of the Vermont 
Bar Association since 18S3. For fifteen 
years he has most creditably served as both 
trustee and treasurer of the Washington 
county grammar school. He is also a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, uniting 
with Aurora Lodge, No. 112, of Montpelier. 

ludge Carleton was married in Chester- 
field, N v., Oct. 26, 1865, to Mary Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Lathrop and Mary (Ball) 
Pope. Of this union are issue : Frederick, 
and Mary Ball Pope. 

CARNEY, JOHN VOSE, of Bennington, 
son of Daniel and Mary (Wheeler) Carney, 
was born in Newcastle, Me., Nov. 6, 1835. 



His maternal grandfather was a member 
of the patriotic band who spilled the tea 
in Boston harbor. 

Mr. Carney passed through the common 
schools of his native town, and instead of 
devoting his nights to relaxation or amuse- 
ment, employed them in careful and unre- 
mitting study. 

In 185 I he went to Worcester, Mass., to 
learn the trade of a machinist, but after 
three years removed to Bennington. During 
the war, he acted as inspector of arms at 
Watervliet Arsenal. He then commenced 
the manufacture of knit goods at Bennington, 
but meeting with reverses, sold his plant and 
engaged in business for the Mutual Life In- 
surance Co. He is now a half owner of the 
Crawford & Carney shoddy mills in Ben- 
nington. 

Republican in his political preferences. 
Judge Carney has been given many civic 
honors. Besides being elected as assistant 
judge of the Bennington county court, he 
was sent to the Senate in 1884 ; also ap- 
appointed to serve on the citizens' Benning- 
ton battle monument committee, and was 
chairman of the banquet committee at the 
dedication of the monument. 

Mr. Carney belongs to the Methodist 
church, and for about twenty-one years was 
superintendent of the Sunday school. 

March 23, 1854, he was joined in matri- 
mony at Worcester, Mass., to Susan A., 
daughter of Asa and Sally Morse Abbott. 
One daughter was the fruit of this union : 
Allura Jeannette (Mrs. C. N. Hodgkins of 
Bennington. She passed awav, April 7, 
1880). 

CANNON, M. W., of West Rutland, 
was born in that town, April 9, 1867. 

Of Irish parentage, he was educated in 
the common schools, and after completing 
his course of study, labored upon a farm 
belonging to his parents, which occupation 
he followed until 1887, when he entered a 
political life. 

In 1888 he was the candidate for justice 
of the peace on the Democratic ticket, and 
received the largest vote ever given to an 
aspirant for the office in the town. Two 
years later he was elected selectman, which 
position he now holds, being chairman of 
the board. In 1890 he was the nominee of 
his party for town representative, and, re- 
ceiving a handsome majority, entered the 
Legislature at the age of twenty-four, the 
youngest member of the body. He imme- 
diately took an active part in the debate on 
reform measures, and distinguished himself 
by an able and eloquent speech on the 
weekly payment bill. He was re-elected in 
1892, and served creditably on the com- 
mittee on rules and elections. Mr. Cannon 



CARPENTER. 

has taken a leading part in town affairs, antl 
has been prominently identified with all 
measures of reform. In October, 1S93, he 
was offered the choice of the office of post- 
master in West Rutland or a position in 
Washington, by the Cleveland administration. 
The latter position he accepted. 




In social life, he is affable and agreeable, 
is unmarried, and in religious belief is a 
Roman Catholic. 

CARPENTER, AMOS BuGBEE, of 
Waterford, son of Isaiah and Caroline 
(Bugbee) Carpenter, was born in Waterford, 
May 25, 181S. 

The first of the family who emigrated to 
America was M'illiam Carpenter, who came 
from Wherwell, England, in i6_^8, and was 
one of the earliest settlers of Weymouth 
and Rehoboth, Mass. Jonah Carpenter, the 
grandfather of Amos B. Carpenter, was a 
minute man during the Revolutionary war, 
and Isaiah, his son, came to Waterford in 
iSoS, where he cleared a farm, which has 
since been the family home. 

Mr. Amos B. Carpenter attended the 
common schools of Waterford, and after- 
wards pursued short courses of study at the 
Lyndon Academy and Peacham grammar 
school. When eighteen years of age, and 
each season after that time until married, he 
taught school during the winter and attended 
to his farm duties during the summer ; but 
though his educational opportunities were 
limited, he has supplemented them by a 



CARPENTER. 65 

lifelong habit of reading, and a large expe- 
rience of men and affairs. He has made 
general farming the vocation of his life, 
paying considerable attention to the pro- 
ducts of the dairy. 

He was united in marriage, June 24, 1S47, 
to Cosbi B., daughter of Ezra" and Hannah 
(Burleigh) Parker, of Littleton, \. H. 'Ihey 
have had eight children, six of whom still 
live: Martha W. (Mrs. Stillman E. Cut- 
ting of Concord), .'\lthea C. (Mrs. Stephen 
J. Hastings of Waterford), Philander Isaiah 
(died in infancy ), Caroline Bugbee (Mrs. L. 
J. Cummings, deceased), .Amos Herbert, 
Cosbi May (Mrs. L. J. Cummings of Clinton, 
Iowa), Ezra Parker, and Miner Bugbee. 

Mr. Carpenter is a consistent Republican, 
and for thirty-eight years has discharged the 
duties of postmaster at West Waterford. He 
was a member of the state Legislature from 
\\'aterford in 1888. Nearly half a cen- 
tury ago he was elected a corresponding 
member of the Historical and Genealogical 
Society at Boston, and is about to pul)lish a 




AMOS BUGBEE CARPENTER. 

record of the Carpenter family, on which 
he has persistently labored for many years. 
He has received the three degrees of Blue 
Lodge Masonry, and is a member of Moose 
River Lodge of West Concord. He was one 
of the charter members of the Green 
Mountain Grange, P. of H., which was the 
first subordinate body formed in New Eng- 
land, and later was selected ti) fulfil the 
duties of Master of Waterford Grange. 



66 CASSIE. 

CASSIE, George, of Barre, son of 
James and Margaret (Ronald) Cassie, was 
born in Auchmaliddie, Aberdeenshire, Scot- 
land, May 29, 1857. 

His education was limited to the public 
schools in his native town, and he served his 
apprenticeship at the trade of a stone cutter. 
When the regular term of five years had ex- 
pired, he served as journeyman two years, 
and in 1880 emigrated to the United States, 
settling in Barre in 1882. Commencing 
with a small capital, he has gradually in- 
creased his business, until it has proved 
most lucrative and successful. Two years 
ago Mr. Cassie conceived the idea of import- 
ing pure-bred Shetland ponies for breeding 
purposes. This venture has also proved 
successful. 

Mr. Cassie is a Democrat, and is an ex- 
cellent representative of the Scotch-Ameri- 
can, combining American enterprise with 
the native thrift and shrewdness of the 
Scotch. 

He married, May 16, 1889, Laura E., 
daughter of Charles L. and Celinda 
(Dickey) Currier of Barre. Their first 
child, Jessie, died in infancy ; their second, 
Raymond J., was born in October, 1891. 

CAVERLY, Charles Solomon, of 

Rutland, son of Dr. Abiel Moore and Sarah 
L. (Goddard) Caverly, was born in Troy, N. 
H., Sept. 30, 1856. 

He received the usual education in the 
public schools of Pittsford, to which town 
his father removed in 1862, and he also 
attended those of Brandon. In the summer 
of 1873 he entered Kimball Union .Academy 
at Meriden, N. H., graduating there in 1874, 
and then entered the classical department 
of Dartmouth College, from which he grad- 
uated in 187S. He was valedictorian of his 
class, and received two prizes at his grad- 
uation. He received his degree of M. 1). 
from the medical department of the U. V. 
M. in 1881. During the time of his educa- 
tional career he employed himself in teach- 
ing at West Haven, Proctor and Pittsford. 
After his graduation he visited New York 
City, where he spent nearly two years of 
studv in hospitals, and also availed himself 
of the advantages of private instruction. In 
1883, Dr. Caverly returned to Rutland and 
began to practice his profession, at first in 
connection with Dr. Middleton Goldsmith, 
but after a year he opened an office inde- 
pendent of him, and since then he has been 
alone. He makes a specialty of the diseases 
of the nose, throat and chest, often visiting 
New York for a few weeks for the purpose of 
more particular study and research. He is 
a member of the State Medical -Society, 
and has held most of the offices in this 
society, being president in i89i-'92. He 



has belonged to the American Medical Asso- 
ciation. He is a member of the Rutland 
Medical Club, and in i89i-'92 was president 
of the Rutland County Medical .Society. Dr. 
Caverly is a member of the Rutland Repub- 
lican Club, of the Rutland Board of Trade, 
and one of the directors of the Rutland 
Hospital Association. 

He married, Nov. 5, 1885, Mabel A., 
daughter of Harley C. and Mary ( Root) 
Tuttle of Rutland, by whom he has one son : 
Harley Tuttle. 

From 1887 to 1889, Dr. Caverly dis- 
charged the functions of health officer of 
Rutland, and was appointed a member of 
the State Board of Health in 1S90 by Gov- 
ernor Dillingham to fill an unexpired term, 
being reappointed by Governor Page for a 
term of six years. He has been president 
of that body since 1891. 

Dr. Caverly has entered the Masonic fra- 
ternity, affiliating with Rutland Lodge, No. 
79, Davenport Chapter, No. 17, and Killing- 
ton Commandery, No. 6, Knights Templar. 
He is a member of the Congregational 
church, and interested in the Y. M. C. A. of 
Rutland. 

CELLEY, WiLLIA.M E. S., of Bradford, 
was born in Roxbury, Mass., Jan. 7, 1838. 
His father's name was Benjamin, and his 
mother's Jane M. Sawyer. 

When he was three years of age his 
father's family removed to Bradford, and the 
following year to the town of Fairlee, where 
he now resides. He was educated at the 
public schools and at Bradford Academy. 
\\'illiam was brought up on the farm of his 
father, a highly respected citizen, who twice 
represented the town in the state Legisla- 
ture, and died at the advanced age of nine- 
ty-three. He has always resided on this 
and on the adjoining estate, and has devoted 
his attention to general farming, though at 
present is especially engaged in the produc- 
tions of the dairy. 

Mr. Celley is a man of independent con- 
victions, an earnest supporter of temper- 
ance principles, and an ardent advocate of 
the law of prohibition. He was district 
clerk thirty-four consecutive years, is a 
member of the board of school directors, 
and one of the trustees of Bradford Acad- 
emy. He has held various offices in the 
town, and in 1876 was elected to the state 
Legislature by the votes of the Republican 
party. 

He is a member of the M. E. Church of 
Bradford, and has lately presented a fine 
bell to the L^nion Church of Fairlee as a 
memorial token in honor of his father. He 
has for many years been a steward in the 
church to which he belongs, and has been 
in various ways connected with other organi- 



zations of a religious and reformatory char- 
acter. 

He was united in marriage June 13, i86^, 
at Bradford, to Jane C, daughter of Jasper 
and Ceiinda (Heath) Moore" of West" Fair- 




V 



E. S. CELLEY, 



lee. Two children have been born to them : 
Emma J. (deceased), and George E., who 
resides with his parents. They have also 
an adopted child, H. Evelyn. 

CHAFEY, Martin Beard, of Albany, 

son of Hiram and .Asenath (Kendall) 
Chafey, was born in Albany, May 11, 1842. 

He was educated at the public schools of 
Albany, where he also became a pupil of the 
academy, and afterwards attended the Peo- 
ple's Academy at Morrisville. 

He commenced his business career with a 
clerkship at Derby Line, and then enlarged 
his experience by serving for one year in a 
wholesale store in Boston. In 1866 he 
entered into partnership with his brother, 
Hiram W., but since 1882 he has continued 
the business by himself, carrying a large 
stock of general merchandise. Since 1879 
he has been agent for the collection of rents 
for Middlebury College. Was postmaster at 
Albany from 1866 to 1886. 
t Mr. Caffey was married to Jennie Wilson, 
daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Cal- 
derwood) Mitchell of Craftsbury. Their 
children are : Don M. (died in childhood), 
Agnes ( )., Roland E., and Maggie E. 

.\ life-long Republican, Mr. Chafey has 
been town clerk since 1876, and in 1893 was 



cha.mi!i;ki.i\. (,■, 

appointed deputy collector of internal rev- 
enue for .Albany and vicinity. He enlisted 
in the army, but being a minor his parents 
refused their consent. Before the age of 
twenty-one he had enlisted once and was 
drafted twice. 

He was elected to the General Assembly 
of 1890. Attending the session of that 
year, also the extra session of 1891. His 
son Roland, accompanying him as page in 
the House in 1890 and in 1S91, was ap- 
pointed assistant secretary of the House at 
the age of fourteen years, he being the 
youngest person ever appointed to that posi- 
tion in the state, and now at the age of 
seventeen years is assistant cashier in the 
First National Bank, Ithica, Mich. 

In religious preference a Baptist, he nev- 
ertheless attends and supports the Metho- 
dist F;piscopal church. He has been a 
member of Central Lodge F. & A. M. of 
Irasburg. 

CHAMBERLIN, PresTON S., of Brad- 
ford, son of Abner and Mary ( Haseltine) 
Chamberlin, was born in Newbury, Nov. 

•>>< I s-,-> 
-5, 1^32. 

Educated in the common schools and at 
Newbury Seminary, he remained on his 
father's farm until the age of twenty-one, 
when he removed to the town of Bradford, 
where he has since resided. 

He is a Republican and has been elected 
to fill several town offices and in 1890 rep- 
resented his town in the Legislature. A 
trustee of Bradford Academy for fifteen 
years, he is strongly interested in the cause 
of education. 

Mr. Chamberlin enlisted in the United 
States service in May, 1861, under the first 
call of President Lincoln, being a member 
of the Bradford Guards. For the first two 
months of the war he served as sergeant in 
Co. D, ist Vt. Vols. Upon the call for nine 
months' men in 1862, he enlisted in the 12th 
Regt. and went out as captain of Co. H, 
(Bradford Guards) and was mustered out 
with the regiment. Captain Chamberlin 
was a charter member of Washburn Post, 
G. \. R , No. I 7, and for several years its 
Commander. 

He married Hannah S., daughter of 
George W. and Rebecca (Mussey) Corliss 
of Bradford, Jan. 17, 1856. They have 
three daughters : Annie (wife of C. E. 
Spalding), Mary H. (wife of George R. 
Grant), and Fldith Julia. 

CHANDLER, Frank, of Brandon, son 
of Rufus and Mary (King) Chandler, was 
born in Coleraine, Mass., June 13, 1838. 

His education was chiefly obtained at the 
West Brattleboro high school, and he com- 
menced a mercantile career in his early 



68 



boyhood. For some twelve xears he was 
employed as a clerk in different situations, 
the last six being in a wholesale clothing 
store in Montreal. Since that time he has 
devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, and 
in connection with these has conducted a 
summer resort at Silver Lake, Leicester, 
where for the past fourteen years he has held 
semi-annual camp meetings, to which socie- 
ties of every denomination have been hear- 
tily welcomed. 

Mr. Chandler was wedded in Leicester in 
iiS64 to Ellen M., daughter of Stephen and 
Sarah Alden. To them eight children have 
been born : Sarah Klla (deceased), John B., 




Frank E., Mary A., Rufus A. (deceased), 
Grace A., Gertrude L., and Ernest D. (de- 
ceased). He has held many responsible 
offices in the town of Leicester, which he 
represented in Montpelier in 1878. He has 
been prominent in the organizations of the 
Good Templars and Patrons of Husbandry, 
and for more than thirty years has been an 
active member of St. Paul's Lodge, F. & A. 
M., No. 25, of Urandon. 

CHAPIN, William, of Middlesex, son 
of Joseph and Catherine ( Holden) Chapin, 
was born Dec. 7, 1831. 

Mr. Chapin comes from a line rich in his- 
toric associations. On his mother's side he 
is fourth in descent from William Holden, 
who was with the Colonial troops at the 
capture of Louisburg in 1 745, and served 



under the immortal U'olfe upon the heights 
of Abraham in 1759. A soldier of the 
patriot army of the Revolution, he was pres- 
ent at Stillwater and Saratoga and witnessed 
the surrender of Burgoyne. The paternal 
grandfather of the subject of the present 
sketch came to Middlesex as one of its ear- 
liest settlers shortly after the Revolutionary 
war, in which he had fought under Washing- 
ton. Together with his oldest son, Joseph, 
he marched to Plattsburg and again encoun- 
tered the dangers of the battlefield in behalf 
of his native land. 

Receiving only the instruction of the 
common schools of his native town, the 
early training of Mr. ^Villiam Chapin was 
eminently practical. After an early experi- 
ence in district school teaching during the 
winter at Middlesex and Waterbury, he was 
employed as a clerk in a store at Swamp- 
scott, Mass., and later in i858-'59 in the 
Union store at Montpelier. With these ex- 
ceptions, he has alwavs lived upon the farm 
where he was born. 

He is a very successful operator in real 
estate, besides being a large holder of the 
same. He is an enthusiastic breeder of 
Jersey cattle and Shropshire sheep, owning 
one of the best flocks in the county. 

After holding many town offices, he was 
sent to the Legislature in 1880 and was a 
member of the State Equalizing Board in 
18S2. In 1SS4 he was honored by an elec- 
tion to the Senate and re-elected in 1888. 
He has also been a member of the Board of 
Agriculture from 1887 to 1892. 

Hon. William Chapin is a unique and 
original character, possessing a fund of 
quaint and genial humor with an inimitable 
gift of drollery in story telling. When he is 
convinced of the righteousness of his cause 
"he knowing, dares maintain," and in brief 
is an excellent specimen of a good old- 
fashioned Green Mountain farmer. 

He was married at Worcester, May 15, 
i860, to Catherine, daughter of Deacon 
Jonas and Minerva E. (Vail) Abbott. Of 
this union there were five children : Harry 
Lee, Joseph Abbott, William Allen, Hinck- 
ley B., and Edgar L. (deceased). 

CHASE, Charles Sumner, of whit- 

ingham, son of Abraham and Catherine 
(Read) Chase, was born in the town of 
Whitingham, May 13, 1855. 

After having attended the common schools 
of the town he studied law and stenography, 
and was admitted to the Windham county 
bar in September, 18S0, and has since prac- 
ticed law at Whitingham. He has served as- 
the official stenographer of the Bennington, 
Rutland and Windham county courts for the 
past seventeen years. He took a prominent 
part in the organization of the Moses New- 



ton Shoe Co., of which he has liad the man- 
agement, and was also connected with the 
construction of the Deerfield Valley R. R., 
and the Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington Rail- 
road Co., and is a director of and attorney 
for the same. 

He is a Republican, and has been town 
treasurer, justice of the peace and held 
some minor offices. Mr. Chase is a mem- 
ber of Unity Lodge, F. & A. M., of Jack- 
sonville. 

He married, Jan. 19, 1881, Carrie Rmily, 
daughter of John Addison and Emily C. 
Brigham of Boston, Mass. Two children 
have been born to them : Robert Martin, 
born Feb. 22, i.SS^, and Harry ]!righam, 
born Aug. 9, 1SS9. 

CHASE, Charles M., son of l-lpaphras 
Bull and Louisa (Baldwin) Chase, was born 
in Lyndon, Nov. 6, 1829. 



^^. ^l^^-h 




y 



CHARLES M. CHASE. 

He received his preparatory education in 
the academies of Lyndon, St. Johnsbury, 
and Meriden, N. H., and was afterwards 
gradtiated from Dartmouth College in the 
class of 1853. He then pursued his profes- 
sional studies with President Allen of Farm- 
er's College, Cincinnati, and in 1S57 was 
admitted to the bar in Sycamore, 111., where 
he commenced the practice of his profes- 
sion, at the same time editing the DeKalb 
County Sentinel and teaching music, thus 
continuing until the breaking out of the 
civil war. In i863-'64 he was in Kansas, a 
portion of the time employed as city editor 
of the Leavenworth I)ail\' Times, and having 



CH.ASK. 69 

charge of the musical association of that 
city. For some time he traveled in the 
state as correspondent of the Sycamore Re- 
publican, describing the bloody struggles 
that took place during the episodes of 1856. 
In 1865 he commenced the publication of 
the Vermont Union at Lyndon, which he 
still continues. In connection with this 
enter|)rise he has made numerous trips in 
Florida, California, the western and the 
southern states as correspondent of his own 
paper, one of these trips being published 
in book form under the title of "Editor's 
Run in New Mexico and Colorado." The 
book received numerous compliments from 
the press and had quite an extensive sale. 

During the first years after leaving col- 
lege, Mr. Chase divided his time between 
studying law and teaching in Cincinnati, (J., 
having charge for three years of the vocal 
music department in Ohio Female College 
and Farmer's College, conducting conven- 
tions, giving concerts, etc. During this 
period he composed different church tunes, 
which were published in the books of that 
date and later. 

Mr. Chase enlisted in 1861, and had 
charge of the brigade band of the 13th 111. 
Vols, till their discharge at the end of three 
months service in Southwestern Missouri. 

He was married June 15, 1865, at Syca- 
more, 111., to Mary M, daughter of Timothy 
and Mary (Waterman) Wells. Their five 
children are : Everett B., John B., George A., 
Jennie H., and Nellie L. 

Mr. Chase is Democratic in his political 
adherence, and for several years held the 
office of police magistrate in Sycamore. 
For twenty years he has been justice of the 
peace in Lyndon. He was the prime mover 
in securing the charter for the Lyndon 
Academy and Craded School, being for a 
long time president of the board of direc- 
tors. In i866-'68 he was the Democratic 
candidate for Congress in the First Vermont 
District, and was appointed delegate to the 
national convention of that party in St. 
Louis in 1876. His ability as a financier 
has called him to the duties of director in 
the Lyndon National Bank and the Savings 
Bank & Trust Co. of St. Johnsbury, of 
which he has been president since 1891. 

He has taken the vows of Free Masonry, 
and is actively connected with the lodge at 
Lyndon and Haswell Chapter in St. Johns- 
bury. 

CHASE, Edgar MeRRITT, of jay, son 
of Merrill and Electa (Stickney) Chase, was 
born in Jay, .April 18, 1857. Having re- 
ceived his education at the public schools of 
Jay, he now owns and occupies a small farm 
at the village and for several years has been 
foreman in IS. F. Faine's lumber mill. 



7° 



He has held many town offices and was 
elected to the Legislature in 1892, where he 
served on general and several special com- 
mittees. He has always been a strong 
Republican in his political faith, and is a 
member of Masonic Union Lodge, No. 16, of 
Troy. In religious belief he is Methodist 
Episcopal. 




years overseer of the poor, and also served 
in most of the other town offices, and was 
representative in the Legislature of 1878. J 
He is a public-spirited man of strong 
convictions and benevolent impulses. Has 
always been a temperance man in principle 
and practice, and a prominent member of 
the L O. G. T. In the long and eventful 
existence of the West Concord L'niversalist 
Church, a period of more than half a cen- 
tury, Mr. Chase has been a constant atten- 
dant and active worker ; about thirty years 
superintendent of the Sunday school, and 
many years chairman of the parish com- 
mittee. He is also president of the Northern 
.Association and treasurer of LTniversalist 
Convention of Vermont and Province of 
Q)uebec, which office he has helil the past 
fourteen vears. 



EDGAR MERRITT CHASE. 

August 17, 1 88 1, Mr. Chase married Myra 
Bartlett. who died Nov. 17, 1891, leaving 
two children : Charles Bartlett, and Maud 
Electa. 

CHASE, WiLLARD, of West Concord, 
son of Ceorge and luinice (.Abbott) Chase. 
was born in Landgrove, March 10, 1840. 
Coming to Concord with his parents two 
years later, he was brought up on the same 
farm where he has since resided. His father 
was a frugal, industrious farmer, skilled also 
in many handicrafts, and the subject of this 
sketch naturally received much training in 
these directions. 

Being an ambitious, self-reliant boy, he 
acquired a thorough common school educa- 
tion. As a farmer, he evinces the same 
energy and thoroughness, making specialties " 
of creamery butter and maple sugar. In 
i8go he made 10,100 pounds of sugar. 

Mr. Chase is an earnest Republican. He 
was school district clerk and treasurer for 
twenty-one years. Called to the position of 
selectman at the age of twenty-six, he has 

ed that position ten terms ; he was five 




January i, 1868, he married .Ann Maria 
W., daughter of the late David W. and Sally 
(Stiles) Lee of St. Johnsbury. 

CHASE, ZiNA GOLDTHWAIT, late of 
Cambridge, son of .Alden and .Abigail 
(Chase) Chase, was born in Cambridge,. 
•August 9, 1830. 

His educational advantages were derived 
from the common schools and he steadily 
followed farming as an occupation, at the 
same time dealing largely in cattle. Mr. 
Chase twice enlisted in the ranks of his 
country's defenders and in his first attempt 
was advanced to the grade of orderly ser- 



geaiu (if Co. H, 2d Regt. \'t. N'ols., but 
unfortunatelv he was mustered out for disa- 
bility. 

After holding many minor positions of 
trust in the town, he was elected by a strong 
Republican majority to the state Legisla- 
ture in the fall of i>S.S6, which position he 



and in 1890 was elected senator of Addison 
county, also the youngest man ever sent 
from the county in that capacity. In both 
of the legislative bodies he served on im- 
portant committees and being well versed in 
parliamentary law, he was often called upon 
to preside. 

Mr Child belongs to many political and 
agricultural societies and, though not a 
member, is a liberal supporter of the 
( 'hristian church. 





filled with credit to himself and satisfaction 
to his constituents. He was a member of the 
Masonic order, and was united in marriage, 
August 2, 1S56, to Jane H., daughter of 
Samuel and Hannah Montague. One child, 
Hollis M. Chase, has blessed their union. 

CHILD, George Edward, of Wey- 

bridge, was born Feb. 22, 185 i, and is the 
son of John and Mahala (Briggs) Child. 

Receiving his early education in the 
schools of Weybridge, he continued to pur- 
sue his studies at the Stanstead (P. ().) 
Academy and Fort Edward Collegiate Insti- 
tute. At first intending to enter a profes- 
sional life, he concluded that farming and 
speculation were his true vocations. Mr. 
Child has given a large share of his atten- 
tion to the breeding of Merino sheep and 
of late years his specialty has been the rais- 
ing of cattle and beeves. His farm, on 
which Gov. Silas Wright was born, is histor- 
ically interesting. 

In political creed a Republican, after 
having held many town offices he was sent 
to the Legislature in 1884, being the 
youngest member ever sent from \\'eybridge. 



GEORGE EDWARD CHILD 

He was married in Weybridge on Jan. 25, 
1S77, to Susan, daughter of Edwin and 
Sarah Wright. This union has been blessed 
with two daughters : Cecile Maude, and 
\'erna Wright. 

CLARK, Ezra Warren, of Derby, 

son of Alvah \\'arren and Mary C. (King) 
Clark, was born at Glover, Oct. 12, 1842. 
His father, .Alvah, was one of twelve chil- 
dren, eleven of whom lived to maturity. 

Mr. Clark's educational training was 
acquired in the public schools of Glover, the 
( )rleans Liberal Institute, and the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Seminary of Newbury. For 
several terms he taught in the public schools, 
and was principal of the Orleans Liberal 
Institute. In the spring of 1867 he began 
the study of medicine with Dr. R.R. Skinner 
of Barton, and soon after entered the medi- 
cal department at Dartmouth College, and 
in 1S69 pursued a course of study at the 
Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, 
where he graduated in 1S70. 



72 



Dr. Clark commenced to practice his pro- 
fession in Charleston, but in 1873 removed 
to Derb)', where by jjatient industry, assidu- 
ity, and his liberal methods he built up a 
large and valuable business. At the same 
time he has given some attention to practical 
farming. 

He has been health officer for several 
years, and has been town superintendent of 
schools in Charleston, Glover and Derby, 
and selectman from 1889 to 1893. 

Always deeply interested in the cause of 
temperance and education, Dr. Clark has 
been an active worker in their behalf. He 
has been for a long time chairman of the 
executive committee of Derby Academy, to 
the endowment fund of which he has been a 
liberal contributor. 

He is a member and officer of several 
medical societies. He is Republican in his 
political creed, and in his religious prefer- 
ences Methodist Episcopal. He has always 
been energetic in church matters, and for 
fifteen years superintendent of the Sunday 
school. 

Dr. Clark was uniteci in marriage .April 
30, 1871, to Isadore M., daughter of Noble 
and Emily E. (Rice) Aldrich of Glover. 
Their union has been blessed with six chil- 
dren : Albert W., Marion E., Helen M., 
Royce \\'., Genevieve M., and Dora Mae. 

CLARK, John Calvin, of St. Johns- 
bury, son of John S. and Ann E. (Robinson) 
Clark, was born in Lunenburg, June 3, 1852. 

His educational advantages were received 
in the public and private schools of Detroit, 
Mich., and he commenced his business 
career at the age of eighteen, when he was 
employed as a clerk in the First National 
Bank at St. Johnsbury. In 1873 he accepted 
the position of cashier in the First National 
liank of Chelsea ; but after ten years 
returned to St. Johnsbury as assistant cashier 
in the institution in which he was first em- 
ployed. In 1886 he was promoted to the 
post of cashier, which he retained until 
1893, when he resigned to become the 
treasurer of the E. & T. Fairbanks Co. i\Ir. 
Clark is also treasurer of the St. Johnsbury 
Electric Light Co., The Mystic Club, and 
Home for Aged Women, and is a director of 
the First National IJank. 

He is a staunch and straightforward Re- 
publican but has never held any political 
office excelling that of clerk of the village 
corporation. He is a member of the Sons 
of Veterans, and of Passumpsic Lodge, No. 
27, of St. Johnsbury. 

He was united in marriage .April 14, 1881, 
to Lida E., daughter of Rev. John M. and 
Anna Haselton Puffer. Three children are 
the issue of the marriage : Robert P., Mar- 
geret R., and .Arthur Dana. 



CLARK, RiPLEV, of Windsor, son of Eli 
and Sarah (Warner) Clark, was born in 
Strafford, July 23, 181 7. His father, Eli, 
was from Boscawen, N. H., and a soldier in 
the war of 1812. 

Mr. Clark received his elementary educa- 
tion in the district schools of Stratford, at 
Thetford .Academy, and the New England 
Seminary at \\'indsor. He studied medi- 
cine with Dr. Phelps of Windsor, and gradu- 
ated from the meclical school of Dartmouth 
College in 1846. Commencing in Reading, 
Dr. Clark subsequently practiced his profes- 
sion in Illinois, and later at AMiite River 
Junction. In 1861 he settled at Windsor, 
where he built up a large practice. Develop- 
ing bronchial troubles from the severity of 
our winters, he was obliged to seek a change 
of climate, and for the last dozen years has 
resided in Florida during the winter. 

He is a Republican and cast his first presi- 
dential vote for William H., and his last for 
Benjamin Harrison. .Averse to public office, 
he has confined himself to the duties of his 
profession, but in 1880 was elected to the 
Legislature from Windsor. For twenty years 
he was the medical director of the state's 
prison. 

He married, .August 9, 1S48, Mary .Ann, 
daughter of Isaiah and Abigal (Topliff) Ray- 
mond of Bridgewater. Of this marriage is 
one son ; Isaiah Raymond. 

CLEMENT, PeRCIVAL W., of Rut- 
land, belongs to a family which has long 
been prominent in Rutland county, and his 
work has from the first been in the larger 
business interests of the section. His be- 
ginning was in the marble business, in con- 
nection with the quarrying and manufactur- 
ing enterprise established by his father, and 
in later years he has been prominent in 
railroad and other affairs. 

Mr. Clement is the son of Charles and 
Elizabeth (Wood) Clement. He was born 
in Rutland, July 7, 1846, and his home has 
always been in that town. 

He was educated at the Rutland high 
school, St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., 
and Trinity College, Hartford. He began 
business life as a clerk in the Rutland office 
of the marble firm above referred to, Cle- 
ment & Sons, in the same year and became 
a partner in 1871. This firm sold out to the 
Rutland Marble Co. in 1876 for a price 
which made the transaction the largest then 
known in the marble business of this coun- 
try. The members of the firm then organ- 
ized the State Trust Co., and afterwards the 
Clement National Bank, both in Rutland, 
and both corporations have since remained 
under their control. 

Mr. Clement was engaged in the banking 
business until 1882, when he began buying 



74 



CLEVELAND. 



largely of the stocks of the Rutland Railroad 
Co. He became the active manager of the 
affairs of this corporation in 1883. The 
finances of the company were demoralized 
and its securities greatly depressed, and for 
four years Mr. Clement gave his attention to 
the property, finally acquiring absolute con- 
trol of it. The stock and bonds of the cor- 
poration advanced in price enormously and 
its credit was restored, and in 1887 Mr. 
Clement sold out to the Delaware & Hud- 
son Canal Co. He remained with the rail- 
road company, however, as its jsresident and 
in 1 89 1 negotiated a lease of the property to 
the Central Vermont R. R. Besides his 
connection with the Rutland banks named, 
Mr. Clement is a director in the Howe Scale 
Works and the chief owner of the Rutland 
Herald, and concerned in many other local 
enterprises. 

Mr. Clement has been little before the 
public except as a business man. He has 
always been a Republican, but has ne\er 
sought political office and has held none 
except that of Rutland town representative, 
to which he was elected in 1892. His 
special work in this position was in getting 
the Rutland city charter. He was the active 
spirit in organizing the Rutland Board of 
Trade in 1889 and its president three years. 
He has been led by his affairs to spend con- 
siderable time in the cities and is a member 
of the Union League Club of New York, 
the Algonciuin Club of Boston, and of some 
other similar organizations. 

Mr. Clement married Maria H., daughter 
of Henry W. and Caroline (Hinman) Ciood- 
win of Hartford, Conn., in 186S, and has 
had ten children, of whom six are living : 
Elizabeth Wood, Caroline Hinman, Ethel 
Scovil, Margaret Coodwin, Anna Elizabeth, 
and Robert. 

CLARKE, RaNSLURE WELD.of Brattle- 
boro, son of Elam and Cynthia (Lewis) 
Clarke, was born in Williamstown, fan. 27, 
1S16. 

His studies, besides those in the schools 
of his native town, were pursued at Black 
River Academy, Ludlow, and at the Orange 
county grammar school at Randolph Cen- 
tre. He entered Dartmouth College in 
1838, and graduated in 1842. Immediately 
upon his graduation, he became principal of 
Black River Academy which position he 
filled for three years, devoting his spare 
time to the study of law in the office of Gov. 
P. T. Washburn. On his resignation from 
the principalship, he lent his entire energy 
to his professional studies in the office of the 
late Hon. L Dorr Bradley, and was admitted 
to the bar of Windham county at the Sep- 
tember term of court in 1S46. 



On his admission to the bar he at once 
began the practice of law in Brattleboro. 
In 185 1 he received recognition from the 
Republican party, and was elected state's 
attorney for Windham county, and re-elected 
for the years of i853-'54. He was a member 
of the Constitutional Convention in 1S57, 
and one of the presidential electors in 1S68. 
In the campaign of 1S58 he was elected 
state senator from Windham county, and re- 
elected in 1859. Mr. Clarke was register of 
probate for the district of Marlboro in 1861- 
'62, when he resigned to accept the position 
of assistant quartermaster of United States 
Volunteers. 

Judge Clarke was married in May, 1849, 
to Lucy C, daughter of the late Judge John 
and Polly (Wilson) Wilder. She died in 
1864, and in 1868 he married Susan O. 
Wilder, a sister of his first wife. Of the 
first union there was one daughter, Mary 
AV., now the wife of Hon. Milo M. Acker of 
Hornellsville, N. V., and of the latter union 
one son, Francis E. 

Captain Clarke received the appointment 
of postmaster of Brattleboro in 187 1, and at 
the expiration of his four years' term was 
reappointed, and served until Jan. i, 1879. 

In local affairs, Judge Clarke has taken a 
prominent part, and among other positions 
of trust which he has held, is that of presi- 
dent of the Brattleboro Savings Bank. For 
more than thirty years he has been I'nited 
States commissioner and master in chan- 
cery, and in 1S82 he was elected assistant 
judge of the AVindham county court, which 
position he held until December, 1892. 

CLEVELAND, James P., JR., son of 
James P. and Anna P. ( Huntington) Cleve- 
land, was born in Bethel, Sept. 21, 1828. 

His father, James P. Cleveland, Sr., is still 
living, at the age of ninety. Very many 
years ago he joined the Masonic fraternity, 
of which he is believed to be the oldest liv- 
ing representative in the state of Vermont. 
James P., Jr., removed to Braintree in 1845, 
and until 1880 followed farming. At that 
time he removed to West Randolph and has 
devoted himself to life, fire and accident in- 
surance. He has also engaged in settling 
several estates, and frequently acted as guar- 
dian. 

.■\ member of the Republican party, he 
has been appointed both deputy and sheriff 
of his county. He was enrolling officer in 
1863, and assistant judge in i878-'79, and 
was elected a member of the Legislature in 
i876-'77. Enlisting as a private in Co. F, 
I 2th Regt. Vt. Vols., he was elected ist lieu- 
tenant, and served nine months for the regi- 
ment. He was a charter member of V. S. 
Cirant Post, No. 96, of West Randolph, and 
has Ijelonged to the Masonic order more 



75 
than thirty years, and held the position of man of the committee on pubhc buildings. 



Worshipful Master four years, and treasurer 
twenty-five years. He is also a charter 
member of Randolph Lodge, No. 48, I. O. 
O. F. 



and was an efficient member of that on 
highways, bridges, and ferries. He was 
largely influential in jirocuring the enact- 
ment of the new highway law, which has 
given such general satisfaction to the state 
and met such hearty approval in other states. 
Mr. Clifford was united in marriage, Dec. 
,V, 1871, to Mary J., daughter of .Vmos C. 





JAMES P. CLEVELAND, JR. 

Mr. Cleveland married, .\ugust 3, 1850, 
Martha, daughter of Elijah and Patience 
(Neff) Flint, who died Jan. 4, 1893. They 
have had three children: Frank H., Jennie 
A., and Harry L. 

CLIFFORD, Newell E., of shei- 

burne, son of Cleorge B. and Sarah ( Rem- 
ington) Clifford, was born in Starksboro, 
May 21, 1850. 

Availing himself of the usual educational 
facilities of his native town, upon reaching 
the age to choose an occupation he adopted 
that of his father, that of a carpenter and 
builder. 

In 18S0 he moved to Shelburne, where in 
1887 he engaged with Dr. W. Seward Webb 
of New York City, owner of Shelburne 
Farms, and has since been at the head and 
superintended the erection of the beautiful 
buildings on that magnificent estate. 

Since his majority, Mr. Clifford has taken 
nmch interest in public matters, especially 
in the schools of his town, and he has been 
entrusted by his townsmen with many 
responsible positions, being at present se- 
lectman, school director, and a member of 
the state Legislature. In this last posi- 
tion he served most creditably as chair- 



NEWELL E. CLIFFORD. 



and Lucy A. Cole, of Starksboro. As the 
result of this union, there are three children : 
Maud E. (deceased), Edith F.,and Cicero G. 

COBB, Nathan Bryant, of Strafford, 

son of Daniel and Marinda (Bryant) Cobb, 
was born at Strafford, Oct. 14, 1827, and is 
descended from old Puritan stock. 

His maternal great-grandfather and grand- 
father were among the minute men who 
fired on the green at Lexington, opposing 
the forces of British tyranny, and his paternal 
grandfather, Nathan Cobb, was also a sol- 
dier of the Revolution. Daniel Cobb, his 
father, struggling under adverse circum- 
stances, acquired a good education and be- 
came a successful lawyer at Strafford. Sena- 
tor y S. Morrill says concerning him, "Judge 
Cobb for nearly half a century was the 
chief legal counsel in town, an earnest advo- 
cate and safe adviser." Though a cripple he 
saw service at the battle of Plattsburg. 

Mr. Nathan B. Cobb, though an invalid 
much of his life, has done good service in 
manv of the town offices, has been an ex- 



76 



COBURN. 



tensive reader, and is considered an expe- 
rienced, trustworthy and well-informed man. 
He was educated in the common schools of 
Strafford, and entered Norwich University, 
but an illness which proved nearly fatal pre- 
vented the completion of his collegiate 
career. 




AN BRYANT COBB. 



A Republican in his political faith, he was 
elected town clerk in March, 1863, and has 
filled that office ever since. He has been 
justice of the peace twenty-seven years, and 
for nine years superintendent of schools. 
He was elected town representative in 1870 
and 1S80, and assistant judge of Orange 
county court in 1874. 

Norwich University conferred the degree 
of A. M. upon Judge Cobb in 1874. He is 
a deacon of the Congregational church, and 
for many years was prominently connected 
with the Harris Library as its librarian. 

He married, Nov. i, 1861, Emily C, 
daughter of Hyde and Mary (Wiggin) Cabot 
of Chelsea, who died .April 14, 1872. Decem- 
ber 19, 1873, he was united to Mary Jennie, 
daughter of Eleazer and Mary (Cabot) 
Gardner of Thetford, by whom he had one 
child : Gardner N. His second wife died 
March 17, 1879. 

COBURN, James Allen, of East 

Montpelier, son of Earned and Lovisia 
(Allen) Coburn, was born in Montpelier, 
April 6, 1828. 

Educated at the district school, he re- 
mained with his father, who was a lifelong 



resident and prominent citizen of the town 
of Montpelier, several years after attaining 
his majority and assisted him in the manage- 
ment of his farm and mills. Gifted with a 
strong talent for mathematics, he taught 
school successfully for six winters. In 1850 
he married and moved to the farm of his 
father-in-law, which he has since purchased, 
and here he has always remained. 

judge Coburn has always been active and 
prominent in the councils of the Repul)lican 
party in his section. A representative in the 
Legislature in 1 869-' 70, he was elected 
assistant judge in 1S78 and 1880. During 
the war he was an- active member of the 
I'nion League of East Montpelier. 




He married, Dec. 4, 1850, .Abbie Daggett 
of l'2ast Montpelier, daughter of ^Arthur, Jr., 
and Nancy (Farwell) Daggett. From their 
union have sprung five children : learned, 
Arthur D., Flora H. (Mrs. Henry Kelton), 
James Lee, and Dwight H. (died in infancy). 

COFFEY, Robert John, of Benning- 
ton, was born in the city of St. Johns, N. B., 
Dec. r^, 1842. 

In 1853 he moved to Montpelier and re- 
ceived his education in the common schools 
of Montpelier and Morristown, living in that 
town from 1855 to 1859. In the spring of 
1S60 he attended the academy at Hyde 
Park one term. 

.At the breaking out of the war of the 
rebellion he was living in Montpelier and 
was one of the first volunteers from that 



77 



town. He first enlisted in Co. !•', 2(1 \'t. 
Regt., but receiving a chance to enlist in 
Co. F, New England Guards of NorthfieUl 
he enlisted May 3, 1861, for three months 
and participated in the first important battle 
of the war at Big Bethel, June 10, 1861. In 
a few days after his return from the three 
months' service on .Sept. 10 he enlisted for 




ROBERT JOH 



three years in Co. K, 4th Regt., and at the 
organization of the company he was made 
3d sergeant and was always on duty until 
disabled by a wound Oct. 16, 1863, during 
which time he was engaged in the battles of 
Lee's Mills, several day battles in front of 
Richmond under General McClellan, South 
Mountain, .\ntietam, Fredericksburg, Banks 
Ford, Gettysburg, Funkstown and many 
skirmishes, .^t Banks Ford, he captured 
during the battle two confederate officers 
and five soldiers for which gallant exploit he 
has been awarded a medal of honor by Con- 
gress. While on picket duty near Center- 
ville, he was badly wounded and disabled 
for further service and was mustered out at 
Brattleboro in 1S64 with the remnant of 
the men that left the town three years be- 
fore over one thousand strong. 

In 1867 he was married to Demis Hattie 
Burnham ; by this union they have had one 
child. 

Soon after the war he became engaged in 
the hotel business ; first at Waitsfield, Vt., 
and then for several years in Montpelier, 
Richmond and Windsor. 



He is a staunch Republican in politics. 
When the \'ermont Soldiers' Home was 
established in Bennington in 1887 he was 
the unanimous choice of the trustees for 
superintendent which position he has filled 
with satisfaction and credit. In 1873 he 
joined the G. A. R. and has been an active 
and prominent member of the order since, 
holding many offices in post and depart- 
ment. He is at present major and brigade 
jirovost marshal on the staff of (len. Julius 
J. Estey and has seen nearly fifteen years 
serv^ice in the National (Uiard of \'ermont. 

He is a member of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, 
F. & A. M. of Montpelier and also a mem- 
ber of Mohegan Tribe, No. 6, of Bennington. 

COLBURN, ROBERT M., of Springfield, 
son of Joseph ^^'. and Emily (Edgerton) 
Colburn, was born in Springfield, Dec. 6, 
1844. His grandfather was a soldier of the 
Revolution, and fought at Bunker Hill and 




Long Island. His father was a wealthy and 
prominent resident of Springfield, was sena- 
tor from Windsor county, and served four 
years as assistant judge. 

The subject of the present sketch was 
educated at the public schools of Spring- 
field and the academies of Meriden, \. H., 
Manchester, and .\ndover, Mass. Reared 
upon his father's farm, and accustomed to 
act as his father's foreman and assistant in 
business, Mr. Colburn is still largely inter- 
ested in agricultural pursuits, but is also a 



78 COLTON. 

good financial and business man, and there- 
fore has been called upon to fill several im- 
portant positions and among these are dis- 
trict and town offices. 

Belonging to the Republican party, he 
was elected to represent the town in 1880. 
Mr. Colburn is a member of the Vermont 
Historical Society, and also of the Sons of 
the American Revolution. 

He married, Dec. 23, 18S4, Sarah E., 
daughter of Luther and liunice (Preston) 
Wheatley of Brookfield. They have two 
children : Frank W., and .Alice -Ada. 

COLTON, EBEN POMEROY, of Iras- 
burgh, son of John and Phoebe (Morey) 
Colton, was born in West Fairlee, Feb. 11, 
182S. 



lution, of the Free Masons, and of other 
societies. 

He married at Barton, Vt., March 2, 1S54, 
Almira .A., daughter of Levi and .Achsah 
(Ainsworth) Bailey. From this union there 
were born four children : Mary J., born 
July 4, 1859 ; Jennie G., born April 10, 1862 ; 
Jessie O., born July 14, 1867, and Eben P., 
born July 7, 1875. 

Governor Colton's legislative career was 
one honorable to himself, his town and his 
county, and received merited recognition in 
his election to the lieutenant-governorship. 
He never made politics a business, and is 
one of the men who always has enough to 
do, other than office-holding. He has taste 
for books and historical matters to fill any 
leisure that he ever gets. 




EBEN POMEROY COLTON. 

He came to Irasburgh March, 1841, with 
his father's family, and has resided in that 
town almost continually since. He has been 
a builder, manufacturer of lumber and a 
farmer. 

He was a whig prior to the formation of 
the Republican party, and since 1S54 has 
been a Republican. He was a member of 
the House of Representatives from Irasburgh 
in 1S59, 1S60 and 1876. In 1S70 and 1S72 
he was elected a state senator from Orleans 
county. In 1878 he was elected Lieutenant- 
Governor. 

Governor Colton was for some years mas- 
ter of the State Grange, Patrons of Hus- 
bandry, and is a member of the Vermont 
Society of the Sons of the American Revo- 



CONANT, Edward, of West Ran- 
dolph, son of Seth and Melvina (Perkins) 
Conant, was born May 10, 1829, in Pomfret. 

Leaving home at the age of fifteen, he 
worked as a machinist in East Bridgewater, 
Mass., till he was twenty-one. After two 
vears of preparatory study at Thetford 




Academy, he entered Dartmouth College in 
1852, and left at the close of the fall term of 
1854. In November of that year he be- 
came principal of Woodstock (Conn.) Acad- 
emy, and afterwards was principal at the 
Royalton Academy and Burlington high 
school. In February, 1861, he became prin- 
cipal of the Orange county grammar school 
at Randolph where he remained fourteen 



years. During his administration tiiis insti- 
tution became a State Normal School. He 
was principal of the State Normal School at 
Johnson for three years (1881 to 1S84) when 
he returned to the State Normal School at 
Randolph, of which institution he is still the 
principal. 

Mr. Conantwasa member of the National 
Council of the Congregational Churches, 
which met in Boston, 1S65, and in New 
Haven, Conn., in 1874 and in Minneapolis, 
Minn., in 1892. He has occujaied the posi- 
tions of president of the Vermont Teachers' 
Association, member of the Board of Edu- 
cation and of the Vermont Constitutional 
Convention in 1870. He was State Super- 
intendent of Education from 1874 to 1880. 

He married. May 10, 1858, Cynthia H., 
daughter of John and Betsey (.'\very) Tag- 
gart of Stockbridge, by whom he has four 
children living : Frank Herbert, Seth Ed- 
ward, Nell Florence, and Grace Lucia. 

Mr. Conant's interest in his profession 
has resulted in the authorship of several 
educational works, among which may be 
mentioned : " A Few Roots of English 
^Vords " and "A Drill Book in the Elements 
of the English Language" and "Conant's 
Vermont." 

In 1866 he received the honorary degree 
of M. A. from Middlebury College and from 
the LTniversity of Vermont in 1S67. 

The respect and love his pupils give him 
from the first — and their gratitude to this 
wise man — grow as the years roll by. 

CONWAY, John, of Norton Mills, son 
of John and Catharine (Sullivan) Conway, 
was born at St. Catharine, P. Q., Nov. 29, 
1 84 1, and was educated in the common 
schools of that place. John Conway, Sr., 
was a farmer and teacher, and John re- 
mained with him until he was twentv-three 
years old, when he married and moved to 
Quebec. In 187 1 he took up his abode at 
Norton Mills, then a little hamlet on the line 
of the G. T. R. R., and was employed by 
the Norton Mills Co. in the lumber business. 

Soon his faithfulness and efficiency secured 
him the position of foreman, both in the 
mill and in the woods. In 187 8 he became 
the general foreman for A. M. Stetson and 
for twelve years served him in this verv 
responsible position. About eight million 
feet of lumber per year were handled, and 
as Mr. Stetson was absent much of the time 
Mr. Conway had the entire charge and super- 
vision of this large business, which em])loyed 
in the winter one hundred and fifty hands. 

Mr. Conway is an independent Democrat 
and as such was elected to the Legislature in 
i888-'90-'92. He received the appointment 
of customs officer in 1892. He also served 
on the county board of education in 1889 



COOK. 79 

and has been for several years a member and 
chairman of the board of school directors, a 
striking proof that he has won the confi- 
dence and respect of the community. 



»^*>'t?>^ 





He was married, July 25, 1865, at St. 
Catharine, to Judith, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Lannin) Griffin of that place. 
Their union has been blessed with eight 
children : Katharine E. (wife of Dr. Elie of 
Island Pond), John F., Elizabeth G., Mary 
.Ann, NelHe, Henry J., and .Alice (the two 
latter deceased), and Rose Lottie. 

COOK, JOHN Bray, of (ireensboro, 
son of Charles, Jr., and Caroline (Hunting- 
ton) Cook, was born at Greensboro, July 3, 
1836. 

Mr. Cook's grandfather removed to 
Greensboro in 1801, settling on the farm on 
which he now resides. His educational 
training was received at the Greensboro 
public schools and in two terms each at the 
academies of St. johnsbury and Barre. Till 
the age of twenty-two he remained and 
labored upon the i;irm, and removed to Iowa 
in the spring of 1S61. 

In October of that year, he enlisted for 
three years in Company A., 14th la. Infan- 
try, and expected to be sent immediately to 
the front, but the trouble with the Siou.x In- 
dians occurring at this time, the regiment 
was ordered to Fort Randall in South 
1 )akota. Here Mr. Cook remained for two 
years, sharing in many of the exciting events 



<So 



of the campaign under General Sully. After 
the Minnesota massacre, he was detailed 
with a party of twenty-five to pursue the 
Sioux Indians, and after a successful skir- 
mish captured six, who were carried to the 
fort, but who subsequently escaped. By the 
command of General Sully, Mr. Cook was 
assigned to the quartermaster's department, 
in which he remained until the expiration of 
his term of service. His company built the 
first building at Fort Sully. And as wagon 
master, under a strong Indian guard, he 
drew the logs for the first warehouse erected 
at Fort Rice. 

He has been elected to several town 
ofiices, and appointed justice of the peace. 
In his political faith he is a Republican. 

Mr. Cook is affiliated with Caledonia 
Grange, No. 9, of Hardwick, is a member of 
the Congregational church, and a teacher 
in the Sabbath school. 

Mr. Cook married, Nov. 14, 1S65, Katha- 
rine, daughter of Capt. Charles and Han- 
nah (Lewis) Kallamyer. Captain Kallamyer 
left the service of the German Emperor for 
political reasons, and afterwards entered the 
regular army of the United States. 

COOLIDGE, JOHN C, of Plymouth, 
son of Calvin G. and Sarah A. (Brewer) 
Coolidge, was born in Plvmouth, March ^t, 
i84S- 




His great-grandfather, Capt. John Cool- 
idge, a Revolutionary soldier, came from 
Lancaster, Mass., and settled in Plymouth in 



1 781. His father was a prominent farmer 
of that place. 

John C. Coolidge was educated at the 
common schools and at Black River Acad- 
emy. -Although a farmer, he is well known 
as a merchant and business man, having 
been engaged successfully in trade from the 
age of twenty-three. 

He was captain of Co. K, loth Regt. \'t. 
.State Militia, and has held the usuat town 
offices ; has been deputy sheriff and consta- 
ble almost continually for more than twenty 
years, and is a director of the Ludlow Sav- 
ings Bank & Trust Co. 

As a Republican, he represented Plymouth 
in the biennial sessions of i872-'74-'76, 
serving on the committees on claims and 
reform school. 

On May 6, 186S, he was married to \'ic- 
toria J., daughter of Hiram D. and .Abigail 
(Franklin) Moor of Plymouth. One son, J. 
Calvin, was born to them, and one daughter, 
.■\bbie G., who died at the age of fourteen. 
Mr. Coolidge's wife died in 1884, and in 
1 89 1 he was united to Carrie A., daughter of 
George and Marcella L. (Moore) Brown, a 
descendant of Lieut. Bowman Brown, a 
soldier of the Revolution. 

COOPER, Alanson Lawrence, of 

Newport, son of Silas and Rosalinda (Hub- 
bard) Cooper was born March 14, 1824, in 
Rochester and is a lineal descendant of the 
seventh generation of John Cooper, who 
came from P'.ngland previous to 1636, and 
settled at Cambridge, Mass. 

His elementary training was received in 
the common and select schools of Roches- 
ter, and he also studied for a short time at 
Newbury Seminary. He taught several 
terms in Pomfret and Rochester, also in 
Cayuga and Wayne counties, N. V. 

Entering the Vermont Conference of the 
M. E. Church in 1846, Mr. Cooper was 
stationed in several towns in Vermont, but 
in 1856 was obliged from ill health to retire 
from the work. In 1857 he entered Garrett 
Biblical Institution, Evanston, 111., where he 
graduated in 1859, after devoting himself 
especially to theological and biblical 
branches of study. Previous to his gradua- 
tion he joined the Wisconsin Conference, 
but later he was transferred to that of Ver- 
mont and was stationed at Woodstock, 
where he continued lor two years. Since 
that time he has filled many of the first 
positions in the conference as pastor and 
I^residing elder, and by his conscientious 
ministry has won the approval of all asso- 
ciated with him. 

Mr. Cooper is an adherent of the Repub- 
lican party and a strong Prohibitionist. He 
has held the office of superintendent of 
schools in Cabot and Springfield, and has 



been trustee of the Vermont Methodist 
Seminary for many years. He was one of 
the charter members of the State S. S. Asso- 
ciation, and was president of the association 
in iSys-'yf). 

He married, ^^ay 17, 1S53, l.ucinda M., 
daughter of Jeremiah and Serepta ( Hincher ) 
Atkins. Their children were : iSIary !■;. 
(married Rev. C. M. Ward), Kmma Louise 
(married Rev. Carlos L. .Adams), .\lice 
Etta, who died Feb. 12, 1872, and Rosa 
May. 




lutionary army from Connecticut, serving 
five years under Washington's immediate 
command, while his grandmother first saw 
light on the Atlantic Ocean, as she was born 
during the passage of her family from Hol- 
land. 

The only educational advantages received 
by Mr. Cotton were those of the district 
schools of Weybridge and Shoreham, and 
for sixty years he has lived upon the farm he 
now occupies. 

IHected justice of the peace and clerk 
and treasurer of his school district for many 
years, he was chosen to represent Weybridge 
in the Legislature of i,S<S2, and has often 
filled the position of juryman in many cases, 
notably at the trial of Chaquette for murder. 

Mr. Cotton has of late been much em- 
ployed in the settlement of estates, and has 
not been able to accept all trusts of this nat- 
ure offered to him. He is a constant reader 
and has devoted much attention to the law, 
of which he has acquired considerable 
knowledge. He is a cultured gentleman of 
strict integrity, and much respected by his 
fellow-citizens. 



LAWRtNCE COOPER, 



In i863-'64 he was stationed at Mont- 
pelier, and while there Mr. Cooper was 
elected chaplain of the House of Represen- 
tatives. During the civil war, he was busily 
engaged in charitable efforts to improve the 
condition of our gallant soldiers in the field, 
and in the hospital at Montpelier. 

He received the degree of Bachelor of 
Divinity in 1880, and, nine years later, that 
of Doctor of Divinity, from the Garrett Bibli- 
cal Institute, and has been occasional con- 
tributor to the Vermont Christian Messen- 
ger, and Zion's Herald. He is also endowed 
with some talent for poetical composition. 

He represented the Vermont Conference 
as a delegate to the general conference of 
his church in Chicago in 1868. 

COTTON, Joshua Franklin, of Mid- 

dlebury, son of William and Dorcas (Finch) 
Cotton, was born at Weybridge, Jan. 27, 
1820. 

His parents were of Knglish and Dutch 
stock ; his grandfather enlisting in the Revo- 




JOSHUA FRANKLIN COTTON. 

He married, Dec. 20, 1844, Abby C, 
daughter of Olive Lathrop of Weybridge. 
Mrs. Cotton died in February, 1888. 

COWLES, ASAHEL Read, of New- 
port, son of Leonard and Emeline (Clray) 
Cowles, was born in Craftsburv, Mav 26, 
1845. 

Having removed to Coventry in 1851, he 
received his education in the public schools, 



82 



COWaES. 



the lirownington Academy, and the high 
school at Coventry. He studied vocal music 
with James and Albert ^\■hitney of Boston. 

For twenty years of his life he has devoted 
himself to teaching vocal music, four years 
in New York. He is extensively engaged in 
the sale of musical instruments and sewing 
machines. He has stores for the sale of 
these articles in Newport and Morrisville. 

He is a member of the Republican party, 
a Master Mason and member of Memphre- 
magog Lodge, No. 64, Newport ; belongs to 
the Methodist Episcopal church in Newport, 
and is now leader of its choir. 




ASAHEL READ COV 



He married, Dec. 30, 187 1, Hattie E., 
daughter of William P. and Lydia ( Andrus ) 
Titus of Craftsbury, and by her had two 
sons : Harry E., and Percy W. 

COWLES, Elmer Eugene, of Wey- 

bridge, son of S. B. M. and Lucy M. (Weth- 
erbee) Cowles, was born in New Haven, 
August 21, 1 86 1. 

He graduated first from Beeman Acad- 
emy, New Haven, 1877, and at Middlebury 
College in the class of 1884 with high hon- 
ors. Devoting his life to teaching, for two 
years he was compelled to resign this calling 
by the failure of his eyesight and since that 
time has been occupied in agricultural pur- 
suits, making a specialty of breeding valuable 
stock — notably Merino sheep. Mr. Cowles 
has held several minor appointments, but 
has never sought office. He has been town 
superintendent and secretary of the county 



board of education, and a member of the 
board of selectmen. He holds to the gen- 
eral principles of the Republican party, but 
in politics is conservative. He is a member 
of the Delta L^psilon. 




ELMER EUGENE COWLES. 

Mr. Cowles married in Weybridge, Sept. 
25, 1887, Sarah, daughter of L. I. and 
.NIargaret Wright. 

CRAMTON, JOHN WILLEY, son of 
P^lihu and Lois Cramton, was born in Tin- 
mouth, Nov. 10, 1826. 

Receiving the customary education of that 
time in the schools of Tinmouth, Mr. Cram- 
ton, after working the home farm for several 
years, changed the scene of his labors to 
Templeton, Mass., where for more than 
three years he was engaged in the business 
of peddling. 

In January, 1S53, he came to Rutland, 
where he began the manufacture of tin 
ware ; a business which he still continues. 
But in addition, in i860, he became the 
proprietor of the Central House, at that 
time a hotel well known in Rutland county. 
In 1S64 he purchased the Bardwell House, 
where he now resides. Mr. Cramton is 
most widely and creditably known through- 
out the state. A description of the various 
positions he has filled, both in a private and 
public capacity, would far exceed the 
allotted space of this sketch. In 1886 he 
became a trustee of the Howe Scale Co., 
then in financial straits ; and upon its re- 
organization, he was chosen vice-president, 




^t^^^^-(^-^^<^^-^-/^ 



which position he holds today. For more 
than ten years he was director of the state's 
prison, being appointed by Governor Bar- 
stow to that post. He is president of the 
Baxter National Bank, the True Blue Marble 
Co., the Steam Stone Cutter Co., and the 
Rutland Street Railway ; and has acted as 
chief executive officer of the village corpor- 
ation of Rutland for several terms. Nor 
does Mr. Cramton confine his efforts to 
financial trusts. He is also an extensive ag- 
riculturalist of the progressive type, owning 
large estates in Rutland and Clarendon, one 
of which is devoted to the produce of the 
dairy ; and all are noted for the breeding of 
fine horses and blooded stock. During the 
war Mr. Cramton was largely engaged in 
buying horses for the army ; and he is now 
director of the Vermont Horse Breeders' 
Association. For more than twenty years 
his voice has been potent as a director of 
the State Fair Association, and he has also 
held many offices in the Fair .Association of 
Rutland county. 

Strongly attached to the principles of the 
Republican party, he has never paid much 
attention to political office-seeking, but has 
held it sufficient to confine himself to the 
duties of a good citizen and kind-hearted 
neighbor ; in appreciation of which he was 
chosen senator of Rutland county in 1888. 

He was married Oct. 3, 1S82, to Florence 
Belle, only daughter of Jacob and Mary 
Bucklin Gates. 

Mr. Cramton has not confined his pecu- 
niary transactions to A'ermont, but has 
varied and extensive interests in many other 
states. 

His religious creed is that of the Protes- 
tant Fpiscopal church, and he has entered 
the ranks of Free Masonry, being a Knight 
Templar attached to Killington Command- 
ery. He also belongs to the Knights of 
Pythias and the Plymouth Rock .'Association. 

It will be seen that Mr. Cramton has led 
a most busy life. It is much to his credit 
that he has filled so successfully the many 
and varied responsibilities that his active 
and honorable career has thrust into his 
hands. 

COYNE, Peter M., of Maidstone, son 
of Michael and Sabrina (Connor) Coyne, 
was born at Spiddle, Ireland, March 14, 

1847- 

Mr. Coyne came to this country a father- 
less boy at the age of nine years, .\fter re- 
maining about two years at Island Pond, he 
went to Lancaster, N. H., and received his 
education in the common schools of that 
town. Having his own way to make in the 
world under adverse circumstances, he re- 
mained in Lancaster until 1876, laboring on 
farm and railroad, until by patient industry 



and thrift, he acquired an ample property. 
He then went to Maidstone where he pur- 
chased a large farm on which he now re- 
sides. He has also given considerable at- 
tention to lumbering on the Connecticut 
river. 

.\ffiliated with the Democratic party, from 
his ability and faithfulness he has been 
elected by his townsmen to many positions 
of trust, and was a useful member of the 
Legislature in 188S. 

Mr. Coyne enlisted in the 14th New 
Hampshire Regiment, but being a minor 
could not gain the consent of his guardian, 
and was not received into the service. 

He was married in March, 1878, to Mary 
E., daughter of James and Margaret Malone, 
and their union has been blessed with five 
children: Eddie M., James, Mary, Theresa, 
and Peter. 

CRANE, JOSEPH ADOLPHUS, of 
Greensboro, son of Romanus and .Asenath 
(Goodrich), Crane, was born at Greensboro 
August 26, 1 84 2. 

.Attending the public schools of Greens- 
boro, he completed his course of study in 
the academies at South Hardwick and Barre, 
and then taught school for several winters, 
working for his father in the summer. .At 
his father's death in 1S79 he succeeded to 
the estate, which he sold in 1881, and took 
up his residence in the village. He has 
made a specialty of dairy produce and grade 
Jerseys. Mr. Crane entered into partner- 
ship with L. F. Babbitt in 18S7 and the firm 
did a general mercantile business. Later he 
bought out his partner and continued the 
business in connection with E. O. Randall. 

Republican in his political faith, he has 
served as a member of the town committee, 
as a justice for several terms, and as super- 
intendent of the public schools. He is an 
Odd Fellow and belongs to Lamoille Lodge, 
No. 26, at East Hardwick. 

A member of the Congregational church 
for twenty-five years, he for a long time per- 
formed the duties of parish clerk and super- 
intendent of the Sunday school. 

He was united in marriage to Irene S., 
daughter of Elihu and Ruth (Bean) A\"right, 
Jan. 25, 1871. Of this union there was one 
child ; Jennie .Asenath. 

CROFT, LEONARD P., of North Clar- 
endon, son of William and Ruth (Palmer) 
Croft, was born in Wallingford, May 25, 
1851. 

After receiving a common school educa- 
tion in the schools of his native town, sup- 
plemented by a course at Piurr and Burton 
Seminary at Manchester and Kimball L^nion 
.Academy at Meriden, N. H., he entered St. 
Lawrence University at Canton, N. ¥., where- 



LTIiWdKlll. 



85 



he remained a year. He then entered 
I'nion College of Schenectady, N. V., where 
he graduated with high honors in the de- 
partment of civil engineering in the class of 
1S73. After completing his education, he 
engaged in railroad and mining engineering 
in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and for 
about three years was the mining engineer 
in charge of the Penn Gas Coal Co. near 
Pittsburg. Returning to his native state in 
1878, he purchased a large farm in Clar- 
endon, on which he has since resided. He 
has been successful in this agricultural en- 
terprise and found it remunerative, still he 
has given some attention to engineering, 
especially in cases which have come before 




the courts. He is an extensive dairy farmer 
and breeder of Holstein cattle, and has also 
been successful in breeding fine road horses. 

He has filled nearly all the offices of trust 
in his adopted town, and represented Clar- 
encion in the Legislature of 1890. 

Mr, Croft, from his natural abilities and 
superior educational advantages, is naturally 
an influential man in his town and section 
of the county. 

CROSSETT, Janus, of Waterbury, was 
born in Duxbury, Nov. 12, 1823. His par- 
ents were Edward and Hannah (Carter) 
Crossett. 

Edward Crossett was a prominent citizen 
and farmer of the town of Duxbury. His 
father <iving when janus was twentv-one 



years old, from that time the entire care and 
su])])ort of the family devolved upon Janus. 
Mr. Crossett commencing as a farmer, soon 
devoted his attention to the lumber business, 
which he has since carried on for more than 
thirty years. He is a practical man, with a 
bent for statistics, and during the last forty- 
four years he has kept a careful record of 
business matters, which has been of much 
use as the basis of various settlements. 

A Republican in politics, he has held one 
or more town offices constantly for the last 
forty years. He represented Ouxbury in the 
Legislature in i855-'56-'57, and was elected 
assistant judge in 1871. A devoted advo- 
cate of temperance, he has never used liquor 
or tobacco, and carries his three score and 
ten years as actively as most men do fifty. 

For forty years he has been n member of 
the Winooski Lodge, No. 49, V. iN: A. M., of 
Waterbury. 

He married, Nov. 27, 1844, Eureta R., 
daughter of Amos and Fanny (U'heeler) 
Crosby. They have two children : Menta 
F. (Mrs. E. \V. Huntley), and James E. 

CUDWORTH, ADDISON EDWARD, of 
South Londonderry, son of Abijah Whiton 
and Sarah I\L (Simmonds) Cudworth, was 
born in Savoy, Mass., July 3, 1852. 

His early education was obtained at the 
common schools, and he was fitted for col- 
lege at Green Mountain Perkins Academy, 
South Woodstock. Entering Dartmouth 
College in the class of 1877, at the end of 
the sophomore year he left school on 
account of failure of eyesight. His parents 
successively removed to Winhall, Weston, 
and finally, in 1869, to South Londonderry, 
where he has since resided. In the fall of 
1876 Mr. Cudworth began the study of law 
in the office of Hon. J. L. Martin ; was ad- 
mitted to the bar in September, 1879, and 
entered into partnership with Mr. Martin, 
which connection continued till the removal 
of the latter to Brattleboro, since which 
period Mr. Cudworth has continued the 
business by himself. In 1880 he was elected 
state's attorney for his county, and four years 
later he represented the town in the ( leneral 
.Assembly. Mr. 1. udworth is a direct de- 
scendant in the ninth generation of Gen. 
James Cudworth of Scituate, ^L'^ss., who 
came to the country in 1632. 

He was married .April 15, 1880, to Mary 
Esther, daughter of James Martin and 
Louisa (McWhorter) Rogers of Hebron, N. 
\'. .-\ son and daughter liave been issue of 
this alliance : Clyde E., and Ina S., both 
of whom died in December, 1892. 

CUMMINGS, Harlan P., of North 

Thetford, son of Eben and Betsey J. Cum- 
mings, was born Jan. 19, 1837, in Thetford. 



86 



Eben C'ummings was one of the first set- 
tlers of the town. He ser\ed in the war of 
1S12 and assisted in proving land war- 
rants for the soldiers, who took part in the 
struggle, and their widows. He occupied 
the farm where Harlan P. now resides, and 
was one of the most trusted and influential 
citizens of the town. 

Obtaining his educational training in the 
common schools and at Thetford .Academy, 
he has devoted his whole life to agricultural 
pursuits and has made raising Merino sheep 
a specialty. He has always been an enter- 
prising and public-spirited man and was in- 
strumental in introducing the creamery 
which has contributed so much to the pros- 
perity of the town. He contributed largely 
toward the building of the church and Lyme 
bridge, and has been clerk of these corpora- 
tions nearly forty years. 

Mr. Cummings is much interested in the 
cause of education and is a trustee of Thet- 
ford -Academy. He has a large amount of 
probate business, holding in trust a great 
amount of property, a fact which shows he 
enjoys to a high degree the confidence and 
respect of the community. 

He has for a long time been chairman of 
the Republican town committee and presi- 
dent of the political club of the town. 
Twenty-five years since he was elected jus- 
tice of the peace, holding this office contin- 
uously, and in 1876 was chosen to the Gen- 
eral .Assembly by a large majority, and was 
postmaster at North Thetford from 1866 to 
1876. 

Mr. Cummings enlisted in Co. .A, 15th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., and continued with it e\ erv 
day during its entire term of service. .Aftt r 
the close of the war he became an active 
member of the E. B. Frost Post, G. A. R. 

CURRIER, JOHN WINNICK, of North 
Troy, son of John and Mary (Elkins) Cur- 
rier, was born in that town, April 5, 1835. 

Mr. Currier is a fine representative of 
American self-made men. A\'hen only nine 
years old he graduated from the "little red 
schoolhouse" and went with his father into 
the cotton mills at Palmer, Mass., and from 
this date he has only himself to thank for 
his success in life's struggle and for the lib- 
eral education which he has derived from 
keen observation, undaunted energy and 
honorable ambition. .After leaving the cot- 
ton mills he removed to Holyoke, where he 
learned the jeweler's trade, and in 1854 went 
to Boston to take charge of a wholesale jew- 
elry store. 

In 1854 he enlisted in the Springfield City 
Guards under Col. Henry S. Briggs, and 
when the civil war began he hastened from 
Pennsyhania to join his company, which 
had volunteered its services in response to 



President Lincoln's first call for troops. 
-After doing duty for a time at the L'. S. 
.Arsenal in Springfield, he was enrolled for 
three years. May 31, 1861, and mustered in 
as sergeant in Co. F, loth Mass. Infantry, 
serving with his regiment at the Washington 
Navy Vard and -Arsenal till .August 9, 1862, 
when he was sent to Massachusetts to assist 
in recruiting a regiment. January 6, 1862, 
he was discharged for promotion. Made 
adjutant of the ist Va. Vols., Nov. 26, 1862, 
he was appointed additional paymaster L^ S. 
Vols. Jan. 14, 1S63, which post he declined 
in order to accept from the provost marshal 
of the .Army of the Potomac a position for 
furnishing military clothing and equipments, 
being stationed at Citv Point, \'a. 



^^ 




WINNICK CURRIER. 



In 1 87 1 he returned to North Troy,, 
bought the old homestead and erected an 
elegant residence thereon, and has created a 
model farm from the estate. His winters 
are mostly spent in Bo.ston or on his South- 
ern plantation. 

-Mr. Currier is a very public-spirited man 
and has done much for the benefit of his 
native village. He planned and was chiefly 
instrumental in constructing the present fine 
system of waterworks. 

He is a member of Post Bailey, No. 67, 
G. -A. R., one of the largest posts in the 
county, and gave Camp j. W. Currier, S. of 
v.. No. 81, a fine flag. He is also president 
of the Orleans County Veterans' .Associa- 
tion, and an honorary member of the State 
National Guard. 



87 



In politics a strong adherent of the Dem- 
ocratic party, he has been entrusted with 
nearly all the town offices, was made town 
representative in 1S78 and again in i8<S2. 
He has been Democratic candidate for 
member of Congress and Lieutenant-(;ov- 
ernor, and has attended every national con- 
vention since 1S72, nearly always as delegate 
or alternate, and was U. S. Deputy Marshal 
for four years under President Cleveland's 
first administration. 

In religious profession he is an Episco- 
palian. 

Since 187 1 Mr. Currier has extensively 
engaged in the manufacture of lumber and 
has erected at North Troy a flouring mill 
with a capacity of one hundred barrels per 
day. He was interested in building the 
Clyde River R. R., now a part of the C. P. 
R. R. system, and was one of the original 
constructors of the Atchison, Topeka & 
Santa Fe. He has given much attention to 
the formation of companies for handling 
patent rights and developing mines. He is 
naturally very social in his tastes and is a 
Free Mason, and a member of the Scotch 
Charitable Society in Boston, the oldest 
organization of the kind in America. 

November 9, 1866, he married Eveline, 
daughter of John E. and Laura (Willard) 
Chamberlain of Newbury. Of this union 
were two sons: John (deceased), and 
Charles Elliot. An adopted daughter is the 
wife of T. L. Wadleigh, of Meredith, N. H. 

CURTIS, JOHN, of North Dorset, son 
of Daniel and Betsey (Bowen) Curtis, was 
born in that town, Dec. 24, 1819. 

He received his education in the com- 
mon schools, and fitted for college at the 
Burr Seminary of Manchester and the Cas- 
tleton .Academy, and after this preliminary 
instruction graduated from the U. V. M. in 
1847. During his school-boy days, in con- 
nection with his brother, he made many ex- 
periments in electricity, proposing to com- 
municate instantaneously from one place to 
another by this means through a wire prop- 
erly arranged. While he was pursuing his 
collegiate course, he was greatly dismayed 
to learn that Professor Morse had invented 
the magnetic telegraph, which he had put in 
operation, and thus anticipated all efforts of 
Mr. Curtis in that direction. .After his 
graduation he still continued to devote him- 
self to mechanics, and thus became a scien- 
tific and mechanical engineer. He was 
soon employed by the state of New York to 
look after the engines and other mechanical 
appliances used in the state's prison at Dan- 
neniora. Being convinced of the impor- 
tance of using steam expansively, he soon 
constructed a valve which he attached to the 
engine in the machine shop, whereby it was 



forced to use steam in this manner, and the 
experiments proved remarkably successful. 
.At this time the U. \\ M. honored him with 
the degree of A. M. 

Soon after he left Dannemora and 
returned to his native place, where he was 
interested in the construction of the Ben- 
nington & Rutland R. R. Mr. Curtis has 
made various improvements in engines, on 
three of which he has obtained patents. It 
is in ho small measure owing to his efforts in 
this direction that he has the satisfaction of 
seeing the engine of today doing its work 
with less than one-fourth part of the fuel 
formerly required. 




JOHN CURTIS. 

Mr. Curtis was married in 1851 to the 
widow of the late Dr. Cochran of Dorset. 
The 6th day of July, 1865, he was again 
united to Nancy Mosher, daughter of .Alba 
and Rebecca (Mosher) Marshall of Troy, 
N. V. Two children have been born to 
them : Marion .Ada, and John Daniel. 

He has always been a strong Republican, 
but without any disposition for office seek- 
ing. .Always interested in education he has, 
however, been superintendent of the schools 
continuously for about twenty years. In 18S4 
he consented to the nomination of state 
senator for Bennington county, and was 
elected to that important position. 

GUSHING, Daniel L., of Quechee, 
son of Theophilus, who was an early settler 
of Hartford, and Lucinda (Richardson) 
Lushing, was born in that town, .August 
4, 1834-' 



Commencing his education in the com- 
mon schools and graduating at Newbury 
Seminary in 1851. Having fitted himself 
for a civil engineer he entered the city 
engineer's office of Hartford, Conn. While 
there he laid out the grounds and buildings 
of the Colt manufactory of fire-arms, since 
destroved bv fire. In 1S54 he entered the 




service of the state of New York where he 
had the practical oversight of that portion of 
the enlargement of the Erie Canal extend- 
ing from Rochester to Lyons. Afterward, 
removing to the West, Mr. Gushing built 
thirty miles of railroad under most dis- 
couraging circumstances and his success in 
this undertaking proved his unusual energy 
and executive ability. When the civil war 
broke out Mr. Cushing manifested great 
zeal in recruiting volunteers and raised two 
companies for the service of his country. 

Returning to Hartford, for family reasons, 
he concluded to remain and invested in real 
estate and mercantile interests. In 1886, he 
with others, helped organize and construct 
the Hartford Woolen "Mills. Mr. Cushing 
has settled many difficult estates and held 
many public offices in his native place and 
has ably represented it in both branches of 
the Legislature 

Mr. Cushing is a Free Mason and a mem- 
ber of Hartford Lodge of Hartford. 

In September, 1867, he married Ellen F., 
daughter of William and Eveline (Porter) 
Clark, of which union have been born six 



children : Henry Clark, Mary Porter, Edwin 
L., Annie L., Daniel T., and Frederic G. 

CUSHING, Havnes Porter, son of 

Matthew and Resia (Woodruff) Cushing, 
was born in Burke, June 10, 18 16. 

He received his education in the district 
schools of Burke, at Lyndon Academy and 
Newbury Seminary. Emphatically a self- 
made man, he often related with pride the 
fact that when he started for the last named 
institution he left home with his parents' 
blessing and just fifty cents in money. 

Commencing his life's career as an educa- 
tor, he was successful in his vocation in many 
towns in New Hampshire and Vermont, 
and especially so at Newbury Seminary. 

In 1844 he joined the ^'ermont Metho- 
dist conference in full connection, and filled 
some of the most important appointments 
in the gift of that body. When he had 
been preaching only nine years, six of the 
best parishes in ^'ermont sought his minis- 
tration, for he had always proved a most 
successful pastor, alike popular with old 
and young. Faithful, devoted, earnest, fear- 
less in espousing his convictions, gifted with 




HAYNES PORTER CUSHING. 

great persuasive power and deep piety, it is 
not to be wondered at that at his death, 
Oct. 21, 1890, an utterly irreligious man 
should pay this tribute to his memory : "He 
was a true minister and was a friend to 
sinners." 

Mr. Cushing was united in marriage to 
Miss Nancy Maria, daughter of Alanson S. 



■and (rratia (Fletcher) Shaw, who died Dec. 
31, 1877. To them were born three chil- 
dren: Klla C. (Mrs. .A. L. Finney of Lyn- 
donville), Charles E., and another who died 
in infancy. February 26, 1879, ^^ con- 
tracted a second alliance with Miss Delia 
Cirace, daughter of William and Nancy 
(Calef ) Huntington of Washington, Vt. 

Interested in educational affiiirs, Mr. 
Gushing held the office of superintendent of 
schools for many years in the different 
scenes of his professional labors. A strong 
Republican in principle and vote, he repre- 
sented Barton in the Legislature during the 
war, and upon him devolved the duties ot^ 
chaplain of the House in 1857 and 1878. 

During the civil war he was twice offered 
the post of military chaplain, but was obliged 
to decline on account of feeble health. 

Kver active in the cause of temperance, 
he joined the society of Good Templars in 
1865, holding many of the highest offices 
and being their delegate to the R. W. G. L. 
when the latter held their sessions in Bos- 
ton, rietroit, Richmond and ?51oomington, 
111. He served as Grand Lecturer, and in 
this post worked most zealously and effect- 
ively to promote the interests of the order. 
His life in general was consecrated to good 
works, and he was a good and faithful serv- 
ant in the discharge of every duty and 
responsibility. 

CUSHMAN, 2ND, HENRY T., of Ben- 
nington, son of J. Halsey and Martha Louise 
(Thayer) Cushman, was born in Benning- 
ton, May 6, 1866. 

His education was obtained in the graded 
schools of the village, and he commenced 
his active business life in the capacity of 
grocer's clerk ; but, before a year had 
elapsed, in 1880, he became an operator in 
the Bennington Telephone Exchange and 
was soon promoted to be superintendent. 
He then, for a short period, entered the 
employ of the New Haven (Conn.) Clock 
Co., but returned to Bennington, in 1885, 
and engaged in his former occupation until 
the exchange was closed, when for a few 
months, he worked in the office of the 
Bennington Banner, with the intention of 
learning the trade of a printer. Abandon- 
ing this attempt, in 1887, he commenced to 
read law in the office of NVilliam B. Sheldon, 
and was admitted to the bar after three 
years study. The Hon. Mr. Cushman was 
admitted to practice at the general term of 
the supreme court, in i8go, and was ap- 
pointed master in chancery two years 
later. He entered into partnership with his 
former instructor, and they now enjoy a 
large and lucrative practice. Mr. Cush- 
man was of counsel for the defence in the 
case of State vs. Bent and Roberts (64 ^"t.), 



CUTLER. 89 

and associate counsel, for the defence, in 
State vs. Bradley, an important criminal 
case, that attracted much attention. 

He has taken an active part in political 
affairs, and, as a Republican speaker, did 
much effective service in the presidential 
campaign of 1892, in Bennington county. 

He has been chosen clerk of the Ben- 
nington graded school district, and is at 
present president of the Bennington Village 
Corporation. In 1882 he was appointed 
assistant state librarian, and in 1891 offici- 
ated as one of the committee of fifty of the 
battle monument and state centennial cele- 
brations, especially devoting his efforts to 
the entertainment of the guests, serving as 
chairman of that committee. He was one 
of the charter members and organizers ot 
the State Fireman's .Association, of which 
institution, in 1892, he was elected presi- 
dent, and re-elected in 1893. 

Mr. Cushman is an enthusiastic and 
worthy member of the Improved Order of 
Red Men, and is the Chief of Records of 
the local tribe. He is also a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and interested in 
brotherhood work, following in this respect 
his honored father, who was widely known 
as a Free Mason. He is a Congregation- 
alist in his religious faith. 

CUTLER, Henry Ralph, is a native of 
Glo\er, his ]xirents were Henrvand Cordelia 




(Skinner) Cutler, and he was born Dec. i, 
i860. 



9° 



In early life he attended the public schools 
of Glover and Barton, and afterwards was a 
pupil of the St. Johnsbury Academy. \\'ith 
this preparatory education he commenced 
his business life as clerk for J. W. Hall of 
Barton, but afterwards entered the employ 
of D. L. Dwinell of Glo\er, with whom he 
remained five years. Since 1S83 he has 
represented the large clothing house of 
Gushing, Olmstead c& Snow of Boston, Mass. 

He is a Republican in his political pro- 
fession, and was appointed a colonel on Gov- 
ernor Page's staff. 

Colonel Cutler is a member of Lodge No. 
55, Free and .Accepted Masons, of Barton, 
and of the Commercial Travellers' Union of 
Boston. Though liberal in his religious 
belief, he attends and contributes to the 
Congregational church at Barton. 

June I, 1889, he married Alice E., daugh- 
ter of J. E. Dwinell of Glover. 

CUTTING, Hiram Adolphus, son of 

Stephen C. and Eliza (Darling) Cutting, 
was born in Concord, Dec. 23, 1S32, and 
died .April 18, 1892. 

Though of distinguished ancestors, both 
on father's and mother's side, he derived no 
adventitious aid from ancestry or wealth. 
Receiving his earliest instructions in the dis- 
trict school, he diligently availed himself of 
whatever advantages it had to offer. From 
his sixteenth year until he attained his major- 
ity he taught school from three to fi\e 
months annually. He also attended school 
at the St. Johnsbury .Academy in the spring 
and fall — sometimes both — and served 
therein as assistant teacher. 

Desiring to enter the medical profession, 
from the age of fifteen he studied its theorv 
and practice, under the tuition of Dr. 
George C. \\'heeler of St. Johnsbury, but 
his health gave way and for a time he be- 
came a land surveyor. At the age of nine- 
teen he became assistant to D. H. Hull, one 
of the first proprietors of an itinerant 
daguerreotype-car in Vermont. He contin- 
ued in this employment until he entertained 
a proposition from his uncle, John G. Dar- 
ling, a successful merchant of Concord, who 
proposed that he and Cutting should open a 
store at Lunenburg. The proposal was ac- 
cepted and the new firm began business on 
the ist of January, 1855. The connection 
thus established lasted successfully for twenty- 
five years, when Mr. Cutting purchased the 
entire stock and business. After that he 
conducted the enterprise alone. In July, 
1870, a fire consumed the store, together 
with most of its contents. His loss was 
heavy, and was aggravated by the destruction 
of a very extensive geological collection and 
of more than a thousand volumes — mainlv 



scientific works — that had been pjlaced in 
the second story of the building. 

In 1870 he recommenced his medical 
studies privately, under the tuition of Prof. 
E. E. Phelps of Dartmouth College, and 
soon after received a diploma from this 
institution. 

At the close of the war he took out a 
license as claim-agent, and prosecuted hun- 
dreds of claims to a successful issue. _, In 
June, 1873, he was appointed examining 
surgeon. In addition to this office, he held 
those of special notary public and master in 
chancery. 




ADOLPHUS CUTTING. 



Dr. Cutting was appointed state curator of 
the cabinet by Gov. John \V. Stewart in 
1870, and in the same year he received the 
further appointment of state geologist, was 
reappointed by Gov. J. Converse, and was 
subsequently confirmed in the office until 
change should be necessary. In 1880 he 
was appointed by Gov. Roswell Farnham to 
a position in the board of agriculture, and 
was elected its secretary. As chairman of 
the Fish Commission of Vermont, in w^hich 
position he was placed by Governor Farn- 
ham, Dr. Cutting was no le.ss useful than in 
other relations. In 1868, Norwich I'niver- 
sity conferred the degree of A. M., and that 
of Doctor of Philosophy upon him the fol- 
lowing year. In consequence of his scien- 
tific attainments he was made a member, 
active, corresponding, or honorary, of no less 
than seventy-nine scientific, literary, and 



medical societies scattered throughout Amer- 
ica and Europe. As geologist, metallurgist, 
mining expert, practical and consulting 
scientist, he was perhaps not excelled in New 
England, if indeed in the United States. 
Dr. Cutting was the possessor of a library of 
twenty thousand volumes and a cabinet of 
minerals and curios containing thirty thous- 
and specimens. 

He was married on the 3d of February, 
1856, to Marinda E. Haskell of Lennox- 
ville, Canada F^ast. 

CUTTING, Oliver B., of West Con- 
cord, son of Franklin and Prudence (Isham) 
Cutting, was born in Concord, Sept. 12, 1837. 

Mr. Cutting was brought up a farmer, re- 
ceiving his education at the common and 
high schools in Concord and \\'aterford. At 
nineteen years of age he commenced teach- 
ing in the winter and working in the summer 
on the farm. In 1868 he began business as 
a druggist and book dealer, to which occu- 
pation he still devotes himself. He has been 
appointed local agent for the\'ermont Mutual 
Fire Insurance Co. 

A member of the Republican party, he 
was appointed postmaster in 1877, and held 
that office eight years. 

Enlisting as a pri\ate in the Union army, 
August 20, 1864, he was wounded at the 
battle of Cedar Creek, Oct. ig of the same 
year, and discharged from the hospital in 
May, 1865. 

He is a Master Mason and a member of 
the Grand Army. 

He was first married Feb. 23, 1S65, to 
Lavina, daughter of Russell and Louisa 
Powers. One child, Ursula M., was born to 
them, and his wife died May 3, 1868. He 
contracted a second marriage with Lois K., 
daughter of Austin and Abigail Robinson, 
Feb. 7, 1872. They have two children : 
Clarence F., and Susie L. 

CUTTING, William B., of Westmin- 
ster, son of Samuel and Hannah ( Brackett ) 
Cutting, was born in (Ireen River, No\. 
20, 1827. Receiving a common school 
education, at the age of sixteen Mr. Cut- 
ting commenced his business life as a clerk, 
and afterwards engaged in the manufacture 
of paper in connection with other mercan- 
tile pursuits. 

In 1853 he remo\edto Boston and entered 
the employ of the Old Colony R. R., and 
also started in the grocery trade. In 1854 
he commenced to work for the Indianapolis 



91 



and Cincinnati Railroad Co., continuing 
until April, 1861, when ill health comjielled 
his removal to Kalamazoo, Mich., where he 
formed a partnershi]^ to carry on the grocery 
and produce business, also the manufacture 
of lumber and barrel staves. He was again 
forced by sickness to return to the East, 
where he took up his residence at Spring- 
field, Mass., afterwards in Brattleboro, and 
finally, in 187 1, settled on a farm in \Vest- 
minster West, where he now resides. 




A Free Soiler prior to the formation of the 
Republican party, Mr. Cutting took an active 
part in the Fremont and Lincoln political 
campaigns and continued for some time to 
act with that party, but differs from it on the 
tariff question, and is now an Independent. 
Elected to the state Senate in 1882, he has 
held most of the town offices, and has been 
justice of the peace for twenty years. He 
has been a member of several organizations 
of the I. O. O. F., and Master of Maple 
Grove Grange of Westminster West. .Mr. 
Cutting is a L^nitarian in his religious views. 

He married, August 12, 1851, Mary .■\., 
daughter of Grant \\. and Matilda (Camp- 
bell) Rannev. By her he had six children : 
William L., Mary' R., Charles C, Frank H., 
Stella M., and Nelly G. 



92 



DALh, George N., of island Fond, 
son of James and Jane (Needham) ] )ale, 
was born in Fairfax, Feb. 19, 1S34. 

After attending the common schools in 
Waitsfield, he studied two or three years at 
Thetford Academy. Resolving to become 
a lawyer, Mr. Dale commenced his studies 




in the office of Dillingham & Durant at 
\Vaterl)ury and was admitted to the bar at 
the March term of the Washington county 
court in 1856. He then entered into part- 
nership with Hon. \V. H. Hartshorn at 
Cluildhall, where he continued to ])ractice 
till 1 86 1. At that time he removed to 
Island Pond and for several years pursued 
his profession, both by himself and with the 
firms of Dale & Robinson at Derby and Bar- 
ton, and with I )ale &: Carpenter in Charles- 
ton, but since 1882 he has confined his 
office work to Island Pond. 

(Governor Dale is affiliated with the Masonic 
fraternity, being a member of the following 
organizations : Island Pond Lodge No. 44, 
Haswell Chapter, St. Johnsbury, and North 
Star Coramandery Knights Templar, of 
Lancaster, N. H. 

He married, Oct. 6, 1865, Helen M., 
daughter of Porter and Mary P. (Wilder) 
Hinman, and their union has been blessed 
with three children : Porter H., Helen Inez, 
and Mary Lettie. 

Go\-ernor Dale has been honored with 
many offices in the gift of the people. He 



was state's attorney for Essex county tor four 
years from December, 1857, and was chosen 
to the Legislature from Guildhall in i860. 
Soon after he received the appointment of 
Deputy Collector of Customs and was put 
in charge of the port of Island Pond. This 
office he resigned in 1866 but was reap- 
pointed in 1 87 1 and discharged its duties 
till 1882. He was a member of the state 
Senate for four consecutive terms from 1866 
and in 1870 was elected Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor of the state. In the Legislature of 1892 
he represented the town of Brighton. 

Governor Dale was president of the Ver- 
mont Bar Association in 1S86. As an advo- 
cate and orator he commands the admira- 
tion, and, as a man, wins the love of those 
who know him. 

DAMON, Charles, of victory, son of 
I'.enjamin and Fanny (Jaseph) Damon, was 
born in Kirbv, Ian. q, 1S24. 




His educational advantages were derived 
from the common schools, and he adopted 
the trade of a tanner and currier, which 
in connection with the boot and shoe busi- 
ness he pursued for eighteen years in the 
Dominion of Canada. In 1852, Mr. Damon, 
allured by the golden promises of California, 
emigrated to that state, and for five years 
was alternately employed in mining and the 
milk business. Returning to Coaticook, P. 
(^., he purchased a farm and gave much at- 



tcntion to breeding Morgan horses, in which 
he met with great success, raising some very 
valuable stock. In 1873 he removed to 
Victory, where he still devotes himself to 
stock raising and agriculture. 

He was married at West Concord, Dec. 
20, 1874, to Elizabeth A., daughter of 
Richard T. and Joanna ( Bandfield ) Boyce, 
and by her he has had one daughter : 
Lilian A. 

Mr. Damon held the office of school com- 
missioner and councilor, at different times, 
while a resident of Coaticook, and while in 
Victory he has been selectman, town treasu- 
rer and agent, as well as lister. For two 
terms he has been the choice of a Repub- 
lican majority to represent them in the 
lower branch of the state Legislature. 

DANA, Charles S., of New Haven, son 
of Hon. Edward S. and Mary (Squier) Dana, 
was born in New Ha\en, Sept. t :;, 1862. 




His father, Hon. E. S. Dana, w-as for 
many years assistant clerk of the National 
House of Representati\es at Washington, one 
of the leading ?'ree Masons of the state, and 
served in both branches of the state Legis- 
lature. 

Charles S. Dana follows the \ocation of a 
farmer, and in connection with his mother 
is possessor of one of the finest estates in 
Vermont. He is also the owner of the 
largest private library in Addison comity. 
He has acted as newspaper correspondent 
for many daily and weekly newspapers for a 



DAN.A. 93 

number of years, and has taken an active 
interest in politics since attaining his ma- 
jority. 

For six years he was a member of the Re- 
publican town committee, has served as a 
tlelegate in state, district and county con- 
ventions, and enjoys the distinction of hav- 
ing been the youngest man e\er elected in 
New Haven to be moderator of the annual 
town meeting. He was one of a com- 
mittee of three to raise money to build the 
present Congregational church of that place. 
He was census enumerator in 1890. 

In 1S80 Mr. Dana was assistant door- 
keeper of the Vermont state Senate, and 
assistant secretary of that body in 1890. 
He now holds the position of secretary of 
the .\ddison County Agricultural Society, 
and in 1S93 was appointed as a member of 
Co. 19, Columbian Guards, at the \\orld's 
Fair. Mr. Dana is a member of I'nion 
Lodge, No. 2, F. cV- A. M., and takes a 
lively interest in all matters pertaining to tiie 
agricultural, political and , moral welfare of 
\'ermont. 

DANA, Marvin Hill, of Stillwater, n. 

v., son of Edward Summers and Marv Howe 
Squier Dana, was born in Cornwall, March 
2, 1867. 

Having obtained his earlier education at 
lieeman Academy, he afterwards graduated 





at Middlebury College, the Sauveur School 
of Languages, the law department of L'nion 
L"ni\ersitv, and the C.eneral Theological 



94 



Seminary in New York City. He also tooic 
a post-graduate course at tlie University of 
New York. He received the degrees of 
A. B. and A. M. from Middlebury College 
and L. L. B. from Union University. After 
studying law in the office of Judge Lyman 
E. Knapp, Mr. Dana practiced his profession 
in Missouri and Malone, N. Y., but was sub- 
sequently ordained in All Saints' Cathedral, 
Albany, by Bishop Doane, June ii, 1893, 
and is now pastor of St. John's Episcopal 
Church, at Stillwater, N. Y." 

As an author he has contributed to various 
periodicals, both in prose and verse, and 
has published a volume of poems entided : 
"Mater Christi and Other Poems," which 
has met with a ready and flattering sale. A 
volume of prose tales and sketches is soon to 
be issued. He has frequently been selected 
as class poet at the institutions where he has 
been a student, and he was chosen by the 
alumni of Middlebury College to deliver the 
annual poem at the commencement of 1894. 

Mr. Dana possesses eminent musical abil- 
ity and a marvellous memory, being able to 
repeat any list after once hearing or reading, 
and is distinguished as a linguist — reading, 
writing, and speaking English, German, 
French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, 
I-atin, and Greek, and reading Hebrew, 
Syreac, and Romaic. 

He is the present head of the Society of 
St. Paul in America. In 1892 he was nomi- 
nated councilor of the "American Institute 
of Civics," and in 1893, Fellow of the Royal 
Geographical Society of Great Britain. 

DARLING, JOSEPH Kimball, of Chel- 
sea, son of Jesse and Rebecca (Whitaker) 
Darling, was born March 8, 1833, at 
Corinth. 

He received his educational training at 
Corinth Academy and at the hands of a 
private tutor. Being desirous to see some- 
thing of the world beyond the boundaries of 
his native state, in 1853 Mr. Darling went 
to California, where he was employed in 
surveying and mining till 1861. Returning 
to ('orinth he purchased a farm, upon which 
he labored for two years. Feeling that it 
was his duty to give his services to his 
country in the civil war, he enlisted, August 
16, 1862, as a private in Co. H, 12th Vt. 
Regt., and was mustered out at Brattleboro, 
July 14, 1863. 

He then for some years pursued a mer- 
cantile life and was also the postmaster at 
East Corinth from 1864 to 187 1. At this 
time he formed a resolution, somewhat late, 
perhaps, to study law and commenced read- 
ing with Hon. Roswell Farnham. Having 
been admitted to the bar in 1S74 he prac- 
ticed at East Corinth for ten years, when 



he removed to the town of Chelsea, where 
he now resides. 

Mr. Darling has affiliated with the Repub- 
lican party ; was for several years the chair- 
man of the Orange county Republican com- 
mittee ; was chosen state's attorney in 1882 
and is now the deputy clerk of the Orange 
county courts. He was elected from Chelsea 
to represent the town in i890-'94 and while 
a member of the Legislature served upon the 
temperance, judiciary and election com- 
mittees, of which last body he was the chair- 
man. During his latter term of office he 
was member of the judiciary, ways and 
means committees and chairman of the 
committee on military affairs. 




ALL DARLING. 



He is attached to Ransom Post, No. 74, 
G. A. R., a member of the Congregational 
church at Chelsea and has been for twenty 
years superintendent and teacher of a Sab- 
bath school. 

He was married Oct. 6, 1S59, at Corinth 
to Mary Alice, daughter of Deacon Joseph 
and Mary (Robie) Knight. She died Octo- 
ber, 1873, leaving four children : Charles K., 
Emma L., Hale Knight, and Eben, the last 
dying in infancy. Mr. Darling's second 
marriage was in Chelsea to Emma, daughter 
of Rev. Harvey and Laura Webster. She 
died April 5, 1885. 

DARLING, J. R., of Groton, son of 
John and Jennette (Brock) Darling, was 
born in tlroton, Nov. 16, 1823. 



DAVENPORT. 



95 



Recei\ing his education at the Peachani 
and Danville Academies, Mr. Darling re- 
solved to follow a business career, and 
through a long and honorable life has 
strictly devoted himself to mercantile and 
agricultural pursuits. From 1847 to 1S57 
he was a member of the firm of Wek^h, 
Darling & Clark in the town of Groton. 
Since that time he has been engaged in gen- 
eral trade, lumbering and farming, and in 
1883 he entered into a copartnership with 
his sons under the firm name of Jonathan 
R. Darling & Sons. Their business has 
been carried on in Peacham and Groton, in 
which latter place Mr. Darling owns and runs 
a large saw mill. 




J. R. DARLING. 

An old-time whig till 1856, Mr. Darling 
joined the Republican party at the period of 
its formation and is an ardent advocate of 
the protection of American labor and indus- 
tries. He has held many ofifices of trust and 
responsibility ; has been town clerk for 
thirty-three years ; was representative to 
the Legislature in i857-'58, and state sena- 
tor in i88o-'8i. He was chosen assistant 
judge of Caledonia county in 1869, which 
position he held for three successive years. 

Judge Darling was united in marriage, 
July I, 1849, to Sarah M., daughter of John 
and Phebe (Heath) Taisey of Groton. 
Eight children have been born to them, of 
whom si.x are still living ; Cyrus T., Eva- 
lona, John T., Robards N., Elmer E., and 
\\'alter P>rock. 



Judge Darling has never been a member 
of any secret or social society. 

DAVENPORT, CHARLES NEWTON, 
son of Calvin N. and Lucy VV. Davenport, 
was born at Leyden, Mass., Oct. 20, 1830. 

He re(-eived a common school education 
in his nati\-e town, which he afterwards sup- 
plemented by study at the Shelburne Falls 
Academy, and the Melrose .Academy in 
West Brattleboro. Electing to follow the 
profession of the law, he jirepared to do so 
by entering the office of Oscar L. Shafter of 
Wilmington, Vt., where he continued for 
three years. At the .April term of 1854 he 
was admitted as an attorney to the \Vindham 
county bar, and immediately entered into a 
copartnership with his preceptor, but this 
association was soon dissolved and Mr. 
Shafter removed to California. Mr. Daven- 
port purchased his law library and practice 
and succeeded to his position among the 
legal fraternity. In 1856 he was admitted 
to practice in the Vermont Supreme Court. 
He was studious, careful, earnest and am- 
bitious to attain professional distinction, 
and i|uickly took position as a leader of the 
bar in Windham and Bennington counties, 
which he vigorously maintained for more 
than a quarter of a century. In .April, 1851, 
Mr. Davenport received his former law pupil, 
Kittredge Haskins, into partnership, and this 
connection continued for ten years. In 
March, 1S68, he transferred his residence 
and practice from Wilmington to Brattle- 
boro, which town he thenceforward made 
his home. In June, 1875, he received his 
friend, Jonathan G. Eddy, into copartner- 
ship. In the Federal courts of the Ver- 
mont district he gained great distinction and 
frequently appeareil before the Supreme 
Court at Washington, where he was admitted 
to practice in 1876. 

Mr. Davenport was a Democrat, but 
always erratic, and in his later years usually 
styled himself an Independent. In the cam- 
paign of i860, the distinction between the 
Douglas and Breckenridge faction was most 
clearly marked and bitterly fought among 
the Vermont Democrats. Mr. Davenport 
rapidly rose to the leadership of the Douglas 
wing until it gained the control of the party 
in the state. Several times he was the Dem- 
ocratic candidate of his district for election 
to Congress. In 1865, and again in 186S, 
he was the Democratic nominee for Gov- 
ernor. Painful and deep-seated disease 
brought him to his deathbed, .April 12, 
1882. His funeral from the Baptist church 
of Brattleboro was largely attended by the 
citizens and by members of the Masonic 
fraternity, to which he had long belonged. 

He was married on the 12th of December, 
1854, to Louisa Haynes of Lowell, Mass., 



96 



who bore him six children, of whom lour 
died young. Two still survive ; Charles H., 
and Herbert J. Mrs Davenport died Sept. 
30, 1870, and he contracted a second alliance 
on the 6lhof November, 1871, with Roxanna 
]., widow of Henrv Dunklee of Brattleboro. 
She died May 22, '1881. 

DAVISON, AmoRY, of Craftsbury, son 
of Amory and Nancy (Mills) Davison, was 
born in Craftsbury, June 29, 1830. 




AMORY DAVISON. 

He came of an old Revolutionarv faniilv, 
and his grandfather served in the Conti- 
nental army. 

Mr. Davison was educated at the schools 
of Craftsbury and at Bakersfield and Crafts- 
bury Academies. He commenced his busi- 
ness career as a farmer in 1854, and followed 
that occupation for twelve years, but at the 
end of that period, turned his attention to 
buying and selling neat stock, in which busi- 
ness he still continues to engage, though he 
has never lost his interests in agricultural 
pursuits. In 1868 he was elected director 
of the Irasburg National Bank, and con- 
tinued to act in that capacity until the affairs 
of that institution were wound up in 1875. 
When the Barton National Bank was organ- 
ized in 1875, he was chosen to fill succes- 
sively the offices of director, vice-president 
and president, which last position he still 
retains. 

A whig of the Horace Greeley school, he 
joined the Republican party at its inception 



in 1854, anil no less ardently adheres to 
their principles now as thirty-nine years 
since, or during the war of the rebellion. 

He has been selected to fill about all of 
the town offices, and has served as select- 
man fourteen years : was sent to the Legis- 
lature in i860, and was a state senator from 
Orleans county in 1892. Appointed railroad 
commissioner by Governor Page, he was 
again assigned to this post by Governor 
Fuller in 1892. 

He was united in marriage, June 26, 1855, 
to A. Augusta, daughter of Merrill and 
Lauretta (West) Williams of Greensboro. 
Three children have been the fruit of their 
marriage : Portus ^^"., Amanda, and Julius E. 

DAVIDSON, MlLON, of Newfane, son 
of Alvan and Ann (Howe) Davidson, was 
born in Unity, N. H., Nov. 28, 1834. In 
his early childhood his parents removed to 
Acworth, N. H., where he was brought up to 




MILON DAVIDSON. 



his father's occupation, that of a farmer. 
From the age of fourteen to seventeen he 
was in the employ of Capt. Samuel Mc- 
Clure, a neighboring farmer. 

His early school advantages were limited, 
for he had only one term a year, from the 
age of ten to twenty-one, but his evenings 
were devoted to his books, and he generally 
rose three or four hours before sunrise to 
study by the light of the fire or a tallow can- 
dle. He fitted for college at Meriden and 
at New London, N. H., and, continuing' his 



97 



studies uniler grent iirivations and discour- 
agements, graduated at 1 )artmouth ill 1862. 
He then taught as principal — mostly in 
academies — twelve years, reading law, as 
opportunity offered, with Mr. Soule of f'air- 
fax and Hon. A. Stoddard of Townshend, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1872. In 
1874, without solicitation on his part, he 
w-as chosen treasurer of the Windham County 
Savings Bank, and still holds that office. The 
business of the bank increasing, he has, in 
recent years, necessarily dexoted more of 
his time to that, and less to the practice of 
law. 

He is a member of the executive commit- 
tee, trustee and treasurer of Leland and Gray 
Seminary, treasurer of the \\"indham County 
Creamery Association and a director in the 
Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Mont- 
pelier. He has been director in the Brat- 
tleboro & Whitehall Railroad Co., superin- 
tendent of schools and president of the 
Christian Aid Association. 

Formerly as a Democrat and more recently 
as a Prohibitionist, he has received the votes 
of his party for town representative and 
state's attorney. He was a delegate to the 
national convention of the Prohibition 
party in 1888; a candidate on their ticket 
for presidential elector the same year, and 
for state treasurer in 1892. 

He married Gratia E., daughter of Samuel 
A. and Rachel (Woodworth) Andrews, of 
Richmond, Nov. 28, 1864. They have one 
child : Lula Estella. 

At the centennial celebration of Acworth, 
N. H., Mr. I)a\idson read an original poem, 
which is published in the history of that 
town, and at the opening of the B. & W. 
R. R. he wrote a lengthy metrical composi- 
tion — commemorating that event — which at- 
tracted much attention. 

Mr. I)a\idson is a member of the Baptist 
church, but has liberally aided other denomi- 
nations. He has a reputation for strict hon- 
esty and high moral character ; yet he is 
best appreciated by those who know him 
most intimately. 

DAVIS, DennISON, of Putney, son of 
Alanson and Experience (Orvis) Davis, was 
born in Putney, May 3, 18 19. 

His early education was obtained at the 
district schools of his native town and at a 
select school in Dummerston. 

Mr. Davis spent most of his life on the 
home farm, branching out into the horse 
and cattle business as a side issue. For 
many years past he has devoted a large 
share of his time to the importation of Can- 
adian horses and the shipment of cattle to 
the markets at Brighton. 

Mr. Davis has in turn held every im- 
portant town office except town clerk and 



treasurer, since he attained his majority, 
and represented his town in the (General 
.Assembly of 1880. 

Mr. Davis was married in 1840 to Cather- 
ine M., daughter of Zora and .Abigail (Orvis) 
Scott. Mrs. Davis died in 187S. There 
was one son from this union, who died in 
1876, leaving two children, a daughter and 
son : Hattie E., and Dennison P. 




DENNISON DAVIS. 

He has been chosen administrator of 
many estates and always performed the ser- 
vice with honor to himself and satisfaction 
to all concerned. 

Mr. Davis was again married in 18S6 to 
Abbie Jane (Joslin) Evans, and now lives 
on the Lorenzo Davis farm one mile north 
of Putney Village. 

DAVIS, Frank E., of Davis Bridge, 
son of Freeborn (J. and Sara (Brown) 
Davis, was born in Whitingham, May 22, 
1847. 

His family were among the earliest settlers 
of the town. His progenitors for three 
generations have successively lived on the 
farm where Mr. Davis now resides. 

His education commenced at the Leland 
and Gray Seminary, Towrjshend, but later he 
studied at .Arms .Academy, Shelburne Falls, 
Mass., and was graduated from Kurnham's 
Business College, Springfield, Mass. 

.After his graduation Mr. Davis was first 
em])loyed as a traveling agent, but in 1868 
he engaged his .services as a clerk at Reads- 



98 DAVIS. 

boro and later became a member of the 
firm of Stearns & Davis. After three years' 
connection with this concern, he moved to 
Turners Falls, at which place he engaged in 
business for a year. He then returned to 
A\'hitingham, and though possessing a farm, 
he has worked much of the time for E. J. 
Bullock & Co. of Readsboro as salesman. 
In 1887, on account of the failing health of 
his parents, he moved to the homestead 
where he now resides. During the summer 
season Mr. Davis is the manager of the 
Spring Hotel at Sadawga, and is now the 
station agent at Whitingham for the H. T. 
& W. R.''R. 

In politics he has been a Republican and 
was the nominee of that party for repre- 
sentadve in 1870. He has been chairman 
of the board of selectmen for two years, re- 
cei\ing the unanimous vote of his towns- 
men, and has also discharged the duties of a 
lister for many terms. In 1892 he was made 
a justice of the peace. 

Mr. Davis affiliates with the Deerfield \'al- 
ley Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Readsboro, and is 
the V. (j. of the same. He is a member of 
the M. E. Church at \\'ilmington. He was 
married in Whitingham, August 21, 1873, to 
Ida j\I., daughter of |. and Olive (Sweet) 
Bullard. They have three children ; F. 
Rockwell, Sara, and F. FUiot. 

DAVIS, Frank William, of Bakersfield, 

son of Joel C. and Martha (Montgomery) 
Davis, was born in Honeoye Falls, N. V'., 
July 31, 1850. 

He received a good common school edu- 
cation. At the age of twenty-four he com- 
menced his business career at East Fairfield, 
but in 1878 removed to Belvidere, where he 
has ever since made his home, with the 
exception of two years, when he was engaged 
in trade at Bakersfield. 

Mr. Davis was married at Bakersfield to 
Emeroy F., daughter of Ira F. and Mahala 
A. Dean, by whom he has had three chil- 
dren. 

From 1889 to 1893 he has been in part- 
nership with several others in the manu- 
facture of butter tubs at Belvidere Centre, 
and the enterprise has proved remunerative 
and been of much benefit to that com- 
munity. 

Mr. Davis has filled all the town offices, 
and for five years has been an active member 
of the Lamoille county Republican com- 
mittee. He represented the town in 1888, 
and served on the firand List committee, and 
was its secretary. 

He belongs to both the Masonic frater- 
nity and the order of Odd Fellows, being a 
member of Mount Norris Lodge F. & A. M., 
of Tucker Chapter R. A. M. at Morrisville, 



and of Burlington Council, and he is in good 
standing with Sterling Lodge, I. O. O. F., at 
Hyde Park. 

DAVIS, George, of East Montpelier, 
son of Timothy and Pauline (Stevens) 
Davis, was born in East Montpelier (then a 
part of Montpelier), March 13, 1S35. Clark 
Stevens, his maternal grandfather, was the 
well-known pioneer and (,)uaker preacher of 
the town of Montpelier, and Mr. Davis was 
brought up in the peaceful tenets of that per- 
suasion. 

The public schools of Montpelier fur- 
nished him his early educational training, 
and his life has been passed upon the fine 
old farm where he was born. From this last 
statement it is needless to name his calling. 




GEORGE DAVIS. 



but Mr. Davis is a specialist in his profes- 
sion, and is known far and wide for his herd 
of Devon catde. Specimens of these have 
brought him many a premium at the state 
and New England fairs, while as a breeder of 
Light Brahma fowls he is unrivalled. Mr. 
Davis is also interested in the breeding of 
colts, and for a long time was accustomed to 
serve as the starting judge at horse races, in 
which position he always manifested the 
needed qualities of firmness and decision. 
He is a most excellent judge of all farm ani- 
mals, and consequently is much demanded 
as a member of the awarding committees at 
county fairs and all gatherings of a like 
nature : for this office his conscientious im- 
partiality especially fits him. He has been 



many years a director and vice-president of 
the State Agricultural Society. 

Mr. Davis received tiie Rei)ublican \ote 
and the election for member of the (leneral 
Assembly in 1S84, and served on the com- 
mittee on highways and bridges. 

DAVIS, Gilbert A., of Windsor, son 
of Asa and Mary (Hosmer) Davis, was born 
Dec. iS, 1835, at Chester. 

Receiving an education limited to the 
district school and Chester Academy, he 
commenced to teach when he was fifteen 
years of age. In 1S52, he removed to New 
Jersey, where he pursued the same profes- 
sion for four years, giving instruction at 
Belvidere and other places in Warren and 
Hunterdon counties. Here he betjan to 



^gsSSSv* 



i 




read law with Hon. J. G. Shipman of Belvi- 
dere. Returning to Vermont, he continued 
the study of his profession in the office of 
Hon. William Rounds of Chester and later 
with Messrs. Washburn ( P. T. ) lS: Marsh 
(Charles P.) of Woodstock. 

Mr. Davis was admitted to the bar at the 
May term of the Windsor county court in 
1859. He remained with his last instruct- 
ors about a year and then removed to 
Felchville in Reading. Here he remained 
for nearly twenty years, and laid the founda- 
tion of a large and successful practice, and 
still keeps an office in Felchville since his 
removal to \Mndsor in 1879. 

He has always been identified with public 
improvements, is a director in the Windsor 



1>AVIS. gy 

i;iectric Light Co., has been a trustee of the 
village, and when the water works were con- 
structed he was one of the commissioners 
for that purpose, and is the president and 
treasurer of the Windsor Machine Co. 

Mr. Davis is a member of the Rei)ublican 
party and has held many important town 
offices. In 1858 and 1861 he was assistant 
clerk of the House of Representatives and 
to him was intrusted the task of making out 
the grand list. He served as Register of 
Probate for Windsor county for five years, 
and represented Reading in 1872 and 1874, 
serving both years on the committee on 
education, of which he was chairman at the 
session of 1874. He was elected to the 
Senate in 1876, where he was a member of 
both educational and judiciary committees. 
He was state's attorney for Windsor county 
for the term of two years, iS78-'8o. In 1874 
he was selected by Covernor Peck to com- 
pile the school laws of Vermont and he has 
also published a history of Reading. At the 
celebration of the centenary of that town, 
he delivered the address, and was also the 
orator at the centennial celebration of the 
adoption of the constitution and name of 
the state, held at Windsor, August 9, 1877. 

Mr. Davis has been for many years an 
official of the Vermont Historical Society; a 
member of the Vermont Commandery of 
Knights Templar, the clerk of the Congre- 
L;ational Society of Windsor and the super- 
intendent of the Sabbath school. 

He was a member of the Republican 
national convention at Chicago in 1888, 
and a member of the Triennial Council of 
Congregational Churches at Worcester in 
i88g and Minneapolis in 1892. 

In .April, 1862, he was married to Delia 
I. Holies, at Turner, 111., and their union has 
been blessed with four children, two of 
whom are now living : Marv I., and Gil- 
bert F. 

DAVIS, Samuel RA^', of Troy, son of 
Ray and Hannah (Firown) l)a\is, was born 
in Troy, April 19, 1837. 

His father was one of the first settlers of 
the town, having mo\ed there in 1833 from 
Lexington, Mass. 

The subject of this sketch received his 
education in the schools of the town, and at 
P.akersfield Academy. At an early age he 
acquired a taste for general reading, which 
hc.s increased with increasing years, and his 
well-stocked library of carefully selected 
books bears witness that his taste has been 
well cultivated. Mr. Davis has always re- 
sided in his native town. He is known as a 
]irogressi\e farmer whose success may be 
largely attributed to his untiring energy, 
together with good judgment and sound 
sense. 



In politics he is a staunch Republican ; 
though of an unassuming nature he has been 
often honored by the confidence of his 
fellow-citizens. He has held the various 
town offices, from juryman to selectman, and 
represented Troy in the state Legislature in 
1867 and '68. He was one of the county 
road commissioners in i886-'87, and assist- 
ant judge for two terms from 1888. 




SAMUEL RAY DAVIS. 

He is a close observer, and his extensive 
reading combined with a retentive memory 
serve to keep him abreast with the leading 
topics of the day. 

An evolutionist in his belief, his religious 
preferences are liberal, though he supports 
and attends the Congregational church. 

Judge Davis was married in 1.858 to 
Orcelia Kennay of Fairfield, by whom he 
has had four children. 

DEAVITT, John Ja.WES, of St. .Albans, 
son of John and .Anna (Manley) Dea\itt, 
was born in Brunswick, N. Y., May 3, 1808. 

During the winter of 1819, he was a 
student of the Lancastrian School of Troy, 
N. Y., and 'seven years subsequently entered 
the St. -Albans .Academy after which, having 
made choice of his profession, he read law 
in the offices of Royce & Hunt and Hon. 
David Read. Mr. Deavitt was a cadet at 
the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 
1828, and stood high in his class. 

In 1 83 1 he was employed in the office of 
Judge Cushman at Troy, N. Y., and soon 



after became a partner of Henry Wilson, 
Esq., city attorney. He then removed, first 
to St. .Albans, and afterwards to Johnson, 
where he was assistant of Cornelius Lynde, 
the postmaster. .After an interval of district 
school teaching, in 1833 he located in St. 
.Albans and formed a law partnership with 
Hon. Orlando Stephens, at the e.xpiration of 
which he was appointed deputy collector and 
inspector of I'. S. Customs for Franklin, 
where he became a resident and practiced 
his profession for sixteen years in conjunc- 
tion with his duties as a L^nited States 
official. In 1853 he returned to St. Albans, 
ha\ing an office in connection with Judge 
\\illiam liridges till 1870. 

Air. nea\itt has been a staunch and lifelong 
Democrat, yet he was elected from Franklin 
in November, 1842, as a delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention held in Montpelier 
during the following year. He was ap])ointed 
postmaster of St. .Albans under the adminis- 
tration of President Buchanan, and held the 
office under President Lincoln till 1862. He 
was admitted to practice in the United States 
I listrict Court at Windsor in May, 184.S, and 
se\enteen years after he received a similar 




JOHN JAMES DE 



pri\ilege at Washington with respect to the 
Supreme Court of the Ignited States. In 
April, 1874, he was elected municipal judge 
by a large majority, three-fourths of the 
voters being Republicans, and unanimously 
chosen at a second election, after which he 
declined to serve. He was a delegate to the 



DEMINC. 



natiiJiKil Democratic convention iicid in 
New York in 1868. He has acted as chair- 
man of jail commissioners of Franklin 
cotmty. 

Judge Deaxitt was united in wedlock 
Nov. 25, 1830, at St. Albans, to Patience, 
daughter of Willard and Sarah ( |ewell) 
Wing. 

This venerable old man was present at the 
laying of the corner stone of the present 
college edifice at Burlington in July, 1825, 
and distinctly remembers witnessing the 
reception of LaFayette and his son Oeorge, 
as they were escorted into Burlington by 
Governor Van Ness. 

Judge Deavitt has given largely to chari- 
table objects, and he has ever been liberally 
munificent to friends and relatives. He is a 
firm believer in the Christian religion, and 
has been both director and president of the 
First Congregational Society of St. .Albans. 
He still takes a great interest in courts and 
judicial proceedings, and is an indefatigable 
reader of history, keeping himself well in- 
formed with regard to all subjects of current 
interest. Judge Deavitt is reputed to be an 
able lawyer, and an eloquent and persuasive 
jury advocate. 

DEMING, Franklin, of Wells River, 

son of Benjamin F. and P'-unice (Clark) 
Deming, was born in the town of Dan\ille, 
Sept. II, 1828. 

His early educational training was received 
in the public schools of Danville and at 
Derby Academy and the Phillips Academy 
in his native town. His father was an old 
resident of the place, for a long time judge 
of probate and county clerk, and afterwards 
a member of Congress. 

Mr. Deming was six years of age when he 
had the misfortune to lose his father, and 
after completing his education he worked as 
clerk in a store for seven years. When he 
became of age he removed to Wisconsin, 
where he remained a year, and then settled 
in St. Johnsbury, where he engaged in the 
clothing business as a member of the firm of 
Boles & Deming. In 1857 he moved to 
\\'ells River, and has resided there ever 
since, engaged in general trade. He was 
first chosen a director of the National Bank 
of Newbury in 1874, and then president, a 
position he still holds. He also is president 
and half owner of the Adams Paper Co. of 
Wells River. 

He has always been a Republican, and 
was a useful member of the Legislature of 
1888, serving on the committee on banks. 
For twenty-five years he was jw.stmaster. 

He has taken the degree of Royal .\rch 
Mason in Haswell Chapter of St. Johnsbury. 

Mr. Deming married, October, 1854, 
Catherine, daughter of Francis Bingham, of 



St. Johnsl)ury. Two children ha\e been born 
of this uniori : Katie B. (.Mrs. Dr. H. H. Fee 
of Wells River), and Alice K. 





Mr. Deming commenced his business 
career with a very modest capital, but, with 
judgment and foresight, he has managed his 
affairs most advantageously, and is regarded 
as a sound and conscientious financier. 

DEWEY, Charles, of Montpelier, 
oldest son of Dr. Julius Vemans and Mary 
(Perrin) Dewey, was born in Montpelier, 
March 27, 1826. He was fitted for college 
at the Washington county grammar school, 
and graduated at the University of Vermont 
in 1845. 

In September, 1845, he was appointed 
assistant secretary of the Vermont Mutual 
Hre Insurance Co. ; was elected secretary 
of that company, January, 1850, and held 
that office until Nov. i, 1871. He was a 
director of that comjiany for thirty years. 

He was appointed a director of the 
National Life Insurance Co. in January, 
1 85 1, vice-president in 1871, and has been 
jiresident of that comjiany since 1877, when 
his father, who was the founder of the com- 
jiany and its president, died. In 1865 he 
was elected a member of the first board of 
directors of the First National Bank of 
Montpelier; in 1878 was elected vice-presi- 
dent, and in January, 1891, president. 

P"or several years he was director and vice- 
] (resident, and was elected ]iresident of the 



Lane Manutactiiriiig Co. of Montpelier in 
1891. 

He has served as trustee of the Washing- 
ton county grammar school since 1864 and 
as president of the board since 1879: also 
trustee of several boards appointed by the 
Episcopal diocesan conxention of Vermont. 
He was for man\- vears a delet;ate from 




ARLES DEWEY. 



Christ Church, Montpelier, to the diocesan 
convention, and in 1886 a lay delegate from 
the diocese to the general convention of the 
Episcopal church, held that year in Phila- 
delphia. He has been for over forty years a 
vestryman and for more than nineteen years 
a warden of Christ Church, Montpelier. 

He was three times elected a state sena- 
tor, serving as such in i867-'6S-'69. He was 
appointed state inspector of finance by Ciov- 
ernor Barstow in 1882 and served two years, 
but declined a reappointment by Go\ernor 
Pingree. 

May 3, 1848, he was married to Betsey 
Tarbox, daughter of Lund and Susan ( Edson ) 
Tarbox, of Randolph. Three sons and six 
daughters blessed their union. All save one 
daughter, Ella L. ( Mrs. Carroll P. Pitkin), 
survive : Frances L ( Mrs. Henry E. Filield), 
William T., Jennie D. (Mrs. Edward D. 
Blackwell), Mary G., George P., Gertrude 
M., Kate D., and Charles Robert. 

DEWEY, Charles Edward, of Ben- 
nington, son of Jedediah and Hannah Eldred 
Dewey, was born in Bennington, Nov. 29, 
1826. 



His education was received in the commorr 
schools, and in early life he was prominently 
connected with the ochre trade, but he has 
always made farming his principal occu])a- 
tion. He was born in the old Dewev house, 
built in 1774, around which cluster many 
interesting historic associations. It is one 
of the oldest houses in Vermont, and under 
its shelter some of the hardy rangers reposed 
before the battle of Bennington. In this 
house Mr. Dewey and his father first saw 
the light. 

Here the worthy son of worthy sires has 
received many distinguished guests desirous 
of visiting a spot hallowed by so many strik- 
ing memories of the past. The surrounding 
farm has been somewhat dismembered by 
cutting off portions for building lots, but 
much of it yet remains, which however, must 
soon be absorbed for the same purpose, as 
it lies in the residential portion of the village. 

Mr. Dewey is an adherent of the Repub- 
lican party, and a Congregationalist in re- 
ligious faith. He has been incumbent of 
several town offices, notably that of select- 
man, w^hile he has been prominently con- 
nected with the schools of Bennington as 
trustee, and one of the building committee 




CHARLES EDWARD DEWEY. 

of the graded high school. He is a charter 
member of the Vermont Historical Society, 
and the Bennington Battle Monument As- 
sociation. He was actively associated with 
the committee in the construction of the. 



I03 



monument and the celeliration at its com- 
pletion. 

Mr. Dewey was married Feb. 5, 1856, to 
Martha, daughter of Samuel I. Hamlen of 
Cleveland, Ohio. Seven children ha\e been 
born to them : Mary (Mrs. Charles Merrill of 
Bennington), Arthur J., Sarah (Mrs. B. C. 
lennev of Bennington), George H., Charles 
H., Kdwnrd K., and l-ldith M. 

DEWEY, HlRAM KlNNE, of Barton, son 
of Lyman F. and Laura (Kinne) Dewey, 
was born in Waterford, July 22, 1832. 



In ])olitics Mr. Dewey has always been a 
Republican and has several times been 
ihosen to office in the towns in which he has 
resided. In 1870 he was appointed clerk 
in the House of Representatives. In 1892 
he represented the town of Barton in the 
Legislature and was a useful member of the 
committee on banks and the library. His 
religious preference is Congregational. 

Mr. Dewey was married March i, 1866, 
to Susan Augusta, daughter of Calvin and 
.Ann (Fifield) C.errish of Concord, N. H., 
and they have had three children : Fred, 
Kdie, and Lena. The first named died in 
infancv. 




IIRAM KINNE DEWEY. 



He obtained his education at the public 
schools of his native town and the acade- 
mies of Peacham, Mclndoes Falls and St. 
Johnsbury. For five years after leaving 
school he was engaged in teaching in \'er- 
mont and New Hampshire. In 1861 he 
was made chief clerk, and had charge of 
the U. S. Pension .Agency at Concord, N. 
H., until 1865. In 1868 he held the posi- 
tion of engrossing clerk in the N. H. Legis- 
lature. In the fall of that year he moved to 
Lyndonville and was in trade and in the em- 
ploy of the Connecticut & Passumpsic R. R. 
for three years. In 1869 he received the 
appointment of postmaster at Lyndonville 
which ofifice he resigned in 1871 to accept 
the position of cashier of the Irasburgh 
National Bank of Orleans, where he re- 
mained till 1875, when he was elected 
cashier of the Barton National Bank at Bar- 
ton which position he still holds. 



DEXTER, Avery J., late of Wardsboro, 
was the son of Charles and Lucinda (Bas- 
comb) Dexter, and was born in \\'ardsboro, 
.April 27, r8i8, and died April 19, 1893. 

He was educated at the common schools 
in the town, and worked on the home farm. 
In 1848 he began the manufacture of chairs 
and furniture, which business he carried on 
for two years. In 1850 he established a 
general merchandise store in Wardsboro, 
which he continued until 1880, carrying on 
a farm at the same time. 




VERY J. DEXTER. 



-Mr. Dexter is a man of character and abil- 
ity, and enjoyed the confidence of his fellow- 
townsmen, which will be readily gathered 
from the following facts. 

He has been justice of the peace for ovfer 
forty years, and has held the office of first 



104 



selectman for twenty-three years, also town 
clerk since 1864. In 1858 and 1859 he was 
elected to the (General Assembly, and ser\ed 
creditably in the first session held in the new- 
State House, when Senator Edmunds was 
speaker. He was re-elected in 1864 and 
T865, during the St. Albans raid, and voted 
for the confirmation of Lincoln's emancipa- 
tion of slavery. He was again elected in 
1878 and 1879, and also in 1886. 

Mr. Dexter was married March 12, 1841, 
to Miss Mary Durant, daughter of Daniel 
and Mary (i)urant) White of Gloucester, 
Mass. Of this union were nine children, six 
of whom are still living : Charles D., Ger- 
trude I. (Mrs. Marshall O. Howe), Frederic 
H., Mary A. (Mrs. Brownson Matteson), 
Luna J. (wife of D. L. Smith), and Efifie E. 

Mr. Dexter was fairly successful in his pri- 
vate business. He was generous, according 
to his means : to accumulate a large property 
was never the aim of his life. He has 
left what is "better than riches — a good 
name." His unselfish and kindly interest in 
others, the sympathy and counsel that he has 
freely extended to those who have sought his 
advice, will long be held in grateful remem- 
brance by many whom he has thus befriended. 

DEXTER, Charles D., of Wardsboro, 

son of Avery J. and Mary D. (White) 



"^. 




CHARLES D. DEXTER. 



Dexter, was born in Wardsboro, Nov. 2->, 
1843. 

He attended the common schools of his 



native town, and then pursued a course of 
study at the Leland and Gray Seminary in 
Townshend. 

For some time he devoted himself to the 
interests of education as a teacher, and then 
removed to Baltimore, Md., where he en- 
gaged in business for a considerable period. 
In 1864 he returned to Wardsboro, and after 
some years began the manufacture of sieve 
hoops, which business he has carried on up 
to the present time. Mr. Dexter has also 
been engaged in farming to some extent. 

In his political preference he is a staunch 
Republican, and was elected to the Legis- 
lature in 1890. 

He was married Dec. 25, 1S70, to Rosa 
L., daughter of Jason S. and Carrie ('l'hom]j- 
son) Knowlton of Wardsboro. Their union 
has been blessed with three children : Carrie 
M., James A., and Charles K. 

Mr. Dexter has held many and \aried 
positions of honor and trust in his town, and 
has a strong hold upon the esteem of his 
fellow-townsmen as an able and conscien- 
tious citizen, a kind friend and good 
neighbor. 

DEXTER, EleazeR, of Reading, was 
born in Hardwick, Mass., July 7, 1813, and 
was the son of Eleazer and Charity (Will- 
iams) Dexter. His father followed the 
business of farming in Hardwick, and fell 
fighting bravely in the service of his country 
at the battle of Plattsburg in 18 14. Eleazer, 
Jr., was the youngest of a family of fifteen 
children and received such an education as 
could be obtained in the common schools 
of those days. Manifesting a great taste for 
music, at the early age of thirteen he began 
to travel with his brother, whom he assisted 
in giving entertainments, of which music 
formed the principal part. Soon his ambi- 
tion led him to higher aspirations and he 
became a facile composer of music of a light 
character, many of his efforts being received 
with great approbation. In 1S43 Mr. Dex- 
ter located at Reading to give instruction in 
band music. 

He has never entered political life, but in 
1880 was elected representative from Read- 
ing. Receiving excellent instruction in his art 
from eminent musicians in Boston, he be- 
came an eminent teacher of both vocal and 
instrumental music, and has had for his 
])upils many who have since found both 
profit and fame in their profession, notably 
the Stratton Brothers, George M. Clark, 
Hank White, O. .\. Whitmore and Theodore 
J. .-Vllen, both well known solo performers on 
the clarinet and cornet, all of whom were 
originally citizens of Reading. 

During the war of the rebellion Mr. Dex- 
ter travelled extensively through New Eng- 
land, New ^'ork and Canada exhibiting a 



panorama of the principal events of that war, 
accompanying the entertainment with Iwtii 
vocal and instrumental music. He com- 
posed at the time many patriotic songs 
which proved to be very popular. 

Notwithstanding his four score years, Mr. 
Dexter lives peacefully in the enjoyment of 
a good old age, cheered by memories of the 
past and in confident hope for the future. 

DICKEY, .ASA M., of Bradford, son of 
-■Xdam and .Anna (Merrill) Dickey, was born 
at East Orange, March lo, 182 1. 

His grandfather .\dam with his two broth- 
ers served in the Revolutionary war, in which 
struggle the two latter lost their lives. 

He received his education in the common 
schools and the Methodist Seminarv at 




Newbury. During his struggle for an edu- 
cation, he defrayed a part of its cost by 
teaching school and at the time seriously 
thought of making this profession his life- 
long occupation, but the law proved a 
stronger attraction to his active mind and 
he commenced to read with Hon. John 
Colby of Washington, completing his studies 
with Hon. Levi B. ^'ilas of Chelsea. He 
was admitted to the bar at the June term in 
1845. Soon after Mr. Dickey met with a 
lifelong misfortune in an impairment of 
vision, but he nevertheless persevered in his 
chosen profession, and opened an offic:e at 
West Topsham, where his success was 
marked and immediate. He was elected 



state's attorney of Orange county in 1850 
and was re-elected the succeeding year. 
Mr. Dickey then formed a partnership with 
Hon. C. B. Leslie of Wells River and re- 
mained there till 1S56, when he opened an 
office at Bradford, where he did a large and 
increasing business. In 1870 he moved to 
St Johnsbury and entered into partnership 
with Walter F. Smith. .-\t this time he was 
again troubled with his eyes, but he soon 
attained a large and lucrative practice in 
Caledonia, Orleans, Washington and Esse.x 
counties, .\fter a serious illness, he re- 
turned to Bradford and although seeking no 
business, he has been retained in many im- 
portant cases. 

In 1853 he was chairman of the Demo- 
cratic state committee and was appointed 
chief of staff with the rank of colonel by 
Ciovernor Robinson. He was a delegate to 
the national convention of 1864 and in 1869 
represented Bradford in the Legislature, 
was candidate for speaker and a member of 
the judiciary committee. For two suc- 
cessive years he was Democratic candidate 
for Congress and one year his party's candi- 
date for U. S. senator. He was also ap- 
pointed by President Cleveland postmaster 
at Bradford. 

Colonel Dickey was largely instrumental in 
the organization of the Merchants National 
Bank of St. Johnsbury, and is president of 
the village corporation of Bradford. 

He was united in marriage July 9, 1846, 
to Harriet M., daughter of John and Lucy 
AVood Chubb of Corinth. Three children 
have been born to them, two daughters — 
who died in early life — and one son, Ceorge 
\., a well-known young lawyer of Bradford. 

Colonel Dickey is a iirominent member of 
the M. E. Church and was appointed by the 
bishop lay delegate to an ecumenical coun- 
cil in London. Professionally he is best 
appreciated in his jury practice. His in- 
timate knowledge of human nature and cor- 
rect judgment of motives have made him a 
master of the art of cross-e.xamination. His 
strength as an advocate lies in the clear ex- 
[losition of his case, his logical deduction 
from the evidence, and his earnest sincerity. 

DICKINSON, ALBERT JOYCE, of Ben- 
son, son of Isaac and Cornelia (Coleman) 
Dickinson, was born in Benson, .\pril 5, 
1841. 

His education was that of the common 
schools of the time, and after he had grad- 
uateii from them he continued the pursuit of 
knowledge at the Castleton Seminary. Born 
and reared upon a farm, he has naturally fol- 
lowed that occupation, and has always lived 
in the place of his birth, except an interval 
of lour years, extending from 1873 to 1877, 
when he removed to the town of West Ha\en. 



io6 



DILLINGHAM. 



At duty's call he enrolled himself in Co. D, 
14th Yt. \'ols., and with this organization was 
present at the battle of Gettysburg, receiving 
an honorable discharge at the expiration of 
his term of enlistment. 

In his political affiliations he is a Republi- 
can, and so far merited the confidence of 
his fellow-citizens, that they chose him a 
member of the House of Representatives in 
1886, and elected him as senator from Rut- 
land county in 1890. 

He is a member of the Masonic frater- 
nity, having associated himself with Acacia 
Lodge, No. 91, in which he has been called 
to fiU the Master's chair. He also belongs 
to John A. Logan Post, No. 88, G. A. R., 
and is enrolled among the Sons of the .Ameri- 
can Revolution. 

Mr. Dickinson was married at Benson, 
Oct. 7, 1867, to Helen tloodrich, daughter 
of Benjamin and LIrsula (Goodrich) Bascom, 
of which marriage have been born : Florence 
Bascom, Fannie Coleman, John Quincy, Ben- 
jamin Horace, Charles .Albert, and Colleen 
.Amelia. 

DILLINGHAM, WILLIAM PAUL, third 
son of Paul and Julia (Carpenter) Dilling- 
ham, was born in Waterbury, Dec. 12, 1843. 
His great-grandfather, John Dillingham, was 




LLIAM PAUL DILLINGHAM. 



killed at Quebec while serving under Wolfe, 
and his grandfather, Paul Dillingham, served 
three years in the Revolution, and settled in 
Waterbury in 1S05. 

William, after attending the common 



schools, went to Newbury Seminary and to 
Kimball Union .Academy at Meriden, N. H. 
He read law with his brother-in-law. Matt 
H. Carpenter, in Milwaukee from 1864 to 
tS66, and then with his father. Gov. Paul 
Dillingham, at Waterbury, and was admitted 
to the bar at the September term, 1867, of 
Washington county court. 

He was, in 1866, appointed secretary of 
civil and military affairs to fill a vacancy 
occasioned by the resignation of Charles M. 
Gay, Esq., and was again secretary of civil 
and military affairs during the administra- 
tion of Gov. .Asahel Peck, 1S74 to 1876. 

Mr. Dillingham was elected state's attor- 
ney for Washington county in 1872, and re- 
elected in 1874. The trial of Magoon for 
the murder of Streeter, and that of Miles 
for the Barre bank robbery, both of which 
resulted in conviction, were events in his 
time as prosecuting officer that attracted 
much public attention, but they represented 
but a small part of his labors, for the docket 
was then crowded with criminal causes. 

He represented Waterbury in the House 
in 1876 and again in 1884, and was a sena- 
tor from Washington county in 1878 and 
1880. In 1882 he was appointed commis- 
sioner of state ta.xes under the new ta.x law 
of that year, and held the office of commis- 
sioner for si.x years. In 1S88, as the Repub- 
lican candidate for Governor, he did effect- 
ive work as a campaign speaker for Harri- 
son and Morton, and was elected Governor 
by the largest majority ever given in the 
state to a candidate fur that jjosition. 

He has practiced law since his admission 
to the bar, and was, till his father retired, a 
member of the firm of P. Dillingham & Son, 
and thereafter for some years was in prac- 
tice alone. L'pon the e.xpiration of his term 
as Governor in October, 1890, the partner- 
ship of Dillingham & Huse was formed. In 
1892 Fred A. Howland became a member 
of the firm which is now Dillingham, Huse 
iS: Howland. 

Mr. Dillingham married, Dec. 24, 1874, 
Mary E. Shipman, daughter of Rev. Isaiah 
H. and Charlotte R. Shipman of Lisbon, N. 
H. They have one son, Paul Shipman, born 
Oct. 27, 1878. 

Governor Dillingham is a Methodist, and 
was a lay delegate from Vermont to the 
( '.eneral Conference of the AL E. Church at 
Omaha in 1893. He is president of the 
board of trustees of the Vermont Methodist 
Seminary. 

DILLON, JOHN W., of Putnamsville, 
son of William and Sarah (Megaw) Dillon, 
was born in East Montpelier, July 17, 1850. 

He received the usual privileges of a 
farmer's son, attending the district schools 
of his native town and the Washington 



I07 



county grammar school. Soon after he went 
into a railroad office and learned the art of 
telegraphy. Subsequently he acted as book- 
keeper for John C. Dow & Co., of Lawrence, 
Mass., and afterwards entered into an en- 
gagement with C. C. Putnam & Son of Put- 
namsville to perform the duties of clerk, 
bookkeeper and overseer of their extensive 
business, and with them he remained foiir- 
teen years. 

Mr. Dillon is now interested in the 
granite and insurance business at Barre, and 
he has also become the owner of some valu- 
able granite properties near Hardwick. 

He was appointed postmaster by the Re- 
publican administration of 1881, and held 
that position till his resignation in July, 1892. 
He has been justice of the peace during 
nearly his entire residence in Middlesex, 
which town elected him representative in 
1892 and he served on the general com- 
mittee. He has always been interested in 
public affairs and when called to office has 
conscientiously discharged his duties and 
responsibilities to the general satisfaction of 
those who have entrusted him with the 
various positions he has assumed. 

Mr. Dillon was married Dec. 15, 1S80, to 
Belle M., daughter of G. M. and Mary S. 
(Putnam) Whitney of Middlesex. They 
have one child living : Grace E. A son, 
Paul, died Feb. 13, 1890. 

DIMICK, George Washington, of 

Windham, son of Nathan and Tabitha 
(Fairbanks) Dimick, was born in Sherburne, 
Nov. 7, 1837. 

Mr Dimick received his early education 
at the common schools of Bridgewater ; also 
at \Vindsor high school and Black River 
Academy. During the winters he followed 
the occupation of teacher in the district 
schools, and in the summer labored on the 
farm. In Oc'ober, i860, he removed to 
Windham, where he purchased a property, 
and on this he has since resided. 

Mr. Dimick has served as selectman sev- 
eral terms and also represented the town in 
the state Legislature in 1872 and 1882. He 
has discharged the duties of superintendent 
of schools, town agent, and trustee of public 
money, while as a business pursuit he has 
followed the shipping of produce for twenty- 
five years. 

Mr. Dimick was married, March 28, i860, 
to Belle P., daughter of Alvah and Cherry 
(Davis) Peck. 

DIX, Samuel NEVINS, of Montgomery 
Center, son of Samuel and Maria B. (Church ) 
Dix, was born in Troy, May 4, 1S39. 

The boyhood and youth of Mr. Dix were 
spent in the useful occupations of a farmer's 
life, and he gleaned somewhat scanty instruc- 



tion at the district schools of Troy, Derby, 
Coventry and .\lbany ; attending the Albany 
Academy for a brief period. 

After attaining his majority, he was em- 
])loyed in agricultural labor until the civil 
war, when in 1862 he enlisted as a private 
in Co. I, 15th Regt., Vt. Vols., and was dis- 
charged after his term of nine months' 
service. 

When Mr. Dix returned from the scene of 
action and resumed the occupations of civil 
life he pursued his former vocation for some 
time, and then entered the employ of Dun- 
can Harvey, of Peacham. In 1870 he trans- 
ferred his services to Columbus Green, of 
Montgomery. In 1875 Hon. ^V. H. Stiles 
purchased the business, and Mr. I>i\ faith- 





SAMUEL NEVINS DIX. 



fully served him till 1S78, when he was taken 
into partnership, and the arrangement lasted 
until the death of Mr. Stiles in 1891. 

He is of Republican political faith, has 
been entrusted with the positions of select- 
man, justice of the peace, and town grand 
juror, was a member of the Legislature in 
1880 and again in 1882, was for a time 
assistant postmaster, and has been entrusted 
with the settlement of many estates. 

Mr. Dix was married, Oct. 28, 1S75, to 
.Annette L., daughter of Hon. William H. 
and B. M. Stiles. One child has been born 
to them : Alfa May. 

He is a charter member and Past Com- 
mander of Charles Haile Post, No. 95, G. A. 
R., of Montgomery. Mr. I )ix is a man of 
affable address and a successful financier. 



loS 



DODGE, ANDREW JACKSON, of Low- 
ell, son of Andrew and Artimissa (Kelton) 
Dodge, was born in Montpelier, Jan. ii, 
1S25, and in April, 1S48, removed with his 
parents to Lowell. 

Educated in the schools of Montpelier, 
when he arrived at man's estate he began to 
teach in Montpelier, Middlesex, Lowell, 
VVestfield, and Eden. In early life he pur- 
chased his present valuable farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres. Besides his regu- 
lar farm work he has paid considerable at- 
tention to lumbering and has dealt exten- 
sively in Barre plows. For forty years Mr. 
Dodge has been an agent for the sale of 
unoccupied real estate, and since 1S55 has 




JACKSON DODGE. 



been the business manager in Lowell of the 
\'ermont Mutual Fire Insurance Co., of 
which he was a director. 

Mr. Dodge has been a strong Republican 
ever since the formation of that party and 
his fellow-citizens have bestowed upon him 
many of the town offices, selectman, lister, 
first constable ; fifteen years he Was town 
superintendent of schools, and justice of the 
peace most of the time for the last forty 
years. He was a member of the state Leg- 
islature at the regular sessions of i<S5g-'6o 
and the special session of '61. He was 
elected sheriff of Orleans county in 1872 
and held the office two years, 

September 9, 1855, he was married to 
Sarah C, daughter of E. S. and Irene Snow 
of Montpelier. By her he had three chil- 
dren, of whom two are now living : Clar- 



ence, and Clara ( Mrs. J. K. Little of Boston ) . 
He was again united, to Lucinda C, daugh- 
ter of E. S. and Irene Snow, Oct. 14, 1864, 
and from this marriage there were three 
children : Sarah, .\lton, and .Andrew Jack- 
son (all deceased). 

Mr. Dodge has always been liberal in his 
religious beliefs and a public-spirited man, 
ready to help in all worthy enterprises. 

DODGE, Harvey, of Post Mills, son of 
Eliphalet S. and Mary (Cox) Dodge, was 
born at Thetford, August 26, 182 1. 

Eliphalet S. came to Thetford in 1802 and 
purchased one-half of the original Post farm, 
on which most of the thriving village of 
Post Mills is located, and pursued the occu- 
pations of a farmer and lumberman. Eliph- 
alet S. was uncle of the well-known George 
Peabody, the millionaire banker and philan- 
thropist of London, who, while he was a 
poor boy, resided nearly two years with 
Mr. Dodge upon his farm and received 
from him much kindness and encourage- 
ment. 

Mr. Harvey Dodge was brought up upon 
the farm and has always resided there ex- 
cept four years which he spent in Norwich. 
He successfully devotes himself to farming 
and stock raising. 

" Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou 
shall find it after many days." Mr. Peabody 
in remembrance of his early associations 
has endowed the village of Post Mills with a 
public library, his own name has been given 
to the institution and his cousin Harvey who 
gave the site holds the position of librarian. 
By the terms of the bequest, three members 
of the Dodge family, while such members 
survive, are made permanent trustees and 
with them are associated other elective 
members and the resident minister or minis- 
ters of the parish. This library contains 
nearly six thousand well selected volumes. 

Mr. Dodge was united in marriage .April 9, 
1S46, to Sarah Jane, daughter of Halsey and 
.Mercy (Burton) Riley. They have had four 
children, two of whom are living : Burton R., 
and Henry M. In a second union he was 
married to Martha E., daughter of Frederic 
and .Anna (Chandler) Ladd. 

Mr. Dodge has held many positions of 
trust and honor. He has always been Re- 
jjublican and as such has been deputy 
sheriff fourteen years and justice of the 
peace for sixteen consecutive terms. He 
was elected to represent Thetford by a large 
majority in 1S70, and was made assistant 
judge of Orange county court in 1876. For 
twenty years he has belonged to Crystal 
Lake Lodge, I. O. O. F. The standing of 
Judge Dodge in town and county is attested 
by the many important positions to which 
he has been chosen. 



I09 



DODGE, JOHN LOCKE, of ISarton 
Landing, son of William P. and Nancy L. 
(Locke) Dodsje, was born in Irasburg, (X-t. 
21, T833. 

His educational advantages were limited 
to the common schools and the academies 
of Derby and Brownington. 

\\'hen nineteen years of age, he com- 
menced his active career as a teacher, but 
three years later was seized with the western 
fever and went West, where he engaged in 
the hotel business, but returned to his native 




DODGE, Prentiss Cutler, of Bur- 
lington, son of Robert and Alma C. 
(\\'heeler) Dodge, was born in l'",ast ^[ont- 
pelier, Feb. 13, 1849. 

Obliged to abandon school at the early age 
of eleven years, Mr. Dodge was apprenticed 
to the late Hiram .Atkins. He remained 
with him, serving his time, and then worked 
as a journeyman printer in Piurlington, 
Springfield, Boston and New York. In 1872 
he made an extensive tour through the 
southern states, and upon his return followed 
the calling of commercial tra\eler in various 
lines of business. 

In 18S9 Mr. Dodge entered into an 
engagement as Burlington correspondent of 
the Rutland Herald, and in the following 
year purchased the Burlington Independent, 
which enjoys the distinction of being the 
only Democratic paper in Northern Ver- 
mont. In 1S90 he put in a job office, which 




JOHN LOCKE DODGE. 

state in i860, and has been since that year a 
Vermont farmer. 

Since the formation of the Republican 
party, he has given it his steady adherence, 
and for his loyalty and ability has been en- 
trusted with many official responsibilities 
both by the town and county. For twenty- 
fi\e years he has most creditably discharged 
the duties of these, and in 1892 was chosen 
to represent Irasburg in the Legislature. 

Mr. LJodge is an earnest supporter of the 
Congregational church in Irasburg, and has 
contributed by his influence and energy to 
its success. 

He was united in marriage, Oct. 15, 
1861, to Sarah Jane, daughter of Hiram and 
Ruth (Cogswell) Merrill, by whom he has 
one son : Carlos A. 

Mr. Dodge stands high in the esteem of 
his fellows and can boast of a useful life, the 
honor and probity of which have been duly 
appreciated by his friends and neighbors. 




PRENTISS CUTLER DODGE. 

now requires three presses to turn out his 
commercial work, and his business is in- 
creasing rapidly. 

Mr. Dodge married, Dec. 8, 1874, in Buf- 
falo, N v., Nelia M. Kent of Rome, N. V. 

He has never held political office, nor 
does he belong to any secret societies, ex- 
cejit that he is a member and Fast Chancel- 
lor Commander of Champlain Lodge, No. 7, 
Knights of Pythias of Burlington. Though 
without school advantages since the age of 
eleven, he has come to the editorial chair by 
an excellent and well proved route — the 



Greeley route ; a hard climb that once made 
gives strength for and good assurance of 
permanent success. 

September i, 1S93, Mr. Dodge received 
the appointment of immigrant inspector, suc- 
ceeding Gen. \V. \V. Henry of Burlington. 

DONNELLY, JOHN H., of Vergennes, 
son of Thomas and Mary (McDonald) 
Donnelly was born in Keesville, N. V., Feb. 
19, 1855. 

His early education was obtained in the 
Vergennes graded school and afterward 
from a course of instruction at the college 
at Ottawa, Canada. He commenced the 
active career of his life by entering the 
employ of the Vermont Seat & Roller Co. 
as a clerk and in this continued for about 
five years; and in iSyShe commenced the 
occupation of merchant tailoring, and has 
established one of the largest and most 
extensive retail trades in the state. 

Mr. Donnelly is a firm believer in the 
doctrines of the Democratic party and has 
been alderman of the city of Vergennes for 
three years. He has also served on the 
board of council and as a Democrat has 
been highly honored by his party, of which 
he is one of the chief leaders in the state. 
In the last two Democratic conventions at 
St. Louis and Chicago he has been appointed 
delegate, and has also been nominated for 
various town and county offices. He is 
prominent and takes a deep interest in all 
the firemen's organizations of the state. He 
is a member of the Vergennes Volunteers 
and is one of the executive committee of 
the Fireman's .Association of Vermont. 

DOTY, George W., of Morrisville, was 
born in Montpelier, Feb. 16, 1838. .At the 
age of two years he was adopted by O. L. 
Metcalf, a farmer of Morristown. 

Mr. Doty received his education in the 
common schools and the People's .Academy, 
paying his expenses by his labor and the 
care of the building. .At the age of nine- 
teen, under the auspices of the Emigrant .Aid 
Societv, he went to the then Territory of 
Kansas, where he joined a jiarty of forty 
young men from \'ermont, who, under the 
leadership of N\'illiam B. Hutchinson, estab- 
lished themselves at a point on the Osage 
river, about fifteen miles from the Missouri 
line. This settlement they named Mapleton. 

During the next three years and a half, 
young Doty was both a witness of and an 
actor in the most exciting scenes of that 
remarkable period. .As soon as the town- 
ship of Mapleton was organized, he was 
elected first constable, and joined the Free 
Soil forces of Captain Bain and Colonel 
Montgomery. He was also a member of the 
force under Col. Jim Lane that dispossessed 



the bogus Lecompton Legislature. Later, as a 
Free State man, he was dri\-en out of Colum- 
bus, Mo., at midnight, barely escaping with 
his life. 

In the late fall of i860 Mr. Doty returned 
to his native state, and was the first man in 
Lamoille county to enlist at the outbreak of 
the civil war. In conjunction with V. A. 
Woodbury he recruited sixty men, who after- 
ward became members of Co. E, 3d A"t. \'ols. 
He himself was mustered into the United 
States service as a private in Co. F, 2d Vt. 
\'ols., and followed the fortunes of that com- 
mand throughout most of the bloody battle- 
fields. He was present at the first struggle 
at Bull Run, and was with the command 
during the seven days' fight on the peninsula, 





2d Bull Run, and in the Maryland cam- 
paign, 1S62. A member of the 2d AT. Color 
Guard, he was not absent from duty a single 
day till he was wounded at Fredericksburgh 
by a minie ball, which he carries in his 
right knee. Being thus disabled, he was 
transferred to the A' eteran Corps, and served 
until the close of the war. He was several 
times promoted, being a sergeant when 
wounded, and would have been commis- 
sioned in a short time. 

Mr. Doty is a staunch Republican, and 
soon after his return from the army, was 
appointed deputv sheriff, and later was 
elected sheriff, holding this position three 
years. For fourteen years he has been a 
member of the prudential committee of the 



People's Academy and Morrisville jiraded 
school. 

For thirty years he has been a Free 
Mason, a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge, 
and has held every position in that body, as 
well as in the chapter. .\ charter member 
of J. M. Warner Post, d. A. R., he served as 
its commander for eight consecutive years. 
Mr. Doty also acted as the aid of Com- 
manders-in-Chief Farnshaw and Alger, G. A. 
R., and in 1891 was unanimously elected 
Senior \'ice-Commander, Dept. Vt., antl in 
1893 received a like compliment when pro- 
moted to be Commander of the department. 

He married, April 30, 1863, at Prattle- 
boro. Flora A., daughter of Loren and 
Fedelia (Paine) Bundy. Of their children 
one son died in infancy, and two daughters 
survive: .Anna G. (Mrs. L. M. Jones, of 
Johnson, Vt.), and .-Mice C. 

For twelve \ears Mr. Doty was station and 
express agent and telegraph operator on St. 
J. & L. C. R. R., at Morrisville. For the 
last ten years Mr. Doty has been successfully 
engaged in Morrisville as a furniture dealer 
and undertaker. 

Mr. Doty requited the kindness of his fos- 
ter parents by providing them a home in 
their old age. 

DOWLEY, George S., son of Darius 
L. and Austis (Baldwin) Dowley, was born 
in Wardsboro, August 16, 1843. 




GEORGE S. DOWLEY. 



His parents removed to Brattleboro when 
he was of early age, and he received his 



education in the public schools there, grad- 
uating from the high school, after which he 
studied for two years under a former princi- 
pal of the West Brattleboro .\cademy. 

Upon the close of his studies he entered 
the local ofSce of the Vermont & Massachu- 
setts Railroad Co., where he remained for 
several months, when the position of teller 
in the old Bank of Brattleboro — now the 
Vermont National Bank — was offered him, 
which he accepted. Four years afterwards 
he became cashier, and continued as such 
until his election in 1889 as president. In 
addition to his official duties in the Vermont 
National Bank, he has enjoyed many posi- 
tions of trust in his town and county, the 
duties of which he has always met with 
characteristic ability and sterling honesty. 

Mr. Dowley has served many years as 
treasurer of his town and the village school 
district and is also county treasurer as well 
as a director in the Vermont \'alley Railroad 
Co., and various other organizations, and has 
several times been prominently mentioned 
as the Republican candidate for State Treas- 
urer of Vermont. 

He married, May 17, 1870, Miss .Ada E.,- 
daughter of William H. and Adeline S. 
(Thayer) Estabrook, of Brattleboro. 

DRAPER, Joseph, late of Brattleboro, 
was born in Warwick, Mass., Feb. 16, 1834. 
He was of New England ancestry, both 
father and mother being natives of Massa- 
chusetts. 

His early education was obtained in the 
common schools and in the academies at 
ISrattleboro, and Deerfield, Mass. .After he 
entered upon the study of medicine, he at- 
tended lectures at one of the medical 
schools in New York and also at the Jeffer- 
son Medical College, Philadelphia, where he 
graduated in 1858. .After a considerable 
period in general practice he became an 
assistant of Dr. Rockwell in the Vermont 
.Asylum for the Insane at Brattleboro, where 
he remained until January, 1SC5. He left 
this position for that of an assistant surgeon 
in the United States General Hospital at 
Brattleboro, in which he remained a few 
months, and in May, '1865, became an 
assistant in the state asylum at Worcester, 
.Mass. He was also acting superintendent 
of that institution for one year. In 1870 he 
became an assistant to Dr. Buttolph in the 
state asylum at Trenton, N. J., where he 
remained until February, 1873, when he 
was appointed superintendent of the Ver- 
mont .Asylum, where he remained until his 
death. 

Dr. Draper was in closest touch and sym- 
pathy with everything that concerned psy- 
chiatry and psychology, and was very 
jealous of the reputation of our hospitals 



and asylums. His sympathies were quick 
and large and went out to all who came in 
his way needing them, so that during his 
long residence in Vermont his name became 
a household word and familiar to a large 
portion of people, by whom he was held in 
the highest esteem. 

He was united in marriage to Mary J. 
Putnam, who survives him. 

Ur. Draper was a diligent student and 
yearly prepared papers which he read before 
medical societies. He is also the author of 
a history of the Vermont Asylum, covering 
its first fifty years. .'\t the time of his death 
he was president of the New England Psy- 
chological Society. He had been president 
of the Vermont Medical Society. 

DREW, LUMAN AUGUSTUS, of Burling- 
ton, son of John Y. and Almira (Atwater) 
Drew, was born in Burlington, Oct. 27, 1832. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Burlington and for a year pursued his studies 
at Bakersfield Academy 

When he became of age he was associated 
with his father in a wholesale and retail 
market in the town, which business is still 
continued under the firm name of L. A. & 
A. A. Drew. He then took a contract in 
the construction of the Burlington & La- 
moille R. R. In connection with his brother 
he is much engaged in breeding horses, 
chiefly of the Ethan Allen stock, having sent 
forth many " flyers " from their establish- 
ment, who have made a record in the 2 :30 
class. Mr. Drew was a promoter of and a 
large stockholder in the Vermont Horse 
Co. and later took a lively interest in the 
Vermont Horse Breeders Association and 
was chief marshal at the first meeting of the 
latter body. He was appointed by the 
commissioners superintendent of the Ver- 
mont state building at the World's Fair at 
Chicago, 1893, and performed the duties of 
that responsible position with much credit 
to himself and to the general satisfaction of 
the whole state, as the many handsome 
newspaper notices testify. 

Before the city of Burlington was chartered 
he was chosen constable : was elected to 
the position of chief of police ; then sheriff 
of Chittenden county, which he held thir- 
teen years, when he resigned both offices. 
In 1887, he was appointed by Governor 
Ormsbee one of the board of cattle com- 
missioners and three years after acted as 
doorkeeper in the House of Representatives. 

In 1890 he became associated with H. 
N. Parkhurst of Barre in the granite busi- 
ness under the firm name of Drew, Park- 
hurst & Co. 

Mr. Drew has always taken a lively in- 
terest in fireman's organizations, and in 
early boyhood was an active member of the 



Boxer Engine Co., of Burlington. Now 
honorary member of the Ethan .-Mien Co. 
He was largely instrumental in sending and 
going with the Ijarnes Hose Co. to Chicago 
in 1877 to participate in the national fire- 
man's tournament in which they won the 
first prize of S500 in gold, and also brought 
back a silver trophy belt which was pre- 
sented to the city of Burlington, the com- 
pany reserving the right to display it at any 
time upon parade by depositing S200 with 
the city treasurer for its safe return. 

Mr. Drew espoused, April iS, i860, 
Matilda R., daughter of Phineas and Persis 
(Nichols) Parkhurst of Barre, by whom he 
has issue one daughter : Carrie L. 

He has held many official positions in the 
Creen Mountain Lodge, I. O. O. F., is a 
Mason of the 32d degree and Knight 
Templar. He was a charter member of the 
first council A. A. S. R. established in Ver- 
mont. He belongs to the Burlington Re- 
publican Club and in his religious belief is a 
Methodist. 

At the time of the St. Albans raid he was 
quartermaster in the military regiment of 
the state and took an active part in the pur- 
suit of the raiders. 

Dubois, William Henry, of West 

Randolph, son of Earl C. and Anna (Lam- 




AKI HENRY DuBOIS. 



son) DuBois, was born in Randolph, March 
24, 1S35. 

He received an academic education in his 



native town, and while engaged in his studies 
at the West Randolph Academy, worked more 
or less in his brother's store in the village, 
and there acquired a taste for mercantile life. 

Being ambitious for a broader field of 
labor, he procured a situation at Randolph, 
Mass., and from there, when but eighteen 
years of age, he went to Boston and entered 
the wholesale boot and shoe store of his 
uncle, Wales Tucker, taking the position of 
bookkeeper. In 1856 he was admitted as a 
partner in the firm of James Tucker & Co., 
wholesale dealers in boots and shoes in Bos- 
ton, where he continued until 1864, with 
successful results, but with impaired health. 

During the next two years Mr. DuBois 
sought rest and strength in the healthful 
climate of his native state, and finding his 
health restored, he went to New ^'ork in 
December, 18O7, and became a partner in 
the wholesale boot and shoe jobbing house 
of DuBois, Magovern & Co. In the autumn 
of 1S72, he retired permanently from active 
mercantile life, and occupied himself the 
next two years in building a home in his na- 
tive village. There he has ever since resided, 
and actively interested himself in local im- 
provements and educational matters. He 
was largely instrumental in establishing there 
the West Randolph graded school, which is 
at this time one of the best schools in the 
state. He has also been treasurer of the 
village of West Randolph since it was incor- 
porated in 1876. Up to that time the town 
of Randolph had never had any organized 
banking institution, and seeing the great 
need of banking facilities, Mr. DuBois pro- 
cured a charter and organized the Randolph 
National Bank of West Randolph. Mr. Du- 
Bois was chosen president at its commence- 
ment, and still retains the position. He is 
chairman of the board of water commis- 
sioners of the village of West Randolph, and 
of the board of auditors of the town of 
Randolph. 

In politics Mr. DuBois has always been a 
firm Republican. In 1876 he was elected a 
member of the General Assembly from Ran- 
dolph, by the largest majority ever given a rep- 
resentative in that town. In that Legislature 
he served on the committee on banks and 
education. The same year he was appointed 
inspector of finance by Gov. Horace Fair- 
banks, and reappointed by Governor Proctor 
in 1878, and again by C;o\ernor Farnham in 
1880, holding the office for six years, when 
he was elected State Treasurer in 1882, 
which office he held for eight years. 

Mr. DuBois was the first state officer to re- 
commend to the Legislature a direct tax upon 
corporations in Vermont. Governor Proc- 
tor in his message to the same Legislature 
commended the suggestion of the inspector 
on this subject, and such a law was passed. 



DU.NI.VP. 113 

In 1892 Mr. DuBois was elected senator 
from ( )range county, serving with ability as 
chairman of the committee on finance and 
on the joint standing committee on state 
and court expenses, and a member of the 
railroad committee, and of several special 
committees. 

Recognizing Mr. DuBois' familiarity with 
the finances and financial affairs of the state, 
Governor Fuller appointed him inspector of 
finance in l)ecember, 1S92, which position 
he now holds. 

.Mr. DuBois was married Jan. i, 1862, to 
.-\nne Eliza, daughter of Myron |. Gilbert 
of Brandon. -She died May 31, 1887 ; they 
had nine children, four of whom died in in- 
fancy, and five are now living : Mary Susan, 
Charles Gilbert, Clara .\delaide, .-Xnne Lam- 
son, and John Henry. Mr. DuBois was 
again married June 5, 1888, to Miss Ada- 
line L., daughter of Horace and Lucy Smith 
Moulton of West Randolph. 

DUNLAP, Tho.mas Hiram, of South 
Shaftsbury, son of Marshall and Thalia 
(.Mattison) Dunlap, was born in .Arlington, 
August 13, 1853. 





Commencing with the public schools of 
Arlington and Shaftsbury, he concluded his 
educational career at Burr and Burton Sem- 
inary, and Bryant & Stratton's Business Col- 
lege at Manchester, N. H. After a brief 
experience as teacher and farmer, he ob- 
tained a position as clerk in \\'hite Creek, 



114 



N. v., remaining until the spring of 187S, 
when he returned to Shaftsbury and again 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. In the fall 
of 1 88 2 he entered the employ of W. P. 
Mattison & Co. as clerk, remaining there 
to the present time. 

Mr. Dunlap was census enumerator in 
1890 and two years after represented Shafts- 
bury in the Legislature, in which he was 
assigned to the committee of highways, 
bridges and ferries. 

In sectarian views he is a Baptist, and has 
taken the obligations of Free Masonry, 
being actively connected with Tucker Lodge, 
No. 48, of North Bennington. 

Mr. Dunlap married, June 10, 1S91, 
Addie, daughter of William B. and Harriet 
(Cole) Mattison of South Shaftsbury. 

DUNNETT, ALEXANDER, of St. Johns- 
bury, son of Andrew and Christiana (Gal- 
braith ) Dunnett, was born in Feacham, Nov. 
29, 1S52. 




XANDER DUNNETT. 



Having received a preparatory education 
in the public schools of Beacham, Newbury 
and Ryegate, he was graduated from the 
Randolph Normal School in the class of 
1874. Resolving to study law, he entered 
the office of Nelson L. Boyden of Randolph, 
and in the spring of 1875 he pursued his 
professional studies at Boston University, 
until he was admitted to practice at the bar 
of Orange county at the June term, 1877. 
\Vhile at school he employed the winters in 



teaching at Munroe, N. H., Topsham, Ran- 
dolph and Rochester. He commenced the 
practice of his profession at South Ryegate 
and two years later was appointed master in 
chancery in Caledonia county. In 1S83 he 
removed to St. Johnsbury where he entered 
into partnership with A. F. Nichols, Esq., 
which connection continued three years. 
Since that time he has been alone. In 1866 
he was elected state's attorney for Cale- 
donia county and held that office for four 
years. 

Mr. Dunnett is one of four partners who 
are the proprietors of the Ryegate Granite 
Co., which is the largest granite manufactory 
in Caledonia county. 

He belongs to the Republican party. He 
was appointed town superintendent of 
schools in Ryegate and for several years dis- 
charged the duties of moderator in that 
town and since in St. Johnsbury. 

He was united in marriage April 2, 1879, 
to Ella J., daughter of James and .Anne C. 
\Miite, who died March 23, 1881. Decem- 
bers 23, 1884, he married Sarah M., daugh- 
ter of Silas M. and Harriett Towne of Barre, 
who passed away .August 8, 1888. He con- 
tracted a third alliance with Mrs. Ella 
Chalmers, widow of Rev. John R. Chalmers 
of St. Johnsbury, .April 29, 1890. 

In his religious belief Mr. Dunnett leans 
toward the L'nitarian church. He has been 
an active and influential Free Mason, having 
served as Master of the Blue Lodge and 
High Priest of the St. Johnsbury Royal 
.Arch Chapter : he is also a member of the 
order of Knights Templar. 

DUNTON, Charles H., of Poultney, 

son of Elijah and Mary .Ann (French) Dun- 
ton, was born in L'^nderhill, Jan. 24, 1844. 

He received his preparatory education at 
the New Hampton Institute, at Fairfax, and 
was graduated from the L^niversity of Ver- 
mont in the class of 1870. He then for a 
year supplied the Methodist church at John- 
son, and in iS7i-'72 took a post-graduate 
course at the Boston L'niversity. Having 
been admitted to the Troy conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, for two years 
he discharged the duties of pastor at Man- 
chester and East Dorset. In 1874 he was 
elected a teacher of natural science in the 
Troy Conference Academy, at Poultney, an 
institution which, after some years of sus- 
pension, was at that time reopened. .After 
serving three years in this subordinate 
capacity, he was elected principal of the 
institution in 1877. This position he has 
occupied ever since, spending most of his 
summer vacations in travelling abroad, and 
among the states. 

-As a social leader and popular educator, 
Dr. Dunton is too well known for comment. 



He has jilaced the Troy Conference Acad- 
emy in the first ranks of the schools of the 
state. 

In his political views he is Republican, 
but his lifevvork and energies have been 
more especially devoted to his professional 
duties. In 18S3 he was one of the state 



m 



IIUINKI.I.. iir 

UWINEI-L, Frank a., of .\Iontpelier, 
son of Albert and Irene D. (Rich) Dwinell, 
was born at East Calais, May 23, 1848. 

He received his education from the com- 
mon schools of his native place and gradu- 
ated from Barre Academy in the class of 
1 868; began business in active life in his 
father's store at East Calais, remaining until 
1 8 74, when he removed to I'lainfield and 
engaged in the mercantile business, which 
he successfully carried on for a number of 
years. 

In 18S5 the Farmers' Trust Co. was or- 
ganized. Mr. Dwinell was elected presi- 
dent, at once taking an active interest in the 
management, which position he has retained 
up to this time. Under the conservative 
policy and prudent management inaugur- 
ated, and which has always been maintained, 
a strong financial corporation has been 
built up. In consequence of his connection 
with this company, he moved to Montpelier 
in the spring of 1890. 




representatives to the interstate convention 
held at Louisville, Ky., which originated the 
Blair bill. Three years after this time he 
received the degree of D. D. from Syracuse 
University, and for a long period has, by 
successive appointments, been state exam- 
iner of normal schools. 

Dr. Dunton was married at Johnson, June 
26, 1872, to Nettie W., the accomplished 
daughter of Judge Samuel and Flavilla (Wat- 
erman) Belding. 

In his denomination. Dr. Dunton is with- 
out question the foremost man in the state, 
and his own reputation and that of his 
school are of such a character that words of 
commendation are superfluous. His untir- 
ing energy and great educational ability 
have met with well-merited success in the 
chosen walk of life to which he has de\oted 
so much intelligent and industrious effort. 

In 1892 he was a member of the General 
Conference of the M. E. Church. 

In the civil war he proved his patriotism 
by enlisting in Co. F, 13th Vt. Regt., and 
after six months of creditable service, was 
honorably discharged on account of physical 
disability. 




Mr. Dwinell has identified himself with 
several local institutions, being a director of 
the Wetmore & Morse Granite Co., a direc- 
tor and vice president of the Montpelier 
Building & Construction Co., also a direc- 
tor in the First National Bank. 

In politics Mr. Dwinell is a Republican, 
takes an active interest in political affairs 
and has held various public offices ; was for 
a number of years town clerk and treasurer 
of Plainfield. He was elected to the Gen- 



ii6 



eral Assembly of 1878, and in 1890 was 
elected senator from \\ashington county and 
was elected president pfo tempore of the 
Senate, also served on several important 
committees. 

He was united in marriage at East Mont- 
pelier, Dec. 15, 1870, to Hattie A., daughter 
of Lawson and Asenath (Clark) Hammett. 
Two children are the issue of this mar- 
riage : Elbert Hammett, and .Melvin Ray- 
mond. 

DWINELL, JOSEPH Elmer, of Glover, 
son of Joseph Hammond and Almira (Hol- 
brook)'Dwinell, was born in Keene, N. H., 
.April 30, 1830. His ancestry, of French 



^f':- 




JOSEPH ELMER DWINELL. 

origin upon the father's side, can be traced 
back to an early date in the settlement of 
the New World. His grandfather of si.x 
generations back settled in Topsfield, Mass., 
in 1672, where he became the possessor of 
an extensive property, owning all the land 
from Middleton to Wenham. His mother's 
ancestor, Thomas Holbrook, was English 
and came from the mother county in 1624, 
becoming one of the original settlers of Wey- 
mouth, Mass., where he died at an advanced 
age, a prominent and wealthy man. 

The subject of the present sketch pos- 
sesses in a marked degree the suavity and 
ideality of a Frenchman, combined with the 



pride and energy of an fc^nglishman. When 
he was about two years of age, his father 
moved to Glover, which has since been his 
home, except for a short time, when he was 
at St. Johnsbury, White River Junction, and 
Island Pond. He received his education in 
the common and high schools of the town, 
his school days coming before the founding 
of the Orleans Liberal Institute, of which 
institution he has long been a trustee, treas- 
urer, and much of the time chairman of the 
executive committee. 

In 1853 he bought a half interest in his 
father's business of furniture dealer, manu- 
facturer, and undertaker. His brother 
Charles soon assumed his father's place in 
the firm, and under the nanne of J. E. & C. 
H. 1 )winell, they carried on the largest and 
most flourishing furniture trade at that time 
in Orleans county, keeping warerooms at Bar- 
ton, Barton Landing, and Greensboro. He 
still has an interest in the business, though 
not as actively engaged in it as formerly. 

He has filled many offices of trust in town 
and county with ability, acting for several 
years as constable, collector and deputy 
sheriff. He has employed much of his time 
in the settlement of estates, for which work 
he seems eminently adapted. He has been 
for the last ten years, one of the directors of 
the Barton National Bank. During the 
years i873-'74 he was a partner with his 
brother, the late I). Lyman Dwinell, as a dry 
goods merchant in Glover. He has at times 
been quite extensively engaged in the lum- 
ber trade. 

He is at present chairman of the town 
school board, ever working for the best in- 
terests of education in his beloved state. 
Mr. Dwinell is passionately fond of music, 
and was one of the original founders of the 
Orleans Musical Association. He has had 
great influence in bringing that organization 
to its present enviable position, having 
served as one of its officers from the lowest 
to the highest grade. He has been a mem- 
ber of the choir in Glover for fifty-three 
years, and chorister of the Congregational 
church for twenty years. 

He is a staunch Democrat in politics, and 
a firm Universalist in religious preference, 
though he ever advocates that a spirit of 
brotherly love should unite all sects. He 
was for many years superintendent of the 
Universalist Sunday school. 

He married, Oct. 9, 1856, Eliza M., daugh- 
ter of the late .Amos Phelps and Phila (Sart- 
well) Bean, of Glover. Eight children have 
been born to them, four of whom lived to 
maturity : Fred P]lmer, Harley Joseph, .Alice 
Eliza (Mrs. Henry Ralph Cutler), and Edith 
May (Mrs. Arthur Charles McDowell). 



EATON, FREDLauRINE, of Montpelier, 
son of Arthur G. and Ellen M. (Chase) 
Eaton, was born in Calais, July lo, 1859. 

At an early age he removed with his 
mother to Montpelier and obtained his edu- 
cation at the Union and Washington rounty 
grammar school. After this he was for a few 




FRED LAURINE EATON. 

years employed as a clerk, and was made, in 
1877, teller in the First National Bank, where 
he remained till 1881, when he was engaged 
as the cashier of the National Bank of Barre. 
After four years of this employment he ex- 
changed to the First National Bank of Mont- 
pelier, which he has served as cashier to the 
present time. He has been for years both 
town and village treasurer, and has acted as 
the treasurer of the ^^'etmore & Morse Granite 
Co., of the R. C. Bowers Granite Co., and 
of the \'ermont Quarry Co. Of the last two 
corporations he is also a director. 

Mr. Eaton married, Oct. 15, 1884, at 
Barre, Lillian, daughter of Lewis and Lu- 
cinda (Pettingill) Gale. Two children have 
been born to them : Stanley, and Dorothy. 

He was a charter member of Gen. Stephen 
Thomas Camp, S. of V., receiving the com- 
pliment of being elected their first captain, 
and in 1888 was promoted to the colonelcy of 
the Vermont division of that organization. 

Mr. Eaton belongs to the various ^Lasonic 
bodies and is now serving as the F^minent 
Commander of the Mt. Z ion Commandery 
of Knights Templar. 



EAYRES. 117 

EAYRES, George Nelson, of Rut- 
land, son of James and .-Vnna (Bingman) 
Eayres, was born in Rutland, Dec. 12, 1824. 

He was educated in the public schools 
and at Castleton Seminary and by experi- 
ence as a teacher in various educational in- 
stitutions in the towns of Rutland and Pitts- 
ford. 

Bred upon a farm, .Mr. Eayres continued 
with his father till 1855, when he removed 
to I'ittsford, and purchased the estate 
known as the " Hitchcock " farm, where he 
remained for more than twenty years, when 
he again changed his residence and located 
at Rutland, leaving his property in the care 
of his oldest son. .After a prolonged visit to 
the West, chiefly in \Visconsin where he had 
important business interests, he returned to 
Rutland and in 1S79 received the appoint- 
ment of superintendent of the Vermont 
House of Correction, the duties of which 
office he continued to discharge to ^[ay i, 
1S93. 




In the early part of his life a whig, Mr. 
Eayres has acted with the Republican party 
since the time of its organization and has 
held many offices in the gift of the people, 
representing Pittsford in the Legislature of 
1876. 

He was joined in marriage to Almira A., 
daughter of Eliphalet and .-Mmira (Thomas) 
.\llen, Sept. 19, 1849. Six children have 
been the fruit of this union, four of whom 
are now living ami have families — two sons 
in Pittsford and two daughters in Rutland. 



ii8 



EDSON, Ezra, of Mendon, son of 
Cyrus and Hannah (Hudson) Edson, was 
born in Turner, Me., Jan. 12, 1813, one of 
seven children, himself and one brother 
being the only survivors. 

His parents, descended from. Puritan an- 
cestry, removed from Bridgewater, Mass., 
first to Maine, and afterwards to Shrewsbury, 
in 1 81 7, but finally took up their abode in 
South Mendon. Here the son was educated 
in the common schools and West Rutland 
Academy, never losing an opportunity to 
improve his mind by private study and read- 
ing. Though having a strong predilection 
for the legal profession, the force of circum- 
stances caused him to learn the trade of a 




blacksmith, and in this capacitv he was for 
some time in the employment of the Ames 
Co. at Bridgewater. He then returned to 
Mendon, purchased a farm, but after some 
years removed to the village, tievoting him- 
self to the labors of the forge and dealing to 
a considerable extent in real estate. 

Socially and politically he is eminent in 
his section, has held every important otRcial 
position in the town, which he ably repre- 
sented in six sessions of the Legislature, 
serving on several important committees. 

For nearly half a century he has honor- 
ably and I conscientiously discharged the 
duties of a justice of the peace. In early 
life he became a member of the Rutland 
Baptist Church, which yet in his later years 
he regularly attends. 



Mr. Edson married in Bridgewater, July 
I, 1837, Angelina, daughter of Zenas and 
Lydia (Whitman) Washburn. Four chil- 
dren are the fruit of this union : Lucien, 
Lucien Otis, Hannah Whitman (Mrs. Mar- 
quis E. Tenney), and Mary Jane. The two 
sons and last daughter died young. His 
wife died in 1S82, and his daughter, Mrs. 
Tennev, her husband and two granddaugh- 
ters are living with him where he has lived 
for forty- two years. 

EDMUNDS, George Franklin, of 

Burlington, son of Ebenezer and Naomi 
(Briggs) Edmunds, was born in Richmond, 
Feb. I, 1S28. 

His preliminary education was had in the 
public schools and under a private tutor. 
When but eighteen he began the study of 
law in Burlington, and continued it at Rich- 
mond in the office of his brother-in-law, A. 
B. Maynard, in i846-'47. In the two fol- 
lowing years he was a student in the office 
of Smalley & Phelps in Burlington. In 
March, 1849, he was admitted to the bar of 
( hittenden county, and to partnership with 
Mr. Maynard at Richmond. The new firm 
was very successful. In November, 185 1, 
he removed to Burlington, which thencefor- 
ward became his home. At the time of Mr. 
I'Aimunds' removal to Burlington the legal 
fraternity of the state was exceptionally 
strong. Ex-Governor Underwood, D. A. 
Smalley, E. J. Phelps, L. E. Chittenden, and 
others were formidable competitors, but he 
soon worked his way to the front. In 1866, 
when he was first appointed to the National 
Senate, he had secured the largest and most 
lucrative practice in that section of Vermont. 

The services of George F. Edmunds fill 
-'ime of the cleanest, brightest pages in the 
legislative history of the state and nation. 
In 1854 he made his first appearance in the 
field of local politics as the moderator of the 
Burlington March meeting, and he was soon 
afterward elected representative of the town 
to the Legislature. A member of the House 
in the years i8s4-'55-'56-'s7-'58-'59, he 
was also speaker during the last three ses- 
sions. In 1864 he served in the joint com- 
mittee on the state library, and also in the 
committee on the judiciary. In 1855 he 
was made chairman of the latter body. 

In 1 86 1 Mr. Edmunds was returned, 
against his protest, to the state Senate from 
Chittenden county, and was chairman of its 
judiciary committee. Re-elected in 1862, 
he served on the same committee. In each 
of these years he was also president J>ro 
tempore of the Senate. In 1866, United 
States Senator Solomon Foote died and Mr. 
Edmunds was appointed his successor by 
Gov. Paul Dillingham. April 5, 1866, he 
liegan that long senatorial career which so 




^;^jL^JnA^^^^^—^ 



honored himself, his state, and his country. 
He was afterwards elected by the Legisla- 
ture for the remainder of the term ending 
March 4, iS69,and in 1868, 1874, 1880, and 
1886 received elections for the full senatorial 
term. In 1891, after more than a quarter of 
a century's ser\'ice, he resigned. His impress 
on national legislation was greater than that 
of any other man of his time, and he had 
for years been the foremost senator. No 
one thinks of his pro tempore presidency of 
the Senate, so overshadowed is it by his real 
leadership. 

In the winter of 1876 came a crisis in the 
history of the United States, the great dan- 
ger of which is year by year realized. The 
nation was threatened with all the evils of 
disputed succession to the chief magistracy. 
Senator Edmunds comprehended the situa- 
tion, and led from danger to lawful safety. 
He first submitted the draft of a constitu- 
tional amendment, which remitted the duty 
of counting the electoral votes to the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. But this 
was rejected by a vote of 14 to 3 1. On the 
1 6th of December he called u]) the message 
from the House of Representatives, an- 
nouncing the appointment of a committee of 
seven to act in conjunction with a commit- 
tee of the Senate in advising some method 
of counting the electoral vote ; and sub- 
mitted a resolution referring the message of 
the House to a select committee of seven 
senators, having power to prepare and re- 
port, without unnecessary delay, such a 
measure as would secure the lawful count 
of the electoral vote, and the best disposi- 
tion of the questions connected therewith, 
and that this committee have power to 
confer with the committee of the House 
of Representatives. The resolution was 
adopted, the committee appointed and 
Senator Edmunds was made its chairman. 
In the discussions which followed he devised 
the electoral commission bill. 

On the 13th of January, 1877, Mr. Ed- 
munds reported the proposed measure, 
which provided for the appointment of an 
electoral commission, and which defined the 
duties of its members. The bill passed into 
law. .Senator F^dmunds was appointed a 
member of the electoral commission on the 
part of the Senate, and contributed effi- 
ciently to the lawful solution of the problem 
in which so many dangers lurked. 

The anti-polygamy law now in force is 
rightly known as the Edmunds law. But a 
list of good measures passed and bad meas- 
ures defeated by his efforts and under his 
leadership would be interminable. 

Unsought by him, in 1S80 and 1884 manv 
of his party, who wanted it to make its first 
statesman its leader, earnestly worked for 
his nomination for the presidency in the 



Republican national conventions of those 
years. In 1891 he resigned his seat in the 
United States Senate, and has since devoted 
his time to the practice of his profession. 

ELDREDGE, LOYAL D., of Middle- 
bury, son of Julius and Polly (Cowles) 
Eldredge, was born at Stockholm, N. V., 
Feb. 5, 1831. 

At the completion of his preparatory 
studies he graduated at Middlebury College 
in 1857 and was admitted to the bar in 1859. 

Mr. Eldredge practiced his profession at 
Alburgh Springs for three years and was 
elected state's attorney for Grand Isle county 
in 1 86 1 and '62. In the latter year he re- 
moved to Middlebury, and has resided there 
ever since, devoting himself to the practice 
of law and other avocations. 

From 1S64 to 1870 he held the office of 
assistant assessor of internal revenue, and 
deputy collector, and in 1870 was appointed 
first deputy collector of internal revenue of 
the 1 )istrict of Vermont. He was elected to 
the state Senate in 1876, and was a member 
of the lower House in 1888. Six years 
previous to this period he was made a trus- 
tee of Middlebury College and in 1884 
treasurer of that institution. Both of these 
offices he holds at the present time. 

Hon. L. D. Eldredge married, July 29, 
1858, Wealthy A., daughter of Ralph and 
.Martha (Kneeland) Parker of \\aterbury. 
( )ne daughter was the fruit of this union : 
Julia .A. (Mrs. C. O. Leavenworth of Cleve- 
land, Ohio). 

ELDRIDGE, LOVELL JaCKSON, of St. 
Johnsbury, son of Lewis J. and Rosa J. 
(Tracy) Eldridge, was born Nov. 19, 1S63, 
at Montgomery. 

^Vhen eight years old, he was left an 
orphan, without friends or property. By 
dint of persistent work on the farm, he paid 
his own way in district schools until he was 
eighteen years of age. Meanwhile he saved 
money enough to provide for himself a sup- 
plementary course of one year's study at the 
State Normal School, Johnson, and three 
years at People's .Academy, Morrisville. At 
both schools he took a select course of study 
and thorough drill, preparatory for business. 
Oreat credit must be given him for availing 
himself to the fullest extent of his oppor- 
tunities, and for his honorable struggle, 
when a youth, to obtain the best education 
afforded by his narrow circumstances. On 
leaving school and facing, for the first time, 
the business world, Mr. Eldridge was handi- 
capped by no cash debts, nor burdened 
with the consciousness of having had 
material favors from relatives or friends. His 
first venture was to canvass eleven of the 
western and central states, in the stencil 



and stamp business, with headquarters at 
Madison, Wis., manufacturing, largely, his 
own goods. Returning to Vermont to re- 
gain his health, for three years he taught 
school in Enosburgh and Hyde Park. From 
1 88 7 to 1890, he was travelling salesman 
and collector in the New England states for 
a large pottery firm of Trenton, N. J. He 
was then appointed local agent at Morris- 
ville for the Connecticut (leneral Life In- 
surance Co., remaining there two years, 
when he was placed in charge of the general 




LOVELL JACKSON ELDRIDGE. 

agency of the same company, with head- 
quarters at St. Johnsbury, where he now has 
a large and prosperous iDusiness. 

He married, Oct. 19, 1892, at Platts- 
burgh, Clinton county, AIo., Katie A., daugh- 
ter of Col. Charles W. (banker of that city) 
and Mary E. (Funkhouser) Porter. 

Mr. Eldridge has been a member of the I. 
O. O. F. since 1891, and also of the Sons of 
Veterans, Camp No. 50, at Morrisville. He 
has never taken any part in politics nor held 
political office. 

He became an active member of the First 
Congregational Church of Danville, in 1890, 
and later of the Young Men's Chri-stian 
Association of St. Johnsbury. 

Mr. Eldridge has been president of the 
Morrisville Lyceum Bureau, and, in 1S90, 
joined the Vermont Life L^nderwriters Asso- 
ciation, of which he was elected one of the 
vice-presidents in 1S91. 



ELLIOT, LESTER HALL, of Waterbury, 
son of Ezra and Eliza (Hall) Elliot, was 
born in Croyden, N. H., August i, 1835. 

Commencing his primary education in the 
district schools, he entered the University of 
Vermont, from which he graduated in 1861, 
completing his scholastic career in the 
LInion Theological Seminary of New York 
City, where he was graduated in 1864. 

Being licensed to preach by the Brooklyn 
(N. \'.) Congregational Association, he 
commenced by supplying the pulpits of the 
Congregational churches of Colchester and 
Winooski and on May 21, 1866, he was 
ordained and installed as pastor of the 
church in the latter place. This position he 
occupied for six years and then removed to 
Bradford, where he continued his ministra- 
tions till 1880, when, after temporary en- 
gagements, in several parishes in this state 
and Keeseville, N. Y., he finally became sec- 
retary and agent of the \'ermont Bible 
Society in 1884, in which occupation he 
has continued till the present time, with res- 
idence at Waterbury. Mr. Elliot was dele- 
gate to the National Council of Congrega- 
tional Churches, held at Oberlin, Ohio, in 
November, 1871. While residing in Wi- 
nooski he was made superintendent of public 
schools, and he represented the town of 
Waterbury in the Legislature of 1892. 
During that session he was a member of the 
committee on education and chairman of 
that on the insane. 

He was wedded, Oct. 21, 1866, at Greens- 
boro, to Lois Maria, daughter of Enoch 
and Abigail (Cook) Tolman, who died in 
Winooski, Jan. 6, 1871. Their children 
were : Anna M., and Henry T., both of 
whom died in infancy. 

He was again married, Nov. 30, 1875, at 
Campton, N. H., to Phebe Elizabeth, 
daughter of Ezekiel H. and .^Imira (Dole) 
Hodgdon. They have one son : Henry 
Hodgdon. 

ELLIS, Edward Dyer, of Pouitney, 

son of Zenas C. and Sarah ( Dyer) Ellis, was 
born in Fair Haven, .^lugust 31, 1850. His 
father. Judge Ellis, was well known and 
prominent in the county and state. 

Mr. Edward Ellis, having obtained a thor- 
ough preparatory training in the schools of 
Fair Haven, later attended Kimball L'nion 
.\cademy at Meriden, N. H., which he left in 
1869 to enter Middlebury College and from 
this institution he graduated in 1874. He 
then devoted himself to a course of profes- 
sional study in the medical department of 
Harvard University from which he received 
a diploma in 1877. In 1S7S he settled in 
Pouitney as a practicing physician in which 
capacity he has since remained, meeting 
with success and establishing in connection 



ELLSWORIH. 



ELLSWORTH. 



with his professional labors a druggist's busi- 
ness. 

He is an adherent of the principles of the 
Republican party, but has devoted the major 
part of his time to his professional pursuits, 
never seeking official preferment, though he 
is at present chairman of the Republican 
town committee. 




EDWARD DYER EL 



Dr. Ellis is vestryman and treasurer of 
St. John's Episcopal Church, was formerly 
the president and secretary of the Rutland 
County Surgical and Medical Society. 

He was married at Hampton, N. Y., Oct. 
2 1, 18(85, t° Isabella, daughter of R. T. and 
Lydia (Stowe) Ray. Of this alliance four 
children are issue : Sarah Blanche, Lydia 
Stowe, Hannah Dyer, and Rodney Ray. 

Dr. Ellis is highly esteemed by his ac- 
quaintances for the firmness of his character 
and general ability. He is conservative in 
his ideas and has met with well-merited suc- 
cess both in public and private life. 

ELLSWORTH, JOHN CLARK, late of 
Greensboro, son of John and Sarah ( Strong ) 
Ellsworth, was born in Chatham, C^onn., 
Feb. 22, 1793. His great-grandfather, 
Capt. John Ellsworth of East Windsor, 
Conn., married Anna, daughter of Timothy 
Edwards, and sister of the celebrated Jona- 
than Edwards. John C. Ellsworth, the 
fourth of his name, and his father were the 
first of the family to emigrate to \'ermont, 
arriving in 1798, and the father was the first 
judge of probate in Orleans county. I'hey 



settled on a farm in Greensboro and here 
John Clark eagerly availed himself of the 
limited educational privileges open to him, 
attending the yiublic schools and Peacham 
Academy, then under charge of his uncle, 
P^zra Carter, who was the first principal of 
that institution. He also was instructed to 
some extent by his father, who was a man of 
much literary ability for that time. 

At the outset of his acti\e life he served 
as a clerk in the employment of his uncle. 
Deacon Strong, at Hardwick, but in the fall 
of 1 82 1 he accepted a call to missionary 
work among the Cherokee Indians and in 
the company of Rev. Austin Worcester and 
others he proceeded to Brainerd, Ga., con- 
tinuing his labors among the savages until 
1836, when he returned to Greensboro on 
account of the ill health of his wife and the 
removal of the Cherokees from Georgia by 
Gen. Andrew Jackson. Mr. Ellsworth pur- 
chased a farm adjoining that of his father ; 
pre\ious to his death he purchased a farm 
near the village, and in the cultivation of 
this property employed himself till the time 




ELLSWORTH 



of his death, July 11, 186 1. In his experi- 
ence as Indian missionary he encountered 
many hardships and obstacles, but these he 
cheerfully and laboriously overcame, being 
assisted in his unselfish work by his noble 
wife, who was the matron of the Indian 
school, of which he was the superintendent. 
Those interested in Indian mission work 
will obtain valuable information by a perusal 
of the letters of Mr. Ellsworth in the Mis- 



123 



sionary Herald from 182 1 to 11S36. He 
early became attached to the cause of aboli- 
tion and while in Georgia, with his compan- 
ion, Mr. Worcester, suffered much persecu- 
tion for righteousness' sake, being arrested 
and narrowly escaping imprisonment on 
account of their active sympathy with the 
downtrodden Indian, and their labors in the 
cause of Christianity and the welfare of the 
aboriginal race received little or no encour- 
agement from the white portion of the sur- 
rounding community. 'I'he greater part of 
his long and peaceful life was devoted to 
study and literary pursuits, and "far from the 
busy hum of men" he tranquilly enjoyed the 
pleasures afforded him by the perusal of his 
books. 

He was the representati\e of (Ireensboro 
to the Legislature at an early ])eriod, but 
though much interested in politics as a 
staunch Republican he never took an active 
part in public life. 

Mr. Ellsworth first married Eliza, daughter 
of Thomas Tolman, a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion, later a Congregational minister, who 
died April iS, 1856. His second wife, 
whom he wedded March 17, 1857, was Mary 
E., daughter of Charles B. Bailey and Abi- 
gail (Cobb) Field of Greensboro, but for- 
merly residents of Peacham. 

EMERY, Curtis Stanton, of Chelsea, 

son of Amos and Sarah M. (Hibbard) 
Emerv, was born Nov. 6, : 861, in Brook- 
field. ■ 

He removed, with his parents, to Chelsea 
in the spring of 1869. 

.After receiving his education at the com- 
mon schools and at Chelsea Academy, he 
read law with the late Hon. C. W. Clarke 
and A. S. .Austin at Chelsea. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar of Orange county in 1S83 
and to that of the Supreme Court at Mont- 
pelier in 1886. 

Mr. Emery commenced practice at Chel- 
sea at the time of his admission to the 
courts, and continued for three years, when 
he was appointed cashier of the First 
National Bank of Chelsea, which position 
he resigned in February, 1893. He then 
resumed his profession, doing also a general 
insurance, loan and collection business. 
Since 1888 he has been a director of the 
Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co., of Mont- 
pelier. 

Mr. Emery has held many town offices 
and was elected commissioner for Orange 
county in 1885, a position which he holds to 
the present time. He was elected to the 
Legislature of 1888, being the youngest 
member of the House, and serving on the 
committee on elections. By a curious coin- 
cidence, his father sat in the House at the 
same time, being a member from the town o( 



Sharon. He is now county auditor for 
Orange county. 

He was united in marriage May 12, 1887, 
to Hattie J., daughter of Franklin and 
Maria R. Ordway of 'i'unbridge. They have 
two children : .Sallie Helena, and Donald. 

Mr. Emery has held nearly all the offices 
in George Washington Lodge, No. 51, F. & 
A. M. of Chelsea and at present occupies 
the Master's chair. 

ENRIGHT, Joseph Cornelius, ot 

Windsor, son of Rev. Joseph and Catharine 
(Wier) Enright, was born in Morgan, Dec. 
2, 1852. 

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 
the class of 1878, and commenced to study 
law in the same year. He was admitted to 
the Windsor county bar in 1881, and since 
that time has been in the practice of his 
profession in Windsor, being also largely 
interested in insurance and real estate. 




In 1879 Mr. Enright was appointed super- 
intendent of schools in Hartland,and subse- 
quently served in the same capacity in the 
town of Windsor, where he has been first 
selectman since 1S91. In 1890 was elected 
to represent Windsor in the General .Assem- 
bly, and served as chairman of the state's 
prison committee. He was again called to 
the same body in 1892, and in that session 
was chairman of the committee on claims. 
In 1893 he was chosen school director for 
three vears. 



124 



He is a member of the Masonic order, in 
which he has taken every degree from the 
ist to the 32d, inchisive ; he has served as 
secretary and warden of Vermont Lodge 
No. 1 8, recorder of Vermont C'ommandery 
No. 4, and secretary of Vermont Lodge of 
Perfection. 

He was united in marriage July 23, 1882, 
at Brompton, V. Q., to Clara J-, daughter of 
Amos and Matilda (Alger) Varney. One 
daughter has been born to them : Daisey 
Maud. 

ENRIGHT, John J., of Burlington, 

was born in South Burlington, .\pril 6, 1S62. 

In 187S he was graduated from the Bur- 



Burlington and was only beaten by one 
vote. In 1892 he was a candidate for the 

office of Secretary of State. 

Mr. Enright has unusual business ability 
and has been long identified with several 
business enterprises in his city. He is one 
of the owners of Mirror Lake Hotel at Lake 
Placid in the Adirondacks and is interested 
in the Hotel Burlington. He is also some- 
what interested in real estate in Burlington. 
Mr. Enright takes great pleasure in owning 
and driving fine horses and he enjoys the 
reputation of possessing the finest driving 
horses at all times. He is well known 
among horsemen and has sold several valu- 
able horses at a large figure. He has risen 
to a prominent position as a lawyer in this 
county and has a lucrative legal business, 
ranking as one of the best commercial at- 
torneys in the state. 




lington high school and began the study of 
law in the office of Judge Hamilton S. Peck 
and later with Hon. Henry Ballard. At the 
age of twenty one he was admitted to the 
bar of Chittenden county, and had charge 
of Mr. Ballard's office for a year while that 
gentleman was absent in the West, doing 
quite a large business at that time. He 
then opened the office which he now occu- 
pies. These quarters are nicely furnished 
and equipped, covering the whole ground 
floor, and his clientage is steadily on the in- 
crease, he having been obliged to employ a 
stenographer the past three years to assist 
him. 

In politics Mr. Enright has always been a 
strong Democrat and has a large following 
in the Democratic ranks. In 1882 he was a 
candidate for the Legislature from South 



fiSTEY, Jacob, late of Bratdeboro, son 
of Isaac and Patty ( Forbes) Estey, was 
born in Hinsdale, N. H., Sept. 30, 1814. 

Isaac Estey, his grandfather, was a farmer 
and resided in Sutton, Mass. The eldest 
son, Isaac (father of Jacob), and his brother 
Israel settled in Hinsdale, N. H., where they 
built a sawmill and engaged in the manu- 
facture of lumber. The enterprise, how- 
ever, proved far from prosperous, and as the 
statute law then permitted imprisonment for 
debt, under its provisions Isaac Estey was 
arrested and thrown into the county jail as a 
debtor, llpon his release he resorted to 
agriculture for the support of himself and 
family, and passed the remainder of his life 
in that pursuit. 

The subject of our sketch was adopted 
when four years old by a wealthy family in 
Hinsdale. .After spending nine years under 
their roof, at the age of thirteen he left his 
foster parents and walked to Worcester, 
Mass., where one of his elder brothers 
resided. The following four years he labored 
upon farms in the towns of Rutland, Mill- 
bury and vicinity. \Vhen seventeen years 
old he apprenticed himself to T. & J. Sutton 
of Worcester, in order to acquire a mastery 
of the plumber's trade, and of the manufact- 
ure of lead pipe. 

Before the attainment of his majority he 
resolved to establish himself in business, 
and for this purpose removed to Brattleboro, 
where he was successful from the beginning, 
and established the reputation for ability and 
probity which he always retained. 

In 1848, he erected a large building and 
rented the upper part of it to the proprie- 
tors of a small melodeon factory, but as they 
were unable to pay the stipulated rent, Mr. 
Estey accepted, in 1S50, an interest in their 
business in liquidation of his claims, and a 
few years afterwards purchased the entire 



establishment. To this new industry he 
gave close attention, striving for its enlarge- 
ment and the development of its promising 
possibilities, and in the course of a few years, 
he deemed it expedient to dispose of his 
plumbing business, and to devote himself 
exclusively to the making of organs. With 
this determination he erected a second and 
larger building, but in the fall of 1857 a con- 
flagration consumed both structures. Though 
at once rebuilt, another fire in 1864 destroyed 
the new creation, and a very much larger one 
was promptly erected in order to furnish 
ample room for the storage of the immense 
quantities of material that were needed for 
the prosecution of the business. 

In 1 866 his son-in-law, Levi K. Fuller, and 
his son, Julius J. Elstey, were admitted to 
partnership with himself. In 1869 the sud- 
den overflow of the stream near which their 
factory was located, caused the death by 
drowning of one of their workmen, carried 
off lumber to the value of several thousand 
dollars, and greatly endangered the safety of 
the manufactory. To avoid the repetition 
of similar disasters, the company selected 
higher ground, and on this have erected 
nine large factories, each three stories high, 
together with large dry houses and the neces- 
sary buildings for boilers and engines, with 
immense storage and packing houses. 

Mr. Estey was ever a strong advocate of 
the principles of the Republican party, and 
in i868-'69 he represented Brattleboro in the 
state Legislature. He was also a member 
of the state Senate from Windham county 
in the biennial sessions of 1872 and 1874, 
and rendered most excellent service in that 
body. He was one of the principal movers 
in the organization of the First Baptist 
Church in Brattleboro in 1840, and was dur- 
ing life one of its most active and liberal 
supporters. His death, on April 15, 1890, 
was a great loss to the community in which 
for so many years he had lived. 

He was married on the 2d of May, 1S37, 
to Desdemona, daughter of David and .Anna 
Kendal Wood of Brattleboro. Three chil- 
dren were the fruit of their union, the eldest 
of whom is not living ; the two remaining 
are: Abby E. (Mrs. Levi K. Fuller), and 
Julius J. 

HSTEY, Julius J., of Brattleboro, son 
of Jacob and Desdemona (Wood) Estey, 
was born in Brattleboro, January, 1845. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
his native place and at the celebrated Nor- 
wich Military University. He did not com- 
plete the full course, however, as he was 
admitted by his father into the business 
established in 1846 — which has now be- 
come so justly famous — the manufacture 
of the Estey organs. At his majority in 



1866, he was admitted as a full jiartner in 
the firm of J. Estey & Co. (afterwards 
known as the Estey Organ Co.), which was 
composed of Jacob Estey, Julius J. Estey, 
and Levi K. Fuller. As treasurer, before 
and since his revered father's death in 1890, 
he has contributed greatly to the large and 
highly successful business of organ manu- 
facturing. General Estey is, and has been 
for years, the president of the Peoples 
National Bank of Brattleboro, one of the 
soundest and most progressive banking insti- 
tutions in the state. 

Mr. Estey is first and foremost a thorough 
business man, but he is also a leading factor 
in state affairs, having represented the town 




.lUS J. ESTEY. 



of Brattleboro in the Legislature in 1876, 
and having served as state senator from 
Windham county for the biennial term be- 
ginning in 1882, his services in both bodies 
being particularly creditable both to his 
party and himself. He was appointed a del- 
egate-at-large from Vermont to the Republi- 
can national convention of 1888, where his 
influence and good work was felt and appre- 
ciated by his associates. 

At an early age he became interested in 
military affairs, serving in the National 
Guard of Vermont. In 1874 he was elected 
captain of Co. I, know-n since as the Estey 
Guard. 

In 1876 he was appointed by Gov. Hor- 
ace Fairbanks a member of his military 
staff with the rank of colonel, and in i88i 



FAIRBANKS. 

was elected lieutenant-colonel of the \'er- 
mont National Guard, which position he 
held until his election as colonel in 1886. 
In 1892 he was promoted to the command 
of the brigade, with the rank of brigadier 
general, which position he still holds. 

It is a matter of record that General 
Estey has always commanded one of the 
finest and best disciplined military bodies in 
the New England states. He is considerate, 
polite and popular with his men, who love 
and respect their leader as few similar 
organizations do. This is due as much per- 
haps to the strong Christian character of the 
man as to his soldierly qualities, for not the 
least portion of his life has been exerted in 
active service for his church, where he has 
always successfully endeavored to inspire 
higher and nobler work in the denomination 
to which he belongs. 

In 1867 he married Florence, daughter of 
Dr. Henry Gray of Cambridge, N. Y., from 
which union he has been blessed with three 
sons : Jacob Gray, Julius Harry, and Guy 
Carpenter. 

He has been president of the Baptist 
State Sunday School Association, and for 
the past ten years has held the presidency of 
the board of managers of the Baptist state 
convention. He has been a great benefac- 
tor to and worker in the Sunday school of 



FAIRBANKS. 



127 



his church, which he has fostered and en- 
couraged to the utmost. 

.\mong the educational institutions of the 
state which he has particularly ])romoted is 
the Vermont .\cademy of Saxton's River, 
which is now one of the foremost institu- 
tions of learning in Vermont. For some 
years he has been the treasurer of this insti- 
tution. He has for many years been a 
member of the board of trustees of the 
school for young men at Mount Hermon, 
Mass., and the Northfield Seminary, for 
young ladies, at Northfield, Mass., both of 
which were established by Mr. I). L. Moody, 
the evangehst. Of the latter institution lie 
is also treasurer. 

Since the organization of the Young 
Men's Christian Association of Brattleboro 
General Estey has served as its president 
and been one of its most liberal supporters 
and trusted leaders. His interest in this 
organization, however, is not confined to the 
local organization, but he has for years been 
active in the state gatherings and chairman 
of the state executive committee. 

His benevolence and charity to deserving 
objects is too well known to require especial 
mention. He has won the highest en- 
comiums of his associates and fellow-men 
and has always led an active and upright life. 



FAIRBANKS, FRANKLIN, of St. Johns- 
bury, son of Erastus and Lois (Grossman) 
Fairbanks, was born in St. Johnsbury, June 
18, 1828. 

He received his early education in the 
public schools of his native town, the Pink- 
erton Academy, Derry, N. H., and in the 
academies at Peacham and St. Johnsbury. 

At the age of seventeen he entered the 
scale works and by actual labor in the 
various departments, and having a natural 
genius for mechanics, made himself familiar 
with everything that had to do with the 
making of a scale. He afterwards was clerk 
in the store and in all the departments of 
the office of the establishment, and these 
years of practical experience in the shop, 
store and office served as a school to give 
him a technical and business education. 

When he was twenty-seven years of age 
he was admitted as partner in the firm of E. 
& T. Fairbanks & Co. For many years he 
was superintendent of the works, a position 
for which he was prepared by his practical 
knowledge of all the operations of the estab- 
lishment. To his efficient management is 
due much of the success and growth of the 
company. He naturally assumed the prac- 
tical, while his brother Horace undertook 



the business administration. He was active 
in the construction of the St. lohnsbury & 
Lake Champlain R. R., a work demanding 
courage, the most skillful engineering, and 
great executive ability. In 1876, at the or- 
ganization of the firm as a corporation he 
was elected vice-president, and at the death 
of his brother in i888 he was made presi- 
dent and has held this office to the present 
time. 

While Colonel Fairbanks has not been in 
politics, he has always manifested a consist- 
ent and active interest in public affairs. He 
was elected by the Republican party as rep- 
resentative from St. Johnsbury to the state 
Legislature in 1870 and again in 1872, at 
the latter session being chosen speaker of 
the House. He has been a member of the 
state Republican committee for more than 
twenty years. He was appointed aid-de- 
camp with the rank of colonel in Governor 
Hall's staff in 1858. He ret^eived the same 
appointment in 1 86 1 from Governor Fair- 
banks. .\t this time he did effective service 
in raising troops, caring for their disposition 
and arranging for their comfort at the front. 

Since 1888 he has been president of the 
First National Bank of St. Johnsbury. He 
is also president of the Ely Hoe & Fork Co. 



128 



FAIRBANKS. 



of the same town. He is a trustee of the 
Northfield (Mass.) Seminary, the Soldiers' 
Home, the St. Johnsbury Academy, the 
Athenffium, and Museum of Natural Science. 
From his boyhood Colonel Fairbanks has 
had an earnest and intelligent interest in 
natural science. When a young man he 
became a collector of illustrations of an- 
thropology, mineralogy, and ornithology. 
These studies have been his recreation and 
at times have shared, while they have re- 
lieved, his business cares. Having a con- 



.xf 




FAIRBANKS, HENRY, of St. Johnsbury,. 
son of Thaddeus and Lucy Barker Fair- 
banks, was born in St. Johnsbury, Mav 6, 
1830. 

When ten years old he spent a year in 
I'inkerton .Academy, Derry, N. H., and then 
entered the St. Johnsbury Academy, which 
the brothers, E., T. and J. P. Fairbanks, 
established in 1842, to provide instruction 
for their children. He was graduated from 
this academy in 1S47, from Dartmouth Col- 
lege in 1853, and from Andover Theologi- 
cal Seminary in 1857, having spent a year in 
Europe in iS48-'49, and six months in 1856. 
In the latter year he went with Dr. S. H. 
Taylor, the honored teacher of Phillips .\n- 
dover .Academy, as far as Egypt and Pales- 
tine, and completed his tour of Europe by 
the ascent of Mt. Blanc. .After graduation 
he took the charge of a large number of 
home missionary fields, not only preaching, 
but directing the vacation labor of students 
and others in them, and gathering up the 
fruits of their work. In i860 he went to 
Dartmouth College as professor of natural 
philosophy, taking afterward the department 
of natural history. 



viction that a more extended knowledge of 
the sciences would elevate the community, 
he erected and presented to the town a 
museum of natural science, which was dedi- 
cated in December, 1891. This museum 
has been by his liberality fully equipped for 
scientific study, and amply endowed. 

Since 186 1 Colonel Fairbanks has' been 
superintendent of the Sunday school of the 
North Church of St. Johnsbury, a continu- 
ous service of thirty-two years. For ten 
years he was a member of the international 
lesson committee. 

December 8, 1852, Colonel Fairbanks 
married Frances A. Clapp, daughter of Rev. 
Sumner G. and Pamelia (Strong) Clapp. 
They have had four children : .\lfred, Mary 
Florence (now Mrs. Joseph T. Herrick of 
Springfield, Mass.), Margaret Jane, and 
Ellen Henrietta, of whom two, Mrs. Her- 
rick and Ellen H., now survive. 




After eight years in this service he returned 
to St. Johnsbury, where he developed various 
inventions, securing many patents, and at the 
same time preached as his health allowed. 
He led the evangelistic work of the Young 
Men's Christian .Associations in the state, 
and as president of the State Missionary 



FAIRRANKS. 



KAIRMANKS. 



129 



Society had opportunity for much work in 
this direction. He is a trustee of Dartmouth 
College, and president of the St. Johnsbury 
.Academy, and, in 1891, went to London as 
a member of the International Congrega- 
tional Council. For several years he ha? 
been secretary of the corporation of E. &: 
T. Fairbanks & Co. 

He was married in 1862 to Miss .Annie, 
daughter of Prof. D. J. Noyes of Dartmouth 
College, who lived ten years. In 1874 he 
married Ruthy Page of Newport. He has 
six children ; the eldest, Rev. Arthur Fair- 
banks, Ph. D., is a member of the faculty of 
Vale Divinity School, and the second, Robert 
N. Fairbanks, is in business in New York. 

FAIRBANKS, ThaddeuS, born in 
Brimfield, Mass., Jan. 17, 1796; died in St. 
Johnsbury, Vt., April 12, 1886. 

The first of the name came to this coun- 
try in 1633, Jonathan Ffayerbanke, from 
Sowerby, near Halifax, on the west border 
of Yorkshire ; and Richard, who was the inn- 
keeper and first postmaster of Boston. Jon- 
athan, the ancestor, so far as known, of all 
the American families, built in 1636 a house 
in Dedham, Mass., which with the additions 
made later is still standing. The "Item — 
two vices and one turning laeth and other 
seuch thinges," and "Item — many smale 
tools for turning and other the like work," 
in the in\entory of the estate of Jonathan 
F. in 1 668 seem to indicate thus early the 
mechanical taste of the family, while the 
plan of the house, the finish, and many little 
arrangements show taste and skill. George, 
the second son of Jonathan, came with his 
father from England, lived in Dedham, and 
in 1657 removed to Sherborn, where he was 
selectman and a leading citizen. His fourth 
child, Eliezur, was born in 1655 and became 
a prominent man in Sherborn. His yoimg- 
est child was "Captain" Eleasur, born in 
1690, whose eleventh child, born in 1734, 
known in Sherborn history as "Deacon" 
Ebenezer, moved to Brimfield, Mass., in 
1783. His second son, Joseph, born in 
Sherborn in 1763, moved with his father to 
Brimfield, bought a small farm, and in 1790 
married Phoebe Paddock of Holland, Mass., 
whose ancestor came to America with Gov- 
ernor Carver, and married into the family of 
Governor Bradford, and whose brother, 
Judge Ephraim Paddock, and others of the 
family, coming to Vermont, became honored 
and prominent citizens. To them three 
sons were born: Erastus, Oct. 28, 1792; 
Thaddeus, Jan. 17, 1796, and Joseph Pad- 
dock, No\'. 26, iSo6. 

'I'hatldeus, though born upon the farm, 
was a slender child, nervously organized, 
growing too fast to be strong, suffering in 
his plays with rougher children, then as all 



his life lacking ])hysical vigor, so that in his 
later years he said that he did not know 
that he ever in all his life felt well, an expe- 
rience that led to such care of himself and 
such pains to make the most of himself that 
few men have accomplished more or lived 
longer than he. He describes himself as 
exceedingly timid, exceedingly bashful, so 
that when sent on his mother's errands to 
the store in the evening no one could know 
what a struggle it cost him to pass the grave- 
yard, made terrible by the talk of the boys, 
under the dark trees on the way, or to nerve 
himself to speak to the storekeeper as he 
must. What costs another nothing develops 
in such a child a true manliness, a real hero- 
ism. .And because it was not easy for him 
to speak he thought the more, and gained 
the habit, so marked in all his life, of not 
beginning to speak until he had thought the 
matter through and was quite prepared to 
speak intelligently. The boy who preferred 
to be with his mother instead of ]jlaving 
with boys outside was learning to consider 
every question .so thoroughly that later his 
advice was sought and heeded by probably 
more men than ever came to any one else in 
the state. 

His father, Joseph, was a carpenter as well 
as farmer, and Thaddeus, who was afraid to 
speak to the storekeeper, when five years old 
was found running as fast as a child could 
around and around upon the plates of a 
building partly raised ; and very early he 
began to use his father's tools with a skill 
that seemed inborn, setting in motion little 
machines driven by the brook back of the 
house, or making various things for his 
mother's convenience. 

His father at that time had met with some 
losses, there was little money in the country, 
and the years when Thadileus should have 
gone to some academy were vears when the 
crops failed, so that he had only the op])or- 
tunities furnished by the common schools, 
when he was well enough to attend. Books 
were expensive. He often in later years 
spoke of how large a sum the dollar that 
must be paid for a new arithmetic seemed to 
him, and many a student coming to him for 
aid has had occasion to be glad that he re- 
membered how in his boyhood and young 
manhood he longed for educational priv- 
ileges, which he missed so much that he was 
glad to help others to gain them. 

Joseph Fairbanks and his sons were too 
enterprising to be content with the hard 
work and small returns of the life on the 
rather rough farm. The new settlements of 
Vermont attracted them, and in .May, 1815, 
he sold his property in Brimfield, purchased 
the falls of Sleeper's river, in what is now 
the southwest part of the village of St. 
Johnsbury, and moved his familv into a 



130 FAIRBANKS. 

little cabin of rough boards there, in which 
they lived two and one-half years, as pio- 
neers live. 

He and his son Thaddeus worked to- 
gether, and being skilled mechanics, built a 
dam upon the stream, which, coming from 
the then wooded country, was of some size, 
and erected and operated a sawmill and a 
gristmill where the Fairbanks scale factory 
has grown up. Meeting thus the necessities 
of the new country they began to prosper. 
In a shop over the gristmill they also made 
carriages, doing so good work that in 1892 
an old gentleman drove into St. Johnsbury 
with a wagon which he said had been used 
every year since his father purchased it of 
Thaddeus Fairbanks in 1819. In the summer 
of 1 8 18 Thaddeus built a two-story double 
house in which his parents lived the rest of 
their life, and to which he, marrying in Jan- 
uary, 1820, brought his wife, and lived there 
until 1838. The work of the mills and the 
shops increased, and for ten years he 
boarded from three to seven men, as the 
e.xigencies of that work required. 

The maternal uncles of Thaddeus Fair- 
banks were iron workers, the newly opened 
iron mine at Franconia, N. H., attracted 
his attention, and in 1823 he started a small 
iron foundry, and was joined in 1824 by his 
brother F>rastus, who gave up his store in 
Barnet, the elder uniting his business expe- 
rience with the mechanical and practical 
skill of the younger, as they formed the 
firm of E. & T. Fairbanks. Besides some 
job work they made cooking and parlor 
stoves, patenting one which sold well. Thad- 
deus also patented a cast iron plough, an 
unheard of thing, which the farmers said 
would " break all to pieces " but which, as 
made by the inventor, soon displaced the 
wooden ones with steel point, the only kind 
before known. For stoves and ploughs, 
Thaddeus made not only the plans, but also 
the patterns with his own hands, moulding 
many of them and attending to the melting, 
improving the blast furnace, and overcom- 
ing the faults that appeared in weak or 
porous castings. What he learned by this 
experience of making strong iron was in- 
valuable to him in all the later business. 

In 1829 and 1830 the attention of the 
farmers of New England was directed to 
the raising of hemp, and machines for 
dressing it were required. E. & T. Fair- 
banks built three of the immense Haynes 
machines, thirty-two feet long, and each 
having one hundred and thirty fluted rolls 
arranged in pairs and geared together so 
that the hemp stalks were crushed between 
them as they were drawn from one end to 
the other of the machine. Mr. Fairbanks 
made the gear wheels, a machine for fluting 
the rollers, and parts that required skilled 



FAIRBANKS. 

work, besides planning and superintending 
the building of the new shop and store 
rooms, and patenting an improved hemp 
dresser. He was also made manager of the 
St. johnsbury Hemp Co. 

His duties as manager, purchasing hemp 
by weight, developed a necessity, which 
with such a man as he must prove the mother 
of invention. That which cost from ten to 
fifteen dollars per ton must be accurately 
weighed. The only weighing machine for 
carts then known consisted of a stick of 
timber suspended high in the air, from one 
end of which two chains hung down with 
rings at the ends which could be slipped 
over the ends of the axle, while from the 
other end of the timber lever hung a plat- 
form upon which weights were piled until 
the cart swung clear of the ground. The 
first device of Mr. Fairbanks consisted of a 
platform upon which a cart could be driven, 
resting and balanced upon a long knife- 
edge, or upon two in line, fixed upon a 
triangular lever, of which the apex hung by 
a steel-yard rod from a beam pivoted and 
graduated like the old Roman steel-yard, 
while the base rested upon proper bearings 
at the other end of the scale. To keep the 
platform balanced upon the supporting knife 
edges, a stiff post was framed into it, from 
the top of which level chains extended to 
posts set in the ground on either side which 
being level neither lessened nor increased 
the load resting upon the lever under the 
]jlatform. 

The scale which Mr. Fairbanks built upon 
tliis plan to weigh hemp worked so well that 
his brother thought that some might be sold 
as town scales, and an agent was to take the 
early morning stage and make the attempt. 
Mr. Fairbanks savs : "While sitting up watch- 
ing for the time to call him, the principle 
upon which we now build our scales sud- 
denly came to my mind. I told the agent 
that he must wait a few days until I could 
make plans and patterns in accordance with 
my new discovery, and said to my wife that 
I had just discovered a principle that would 
be worth more than a thousand dollars." 
If such an arrangement of compound levers 
had ever been suggested before Mr. Fair- 
banks did not know it, for it had not been 
put into practical use, and he obtained a 
patent for it early in 1S3T, as his invention. 
His was the first real improvement upon the 
scales buried in the destruction of Pompeii. 
The first hay scale was rude, having wooden 
levers with cast iron bearings, but it was 
vastly better than anything before made, 
and in a few weeks several were sold. 

Mr. Fairbanks at once saw that the com- 
bination of levers in the hay-scale, in which 
the four pivots upon which the platform 
rested should all stand in the same relation 




IjVvAXjiWy-A^/wvyi "^-Uw/vAMvyvJXVyi 



132 



FAIRBANKS. 



of leverage to the indicating beam from 
which these levers hang, would be equally 
adapted to scales of other sizes for other 
uses. He at once set about making plans 
and patterns with his own hands for store 
scales. These and the counter scales, as 
well as the railway and canal boat scales 
which he designed later were new articles of 
manufacture, and everything about them 
must be originated. He says : ' "I had to 
consider the strength of material, the shape 
that would secure the greatest strength with 
the least material, and the symmetry and 
beauty of outside appearance. These, es- 
pecially the last, required a great amount of 
study. No one can be sure beforehand 
what the taste of the public will approve. 
That I succeeded in what I aimed at is 
shown by the fact that now after the lapse of 
fifty years the scales are made after the 
same design and all other makers follow the 
same. My evenings and sometimes nights 
were spent in this study, for I must be at 
the shop all day. My habit was to make 
the plans complete in my mind before com- 
mencing to put them upon paper." 

The scale was a comparatively simple in- 
vention, but many of the machines invented 
by Mr. Fairbanks for facilitating the man- 
ufacture were exceedingly ingenious, one for 
engraving the sides of the scale-beams being 
capable of so many adjustments that the old 
foreman used to say that it could do every- 
thing but talk. Invention was not laborious 
— to see a result desirable was to devise a 
mechanism for accomplishing it. The real 
struggle was with poverty, and unskilled 
help and with ill-health. The demands of 
the business growing so rapidly could not 
be met from its earnings, and he made 
scales for fifteen years with only the rude 
tools which he fitted up himself, and for 
fifteen more bought only a little machinery. 
Trained mechanics could not be hired in 
the country, and he had only such assistants 
as he could educate himself. No business 
was ever carried on at greater disadvantage, 
or by its success attested more manly quali- 
ties in its manager. 

The invention of the scale met at once a 
great want, and gradually changed so en- 
tirely the methods of doing business, that 
now it is as essential as the steam engine or 
the telegraph. Almost nothing is measured 
or counted, everything is weighed, from the 
minute prescription of some potent drug to 
the loaded freight train or canal boat. And 
Mr. Fairbanks lived to see scales de- 
manded for such a variety of uses that some 
five hundred modifications were sent out 
from St. Johnsbury. The scale has become 
a most potent factor in modern civilized 
life, the arbiter between buyer and seller, 
and by its accuracy is always teaching ex- 



FAIRBANKS. 

actness in business methods, and enforcing 
strict integrity in business transactions. 
His invention was a scale, not a pair of 
scales. It takes its name from the graduated 
beam, the scale of equal parts (scala, lad- 
der), and not from the two scales '(shells) of 
the even balance. 

Mr. Fairbanks obtained early an English 
patent, and others later. The first was sold 
to H. Pooley of Liverpool, who thereupon 
established what is still the leading manu- 
factory of ( Ireat Britain. The scales made 
at St. Johnsbury are also sold in England, 
and to other countries the export is very 
large. These scales are graduated accord- 
ing to the standards of all the nations of the 
world, and are sent everywhere, Russia, 
Japan, China, Australia and the South 
.American states furnishing large markets. 
These scales and their inventor have re- 
ceived abundant recognition and honors, 
awards, diplomas, medals, from mechanics' 
and agricultural fairs, the Philadelphia Cen- 
tennial, the London, Paris and Vienna Ex- 
positions, and as a posthumous tribute to 
Mr. Fairbanks, as well as an honor to the 
house which he established, twenty awards 
by the judges of the Columbian Exposition 
of 1893. More personal than these, after 
the Vienna Exposition he received from his 
"Imperial and Royal .\postolic Majesty" 
the Emperor of Austria, the knightly decora- 
tion of the Imperial Order of Francis 
Joseph ; from the Kingof Siam the decoration 
Paspamula, the gold medal of Siam, with the 
heathen prayer, " May the Power which is 
mighty in the universe keep him and guard 
him, and grant him all happiness and pros- 
perity ;" and from Mohammed es Sadok, 
Pasha, Bey of Tunis, the decoration " of our 
Order of Iftikar," and the Mohammedan 
invocation, " May you wear it in peace and 
prosperity." 

Mr. Fairbanks was not only a scale maker, 
but having occasion to build so much he be- 
came an architect of no mean ability, work- 
ing out the details, from frame to finish, not 
only of shops, but of some public buildings, 
some fine residences, and a great many 
most convenient little houses, sold or leased 
to workmen, which are a comfort to their 
families and an ornament to .St. Johnsbury. 
And his inventions were not merely of 
scales, for which, and machines for making 
them, he received thirty-two patents, but he 
])atented also a hemp machine, a stove, a 
cast iron plough, a device for creating 
draught in chimneys, a steam heater, a 
steam water heater, a feed water heater, and 
an improvement in refrigerators. This last 
consisted in placing the ice above the level 
of the articles to be cooled, and the princi- 
ple has been universally adopted for refrig- 
erators, fruit houses, meat packing houses. 



FAIRHAN'KS. 

etc. The moisture is condensed upon tlie 
ice, with all tainted \a]5ors, and the cooled 
dry air flows down ujion the articles below. 
Mr. Fairbanks could not go into new busi- 
ness, and gave away his patent, which its 
new owners later told him was worth at 
least a million of dollars. .\ rival comjiany 
attempted to cover the claims of this into a 
patent of their own by reissue, and to 
establish a monopoly. The battles that 
followed were among the hardest fought of 
patent litigation, and the final decision 
established the priority of his invention, the 
judge saying : '' In this case the evidence is 
perfectly conclusive of the construction, 
both in 1846 and 1849, by Thaddeus F'air- 
banks of refrigerators embodying the prin- 
ciple." In all refrigerating apparatus, as in 
the plough and the scale, Mr. Fairbanks' in- 
vention proved a revolutionary improve- 
ment. 

Perhaps it was owing to his own sense of 
loss by deficiency of education that Mr. 
Fairbanks was led to such intense interest in 
giving educational advantages to others. 
As a young man we find him interested in a 
lyceum, with his employes and others, and 
his lectures upon astronomy and heat pre- 
pared for that audience indicate vigorous 
and original thought. St. Johnsbury had 
various private high schools before its acad- 
emy, and he and his noble wife were seldom 
without nephews, nieces or others in the 
family enjoying these advantages. He and 
his brothers established St. Johnsbury Acad- 
emy in 1842, and twenty years later he un- 
dertook its support, and still later erected 
its buildings, and contributed to its endow- 
ment fund enough to make his total gifts to 
it over two hundred thousand dollars. He . 
also contributed largely to the funds of 
Middlebury College of which he was a trus- 
tee, and was a constant giver to many 
western colleges and other institutions. He 
was likewise for many vears the largest con- 
tributor to home missionary work in \'er- 
mont, and equally large to foreign missions, 
while all the societies that naturally ap- 
pealed to him received liberal regular dona- 
tions, from him, and scores of students were 
aided by him. 

Mr. Fairbanks, while exceedingly taciturn, 
was an attractive, impressive man. Active 
to the last, in spite of limitations from par- 
tial blindness, he was interested in every- 
thing, and his last patent was allowed upon 
his ninetieth birthday. His was a beautiful 
old age. Children loved him, and clung to 
him. A little child taken to church for the 
first time saw him come in, and in an awed 
whisper asked, "Mamma, is that Jesus?" 

He died after a painful illness, from the 
indirect effect of a fall, at the age of ninety 
years and three months. On the day of his 



I'ARMAN. 133 

funeral all business in St. Johnsbury was 
suspended, buildings were draped in mourn- 
ing, and great numbers came to look once 
more on his face, and joined the procession 
to the grave. A man of Christian faith, of 
spiritual insight and force, and of fine native 
gifts, Mr. Fairbanks was successful above 
most men in his chosen lines of work, and 
was useful wherever he was successful. 

He was married, Jan. 17, 1820, to Lucy 
P. Barker, a native of St. Johnsbury, whose 
father Barnabas, came with his father and 
the first settlers of the town, and in 1791 
brought his bride, Ruth Peck, from Reho- 
both on a pillion behind him. Mrs. Fair- 
banks was a woman of marked ability, taking 
her full share of the care of the family, and 
full of kindly deeds. Her son. Rev. Henry 
Fairbanks, Ph. D., is spoken of elsewhere in 
this work. Her daughter, (^larlotte, became 
the wife of Rev. G. N. Webber, D. D., 
pastor at Hartford, Conn., professor in Mid- 
dlebury College, and pastor at Troy, N. Y., 
and died March 29, 1869. Mrs. Fairbanks 
was born April 29, 1798, and died Dec. 29, 
1866. 

FARMAN, MaRCELLUS WiNSLOW, of 
Westfield, son of Ashley and Harriet (\^'ins- 
low) Farman, was born in Westfield, July 
29, 1865. He is ninth in lineal descent 
from Kenelm, brother of (lov. Edward 
Winslow. 

Until fifteen years of age he attended the 
public schools of Westfield, and then for a 
short time pursued his studies at the Nor- 
mal School at Johnson. For several years 
his sight had been failing gradually owing to 
an internal affection of the eyes, aggravated 
by excessive use, and his affection developed 
until It terminated in the loss of physical 
vision. This was an especial affliction, as 
from early boyhood he had evinced strong 
literary tastes, but undaunted by what to 
many would have proved an insurmountable 
obstacle, he again attended the Johnson 
Normal School, receiving his instruction 
through the medium of a reader. In 1887 
he entered the University of Vermont, tak- 
ing a special course to fit himself for a pub- 
lic speaker, and notwithstanding the disad- 
vantage under which he labored he attained 
high rank in both school and college. His 
first lecture was delivered in the spring of 
1890 before the Burlington V. M. C. A. and 
was attended and received with unqualified 
approbation by the president of the Uni- 
versity, members of the faculty and the 
leading men in the city. His lectures cover 
political, historical and religious subjects 
and have received most complimentary en- 
dorsement from many sources. 

Mr. Farman has met with marked success 
as a popular and ]>owerful speaker, and in 



134 



FARXHAM. 



the campaign of 1892 was employed by the 
state RepubHcan committee in this capacity. 
For several years he has been an occasional 
contributor to the press. 




From early manhood he has been an 
active and consistent member of the Con- 
gregational church, has served on its com- 
mittee and was formerly a member of the 
choir. He is also an efficient worker in the 
Y. P. S. C. E. 

FAULKNER, SHEPHERD D., of Whit- 
ingham, son of William and Hannah (Dal- 
rymple) Faulkner, was born in Whitingham, 
March 9, 181 8. 

Mr. Faulkner belongs to a family promi- 
nently connected with the history of Whit- 
ingham, his father being one of its early set- 
tlers. After such an education as the com- 
mon schools of the time afforded he desired 
to devote the energy of his life to farming, 
in which occupation by his constant labor 
and careful management he has amassed a 
considerable fortune. Recently he has not 
engaged in any active occupation but has 
lived a retired life at Jacksonville or with his 
son William A. Faulkner at Brookline, Mass. 

In the days of the whig party Mr. Faulk- 
ner was one of its members, but has been 
and is now a staunch Republican. He was 
first selectman at the time of the draft to 
fill the town quota in the days of the civil 
war and has ever been one of the substan- 
tial citizens in the community, holding many 
offices of honor and trust. 



Mr. Faulkner was united in marriage 
Nov. ir, 1S45, at Whitingham, to Miranda, 
daughter of Alfred and Clarissa (Smith) 
(Ireene. There were two children : William 
A., and Emma M. (Mrs. Henry Holbrook of 
Whitingham), deceased. 

Mr. Faulkner was one of the early found- 
ers of the Universalist Society in Jackson- 
ville, is a firm believer in its doctrine and a 
liberal supporter of religious and charitable 
organizations. 

FARNHAM, ROSWELL, of Bradford, son 
of Roswell and Nancy (Bixby) Farnham, 
was born in Boston, Mass., July 23, 1827. 

Governor Farnham is of the eighth genera- 
tion in line of direct descent from Ralph 
Farnham, who emigrated from England to 
America and settled in Andover, Mass. His 
maternal grandfather, Capt. David Bixby, 
was a distinguished soldier in the Revolution, 
and was present in the actions at Lexington 
and Bunker Hill, afterwards doing excellent 
service in Rhode Island ; he was also at the 
battle of Stillwater, and later went to sea on 
board a privateer, and returned home in pos- 
session of considerable prize-money at the 
end of his first cruise. The second venture 
was not so fortunate. His vessel was cap- 
tured by a British frigate, when but a short 
distance out of port. He, himself, was con- 
veyed to England, lodged in Dartmoor 
prison, and there, in common with other 
American capti\es, suffered great privations 
for seventeen months. The father of Ros- 
well Farnham was in business on Court street, 
Boston. He removed to Haverhill, Mass., 
where he began the manufacture of boots and 
shoes for the southern market. In 1839, the 
great financial deluge which swept so many 
fortunes away, ruined him. In 1840, Roswell 
Farnham, Sr., removed his family to Brad- 
ford. There he purchased a farm on the 
Connecticut river, upon which he resided 
until within two years of his death, on the 
2oth of December, i860. 

The subject of this sketch prepared for 
college in the academy at Bradford, and 
while thus engaged assisted in the cultivation 
of his father's farm. Lacking the means 
requisite to enter college when fully pre- 
pared, he pursued the studies of the fresh- 
man and sophomore classes at the same 
academy, and in September, 1847, he joined 
the junior class at the L^niversity of Vermont, 
from which he graduated in August, 1849, 
and received the degree of A. M. in 1852. 

Immediately after graduation he entered 
upon active duty as a teacher at Dunham, 
Lower Canada, now Province of Quebec. 
From Dunham, Mr. Farnham removed to 
Franklin, Vt., where he took charge of the 
Franklin Academical Institution, and later 
he taught the Bradford Academy in this state. 




^^^^^^^^^,^^>l<^^>^/^. 



136 



But he did not intend to devote his hfe to 
the profession of teaching, and therefore re- 
linquished the charge of the seminary. Dur- 
ing this period he found leisure for the study 
of law, and made such progress that he was 
admitted to practice at the Orange county 
bar in January, 1857. 

Mr. Farnham's professional career began 
as the partner of Robert McK. Ormsby. In 
1859 '^s commenced practice independently, 
soon acquired a remunerative business, and 
had the satisfaction of witnessing its gradual 
increase. During the same year he was 
elected state's attorney for Orange county by 
the Republican party, and was subsequently 
re-elected twice by the same organization. 

As second lieutenant of the Bradford 
Guards, Mr. Farnham accompanied the first 
regiment of the Vermont Volunteers to the 
scene of action, and was stationed for the 
greater part of its three months service at 
Fortress Monroe and at Newport News, Va. 
When the 12th Vt. Vol. Regt. was formed 
out of the militia companies of the state the 
Governor detailed the Bradford Guards as 
one of the companies of that organization. 
Lieutenant Farnham was elected their cap- 
tain, but before the regiment came to Brat- 
tleboro, its place of rendezvous. Captain 
Farnham was appointed and commissioned 
as lieutenant-colonel. For nearly half of the 
term of his new service, he was in command 
of the regiment, the colonel being in com- 
mand of the brigade. At the expiration of the 
second term of service Lieutenant-Colonel 
Farnham returned to the practice of law 
in Bradford, where he has since resided. 
Shortly after, he was the Republican candi- 
date for representative of the town, but was 
defeated by a Democratic majority. In 186S 
and 1869 he was elected by the Republicans 
to the state Senate, and served creditably in 
that body throughout both terms. He was 
chairman of three important committees and 
a member of two others. In 1876 he was a 
delegate to the national Republican con- 
vention which nominated Gen. R. B. Hayes 
for the presidency. He was also one of the 
presidential electors in the same vear, and 
for three years was a member of the State 
Board of Education. He is, and has been, 
one of the elective trustees of the University 
of Vermont and State Agricultural College. 
In 1880 Colonel Farnham was nominated as 
candidate for the chief magistracy of Ver- 
mont, and was elected by a majority of 25,- 
012 votes. The number of political sup- 
porters indicated by the ballot was larger 
than any previous candidate had enjoyed. 
His two years of office as Governor were 
extremely busy ones, yet he attended faith- 
fully and efficiently to the duties of his posi- 
tion, and that to the neglect of his personal 
affairs. His administration was as grateful 



and profitable to the people as it was hon- 
orable to himself. 

In religious matters he is, as might be an- 
ticipated from what has been said of his 
ancestry and education, a member of the 
Congregational church. 

Governor Farnham was married on the 
25th of December, 1849, to Mary Elizabeth, 
eldest daughter of Captain Ezekiel'and Nancy 
(Rogers) Johnson of Bradford. Three living 
children are the fruit of their union : Charles 
Cyrus, Florence Mary, and AMUiam Mills. 

FARRELL, PATRICK JOSEPH, of New- 
port, son of James and Rose Ann Theresa 
( Hart ) Farrell, was born in Stanstead, P. Q., 
May 10, 1 86 1. 

His education was derived from the 
Wells River and Newport Academies but he 
mainly relied on his own efforts by private 
study to make himself a scholar. Soon 
after his birth, his father removed to New- 
bury and afterwards to Newport. In his 
early youth Patrick worked upon a farm and 
assisted his father in handling bark, and 
employed his evenings in studying the art 
of telegraphy. In the spring of 1880 he 
entered the employ of the Conn. & Pass. 
R. R., at Newport as billing clerk, and a few 
months after was transferred to Lyndon- 
ville as train dispatcher, then was employed 
at Stanstead and Derby Line as station 
agent, and conductor of passenger trains 
running from the former town to Newport. 
By the death of his father, he was compelled 
to resign this position and give his attention 
to the business affairs of the former, suc- 
ceeding him as agent for a Boston firm who 
dealt in hemlock bark. 

He now turned his attention to the legal 
profession and in 1884 began studying law 
with Crane & Alfred at Newport, then 
entered the office of C. A. Prouty, and was 
admitted to the bar in October, 1887. He 
was appointed a postal clerk the same year, 
his route extending from Newport to Spring- 
field, Mass., and soon after he was promoted 
to the position of chief clerk with his head- 
quarters at Boston, having charge of the 
largest division in New England. He re- 
signed in 1889 and returning to Newport, 
formed a copartnership with C. A. Prouty in 
the law business which lasted nearly two 
years, when the r)rleans Trust Co. was or- 
ganized and Mr. Farrell was made its treas- 
urer, which position he still retains and has 
also charge of the legal affairs of the bank. 

Mr. Farrell has held several public offices 
in his town and village, and was, during 
three years, chairman of the board of trus- 
tees of said village. He is a strong Demo- 
crat, having served several years on the 
Democratic town committee, and is now a 
member of the Democratic state committee. 



In 1S90 he was his party's candidate for the 
office of state's attorney in Orleans county 
and in 1892 was one of the Democratic 
candidates for Vermont presidential electors 
and was an earnest and effective speaker in 
the political campaign of that year. 

He was married August 9, 1883, to Sarah 
M., daughter of Patrick and Johanna M. 
Brady of Newport. Their children are : 
Mary Agnes, Helen Isabel, Charles Henry, 
and Charlotte Claire. 

Mr. Farrell is emphatically a self-made 
man and one of the brightest young attor- 
neys in the state. He owes his success 
almost entirely to his own unaided efforts to 
advance, and deserves the highest credit for 
his energy and perseverance. He has not 
buried a single talent in the ground, but has 
used every honorable means to acquire his 
present enviable position, which now pre- 
sents to him the flattering hope of a still 
more prosperous future. He is a member 
of the Roman Catholic church. 



Fir.i.u. 137 

FIELD, Henry Francis, of Rutland, 

son of William M. and Minerxa (Daven- 
port) Field, was born in Brandon, Oct. 8, 
1843. His ancestors originated in Con- 
necticut and were descended from Z echariah 
Field, who setded in Hartford in 1639. 

The education of .Mr. Field was obtained 
in ]jublic and pri\ate sc-hools and at the 
seminary in Brandon. .At the age of seven- 
teen he entered the Brandon Bank as a 
clerk, remaining there for something more 
than a year and until, in March, 1862, he 
removed to Rutland to take a position in the 
office of John B. Page, then the treasurer of 
the state. In 1864 he received the appoint- 
ment of teller in the Bank of Rutland, soon 
after reorganized or converted into a national 
bank, and three years later was elected to 
the cashiership of the Rutland County Na- 
tional Bank, which position he has held for 
the past twenty-six years and still retains. 
He has also been for many years a director 
of the same institution. 



FIELD, Frederic Griswold, of 

Springfield, son of Abner and Louisa ( Gris- 
wold) Field, was born in Springfield, Jan. i, 
1842. His father, Abner, was the first post- 
master of North Springfield, several times 
represented the town, and was twice elected 
to the state Senate. He was an influential 
man in his day and much respected for his 
probity, energy and decision of character. 

Mr. F. G. Field passed through the usual 
course of the common schools and attended 
the Springfield Wesleyan Seminary several 
years. Shortly after his majority he deter- 
mined to follow the mercantile profession 
and with this view in 1864 opened a store 
for general trade in North Springfield. \Vith 
the exception of two years he has been suc- 
cessfully engaged in business there. He is 
also an extensive owner of real estate and to 
some extent is engaged in farming. 

.As a Republican he has been chosen to fill 
various town offices, was representative to 
the Legislature from Springfield in i87o-'72, 
and elected senator in 1880. He was com- 
missioner for Windsor county in 1890, and 
in 1S91 was appointed inspector of finance 
to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death 
of Hon. L. O. Greene of Woodstock. 

He was married July 2, 1872, to Anna M., 
daughter of Addison and Florella Tarbell of 
Cavendish. They have two children : Fred 
T., and Bertha I. 

The counsel and advice of Mr. Field are 
highly esteemed in financial and business 
matters and he does a large amount of con- 
vevancing, besides settling many estates in 
North Springfield and vicinity. He is as 
sound a business man as his brother Wal- 
bridge, the present chief justice of the 
Massachusetts Supreme Court, is lawyer. 




He is a member and the senior deacon of 
the Rutland Congregational Church, and for 
a <piarter of a century has been connected 
with the Sabbath school of the church as 
superintendent or assistant. 

Mr. I'ield married, June 21, 1S65, Annie 
Louisa, daughter of John Howe of Brandon, 
who was the founder of the corporation 
known as the Howe Scale Co., first organ- 
ized and established in Brandon and after- 
wards remo\ ed to Rutland. The children of 



138 



this union are two sons : John Howe, and 
WilHani Henry. 

Mr. Field's official career commenced as 
town treasurer, which office he held for ten 
years. He was also, meanwhile, treasurer of 
the village, and of the graded school district 
of Rutland for several years, and has been 
treasurer of the county since 1877. He 
served as assistant doorkeeper of the Senate 
in 1858 and 1859 and was deputy secretary 
of state in 1861. He is a Republican in 
politics, and was chosen a senator from Rut- 
land county in 1884, when he was chairman 
of the committee on banks, and in 1888 he 
represented Rutland in the House, where he 
was also chairman of the committee on 
banks, and served at both sessions on other 
important committees. In 1890 he was 
elected State Treasurer and re-elected to the 
same office in 1892. 

FISH, Frank Leslie, of Vergennes, 
son of Frederick A. and Sarah M. (Gates) 
Fish, was born at Newfane, Sept. 17, 1863. 

He was educated at Leland and Gray 
Seminary, and at the Vermont .\cademy, 
graduating from the latter in 18S6. At this 




school he took a leading part in the rhetori- 
cal and literary exercises, aiding in establish- 
ing and being the first editor of the Ver- 
mont Academy Life, a successful school 
periodical. After completing his academic 
course he taught several terms in the district 
schools. While engaged as principal of the 
graded school at South Londonderry he 



commenced the studv of law with A. K. 
Cudworth. After further study with Milon 
Davidson of Newfane, he entered the office 
of Hon. James M. Tyler at Brattleboro, re- 
maining with him until Mr. Tyler's acces- 
sion to the supreme court, when he entered 
the office of Judge Levant M. Reed of 
Bellows Falls, continuing his law studies 
and acting as register of probate for the 
1 )istrict of Westminster. When at this place 
he edited the local columns of the Bellows 
Falls Times. He was admitted to the bar 
at the general term of the Supreme Court, 
October, 1889. In January following he 
opened an office at Vergennes, where he 
now resides. 

Though but thirty years of age he has 
established a reputation as a successful law- 
yer ; was elected state's attorney of .Vddison 
county in 1892 ; is city collector of taxes; 
was chosen superintendent of schools for Ver- 
gennes in 1892, and now holds that position. 

Mr. Fish was married March 15, 1892, to 
Minnie J., daughter of Chauncey and Kmer- 
etta (Hopkins) Lyon of W'aterbury. 

FISK, FeRRIN BaTCHELDER, of Lyn- 
don, son of Deacon Lyman and Mary (Spof- 
ford) Fisk, was born in Waitsfield, July 30, 
1837, and from the age of thirteen to 
twenty-one labored at his father's trade of 
coopering. Strongly determined to obtain 
an education, at his majority he entered 
Barre Academy. Having chosen the minis- 
try as his profession, he took a course in 
Bangor (Me.) Theological Seminary, where 
he graduated in the class of 1863. In the 
early part of the war of the rebellion he 
served as delegate of the Christian Commis- 
sion in the Army of the Potomac. The 
coffee wagon had been sent to the Christian 
Commission at City Point, Va., and not 
being appreciated by those in authority, it 
had been left to rust by the wayside. Mr. 
Fisk finding it, saw it was a good idea and 
got permission to try it. It proved a great 
success and is remembered with gratitude 
by many a veteran. 

Leaving Dracut in 1865, the subsecjuent 
pastorates of Mr. Fisk were in Massachu- 
setts, Vermont, and Minnesota, and for two 
years he acted as the field agent of Carleton 
College of the last named state. Ill-health in 
his family demanded removal to a warmer 
climate, therefore he served in the home 
missionary field in Illinois and Florida for 
about five years. Returning to Vermont, he 
supplied at Morrisville and afterwards re- 
moved to Lyndon, where he now resides and 
has under his charge the parishes of Lyndon 
and St. Johnsbury Centre. 

August 25, 1863, Mr. Fisk was united in 
marriage to Miss Harriet L., daughter of 
Charles F. and Luana (Carpenter) Bige- 



139 



low. 'I'hey have four children : Flora F. 
(Mrs. (j. L. Zimmerman), George Shep- 
hard, Fidelia, and Grace Harriet. 

Mr. Fisk was chaplain of the Vermont 
Senate in icSOg and 1870, and inaiigurated 
the custom of daily legislative prayer meet- 
ings. He is a poet of more than local rep- 
utation and a few of his compositions have 
been published in the "Poets and I'oetrv of 
\'ermont." 

FLAGG, George W., of ISraintree, 
son of .\ustin and Mary V.. (Harwood) 
Flagg, was born in that town, April 9, 1839. 

F^ducated in the common schools of Brain- 
tree and Randolph Academy he remained 
upon his father's farm till the age of twenty 
and afterwards was a day laborer till the 
breaking out of the civil war. 



^^e^ 




In May, 1861, he enlisted at Montpelier 
in Co. F, id Regt., Vt. Vols., and partici- 
pated in every engagement in which the old 
Vermont brigade bore part from Bull Run 
to .Appomattox. He was constantly on 
duty, but for one month was disabled by a 
wound received in the Wilderness. May 3, 
1864, his brigade was the first to enter 
Petersburgh, when General Grant advanced 
on Richmond. Mr. Flagg enlisted as a 
private, served four years, participated in 
twenty-five battles and was promoted to the 
rank of sergeant ; he as such more than once 
commanded his company in the absence of 
all the superior officers. He was honorably 
discharged as ist lieutenant with brevet 
captain, July 25, 1865. 



He was in commantl and took home to 
the state the only company organized in the 
capital of the state during the war. 

Soon after the close of the war, he mar- 
ried and settled upon a farm. He now owns 
three hundred and fifty acres in the east por- 
tion of the town, it being the second best in 
town, the production of which he has quad- 
rupled in twenty-four years. He is a well 
known breeder of Cotswold sheep and has re- 
ceived many medals and prizes for specimens 
exhibited at New England state and county 
fairs. He also possesses an excellent 
orchard, for the fruit of which he finds a 
ready market. 

Early in life he showed great aptitude for 
collar and elbow wrestling and was wont, 
even when a boy, to display this accomplish- 
ment at public gatherings. He gradually so 
increased in skill that he was the acknowl- 
edged champion of the Army of the Poto- 
mac. From the age of thirty-five to forty- 
eight, he travelled extensively in most of the 
northern states, giving exhibitions of his 
proficiency, and his only rival was H. ^L 
Dufur with whom he had many hard fought 
battles. 

.\t the age of eighteen he lost his last fall 
(for business), for fifteen years he knew no 
difference in men, he could throw any man 
he ever met in five minutes. He travelled 
through Western New York, where he won 
many matches, also Ohio. He wrestled in 
almost every town of importance in Michi- 
gan where he defeated the renowned Indian 
chief Tipsico at a back hold match. In 
New England he wrestled for agricultural 
societies, one of which was the Vermont 
State Fair, also at July 4th gatherings to 
thousands of people under great excitement. 
In his travels he challenged all comers for 
any amount with perfect confidence. 

.After each campaign of travels he returned 
to work on his farm, never training for a 
match or series of matches. 

During Mr. Flagg's wrestling career he 
doubtless wrestled two hundred matches. 
.Athletic sports had a great fascination for 
him. A game that was very popular in his 
boyhood days, the champion wrestler being 
the lion of the day at all public gatherings. 
In all of his matches he always manifested 
good cheer towards all, never losing his 
temper, being strictly honest. 

.As a temperance man none were more 
zealous in the cause than he. In all of his 
travels he never tasted licjuor ; making 
speeches in the Legislature in the cause of 
temperance, never tiring in advocating its 
cause. 

Mr. F'lagg married Delia .A., daughter of 
Whitman and Elmira (Smith) Howard, 
May 16, 1865. f!y her he has had two 
children : Lester G., and Bert C. 



;i40 



FLETCHER. 



As a Republican, Mr. Flagg has been 
•called upon to serve his town in many minor 
•offices, and was elected representative to the 
Legislature in i8S6. 

He received his degrees in Masonry in 
Phoenix ],odge of Randolph, and has joined 
U. S. Grant Post, No. 96, G. .-V. R., of West 
Randolph, and is its present commander. 

Mr. Flagg possesses a marked personality, 
is fully six feet in height with the figure of a 
Hercules ; and with his jovial good nature, his 
sturdy strength and endurance, his unflinch- 
ing courage and unselfish patriotism is the 
^typical Green Mountain Boy of '76 and '61. 

FLANDERS, William Dana, of Orange, 
son of Royal C. and Hannah B. (Williams) 
Flanders, was born in Orange, June 20, 
1850. Royal C. Flanders enlisted as a pri- 
vate in the 2d Regt. Vt. Infantry, and after- 
wards in the 9th, and when he returned from 
the war, after more than four years service, 
he held the commission of lieutenant. 




Dana attended the common schools of 
•Orange, but his father dying when he was 
about sixteen years of age, his efforts to 
obtain an education were brought to a ter- 
mination. Before he was of age, he began 
as a laborer in a sawmill, and naturally has 
followed the business of lumbering from that 
time. In 1879 he formed a partnership with 
Carlos B. Richardson, which lasted six years, 
and since that time he has carried on the 
business alone, in the summer time giving 
some attention to farming. 



Favoring the princi])les of the Republican 
]>arty, he has been thought worthy to fill the 
usual town offices, and was sent to the Legis- 
lature from Orange in 1892. Here he served 
upon the committee on claims. 

Mr. Flanders was married at Barre, July 
3, 1878, to Cora B., daughter of Carlos B. 
and Sarah (Jackson) Richardson. Four 
children are the fruit of their marriage, two 
of whom died in infancy ; Nettie B. and 
Fred C. are still living with their parents. 

Mr. Flanders is a Free Mason of more 
than twenty years standing, is a member of 
Granite Lodge, No. 35, of Barre, and also of 
the chapter of that place. Though he com- 
menced life under many disadvantages, he 
has made full use of his opportunities, and 
bears an excellent reputation in the com- 
munity in which he lives. 

FLETCHER, HENRY ADDISON.ofProc- 
torsville, son of Ryland and Mary Ann, 
(May) Fletcher, was born in Cavendish 
Dec. 1 1, 1S39. 

The name of Fletcher for three genera- 
tions has been a prominent one in the town 
of Cavendish. Dr. Asaph Fletcher was a 
member of the convention that framed the 
Constitution of Massachusetts. Having 
moved to Cavendish in 17S7, he was also a 
member of the convention which applied to 
Congress for the admission of Vermont 
into the Union, was several times elected to 
the Legislature and was also a county judge 
and presidential elector. Of his family of 
nine children the three most distinguished 
were : Horace, a prominent Baptist clergy- 
man ; Richard, a member of Congress and 
judge of the Supreme Court ; and Ryland, 
who became Lieutenant-Governor, and was 
the first Republican Governor of the state. 
Sketches of both the latter appear in Part I 
of this work. 

Henry A. Fletcher was mustered into the 
U. S. service Oct. 23, 1862, as ist sergeant 
of Co. C, 1 6th Regt. Vt. Vols., commanded 
by Col. W. G. Veazey, was appointed ser- 
geant major March 9, 1863, and com- 
missioned 2d lieutenant of Co. C, April 2, 
1863. 

.A Republican in his political preferences, 
he represented Cavendish in the House in 
1867, 186S, 1878, 1880 and 1882 and was a 
senator from Windsor county in 18S6. 
Among his other legislative duties he served 
on the committees on banks, railroads, revis- 
ion of laws and the general committee. In 
1 8 78 he was appointed aid on the staff of 
Ciovernor Proctor with the rank of colonel. 
In 1890 he was elected Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor of the state. He is a member of 
Howard Post, No. 33, Cj. A. R. of Ludlow. 

Mr. Fletcher is unmarried and is a farmer 
residing on the old homestead, which has 



been owned and occupied by the family for 
more tlian a century. His name is equally 
associated with the distinguished memory of 
an honored ancestry and his own excellent 
record as a citizen and a public man. 

FOOTE, ROLLIN ABRA.M, of Cornwall, 
son of Col. Abram and Orpha (William- 
son) Foote, was born in Cornwall, Jan. 9, 
1832. 



children ; Abram William, and I'Vank S, 
son. 



141 
:imp- 




JN ABRAM FOOTE. 



He obtained his education in the common 
schools of his birthplace, settled upon the farm 
which has been in the possession of the Foote 
family from the first settlement of the town, 
and has continued there pursuing his vocation 
till the present time. The estate has been 
enlarged and improved since it came into 
his hands, and he does not complain of 
" hard times " in the present depression in 
agriculture. He is one of the substantial 
men of the county ; where advice is often 
sought, and whose influence is wholly on the 
side of good order. In 1879, he formed a 
copartnership with his son, Abram W. Foote, 
for the sale of hay and agricultural imple- 
ments, and has built up a prosperous trade 
in that line ; and he has also made a spe- 
cialty of breeding matched horses. 

Mr. Foote has held all the principal offices 
in the town of his nati\ity, among which 
may be named : Lister eleven years, overseer 
of the poor seventeen years, and road com- 
missioner. 

He married, March i, 1854, Miss Julia 
Arabella Sampson, by whom he has had two 



FORBHS, Charles Spoonbr, of st. 

Albans, son of Abner and Catherine Forbes, 
was born at Windsor, .August 6, 185 1, and 
removed to St. Albans in 1S63. 

The public schools gave him his prelimi- 
nary training, and resolving to become a. 
journalist by profession, he commenced his 
newspaper career on the St. Albans Tran- 
script at the age of seventeen. He has 
been connected with various state papers for 
nearly twenty years and since 1879 has been 
the Vermont correspondent and state mana- 
ger of the Boston Journal. 

Mr. Forbes cast his first vote for President 
Grant and was prominent in the Campaign 
Club of St. Albans in 1S72, and has actedas 
secretary and treasurer of the local Republi- 
can clubs afterward formed. He was secre- 
tary of the Republican state convention of 
1886 : was a delegate and one of the secre- 
taries of the national convention of Repub- 
lican clubs held in New York City in 1887 ; 
made secretary of the Republican League of 
\'ermont in 188S, and assisted in organizing 




CHARLES SPOONER FORBES. 

one hundred and fifty campaign clubs. He 
was appointed captain and aid-de-cani]) on 
the brigade staff, V. N. C., in 1886 and was 
a member of the staff of Governor Dilling- 
ham, with the rank of colonel. 

Colonel Forbes has held many honorable 
])ositions in civil life, among them the secre- 



142 



taryships of the Vermont commission on 
the Washington centennial at New Yorl;, 
the State Press Association, the Vermont 
Society of the Sons of the American Revo- 
lution, the Vermont Historical Society, the 
Vermont League for (iood Roads, and the 
state commission to the World's Columbian 
Exposition. He was elected president of 
the Vermont Press Association in 1893. In 
December, 1889, he received the appoint- 
ment of deputy collector of internal revenue 
for the Vermont Division, which office he 
held for four years. 

The religious \iews of Colonel Forbes are 
Episcopalian and he is a member of St. 
Luke's Church, St. Albans. He has been a 
vestryman, treasurer and parish clerk, and 
also a delegate to se\eral diocesan conven- 
tions of the church. Colonel Forbes was 
one of the notification committee appointed 
at the special diocesan convention in 1893 
to inform Rev. Arthur C. A. Hall of Oxford, 
England, of his election to the Vermont 
Ri.shopric. 

FORD, Samuel W., of concord, son 
of Robert and Lydia (Hale) Ford, was born 
in the town of (Irafton, N. H., June 16, 
1823. 

When Samuel had arrived at the age of 
six years his father moved to Kirby and in 
the public schools of that town he received 
his early educational training. 

Mr. Ford left home when about seventeen 
years old and pursued the vocation of farm 
laborer until the age of thirty. He was an 
excellent type of his class of that period now 
unfortunately so seldom to be found in our 
agricultural communities. Sturdy, intelli- 
gent and industrious he fought his way 
through difficulties and obstacles, until he 
was able to marry and settle upon the fertile 
farm that he has occupied ever since, where 
he has still continued to manifest the thrift 
and perseverance of his early life. He has 
been most successful in breeding good grade 
Shorthorn stock and Shropshire sheep, 

Mr, Ford bears a striking resemblance to 
the late ex- President Hayes and also is of 
the same political creed. As selectman he 
was most active and energetic in raising the 
town quota of soldiers during the civil war. 
The requisition was received Saturday and 
on the following Thursday sixteen recruits 
were enrolled before sunset. In 1876 he 
represented the town of Concord in the 
Legislature. 

Mr. Ford was married March 8, 1853, to 
Sophronia, daughter of William and Polly 
Willry. Mrs. Ford has been the mother of 
four children : Ellery, Helen (Mrs. William 
Lindsan), Dan, and Almeda (Mrs. Milo A. 
Green). 



FOSS, James M., of St. Albans, was 
born at Pembroke, N. H,, Jan. 6, 1829. 
His parents were Jeremiah and Clarissa 
(Moore) Foss. 

He was educated at Pembroke .Academy, 
until his seventeenth year, when he deter- 
mined to supplement his academic instruc- 
tion with practical information in a direction 
that would fit him for the business life to 
which he had resolved to devote himself. 
To this end he commenced an apprentice- 
ship, November, 1846, in the machine shops 
of the Concord Railroad Co., at Concord, N. 
H, From 1850 to 1862 Mr. Foss worked as 
a machinist and locomoti\e engineer on the 
Boston, Concord & Montreal R. R., acquir- 




ing a thorough familiarity with the details 
and practical knowledge of the construction 
and operation of railroad machinery. Dur- 
ing the last portion of his service, he was in 
charge of the shops of the last named road. 
From 1862 to 1865 he was master mechanic 
of the Boston & New York air line, in 
connection with the Back Bay Co. In 
March, 1865, he returned to Concord, N. 
H., as master mechanic of the Concord 
Railroad, where he remained until June, 
1868, at which time a larger field for the 
employment of his ability in his special line 
was afforded him, and he accepted an offer 
for the management of the Vermont Central 
Railroad Co., as its master mechanic. In 
1873 he was made superintendent of the 
motixe power and machinery of the Central 



•4J 



\'ermont system, which comprised the \er- 
mont Central, \'ermont & Canada railroads, 
the Rutland, and other leased lines. During 
this period the corporation constructed its 
own locomotives, some half hundred of which 
were turned out under the supervision of 
Mr. P'oss. His efficiency as a railroad man 
was recognized by his promotion in 1879 to 
the position of assistant general superinten- 
dent, which was followed by a further ad- 
vancement, in 1885, to the office of general 
sui)erintendent. This appointment he held 
until 1892, when impaired health compelled 
him to resign. But the corporation with 
which he had been connected for so many 
years was loth to part with his services, and 
he remained in its employment in the 
capacity of assistant to the president, a posi- 
tion in which the benefit of his advice and 
judgment could be availed of, while he could 
be afforded more leisure than was possible 
while performing the more active duties of 
general superintendent. This position of 
assistant to the president he still retains after 
nearly half a century of active railroad life. 

Mr. Foss was married, Nov. 15, 1855, to 
Ellen A., daughter of John ^'. and Laura 
Barron, who died in April, 1871. For his 
second wife he wedded, Sept. 18, 1874, Mrs. 
So])hia H. (Chester) Locklin (widow of H. 
H. Locklin), daughter of John and Mary 
Chester, natives of England and residents 
at Dudswell, P. Q. Of this union there is 
one son : James Barron Foss, born August 
17, 1876, who, with Hortense H. Locklin, 
daughter of Mrs. Foss, constitute the family. 

He is a believer in the great industry of 
Vermont farming, and has a large area of 
land under cultivation, located on the road 
from the village to St. Albans Bay. 

His business life has demanded all his 
time, and he has found no opportunity to 
mingle actively in politics, but he has always 
manifested a loyal allegiance to the princi- 
ples of the Republican party. 

He is a member of St. Luke's Episcopal 
Society, and contributes generously to its 
support. Mr. Foss is a member of the sev- 
eral Masonic bodies, and has attained to the 
32d degree in that fraternity. 

He possesses a genial, social nature, and 
enjoys the quiet entertainment of a few 
friends at his handsome and hospitable home. 

FOSTER, ALONZO M., of Cabot, son 
of G. W. and Polly (Kelton) Foster, was 
born in Calais, Jan. 30, 1830. His father 
was an early settler and when much of the 
town was an unbroken wilderness he cleared 
away the land, built farm buildings, and set 
out shade trees. Not content with this 
homestead, he busied himself extensively in 
reducing wild lands for other farms in the 
neighborhood. 



At twenty years of age .'Monzo M. Foster 
bought one-half of his father's estate on 
credit and carried on this property success- 
fully for sixteen years. In 1866 he came 
into possession of a valuable property in 
Cabot, known as the "Old C'anip tiround," 
or "J,yford Farm," where, although doing 
general farming, he has gi\en his most ener- 
getic efforts to the manufacture of maple 
sugar, producing from an orchard of more 
than two thousand trees three to four tons 
annually, for which he finds a ready sale 
both at home and abroad. The products of 
"Maple Grove Sugar Camp" are becoming 
known and appreciated throughout the 
country, and while Mr. Foster has for years 
led the column of ^'ermont producers, it is 
now, though unofficially as yet, learned that 
his sugar has received the highest award at 
the late World's Fair. 

Mr. Foster acted with the Free Soil party 
in 1852, but since that time has \oted the 
Republican ticket, and in 1864 and 1865 
was sent as representative of the town of 
Calais to the Legislature. 

He is a member of the Patrons of Hus- 
bandry, and was for years Master of Wash- 
ington Grange of Cabot. Remote from city 
life, he has spent a useful and quiet existence 
among his native hills, esteemed and re- 
spected in the community in which fortune 
has cast his lot. 

Mr. Foster was united in marriage, Ajiril 
20, 1 85 1, to P>lsie W., daughter of Charles 
and Susan (Rich) Dudley of Calais. Their 
five children are : Charles D., Harry H., Ina 
B., Bernard i\L, and Linnie D. 

FOSTER, AUSTIN THEOPHILUS, of 
Derby Line, son of Stephen and Mary 
(King) Foster, was born in East Mont- 
pelier, Sept. 20, 1822. 

His education was obtained through the 
usual medium of the common schools and 
an after course of instruction at the acad- 
emy in Montpelier. 

In the spring of 1836 he went to Derby 
Line and entered the store of Spaulding & 
Foster just across the Canadian frontier at 
Rock Island, P. Q., as a clerk. In 1841 he 
was associated in partnership with Levi 
Spaulding and his brother Stephen Foster 
under the firm name of Spaulding, Foster & 
Co. In 185 I he also opened a general store 
at Derby Line which he continued until 
1882. In 1865 he purchased from the 
estate of Charles Pierce the shoe factory at 
Rock Island which he still owns. Mr. 
Foster has been an active business man for 
fifty two years during which he has resided 
continuously at Derby Line, he has generally 
met with success in his operations. He was 
a director in the People's Bank at Derby 
Line from januarv, 18^2, till it was merged 



FRANCISCO. 



in the national bank of that place of which 
he has been a director since its organization 
and its president since 1871. 

He represented the town of Derby in the 
General Assembly in 1S62 and 1S63, being 
elected by the Republican vote, and was 
chosen senator from Orleans county in 1886. 
■He was appointed U. S. Consular Agent in 
1869 at Stanstead, P. Q., and served in that 
capacity for fifteen years. 

Mr. Foster has also been prominent in 
religious circles, receiving the honor of an 
election to the presidency of the Universalist 
convention of the state of Vermont and 
Province of Quebec in 1882 and has been 
called to that office every year since by ac- 
clamation. 



i 
^ 




AUSTIN THEOPHILUS FOSTER. 

He was united in marriage in 1848 at 
Stanstead, P. Q., to Aurelia, daughter of 
Harris and Abigail Way of Rock Island, who 
only lived about two years after their mar- 
riage. In 1853 he married Sarah H., daugh- 
ter of Capt. John and Lydia Gilman. By 
her he has four children ; Harriet (Mrs. F. 
M. Hawes, Somerville, Mass.), John G., 
Mary J., and Stephen A. 

FOSTER, Wells a., of Weston, son of 
Jeremiah and Mary (Temple) Foster, was 
born at Weston, April 8, 1837. • t.O 

He was the youngest of a family of three 
children, and his father died when he was 
five years old. His education was neces- 
sarily limited, and was received in the com- 
mon schools. When he arrived at the age 



of thirteen, he had the misfortune to lose his 
mother, and from that time never knew the 
blessing of a home till he had made one for 
himself. He labored upon a farm in the 
vicinity till he was nineteen, and during the 
next seven years was variously employed in 
mechanical pursuits, first at Mt. Holly, and 
later at Boston. In 1863 he was drafted 
into the army, but purchased his release. 
Soon after he commenced the manufacture 
of ash handles for agricultural tools in com- 
pany with W. S. Foster, and afterward with 
R. B. Jaquith. The firm then began to turn 
out chair stuff in the rough, and soon after 
began manufacturing finished chair stock. 
Now their increased business requires a 
force of forty men, and their buildings cover 
an area of four acres. In 1S89 the firm suf- 
fered the loss of their entire plant by fire, 
but with characteristic energy they immedi- 
ately rebuilt their works, and are doing the 
usual amount of business, turning out a 
product of 540,000 a year. 

Mr. Foster is a Republican, and repre- 
sented Weston in the General Assembly in 
18S4 and 1886, serving on the committee 
on the grand list. 

He was married in Mt. Holly, Dec. 23, 
1858, to Lavina L., daughter of Austin L. 
and Lois (Simonds) Benson. Of this union 
were two children: Ella (Mrs. Walter M. 
Wright, of South Gardner, Mass.), and 
Vernie A. 

Mr. Foster has settled many estates and 
often acted as guardian and has always con- 
scientiously and ably discharged the duties 
of these trusts. He is a director of Chester 
National Bank, and one of the trustees of 
the Black River Academy, of Ludlow. 

FRANCISCO, M. JUDSON, of Rut- 
land, was born on the 5 th day of August, 
1S35, at West Haven, and was the third son 
of John Francisco who moved to West 
Haven in 1795, participated in the war ot 
18 1 2, and at the battle of Plattsburgh was 
one of the famous Green Mountain Boys. 

The subject of this sketch left home when 
sixteen years old for Ohio, to enter Oberlin 
College. After completing his studies there 
he passed several years travelling through 
the West and South, visiting all the states 
then admitted to the LTnion. He returned 
to Vermont in 1859, returning West again in 
October, i860, as principal of the North- 
western Commercial College at Fort Wayne, 
Indiana. Here he resided during the first 
years of the rebellion and took an active 
part in raising volunteers for the Lnion 
cause, and in circumventing the schemes of 
the " Knights of the Golden Circle." 

In 1863 I\[r. Francisco married Margaret 
Holmes, daughter of Israel Holmes of Water- 
bury, Conn., one of the oldest and best 



i4() 



known families of that state. Mr. Holmes 
was directly connected with the founding of 
the brass industry in the I'nited States and 
established a large number of manufactur- 
ing concerns in Connecticut, notably among 
these being the Holmes, Booth & Hayden 
Manufacturing Co. ; the Waterbury Brass 
Co. ; the Plume & Atwood Manufacturing 
Co. ; the Scoville Button Co. ; the Water- 
bury Clock Co., and the Wolcottville FJrass 
Co. 

Leaving Fort Wayne in 1S64, Mr. Fran- 
cisco accepted the presidency of the 
Pennsylvania College of Trade and Finance, 
at Harrisburg, where he organized a large 
and flourishing institution, in which many 
men now at the head of influential corpora- 
tions received their first knowledge of com- 
mercial principles. After several years of 
close application in the management of the 
college, failing health compelled him to re- 
linquish his position, and he returned to his 
native state where he found renewed vigor, 
and entered upon that sphere of activity 
which was destined to be of wider scope 
than that of any preceding years. When 
the English fire insurance companies were 
negotiating for admission into the United 
States Mr. Francisco was promptly tendered 
and assumed the general management for 
Vermont of the North British and Mercan- 
tile of Edinburgh and the Liverpool and Lon- 
don and Globe of London. He was later 
made manager of the Vermont, New Hamp- 
shire and Northern New Vork departments of 
several other like companies ; it was while 
in the service of these corporations that he 
made his memorable argument before the 
joint committee of the state Senate and 
House of Representatives in opposition to 
the so-called "valued policy" bill. He has 
also the distinction of having written the 
largest fire policy ever issued in New Eng- 
land, the face value being $2,100,000. 

In 1887 he was elected president of the 
Rutland Electric Light Co., and since that 
time has devoted the best part of his energy 
to furthering the success of his different 
electrical ventures. In 1887 he also became 
a member of the National Filectric Light 
Association. At the convention of the latter 
organization in Kansas City he was elected 
one of the executive committee, holding that 
position until the Providence convention 
when he was chosen second vice-president. 
At the St. Louis meeting he was elected first 
vice-president which place he still occupies. 
His paper on municipal ownership, read be- 
fore the convention of the National Associa- 
tion at Cape May, N. J., required two 
editions to supply the popular demand. 
Shortly after this he appeared before the 
joint committee of the Senate and House of 
Representatives in Washington with a review 



of the Postmaster-General's argument for a 
limited postal telegraph, and later still re- 
viewed the subject of municipal ownership 
before the Massachusetts Legislature. Since 
the publication of his book entitled "Munic- 
ipal Ownership, Its Fallacy," with other 
numerous contributions to various scientific 
and literary journals Mr. Francisco has been 
acknowledged the best authority of the day 
upon this problem. 

As a citizen of Rutland he ranks as one of 
its foremost and progressive representatives. 
He does not aim at political preferment, but 
confines his labors to the interest of his 
business life, which fact is evinced by the 
careful and energetic supervision given the 
institutions with which he is associated. He 
is the senior partner of M. J. Francisco & 
Son ; president of the Rutland Electric 
Light Co. ; vice-president of the National 
Electric Light Association ; director of the 
Rutland Trust Co. ; member of the Rutland 
Board of Trade, the Rutland County Asso- 
ciation of L'nderwriters, the American Insti- 
tute of Electrical Engineers ; a Mason of many 
years standing and a stockholder or director 
in many other corporations outside the state. 

Mr. Francisco has two sons : I. Holmes, 
and Don C. 

FRARY, Solon Franklin, of South 

Strafford, son of Jonathan and Lvdia Col- 



^.^ai!**,^^ 




SOLON FRAN 



cord (Blaisdell) Frary, was born in Straf- 
ford, Jan. 27, 1822. He is lineally de- 



■scended from John Frary, who came from 
England in 1638, and was among the earli- 
est settlers of the town of 1 ledhani, Mass. 
The progenitors of Mr. Frary for three gen- 
erations are buried in the town of Strafford. 

He received his education in the common 
schools and Norwich University, and com- 
menced the active business of life in a coun- 
try store as clerk with Hon. J. S. Morrill and 
Judge Jedediah Harris, at Thetford, where 
he remained for three years. He then 
returned to .Strafford, where he continued to 
engage in trade till 1S90, when he retired 
from the pursuits of active life. 

December 18, 1854, he was united in 
marriage to Adeliza, daughter of Benjamin 
and Betsey (Kent) Oilman. Their children 
are : Gertrude, and Bessie Jane. 

Mr. Frary has always been a Republican ; 
has held the offices of town treasurer, town 
agent, justice of the peace, and chairman of 
the board of auditors. He was chosen rep- 
resentative of the town in the Legislature of 
1S72, and was elected in 1S88 from ()range 
county to the state Senate. He discharged 
the duties of postmaster for twenty-eight 
years, has often been made chairman of the 
Republican town committee, and was one of 
the trustees of Goddard Seminary, being one 
of the auditors of their accounts and chair- 
man of the investment committee. He is 
liberal in his religious views, and has been a 
generous supporter of all the societies of his 
town. 

FRENCH, Warren Converse, of 

Woodstock, son of Joseph Wales and Polly 
(Converse) French, was born in Randolph, 
July 8, 1819. He was educated at the com- 
mon schools and the Orange county gram- 
mar school at Randolph. His father was 
the oldest son of Gen. John French, one of 
the early settlers of Randolph, who was 
brigadier-general of state militia at the time 
of the last war with England and marched 
with his brigade to Burlington at the time of 
the British invasion in 181 4, Jacob Collamer, 
then a young lawyer at Randolph, being one 
of his aids-de-camp. 

He studied law with Tracey & Converse 
at Woodstock and was admitted to the l>ar 
of Windsor county court at the May term, 
1844, commencing practice at Sharon, where 
he remained until 1857. Upon the election 
of Hon. James Barrett to the bench, he was 
invited by his uncle, Mr. Converse, to 
remove to Woodstock and succeed Judge 
Barrett in the firm of Barrett & Converse. 
In this firm he remained as a partner till July 
I, 1865, when Mr. Converse retired from the 
profession and was succeeded by Mr. \\'iil- 
iam E. Johnson. This connection lasteil 
until July, 1868, after which for some time 
Mr. French continued the practice of his 



I'UI.I.F.R. 147 

profession by himself. In Jul\-, 1879, he 
formed a partnership with his son-in-law, 
Frederick C. Southgate, and this arrange- 
ment still exists. He has been in full and 
active practice, mostly in Windsor and 
Orange countie.s, from his admission to the 
bar, and has been engaged in many impor- 
tant civil and criminal cases. 

In politics he was a whig until the organ- 
ization of the Republican party, of which he 
has since been a steady adherent. He was 
a member of the Constitutional Convention 
of 1850 ; the first state's attorney for ^\'ind- 
sor county elected by the ]jeople under the 
amended constitution of iN^o, and state 



^^ '^f^ 




WARREN CONVERSE FRENCH 



senator in 1858 and 1859. He represented 
Woodstock in 1876 and was the same year a 
member of the national convention which 
nominated Mr. Hayes. 

In religious belief he is a Congregational- 
ist, and was superintendent of the Sunday 
school for many years. 

Mr. French married, Sept. 19, 1849, at 
Sharon, Sarah A., daughter of Hon. William 
and Lydia (Gleason) Steele. They have 
been blessed with six children : Mary (Mrs. 
William H. Brooks, deceased), .Anna (Mrs. 
Frederick C. Southgate), Lillie (Mrs. Har- 
old S. Dana), Warren C, Jr., William Steele, 
and John. 

FULLER, Henry, of Bloomfield, son of 
Henry and T. (Bowker) Fuller, was born in 
Maidstone, August 26, 1838. 



148 



\\'hen two years old his father mo\ecl to 
Bloomfield, where the subject of this sketch 
has since resided. His education was con- 
fined to such instruction as could be had in 
the high schools and in Derby Academy. 

Farming has been the steady occupation 
in the life of Mr. Fuller, though he has given 
some attention to teaching. Having from 
his early youth a great desire to travel and 
see the world outside the narrow limits of 
his home surroundings, he was unable to 
indulge this longing till he had arrived at the 
years of middle life, but in 1892 he gratified 
his cherished wish and spent the greater 
part of the year in visiting every portion of 
his native land from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, traveling more than eight thousand 
miles to effect his purpose. 

The grandfather of Mr. Fuller, with his 
brother, came to Minehead, now Bloomfield, 
in or about 1800. He raised a family of 
ten children, nine of whom lived to the age 
of eighty years. 

Mr. Fuller has been a lifelong Democrat, 
though in his latter days he has had a ten- 
dency tow^ard Prohibition. He has been 
constable, collector, selectman, and town 
clerk for thirteen years, and has held other 
minor offices. 

At the age of seventeen he joined the 
M. E. Church, and during his whole life has 
earnestly labored in the cause. Devoting 
himself to the welfare of the parish and Sab- 
bath school, he has been steward for many 
years, and served on various church com- 
mittees. 

He married, May 31, 1864, Miss Nettie 
W. Colby of Whitefield, N. H., which union 
was blessed with two sons : Henry Clarence 
(died Oct. g, 1867), and Asa C, now a 
preacher in the M. E. Church. Mrs. Fuller 
died Jan. 15, 1868. For his second help- 
meet Mr. F'uller took to wife Miss May L., 
daughter of Mary and Nathan M. Johnson, 
of Bloomfield. By her he has had two chil- 
dren : Earle W., and Maude M. 

FULLER, LEVI K., of Brattleboro, son 
of Washington and Lucinda (Constantine) 
Fuller, was born in Westmoreland, N. H., 
Feb. 24, 1841. 

His parents were of English and German 
stock, and his ancestors on both sides served 
in the Revolutionary war. He removed to 
Windham county in 1845 with his parents, 
and began his active career at the age of 
thirteen by learning telegraphy and also the 
art of printing. At sixteen, having devel- 
oped an aptitude for mechanics, he won a 
premium for a steam engine improvement at 
the Windham County Agricultural Society's 
fair. Going to Boston, he served an ap- 
prenticeship as a machinist, acting for a time 
as night telegraph operator at the Merchants' 



Exchange. During a great portion of his 
residence in Boston he also took a scientific 
course at the e\ening schools. Returning to 
Brattleboro in i860, he entered the Estey 
works as machinist and mechanical engineer 
and later established a shop of his own, 
where he manufactured wood-working and 
other machinery with success. 

In .^pril, 1866, he entered with Col. J. J. 
Estey the firm of J. Estey & Co. (now the 
Estey Organ Co.), superintending the man- 
ufacturing department, and for twenty years 
has been vice-president of the company. 

He has been a most indefatigable inven- 
tor, his name appearing in the Patent Office 
at Washington as the author of a hundred 
different inventions, many of great value. 

His success in aiding in establishing large 
European agencies for the company, and his 
many trips abroad in its interest, have won 
for him recognition on both sides of the 
.Atlantic as a liberal and intelligent man of 
business. On his trip in 1873 he was ten- 
dered by President Grant the appointment 
of commissioner to the Vienna Exposition, 
which he was obliged to decline on account 
of the press of private business. The 
musical trade of two continents acknowledge 
his success as a factor in elevating the great 
corporation to its present high position. 
His last achievement in securing the adop- 
tion of what is termed in the musical world 
"international pitch" for musical instru- 
ments, now officially adopted by all man- 
ufacturers in this country, has been termed 
by Mr. Steinway "one of the most impor- 
tant, perhaps the most important, in the 
annals of musical history." 

He is an active member of the American 
Society for the Advancement of Science, and 
of the American Society of Mechanical En- 
gineers. He is also interested in astronomy, 
has an observatory of his own attached to 
his private residence and the finest equa- 
torial telescope in Vermont. His library 
also of scientific and technical works is one 
of the most complete in the state. 

Organizing the Fuller Light Battery, V. N. 
G., as an independent company in 1874, he 
has continuously served therewith since, 
bringing it to a degree of perfection uni\'er- 
sally commended by all regular army in- 
spectors as second to no military organiza- 
tion in the country, adding greatly to the 
reputation of the Vermont militia. He was 
brevetted colonel in 18S7 for long and mer- 
itorious service. He also served as aid on 
the staff of Governor Converse. 

Mr. Fuller's private business, however, has 
not prevented him from participating act- 
ively in public affairs, both local and state. 
He has held important town and village 
offices, is a trustee of the Brattleboro Sav- 
ings Bank and the Brattleboro Free Library. 



In 1880 he was elected to the state Sen- 
ate, taking an active part in the important 
legislation of that session, including what 
was then know as the "new tax law," a meas- 
ure tending to equalize the burden of taxa- 
tion and most satisfactory to the people. As 
a member of the Senate he served as chair- 
man of the committee on finance, upon the 
committee on militarv affairs, and that on 
railroads. In 1886 he was elected Lieuten- 
ant-(iovernor, filling that position with credit 
to himself and honor to the state, proving 
himself one of the best presiding officers 
whose services the Senate has had the good 
fortune to enjoy. 

Early in life he became connected with 
the Baptist denomination, and has ahvay.s had 
an active interest in the success of the 
church of his choice. His gifts, however, 
have never been confined to that faith, but 
his liberality to all denominations is proverb- 
ial. His interest in educational matters is 
well known, one of the most important e\i- 
dences of which is the Vermont Academy at 
Saxton's River, to which he has largely given 
both his time and money, and this institu- 
tion, under his management as president of 
the board of trustees, has taken a high rank 
throughout New England. 

He has always been specially interested in 
agriculture and the development of that 
branch of Vermont's industries. His pur- 
chase of a farm and the presentation of the 
same to the Vermont Academy, his intro- 
duction of finely bred sheep and other stock, 
and the inauguration of new features in con- 
nection with ]3ractical farm educational 
work, has attracted wide attention in the 
community. 

Governor Fuller's fitness for the position 
of chief magistrate of his state has long 
since been recognized, and in 1892 his 
Republican friends bestowed upon him the 
highest honor in their power by nominating 
and electing him to the gubernatorial chair. 

Mr. Fuller was married. May 8, 1865, to 
Abby, daughter of Hon. Jacob and Desde- 
mona (Wood) Estey. 

FULLER, JONATHAN KiNGSLEY, of 
Barton Landing, son of Samuel Freeman 
and Elizabeth ( Kingsley) Fuller, was born 
in Montgomery, May 13', 1848. 

Mr. Fuller attended the common, select 
and private schools of his native town until 
twenty-one years of age. His parents being 
limited in their circumstances, and young 
Fuller being somewhat delicate in health, he 
had to forego the great desire of his heart, a 
classical education. In 1870 he entered the 
law office of John S. Tupper. Here he gave 
himself earnestly to the study of law, and 
having access not only to a large law library, 
but also to a fine collection of theological 



and historical works, his reading co\ered a 
wide field. During this time also, while 
teaching school, he felt moved to enter upon 
the work of the ministry. The M. E. Church, 
of which he was a member, urged him to 
take a license to preach, and, forsaking the 
legal profession, he began the course of study 
prescribed by the church. This was con- 
tinued for four years, and ordination followed 
at St. Johnsbury, April 23, 1873. He was 
stationed at Eden in i872-'73, at Richford 
in i874-'76. At the close of a very success- 
ful pastorate in this thriving center, he 
handed his resignation to the Vermont Con- 
ference. 

Uniting with the Congregational church 
at East Berkshire, he immediately received a 
hearty call to the parish of that denomina- 
tion in Bakersfield. Free to control and 
direct his own labors his congregations in- 
creased, while a steady demand was made 




X. 



V 



JONATHAN KINGSLEY FULLER. 

for his sermons and other writings upon the 
popular questions of the day. Six of the 
twelve years of this pastorate he was super- 
intendent of schools, aiding in the establish- 
ment of Brigham Academy. As a testimony 
of appreciation of such service, he was, on 
Dec. 15, 1885, made a life member of the 
Creneral Theological Library of Boston. 

While at Bakersfield, Mr. Fuller devoted 
a litrte time to farming, in which pursuit he 
was highly successful. He was a frequent 
lecturer before the State Board of Agricul- 
ture. 



FULLINGION. 



Politically, Mr. Fuller is an independent 
Republican. He has written and lectured 
often on such themes as " Civil Service Re- 
form," " Political Methods," " Political Re- 
form," "Religious and Political Liberty," 
"Moral Training in Our Schools," "Oppor- 
tunity : or, the Uses and Abuses of Wealth." 

In 1883, Mr. Fuller was made honorary 
member of the .A. B. C. F. M. ; in 1885 he 
was instrumental in organizing a Congrega- 
tional church at F]ast Fairfield ; in 1888 he 
became an orignal member of the Congre- 
gational Club of Western Vermont. ' In 1889 
he severed his connection with the church 
in Bakersfield, and of the several calls which 
he received, accepted the one from Barton 
Landing, where he now ministers to a thrifty 
church in a flourishing community. 

In 1890 he received under Professor Har- 
per the appointment of examiner in the 
American Institute of Sacred Literature. In 
i8gi he was elected to membership in the 
American .\cademy of Political and Social 
Science in Philadelphia. In this .same year 
he .was chosen superintendent of schools for 
the town of Barton, which office he now 
holds ; he is also one of the directors of the 
Orleans County Summer School. In 1892 
he was constituted a member of the Orleans 
County Historical Society. In this same 
year he was sent from the state convention 
of Congregational churches as delegate to 
the Free Will Baptist yearly meeting. In 
1892 he was unanimously chosen chairman 
of the board of school directors for the town 
of Barton. 

Mr. Fuller was married Sept. 16, 1875, to 
Gertrude Florence Smith of Richford. Of 
this union there have been born : John 
Harold, Hawley Leigh, Raymond Garfield, 
and Robert Samuel. 

FULLINGTON, FREDERICK H.. of 
P>ast Cambridge, son of John 'I', and Syh ia 
(Carpenter) Fullington, was born in Cam- 
bridge, Dec. 9, 1 85 1. 

F^shraim Fullington came from Raymond, 
X. H., nearly a hundred years ago, and set- 
tled on the farm which has continued the 
property and residence of the family for four 
generations. 

The present possessor of the estate re- 
ceived his early education in the district 
schools of Cambridge, and afterward jnir- 
sued a course of study at the Johnson Nor- 
mal School. The second of a family of four 
sons, he early displayed such energy and 
industry that he was the chief reliance of his 
father. When he became of age he rented 
the property, and has conducted it ever 
since, at the same time giving his father the 
shelter of a home. Dairying and the manu- 
facture of ma])le sugar and syrup are his 
princi]ial resources. His sugar orchard, 



numbering o\er two thousand trees, is one of 
the finest in the state, and has averaged four 
pounds to the tree in annual production. 

Mr. t'uUington was chosen to the Legis- 
lature of 1888 by the largest Republican 
majority gi\en in the town of Cambridge. 
He has been selectman and road commis- 
sioner, and is now school director and school 
superintendent. He is a modest man, the 
possessor of good common sen.se, and of 
undoubted intesjritv. 




FREDERICK H. FULLINGTON. 

He married, March 16, 1875, F^mma, 
daughter of James F. and Clara (Davis) 
I'aylor of Barton, by whom he has had two 
I hildren : Fred Earl, and Stella Blanche. 

FULTON, ROBERT REED, late of East 
Corinth, son of Robert and .\bigail (Smith) 
Fulton, was born in Newbury, May 20, 1824. 

Mr. Fulton's father was born in Scotland 
and emigrated to .America in 1801. Imme- 
diately on his arrival he removed to New- 
bury and there settled. Mr. Fulton's mother 
was the daughter of Col. John Smith of 
Revolutionary fame, who moved to Newbury 
in 1780. Descended from such ancestry, 
from his boyhood days he won the esteem 
and confidence of his townsmen. .Although 
his early life was spent on one of Vermont's 
hill farms, Mr. Fulton received what was for 
his generation a liberal education, attending 
the Thetford and Corinth Academies. 

Besides holding the minor offices in his 
native town, he was chosen its representa- 
tive in 1867 and 1868. In 1870 he estab- 



•52 



lished himself as a merchant in the village of 
Kast Corinth. He was. in iS88, chosen to 
represent Corinth in the legislature and was 
also postmaster for many years, which office 
he held till the time of his death, Jan. i8, 
1893. 




ROBERT REED FULTON 



In politics he was a pronounced Republi- 
can, and in religion a worthy member of the 
Congregational church. .\ man of generous 
impulses, unassuming, kind and courteous 
was Robert Reed Fulton. 

He was married to Annie Halley, in 
November, 186 1, daughter of James Halley 
of Newbury, who survives without issue. 

FURMAN, Daniel G., of Swanton. was 
the son of Warren S. and Mary A. (Ware) 
Furman, and was born in Elizal)ethtown, N. 
Y., August 22, 1855. 



He was indebted to the New Hampton 
Institute at Fairfa.\ for his educational train- 
ing. Mr. Furman studied law with George 
W. Newton of St. .Albans and the Hon. H. 
A. Burt of Swanton, and was admitted to the 
bar in Franklin county, September, 1876. 
He practiced two years in Berkshire, after 
which he removed to Swanton, where he has 
established a large and successful business. 

As a Democrat, he was elected as the rep- 
resentative of the town of Swanton in 1888, 
and was a candidate for the speakership, and 
in 1893 was appointed United States Consul 
at Stanbridge, P. Q. 




DANIEL G. FURMAN. 

Mr. Furman married, Sept. 8, 1880 
Flizabeth M., daughter of Hiram and 
beth (P.arr) Best. One daughter and 
blessed their union : Berenice Mav 
Willis B. 



, Miss 

Kliza- 

a son 

and 



G.4LHJP, O. M., of Victory, son of 
.Amos and Emoline Gallup, was born in 
Wakefield, N. B., March 21, 1838. 

His father was a prominent farmer and 
business man. Mr. Gallup received a fair 
education in the common schools of the 
town, and began his career as a driver of 
logs. Mr. Gallup had a great natural apti- 
tude and desire for large operations and 
soon commenced railroad building. His 
first work being the Hopkinton & Milford 
R. R., he next built the .Acton & Nashua 



R. R., and then went to Woods River Junc- 
tion, R. I., and constructed the railroad there 
and afterwards the larger portion of the 
Kingston & Narragansett road. He soon 
came to A'ermont and built forty- one miles 
of road from the town of Johnson to the 
Lake. He then constructed the Profile & 
Franconian Notch R. R., opening up this 
important summer resort in the White 
Mountains. Later he built the docks at 
Swanton and the Champlain House at 
Maouam Bav, at a cost of §28,000. 



His next enterprise was tlie link connect- 
ing Betiilehem, N. H., with the main line 
and after this he constructed thirteen miles 
of railroad to Maquam I5ay and Roiise's 
Point. 

In 1880 he came to X'ictory and with C. 
H. Stevens bought the mill now called 
'" Gallup's Mills," but his partner soon sokl 




out. At this time there was not a good 
highway in the place, and Mr. Gallup at 
■once surveyed a route for a railroad at his 
own expense and obtained by personal 
effort a large part of the subscription for the 
enterprise, contributing fifteen hundred 
dollars on his own account ; then he took 
the contract to build the road at a losing 
price, that the town might recei\e the bene- 
fit of it. From that time to the present he 
has been engaged in his mill, although he 
has since built a road for the Wild River 
Lumber Co., in the western part of Maine. 

Mr. (Jallup was elected to the Legislature 
in 1S92 from Victory as a Democrat. He 
takes a great interest in every movement 
which conduces to the moral and material 
well-being of his community, and has been 
a liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises 
in the community, having donated land for 
the schools and churches of the ])lace 

Mr. Gallup was married July 3, 1883, to 
Miss Mary .A. Cutter, daughter of .\. B. Cut- 
ter of Bradford, Mass. Four children have 
blessed their union, of whom two are living : 
.^nnie, and Frank. 



CAGE. ,53 

GAGH, Sidney, of Westminster, son of 
\\'illiam P. and Laura AL (Richmond) Gage, 
was born in NVestminster, Nov. 25, 1853. 

His education was confined to the com- 
mon schools of \\'estminster, and after his 
somewhat limited schooling, he engaged in 
the employ of his father in the manufacture 
of baskets, and later succeeding his father, 
has continued in the same business to the 
present time. 

He has been called upon to assume the 
responsibility of some of the town offices in 
his native place, and in 1892 represented 
Westminster in the General .\ssembly. Mr. 
(iage is a member of the board of trustees of 
the Bellows Falls Savings Institution, having 
served in that capacity since 1889. An 
earnest, honest, upright citizen, he has won 
the esteem and good will of his fellow citi- 
zens. 




SIDNEY GAGE. 

Mr. Gage was married in Bellows Falls, 
Feb. 21, 1877, to Fllen L., daughter of 
.•\lbert E. and Lucy M. (I)a\is) Leonard of 
Grafton. 

GARDNER, ABRAHAM BROOKS, of 
Pownal, son of Samuel J. and Jennette 
(Merchant) (Gardner, was born at Pownal, 
Jan. 6, 1858. 

.■\fter his education was finished in the 
Bennington public schools, he labored on 
his father's farm, where he remained until 
his twenty-seconcl year, when he bought an 
estate of his own. 



154 



In 1 886 Mr. (iardner was elected to rej)- 
resent his town in tlie Legislature, an office 
which he ably filled for one term. For the 
past four years he has been, and is now, one 
of the selectmen of Fownal. 




/d^— ^^^ 



I 




ing convalescent was put in charge of the 
muster rolls at Sloan Hospital. He received 
an honorable discharge from the service in 
1865. 

Soon after leaving the army, Mr. Gates 
entered the drug store of J. C. Brigham of 
St. Johnsbury. In 1868 he removed to 
Morrisville and engaged in the same busi- 
ness, and built up an excellent trade, from 
which ill health compelled him to retire in 
1893. 

He was united in marriage, June 7, 1869, 
to Florence H., daughter of Col. Jonas and 
Delia (Prouty) Cutting, formerly of Stowe. 
Their children are : Lillian L. ( Mrs. HoUis 
M. Chase), who was an adopted daughter, 
Henry Franklin (deceased), and Albert 
Oscar. 

Mr. Gates is a Republican in his political 
predilections, and has been auditor of ac- 
counts fifteen years, member of the board of 
trustees of People's Academy and is one of 
the school directors of Morristown. He has 
served upon the Republican committee of 
the First District of Vermont and been ap- 
pointed chief of staff of Governor Fuller 
with the rank of colonel. 



He is also a prominent member of the 
Masonic body. He is in religious prefer- 
ence a Ba])tist. 

Mr. Gardner was married in October, 18S0, 
to Miss Audria M., daughter of D. F. and H. 
E. Bates. Their three children are : Flor- 
ence A., Daniel F., and Jennette M. 

GATHS, AMASA O., of Morrisville, son 
of Daniel F. and I.avina (Jordan) Gates, 
was born in Morristown, .April 25, 1842. 

Of Revolutionary ancestry, his education 
was obtained in the common schools and the 
People's Academy of Morristown, at which 
academy he was prepared for Middlebury 
College, which he entered in the class of 
i860. He remained in college till his junior 
year, when he enlisted in the L'nion army. 

In December, 1S63, he was mustered into 
the service as ist sergeant of Co. C, 17th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., and ])articipated in the bat- 
tles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and 
North .Anna. He was then taken sick and 
sent to Campbell Hospital, and then to his 
home on furlough. To such a degree was 
he reduced by illness, that he was "brought 
the whole way on a stretcher. At the e.x- 
piration of his leave of absence, he went to 
the Cteneral Hospital at Montpelier and be- 




Colonel Gates has for thirty years been 
affiliated with Free Masonry, during which 
period he has belonged to Mt. ^'ernon 
Lodge He was a charter member of J. M. 
Warren Post, No. 4, G. A. R., Morrisville, 
has held the position of adjutant and for 
three years been its commander. He has 



'55 



been lor two years inspector of department 
of Vermont and twice has been honored 
with the office of delegate to the national 
encampment. 

GIDDINGS, William H., of Water- 
bury, son of William, Jr., and Betsey (Wal- 
lace) Giddings, was born in Bakersfield, 
Oct. 24, 1840. 

After the customary common school edu- 
cation in Bakersfield he resolved to follow 
the medical profession and for this jnirpose 
commenced his studies with Dr. \\ . R. 
Hutchinson of Enosburgh. He then entered 
the medical department of the University of 
Vermont from which he received a diploma, 
graduating in the class of 1866. He com- 
menced the practice of his profession in his 
native town where he remained actively en- 
gaged until April, i^g2, when he was chosen 
acting superintendent of the \'ermont Asy- 
lum for the Insane, and the wisdom of his 
selection to this position was confirmed by 
his appointment as superintendent a few 
months after. This office he still continues 
to hold. 

He was united in wedlock in Bakersfield, 
Feb. 1 1, 1868, to Sarah A., daughter of John 
and Betsey (Pierson) Perkins. One child 
has been born to them : Florence F. 

Dr. Giddings was elected a member of 
the Constitutional Convention in 1870 and 
by the vote of his Republican constituents 
he was sent as town representative to the 
Legislature ten years after, and was finally 
elected senator from Franklin county in 
1888, where he served with marked ability 
as the chairman of the committee on the 
insane. 

GILL, Daniel Oscar, of Springfield, 

son of Charles and Sophia (Healey) Gill, 
was born at Hartland, August 15, 1837. 

When Daniel was three years old, he was 
adopted by his uncle, Daniel A. Gill, and 
educated in the public schools of Springfield 
and at Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, 
N. H. Mr. Gill was bred a farmer, and 
never forgetting "that the cultivation of the 
earth is the most independent labor of man " 
has remained a farmer during a long and 
useful life. He now owns and superintends 
several estates. On one of these his father 
was born and lived eighty-nine years. Dur- 
ing the last five years Mr. Gill has resided 
in Springfield, where he has some important 
interests, and is a partner in the firm of 
Noyes & Gill. He is also a stockholder and 
'director in the Jones & Lamson Machine 
Co., of Springfield. He has been often 
called upon to settle estates and act as 
guardian, all of which trusts he has ably and 
faithfiilly discharged. 

As a member of the Republican party he 



has been called continuously for thirty years 
to some town office and has been a justice 
of the peace for nearly a (juarter of a cent- 
ury. In 1886 he represented Springfield in 
the House and was a member of the com- 
mittee on railroails. 'I'he only se<ret society 
with which he is affiliated is the Springfield 
Grange, P. of II. 

.Mr. Gill was united in marriage Jan. 27, 
1864, to Helen C, daughter of Captain 
John and Elizabeth (Clough) Westgate, of 
Plainfield, N. H. She died within two years 
of their marriage. He contracted a second 
marriage with Miss Jennie I.., daughter of 
Rev. (ieorge D. and Fanny (\\'hite) l!ut- 
terfield, of Monticello, Iowa. Two children 
have blessed their union : Frank D., and 
Fred Butterfield. 

GLEASON, Carlisle Joyslin, of 

Montpelier, son of Huzziel and Emily H. 
(Richardson) Gleason, was born in Warren, 
Oct. 23, 1831. 

He was prepared for college at the West 
Randolph Academy, and was graduated 
from Dartmouth College with the class of 






i 



CARLISLE JOYSLIN GLEASON. 

1856, receiving the degree of .\. B. In col- 
lege, he was a member of the Social Friends 
and Delta Ka]5pa Epsilon societies. Enter- 
ing the law office of Timothy P. Redfield in 
Montpelier, he pursued his studies there 
until February, 1857, when he was made 
principal of the Central grammar S(;hool, 
Peabody, Mass. During this time he con- 



tinned his legal studies, returning to Mont- 
pelier in July, 1S58, where he resumed his 
place in Mr. Redfield's office. He was 
admitted to the bar Oct. 4, 185 8, but still 
continued with Mr. Redfield as student and 
assistant till Jan. i, 1861, when he became a 
partner under the firm name of Redfield & 
Gleason. He was associated with Mr. Red- 
field until the latter was elected, in 1870, a 
judge of the Supreme Court. During this 
time he was actively engaged in his pro- 
fession. 

In 1856 and during the extra session of 
1857 he was reporter of the Vermont Senate 
and in the following year he performed the 
same duties in the House of Representa- 
tives. Though almost a stranger in Mont- 
pelier, he received the appointment of 
reporter of the Senate in the contest insti- 
tuted by the late Hon. E. P. Walton, upon 
whom at that time devolved the duty of 
making this appointment. There were ten 
or twelve candidates, and just before the 
opening of the session, Judge Luke P. 
Poland was to deliver an opinion in a case of 
considerable importance. On the morning 
of the day on which the opinion was to be 
delivered, Mr. Walton informed the aspirants 
that he would appoint the candidate who 
should produce the best report of it. Mr. 
Gleason's report was judged the best, and he 
received the appointment. In 1859 and 
1S60 Mr. (;ieason was secretary of the Ver- 
mont Senate. 

January i, 1872, he formed a copartnership 
with Henry K. Field, Esq., and they carried 
on a successful practice at Montpelier. 
Their clients were largely from Boston and 
New York. In 18S1 Mr. Gleason retired 
from the active practice of his profession. 
In 18S2 and 1883 he was chairman of the 
board of listers and assessors and also justice 
of the peace. In the spring of 1885, he 
took charge of the American Mortgage and 
Investment Co., in Boston, Mass., and acted 
as attorney, director and treasurer in closing 
up the business of that company. In June, 
18S5, he was elected director and treasurer 
of the .American Investment Co., of Nashua, 
N. H., and had charge of the Boston office 
of that company till March, 1891, when he 
returned to his former residence in Mont- 
pelier, which he has since made his home. 
He is now a member of the firm of Goss & 
(ileason of Vergennes, manufacturers of 
kaolin and owners of the Monkton Kaolin 
Works. Mr. Gleason claims to have retired 
from acti\e business, but there are few men 
who are more industriously employed. His 
real estate investments in Montpelier and 
Washington county require his constant care 
and he bears the reputation of being a care- 
ful and successful financier. 

He was married, Dec. 12, i860, to Ellen 



Jeannette, daughter of Oramel H. and Mary 
(Goss) Smith, of Montpelier. 

Mr. Gleason is a staunch Democrat, but 
he has not sought political office, preferring 
to give his attention to professional duties 
and in later years to business pursuits. He 
has been United States commissioner since 
his appointment by Judge Woodruff" in 1873 ; 
the office came to him unsolicited. 

GLEASON, Henry Clay, of Rich- 
mond, son of Rolla and Jenette T. (Mason) 
Gleason, was born in Richmond, March 28, 
1S51. 

His education was obtained from the 
common schools of his native town and at 
Barre .\cademy. When quite young he 
entered on his business career in a small 
way as a speculator in poultry and farm pro- 
duce ; from the profits thus realized he pur- 
chased a farm and followed by other invest- 
ments in real estate. For a period of eleven 
years beginning under Grant's last adminis- 
tration he was mail agent on the Central 
Vermont R. R., between St. .\lbans and Bos- 
ton, and having half the time to devote to 
his personal affairs he continued in other 
lines of business and also operated in the 
lumber trade in which he is still engaged. 
Since leaving the mail service he has given 
special attention to farming and dairy 
products. In this he has been successful 
and by his advanced methods has been en- 
abled to winter sixty cows and four horses. 
.Among his other enterprises was a creamery 
which he started simply as a private affair to 
manufacture the butter from his own dairy. 
From this small beginning it has increased 
to such an e.\tent that he is now receiving 
the milk of some 5,000 cows from which his 
daily manufacture of butter is more than 
3,000 pounds. 

He was married in 1S79, to Katie I)., 
daughter of Albert and Mariette ( Williams ) 
Town. Two daughters were born to them : 
Grace J., and Gladys M. 

Mr. Gleason is a sound Republican in his 
political faith. His father was an active and 
well known politician and the disposition to 
take a deep interest in all public matters 
seems to have been inherited by the son ; 
his private business, however, has occupied 
so much of his care and attention that he 
has been unable to accept many of the town 
offices which have been tendered him. He 
represented his town in the Legislature in 
1888 and is at the present time serving as 
one of the state senators of Chittenden 
county. 

GLEASON, JOSEPH THOMAS, of 
Lyndonville, son of George and Sabrina 
( Thomas ) Gleason, was born in Lunenburg, 
June 18, 1844. He is the seventh in lineal 



descent from John 1 [owe of Sudbury, Mass., 
whose progenitor was John Howe, a War- 
wickshire squire, and kinsman of Sir ("harles 
Howe of Lancaster in the reign of Charles 
I. John Howe of Sudbury was one of the 
petitioners in 1657 for the grant constitu- 
ting the town of Afarlboro, Mass. Both the 
paternal and maternal grandfathers of ]. T. 
Gleason served in the war of the Revolution, 
the latter holding a commission as lieuten- 
ant in a New Hampshire regiment. His 
grandfather, Joseph Gleason, came to Lunen- 
burg in 1S02 where for half a century he was 
deacon in the Congregational church. His 
father, George Gleason, eighty-four years of 




■■•-•i'?<3fHfW^lf^W 



THOMAS GLEASON 



age, lives in Lunenburg, one of its solid men, 
a former captain of militia and a deacon of 
the Baptist church. 

After receiving his education in the 
schools of Lunenburg Mr. J. T. Gleason en- 
listed in December, 1861, in Co. K, 8th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., drilled with the regiment 
for a brief period and was then rejected on 
account of his extreme youth. Anxious still 
to serve his country in her hour of peril he 
re-enlisted in Co. E, 15th Vt. Vols., in 
August, 1862. When the regiment took up 
the route for Gettysburg Mr. Gleason, or- 
dered to the hospital by the surgeon on ac- 
count of illness, refused to obey and marched 
with his command to Gettysburg, serving 
with it until it was honorably discharged 
at the close of its period of enlistment. 
During the war he contracted disabilities 
from which he has never fullv recovered. 



GLE.ASON. 15^ 

.\fter his return he engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits. In 1874 he began the study 
of law in the office of Joseph P. Lamson, 
Lsq., of Cabot, and then pursued his pro- 
fessional researches under W. W. Eaton, 
Esq., of West Concord, until the spring of 
rS75, when he opened an office for himself 
He was admitted to practice at the Vermont 
bar in 1876 and entered into copartnership 
with (). F. Harvey, Esq., at West Concord 
which connection was dissolved in 1877. ^'^ 
year afterward he removed to Lyndonville 
where he was the first member of his pro- 
fession to open an office and where he now 
resides. Well read in the law and trusted 
by the people of the vicinage he has built up 
a large general practice embracing the set- 
tlement of many estates, while of all the 
suits he has brought, he has never lost but 
one. His title of judge he derives from his 
election to an associate judgeship of the 
Caledonia county court. Coming to Lyn- 
donville two years before its incorporation 
Judge Gleason drew up its charter, put it 
through the Legislature and at once took a 
prominent part in settlement of the many 
questions that would naturally arise in the 
new town and was identified with every step 
of its progress. His readiness of speech 
and clearness of statement gave him a prom- 
inent place in the deliberative assemblies of 
Lyndon, where, a staunch Republican, he has 
been for several years auditor and modera- 
tor, also serving since 1S86 as chairman of 
the Republican town committee. 

He owns and resides in one of the hand- 
some mansions of Lyndonville, having been 
married, Sept. 9, 1884, to Mary S., daughter 
of Roswell and Laodicea (Holbrook)Aldrich. 
They have one daughter : Louise M. 

Judge Gleason is a Congregationalist in his 
religious belief and has taken a deep and 
abiding interest in the Masonic order, being 
a member of Crescent Lodge No. 66, F. & 
A. M., Lyndonville, and Palestine Com- 
mandery K. T., Caledonia Council R. & S. 
M., Haswell Royal Arch Chapter of St. 
Johnsbury. He is serving his second term 
as (Srand Patron of the Grand Chapter of 
the Order PZastern Star of A'ermont and is 
also a member of Farnsworth Post No. 106, 
G. A. R., of Lyndonville and is its efficient 
adjutant. 

foseph Thomas Gleason serves as an illus- 
tration of a typical New Englander, who, 
coming out of the war broken in health and 
without a dollar, commanded success from 
adverse circumstances. 

GLEASON, Richardson J., of Waits- 

field, son of Huzziel and Emily (Richard- 
son) Gleason, was born in Warren, Dec. 
28, 1828. 

Mr. Gleason's early youth and manhood 



1 5 8 GI.EASON. 

were passed upon the farm, and he received 
such an education as could be obtained in 
the common schools of Warren and Waits- 
field. In 1S49 he entered the employment 
of Mr. Richardson of the latter place and 
remained with him three years. He then 
removed to Royalton and gave his services 
to Daniel Tarbell for two years. At the end 
of that time he returned to Waitsfield and 
was employed as clerk by Cyrus Skinner. 
In 1855 he conducted a union store in the 
village and afterward formed a mercantile 
partnership with Judge J. H. Hastings which 
continued for four years. Since then he has 
been in trade at AVaitsfield, and has been an 
important factor in the business life of the 
place. 

Mr. Gleason is a Republican. The esti- 
mation in which he is held is amply attested 
by the trusts conferred upon him. He has 
held nearly every town office, settled several 
estates and acted as trustee in many im- 
portant matters, .\mong the many impor- 
tant appointments bestowed upon him are 
town clerk and treasurer. These positions 
he has occupied for nearly forty years. He 
was made assistant postmaster in 1S5S and 
in tS6i was appointed postmaster, which 
place he retained until his resignation in 
1889. He was sent to the state Legislature 
in i8go and served on the grand list com- 
mittee. 

He married, March 31, 1856, Mary L., 
daughter of Captain Crowell and Almira 
Pease Matthews of Waitsfield. Their chil- 
dren are : Herbert C, Marj- E., Jennie M., 
and Louise R. 

Mr. Gleason belongs to the Congrega- 
tional church and for a long time has been 
the treasurer of that society in Waitsfield. 

GLEASON, Samuel Mills, of Thet- 

ford, son of Richard Mills and Harriet 
(Moxley) Gleason, was born at Thetford, 
June 28, 1833. 

He was fittted for college at Thetford 
Academy, under Hiram Orcutt, and gradu- 
ated at Dartmouth College in 185S. He read 
law with Cornelius ^V. Clarke, Esq., of Chel- 
sea, and was admitted to the bar in 1861. 

He at once commenced the practice of 
law at Thetford Center, where he has con- 
tinued ever since. He is one of the best 
known and most successful lawyers of this 
section. He was state's attorney in 1864 
and 1865, and again in 1868 and 1869. 
While acting in that capacity he conducted 
successfully many important criminal cases. 
In the long contested chancery case of Bick- 
nell and Pollard against the Vermont Copper 
Mining Co., supposed to involve the sum of 
§500,000, he was associated with Hon. John 
W. Rowell, and argued the case for an entire 
day before the general term of the Supreme 



Court, receiving the congratulations of Chief 
Justice Pierpoint. In 1883 he was appointed 
receiver of all the immense mining and 
other property in controversy (in the suits 
against the \'ermont Copper Mining Co., 
Vermont Copper Co., and Ely Goddard & 
Cazin), which was once valued at more than 
a million dollars, and he has successfully dis- 
charged that trust. 

Judge Gleason married, May 19, 1S62, 
Sarah Lysenbee, daughter of Dr. Enoch Hil- 
ton and .Arvilla Smith (Brown) Pillsbury ot 
Hubbardston, Mass. 

He represented Thetford in the Legisla- 
ture in 1864 and 1865 and was senator in 
1880. He is one of the trustees of Thetford 
Academv, and of the State Normal School 




SAMUEL MILLS GLEASON. 

at Randolph, and was a director and attor- 
ney of the West Fairlee Savings Bank. He 
was elected in 1893 a trustee of the Brad- 
ford Savings Bank and Trust Co. In 1880 
he was appointed by Governor Farnham 
chairman of the board of railroad commis- 
sioners for two years, and filled this respon- 
sible position to the satisfaction of the 
public as well as of the railroad companies. 
He has been town clerk many years, and 
was elected judge of probate for the district 
of Bradford in Orange county, in September, 
1886, by a large majority, and later by every 
vote of both political parties in the district, 
which office he now holds. 

Judge Gleason is a man universally es- 
teemed for his many estimable qualities. 



GOODELL, Jerome Winthrop, of 

Burlington, son of Ira and Sila (Holmes) 
Goodell, was born in West Townshend, Oct. 
29, 1842. 

His educational advantages were received 
in the Townshend public schools followed bv 
one term in the Leland & Gray Seminary of 
that place. He then worked with his father 
and at Keene, N. H., in a lumber mill, till 




COODELI.. 159 

He has taken thirty-two degrees in the 
order of Free Masonry and has held most of 
the offices in the various organizations. He 
is Sublime I'rince of the Royal Secret and 
member of the \'ermont Consistory of Bur- 
lington. He has also taken all degrees in 
the order of Odd Fellows, was made Grand 
Patriarch in 1890, Grand Master in 189 1 
and the following year was elected by the 
Grand Lodge as (Irand Representative for 
\ermont for two years. He is a member of 
the Royal .\rcanum and the American Legion 
of Honor. He adheres to the tenets of the 
Methodist church. 

-Mr. Goodell married, March 16, 187 1, 
Mary C, daughter of Luther and Mary 
(Thomas) Sampson of Wayne, Me. 

GOODELL, Tyler D., of Readsboro, 
was born in that town, Nov. 10, 1849, the 
son of David and Sabrina ( Hicks) Goodell. 
The parentage of Mr. Goodell was of New 
Lngland stock and he inherited many of the 
characteristics for which New Knglanders of 
the old school are distinguished. 



JEROME WINTHROP GOODELL. 

he arrived at his majority. Returning to his 
father with whom he remained till 1864, he 
then changed his residence to Boston, Mass., 
where he was employed as a clerk in a fur- 
nishing store on Washington street for six 
years. In 1870 he commenced to act as a 
commercial traveler for the house of George 
M. Cilaziel & Co. In 1874 he settled in 
Burlington, where he held the office of 
superintendent of the Burlington Manufact- 
uring Co., but two years after the firm of J. 
W. Goodell & Co. was established which 
continued until 1885 when the copartner- 
ship was dissolved and Mr. Goodell con- 
tinued his business alone, engaging in the 
working of marble and granite which has 
proved both successful and remunerative. 
He is also engaged in the manufacture of 
patent box binders. 

Mr. Goodell for two years served as alder- 
man for the sth ward of the city of Burling- 
ton and since the establishment of a board 
of managers for the water system has been 
one of the commissioners. He has been 
elected to many minor offices by the votes of 
the dominant jiarty. 




i'he early life of Mr. Goodell was spent in 
acquiring an education and upon the farm, 
and for ten years from his twenty-fifth birth- 
day he was a stage dri\er from Readsboro. 
.'\bout 1874 Mr. (loodell purchased the 
Goodell House of Readsboro, and since that 
time has successfully conducted that well- 
known establishment, making it a model 
country hotel and jiresiding over his guests 



i6o 



GOODENOUGH. 



with a grace e(|ualled only by the boniface 
of old. 

Mr. Goodell married, first, June 25, 187 1, 
Flora E., daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Gifford. 
She died Dec. 26, 1874. The fruits of this 
marriage were Hallie T., and Flora E. He 
married, second, Feb. 12, 1879, Ida M., 
daughter of E. W. and G. M. Robertson of 
Readsboro. Of this union were four sons, 
two of whom are living : Earl W., and Har- 
vey E. 

Always afililiating with the dominant party 
he has received many honors at their hands. 
Besides holding many local positions he has 
three times represented his town in the Leg- 
islature, viz. : in the sessions of 1880, 1886 
and 1892. 

Although not rabid on the subject of tem- 
perance, Mr. Goodell believes in the uphold- 
ing and honoring of the prohibitory laws of 
the state, and has fully demonstrated that 
^'ermont hotels can be successfully con- 
ducted without selling liquor. 

GOODHUE, Homer, of Westminster 
West, son of Deacon Ebenezer and Lydia 




HOMER GOODHUE. 

(Ranney) Goodhue, was born in Westmin- 
ster, March 4, 181 1. 

He received his early education in the 
common schools of his native town and at 
the Deerfield, Mass., and Bennington 
Academies, graduating from the latter in 
1828, when he returned to Westminster and 



taught school for two winters, spending his 
summers on the farm. 

In I S3 1 he went to Charlestown, Mass., 
where he was employed as an attendant in 
the McLane Asylum for the Insane, from 
which place he was promoted, after three 
years of service, to that of supervisor, which 
position he held for eighteen years, when he 
resigned and returned to Westminster in 
1852. 

In iS53-'54 Mr. Goodhue travelled ex- 
tensively in the United States and British 
provinces, in the company of a private 
patient under his care. 

After his return Mr. Goodhue took a lead- 
ing part in town affairs, and since that time 
has held all the various town offices, and 
represented his town in the Legislatures of 
1863 and 1865. He was also elected state 
senator in 1866 and 1867, and filled the 
position creditably to himself and acceptably 
to his county and state. He served as 
county commissioner from i860 to 1S75, 
and was appointed by the Legislature in 
1867 a commissioner of the insane, and re- 
appointed in 1868. 

In 1882 he was chosen one of the state 
board of supervisors of the insane, which 
position he has continuously held since that 
time, serving the board as chairmain during 
the past eight years. Mr. ( loodhue has 
never yet failed to be present at the regular 
monthly meetings of the board in Brattle- 
boro and generally in Waterbury. He has 
had more practical experience in the care 
and management of the insane and insane 
asylums than any other man in Vermont, and 
probably in New England. His judgment 
has often been sought by persons engaged 
in this specialty. 

Mr. Goodhue was married March 8, 1855, 
to 1 )elyra, daughter of James and Patience 
(Hallett) Tuthill. She "died Nov. 21, 1893. 

GOODENOUGH, JONAS Eli, of 
Montpelier, son of Alonzo l']. and Elizabeth 
( Roulston) Goodenough, was born in Berlin, 
Oct. 22, i860, on the farm originally bought 
and settled on by Joseph Goodenough in 
1794. 

He was educated in the district schools 
and Washington county grammar school, 
taught school several winters, and studied 
dentistry with Dr. O. P. Forbush of Mont- 
pelier, receiving a certificate of qualification 
from the state board of dental examiners. 

August I, i8S4,he entered the Montpelier 
post-office as clerk under Postmaster George 
^^'. Wing, and was appointed assistant post- 
master June 16, 1888, which position he re- 
tained till the expiration of the term of Mr. 
Wing's successor, Mr. Morse, when Mr. 
Goodenough was appointed postmaster by 
President Harrison, taking possession of the 



i6i 



office August I, 1892. He has administered 
the duties of the office to the satisfaction of 
the entire community and made many im- 
provements in the service. 

He is a member of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, 
F. & A. M., of which he has been Master. 
He is also a member of King Solomon 
Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, and Mount Zion 
Comniandery. 




JONAS ELI GOODENOUGH. 

Mr. Goodenough married, Feb. iS, 1S89, 
Eliza P., daughter of James H. and Cathar- 
ine B. Holden of Middlesex. 

GOODWIN, Elam Marsh, late of 

Hartland, son of Israel and Betsey ( Mel- 
endy) Goodwin, was born in Plainfield, Dec. 
22, 1828. 

Commencing his education in the com- 
mon schools of Plainfield, he continued pur- 
suing his studies at the People's Academy of 
Morrisville and concluded them at the Green 
Mountain Perkins Institute of South Wood- 
stock. In early life he evinced a taste for 
the natural sciences, and was always a great 
reader and careful student in this field. He 
had collected a very choice and well-selected 
cabinet of minerals, shells, relics, and arch- 
aeological curiosities. When he was twenty- 
one he went to the West for a year, but re- 
turned well satisfied to make Vermont his 
home. In 1862 he purchased the farm on 
which he resided until his death in 1890. 
He was a successful teacher both before and 
after he devoted himself to agricultural pur- 
suits, and was a valuable member of the State 
Board of .Agriculture. 



Mr. (loodwin was an earnest Republican 
and has held many official positions. He 
was town su])erintendent of schools in Hart- 
land and for many years town agent. He 
represented Hartland several terms in the 
House, was county commissioner, and sen- 
ator from Windsor county in 1882. In the 
House and Senate as elsewhere he was an 
able and fluent speaker. The duties of 
e.xecutor, trustee, guardian, referee and au- 
ditor constantly devohed upon him with the 
increasing confidence of his associates. 

Mr. Goodwin was married March 17, 
1869, to Ellen A., daughter of Seth and Eliza 
Densmore Brewster of Hartland. Their only 
child is Fred Marsh. 

He was a Universalist, and during his 
long life was a shining example of probit)', 
maintaining a high standard of rectitude 
among his friends and neighbors. 

Ex-(;overnor Pingree in his memorial ad- 
dress said : "He was ranked by all as a man 
conspicuous for his natural and acquired abil- 
ities, most of the time filling official posi- 
tions in his town and county and constantly 
attaining a wider and more pronounced rec- 
ognition for qualities of heart, head and 
character as a public man." 

GOSS, Story N., of Chelsea, son of 
Abel and Amanda (Hebard) Goss, was born 
in Waterford, Feb. 7, 1831. His father was 
a farmer, and Story remained upon the farm 
until he was twenty-three years old. 

Educated at the public schools of Water- 
ford and later at the academies of St. Johns- 
bury and Chelsea, he commenced to study 
medicine with Doctors Bancroft and Newell 
at St. Johnsbury and afterwards with Prof. 
E. R. Peasley of Dartmouth College. He 
graduated in 1S56 from the medical depart- 
ment of Dartmouth College and in 1S57 he 
received a degree from the Medical College 
of New York. Later he accepted an ap- 
pointment as senior physician on the staff 
of Dr. Sanger at Blackwell's Island. Re- 
maining there one year he returned to \'er- 
mont and commenced the practice of his 
profession in Georgia, where he continued 
to live till the breaking out of the civil war. 

Dr. Goss was married Jan. 4, 1S5S, to .Vnn 
Eliza daughter of Stephen and Phoebe 
( Hale ) Mncent of Chelsea, and four children 
have been born to them : .Arthur Vincent, 
Harry Hale, Walter Story, and Annie E. 

Dr. (loss was commissioned assistant sur- 
geon 9th Regt. Vt. \'ols., Sept. 26, 1862, and 
ordered to report to the general hosjiital at 
Brattleboro. Here he remained till .\])ril 
when he received orders to join his regiment 
in the field, previous to which he was pre- 
sented with a sword by the patients and at- 
tendants of the Brattleboro institution in 
token of their high appreciation of his valu- 



l62 



able services. Continuing with the 9th Regt. 
in the vicinity of Vorktown, he was com- 
pelled to resign in October, i<S63, as he was 
stricken down with malarial fever. Par- 
tialh' recovering, his zeal for the cause led 
him to re-enlist as acting assistant surgeon, 
U. S. A., and was ordered again to Brattle- 
boro and shortly afterwards to Fairfax Semi- 
nary Hospital, Xa., at the time when the 
battles of the Wilderness were fought. For 
a third time he was stationed at Brattleboro 
and later at Burlington until the close of the 
war. 

After his discharge from the service he re- 
turned to Georgia and remained there till 
1870, when he settled in Chelsea and has 
practiced his profession there ever since. 

Dr. Goss was one of the original members, 
who constituted Waterson Post, No. 45, G. 
A. R. He has been a Republican from his 
youth. He was for several years superin- 



Academy, and at the New Hampton (X. H.) 
Institute. 

After graduating from that institute, he 
taught school in IJncoln and Starksboro 
three years. He commenced business in 
the fall of 1S73 by opening a retail boot and 
shoe store, and continued in the same until 





STORY N. GOSS. 

tendent of schools at Georgia and also at 
Chelsea. Dr. (ioss stands high in his pro- 
fession as a public-spirited citizen and has 
been for a long time the public health officer 
of the town in which he resides. 

GOVE, MOSES B., of Lincoln, son of 
Daniel and Sarah (Taber) (Jove, was born 
in Granville, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1847. 

His parents removed to I.incoln when he 
was five years old, where he has since re- 
sided. He received his education at the 
common schools of that town, at Barre 




VIOSES 8. GO 



(October, 1890, when at the organization of 
the IJncoln Lumber Co., he became one of 
the stockholders, and was elected secretary 
and treasurer, and has held that position up 
to the present time. 

Mr. Gove has been prominently identified 
with his town, and has held many positions 
of honor and trust, having been a justice of 
the peace continuously since 1874, town 
clerk and treasurer since 1875, postmaster 
from 1877 to the time of his resignation in 
1890, assistant judge of Addison county 
court, iS9i-'92, and a school director in 
1893. 

Judge (love has been a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church for more than 
twenty years. 

He was married Mav 10, 1870, to Miss 
Mary E., daughter of Asa and Fannv Purin- 
ton, and thev have had three daughters, one 
of whom died in infancy, and two are living : 
Amy Pearl, and Fanny Estelle. 

GRANGER, PLINY NVE, of West 
Burke, son of John and Eunice (Owen) 
Granger, was born in Bethel, Nov. 26, 1823. 



His education was received at the public 
and private schools of IJethel and \\'ood- 
stoclc. The family having removed to Wood- 
stock when he was seventeen he assisted his 
father, who was a carpenter and joiner by 
trade, and afterwards was concerned in the 
business of a butcher till 1.S45, when a strong 
desire for adventure induced him to embark 
at New Bedford on a whaling voyage as 
ship's carpenter. This voyage extended 
through three and a half years. 

Returning in the fall of 1848 Mr. (Granger 
resumed work at his carpenter's bench at 
which he continued to labor till the spring 
of 1853, when he was admitted to the M. E. 
Conference and immediately began to preach 
in various towns in the state. He continued 
his duties as pastor for twenty years and 
then assumed the position of agent for the 
State Temperance Society, lecturing all over 
Vermont and making his residence at 
Peacham. Returning to his ministerial labors, 
he is now stationed at West Burke. He has 
always been a successful preacher, ever mak- 
ing additions to the societies of which he has 
had the pastoral charge. He has had few 
active revivals but believes in constant regu- 
lar work. 

Mr. Granger's ancestors emigrated from 
the old country to Amherst, Mass., and Suf- 
field. Conn. 

He was united in marriage ]\Iay 28, 1849, 
to Sophia, daughter of Loring and Susan 
(Metcalf) Richmond of Woodstock, who 
died Dec. 24, 1S78, leaving issue: John 
Lormg (deceased), Sarah J. (deceased), 
Guy R., George H., one of a surveying 
party which went up the Pearl river in 1880 
and was never heard from; Susan L. (]\Irs. 
Harrison McClachlin of Peacham), and 
Frank P. September 7, 1880, Mr. Granger 
married as his second wife Ellen E., daugh- 
ter of Nathaniel P. and Lydia (Rollins) 
Stevens of Derby. 

Mr. Granger has occupied the responsi- 
ble position of superintendent of schools in 
the towns of Walden, Holland and Lyndon, 
represented Peacham in the Legislature in 
1 87 2. In 1^74 he was chosen a senator 
from Caledonia county. He has served 
eight years as commissioner both in Orleans 
and Caledonia county. In 1880 and 1884 
he was selected as delegate from the Ver- 
mont annual conference to the General M. 
E. Conference and has been for several 
years trustee of the Vermont M. E. Semi- 
nary, trustee and treasurer of the Preachers' 
Aid Society and also served for a consider- 
able time as steward of the M. E. Conference 
and upon several other standing committees 
of the church. Mr. Granger was presiding 
elder of St. Albans district from 1S78 to 
1882 and of St. Johnsbury district from 1882 
to 1886. He has always been a steady ad- 



GREENK. 163 

vocate of temperance and has been eminent 
in the order of Good Templars : was a 
charter member of Lodge No. 7. He has 
also served as delegate to the Grand Lodge 
of \'ermont and to the Right Grand Lodge 
when it assembled at Detroit, Mich. 

GREENE, OLIN D., of Warren, son of 
Milton and Aurora (Goodno) Greene, was 
born Sept. 21, 1856, in Rochester. 

Brought up as a farmer, he obtained his 
education in the common schools of Roches- 
ter and the State Normal .School at Ran- 
dolph. Concluding to adopt the medical 
profession, he studied for three years with 
his brother. Dr. L. M. (Ireene of Bethel, and 
meanwhile attended lectures at the U. \'. M., 
from which institution he graduated M. D. 
in 1879. 

Dr. Greene commenced prai tice in Roch- 
ester, remained there one year and then re- 
moved to \\'arren where his devotion to his 
chosen profession has secured to him a large 
and steadily increasing practice. He is a 
member of the State Medical Society. 

He was married March 4, 1879, 'o Emma 
L., daughter of Richard and Clara ( Ray- 
mond) Bee of Rochester. Their only child 
is Mabelle S. 

Dr. Greene belongs to the Republican 
])arty, and though never an eager aspirant 
for political honors, has occupied the office 
of justice of the peace and in 1888 was 
elected to represent Warren in the Legfsla- 
ture, where he was a useful member of the 
committee on manufactures. 

Two brothers of Dr. (Ireene occupy the 
pulpit, one in Lowell, Mass., and one in 
\\akefield of the same state. 

GROUT, DON D., of Waterbury, son of 
Luman M. and Philura L (French) Grout, 
was born in Morris\ille, April 24, 1849. 

Pklucated at the People's Academy, Mor- 
ris\ille, he taught for a time in Stowe and 
HoUiston, Mass., and was the principal of 
the academy at West Charleston. 

Deciding upon a professional career he 
began the study of medicine under Dr. 
(ieorge A. Hinman of Charleston and later 
with Dr. Edward S. Peck of New York. 
This was followed by attendance at several 
courses of lectures at Dartmouth and the 
L'niversity of Vermont from which latter in- 
stitution he graduated M. D. in 1872. Upon 
his graduation Dr. (irout received the ap- 
pointment of assistant physician in the 
Kings County (N. Y.) Hospital and later 
filled the same position at the asylum for the 
insane at the same place. He began the 
practice of his profession at Wolcott in 1873, 
and in 1875 removed to Stowe where he 
built up a lucrative practice, which he re- 
linquished in the spring of 1890 to enter 



I 64 UKOIT. 

upon a larger field of activity, which he found 
at AVaterbury, where he has since resided 
and is actively engaged in his profession. 

Politically, Dr. Cirout affiliates with the 
dominant party of A'ermont, and that his ef- 
forts ha\e been appreciated by his party is 
evidenced by the positions of honor and 
trust which have been given him. He was 
superintendent of schools while in Wolcott ; 





Royal Arch Masons and of Waterbury Coun- 
cil of Royal and Select Masters. He has 
for the past two years been the Worshipful 
Master of Winooski Lodge. 

(IRIFFIN, BenoNI, of Sudbury, son 'of 
Benoni and Abigail (Ray) Griffin, was born 
in Sudbury, March 26, 1809. The family 
came originally from England and the name 
of Benoni has descended from father to^son 
for many generations both here and in the 
uld country. His educational advantages 
were limited to the common schools of Sud- 
luiry and he went from these to labor upon 
the farm. Mr. Griffin cultivates with great 
success a large farm of three hundred acres 
in extent. He also trades extensively in 
I attle and is known as an honorable and 
energetic dealer in those lines of business to 
which he has given his attention. 

As an adherent of the Republican party 
he has held all the offices which could be 
( onferred upon him by his fellow townsmen, 
and he w-as elected member for Sudbury to 
the state Legislature of 1880. Mr. Griffin 
was employed as a recruiting officer during 
the war of the rebellion. 



while a resident of Stowe he represented that 
town in the Legislature, serving on the com- 
mittees of public health and lunatic asylums, 
and had charge of the bill to locate and con- 
struct a state asylum for the insane, and was 
appointed by (;overnor Dillingham one of the 
trustees for said institution, and had the per- 
sonal supervision of the construction of a 
portion of the buildings. He has held many 
town offices and is at present one of the 
AA'aterbury village trustees. 

Dr. (Irout has been three times married. 
In July, 1873, he married Nettie A., daughter 
of John and Susan Jones of Barre, by whom 
he has had two children, Inez L., and Luman 
M. ])ecember 20, 18S1, he married Angle, 
daughter of Venon and Eliza A\'ilkins of 
Stowe. She left him four children : Annie 
M., Josie R., Benjamin Harrison, and Angie. 
In 1892 he married his present wife, Ida E., 
daughter of D. J. and Jane Morse of Water- 
bury. 

Dr. Grout is an active member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, being a member of the 
Winooski Lodge, A\'aterbury Chapter, of 




BENONI GRIFFIN 



Mr. Griffin'was united to Sarah W., daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Dorcas ( Murray ) Miller, 
March 12, 1840. Their children are: La- 
Roy S., Edna J., Florence S., Ella C. (Mrs. 
E. C. Spooner), Finest B., Rolla C, Mary 
A., Nettie M., and Irwin B. 



GROUT, JOSIAH, of Derby, son of 
Josiah andSophronia (Ayer) Grout, was horn 
of American parents in Compton, Canada, 
May 28, 1842. 

\\'hen six years of age his father removed 
to \'ermont and he received his education in 
the public schools and Orleans Liberal In- 
stitute at Glover. He also commenced a 
course of study at the St. Johnsbury .Acad- 
emy, which he left to enlist Oct. 2, i86t, as 
a private in Co. I, ist Vt. Cavalry. He 
was mustered in on the organization of his 
company as 2d lieutenant, promoted to cap- 
tain in 1 86 2, and in 1864 was appointed 
major of the 26th N. Y. Cavalry which was 
organized for frontier service after the St. 
Albans raid. While serving with the ist \'t. 
he participated in seventeen different en- 




(jRour. 165 

cially e.\celling as a jury ad\ocate. In 1S80 
he returned to X'erinont and has since 
devoted himself solely to his extensive model 
stock farm, his chief delight being farming — 
and it well done. Major Grout's efforts as 
an agriculturist and stock raiser have met 
with great success and he possesses some of 
the finest Jersey cattle, blooded .Morgan 
horses and Shropshire shee]) in tlie Green 
Mountain state. 

Major Grout was united in marriage, 
October, 1S67, to Harriet, daughter of .Aaron 
and Nancy (Stewart) Hinman, one of the 
leading families of Derby. They have one 
son : .Aaron H. 

Major Grout is an earnest Re])ublican. 
He represented Newport in the Legislature 
in 1872, 1874, and Derby in 1884, 1SS6 and 
1S80. He was one of the Orleans county 
senators in 1S92. He was speaker of the 
House, in 1874, 1886 and 1888. He has 
served as the chief executive officer of the 
Republican Club at Derby, and was four 
years vice-presdent and one year president 
of the Vermont League of Republican Clubs. 

He is liberal in his religious belief and has 
been raised to the sublime degree of a- 
Master Mason. During the three years he 
was in Chicago, he built up a nice law 
practice which was reluctantly exchanged 
for business prospects at Moline, where for 
two years he was one of the supervisors of 
Rock Island county. He devotes himself 
industriously and with conscientious purpose 
to the accomplishment of all his undertak- 
ings and can be literally regarded as one of 
those who does with his might whatever his 
hands find to do. Particularly is this 
I'haracteristic of faithfulness noticeable in 
the work he has bestowed in improving and 
developing his farm and stock, which with a 
pardonable pride he so cheerfully shows all 
who call to see him. 



gagements and was badly wounded in a 
skirmish with the partisan leader Mosby, 
April 1, 1863. 

At the termination of the war he entered 
the law office of his brother, General Grout, 
at Barton where he continued till December, 
1865, when he was admitted to practice in 
the \'ermont courts. The following year he 
removed to Island Pond where he had 
charge of the Custom House for three years 
and also served the same space of time in 
the same capacity at St. .Albans and New- 
port. In 1S74 he changed his residence to 
Chicago and afterwards to Moline, 111. 

While at Newport, before going West, he 
practiced his profession with very great suc- 
cess, ranking high as a lawyer and espe- 



GROUT, Selim E., of St. johnsbury, 
son of Theophilus and Hannah (Chick) 
Grout, was born in Kirby, June 11, 1836. 

His father first saw the light in the old 
homestead now in the possession of Gen. W. 
\\'. (irout, M. C, and died when Selim was 
only eleven years old. .At that time the 
farm was sold and Selim was thrown upon 
his own resources to fight the battle of life 
without paternal guidance at a critical age, 
but he possessed the characteristic family 
traits of courage, versatility and enterpri.se. 

Beginning his education in the common 
schools at Concord, he attended later the Lyn- 
don .Academy. He worked upon the farm, 
learned the trade of a shoemaker, carriage 
maker and harness maker, acted as clerk, 
then engaged in selling ice in New York 
and creditably encountered the rough edge 
of the world in many and waried caiiacities. 



i66 



Later he carried on the carriage and harness 
business, and when the P. & O. R. R. was 
completed in January, 1872, he was ap- 
pointed the first station agent at West Con- 
cord and acted nearly twenty years in that 
capacity. During the latter part of this 
period he gave his attention to manufactur- 
ing chair stock, bobbins, and dressed lumber 
until his works were burned down in 1890. 
He also owned and carried on a large grist 
mill at West Concord for several years. 




SELIM E. GROUT. 

Mr. Grout was married at Concord Sept. 
18, 1862, to .Annette, daughter of Benjamin 
and Sophronia (Richardson) Hutchinson of 
^^'aterford. I'hey have adopted .Arthur Mur- 
ray and Florence C. Grout. 

Mr. Grout was a charter member of Essex 
Grange P. of H. and also one of the original 
members of Moose River Lodge, No. 82, F. 
and A. M., and has passed through the chairs 
of L and S. W. For two terms he served 
his lodge as Worshipful Master. 

From the beginning Mr. (irout has been 
an active RepubHcan. A man of benevolent 
impulses, he has been a 'useful and public- 
spirited citizen, obliging and accommodating 
often to his own loss. He represented Con- 
cord in the Legislature of 1880. His stand- 
ing in the community may be inferred from 
the fact that he has been deputy and high 
sheriff of Essex county for seventeen years, 
auditor for six years, and was elected state 
senator from Essex county in 1890. 



GROUT, William W., of Kirby, was 

born of American parents in Compton, P. Q., 
May 24, 1836. His ancestry is traced back 
to Dr. John Grout who came from England 
in 1630 and settled in Watertown, Mass. His 
great-grandfather, Elijah Clrout, of Charles- 
town, N. H., served as commissary in the 
Rexolutionary war. His grandfather, Theo- 
philus Grout, settled on the Moose river in 
the new state of Vermont upon land after- 
ward included in the present town of Kirby, 
in the year 1799, and there cleared a large 
farm which his father, Josiah Grout, after- 
wards owned and on which he lived till near 
the time of his death. 

\\ illiam ^\'. Grout recei\"ed a common 
school and academic education, and was 
graduated at the Poughkeepsie (N. Y.) Law 
School in 1857. He was admitted to the bar 
in December of the same year, and settled 
in the practice of the law at Barton. In July, 

1862, he was nominated by the Republicans 
of the county to the office of state's attor- 
ney, but declined the nomination and en- 
listed in a company then being raised in Bar- 
ton for the civil war. On its organization he 
was made captain, and subsequently was 
promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the 
15th Regt., which was attached to the brig- 
ade of General Stannard, afterward so famous 
for the repulse of Pickett's charge at Gettys- 
burg. The 15th Regt. did not remain at 
Gettysburg till the close of the battle, but on 
the afternoon of the second day was ordered 
to the defence of the ist corps train, then 
on the way to \\'estminster, and liable to at- 
tack from Stuart's ca\alry, which were prowl- 
ing in the rear of the L'nion army. A few 
days after the regiment joined the brigade 
at Funkstown, and the next day brought up 
in front of the enemy at Hagerstown, and 
Colonel (Irout with two hundred men from 
the 1 6th Regt. went upon the skirmish line 
against which the enemv was actively de- 
monstrating, while Lee w-ith the bulk of his 
army was crossing the Potomac. In August, 

1863, Colonel Grout was mustered out with 
his regiment on account of expiration of 
term of service. 

In the fall of 1864 the enemy raided St. 
Albans, robbing banks, etc., and by order 
of the (Governor of Vermont, Colonel Grout 
was placed in command of the provisional 
forces raised on the east side of the moun- 
tain to guard the Canadian frontier. The 
Legislature then in session organized three 
brigades of militia, and Colonel Grout was 
elected brigadier-general and assigned by 
the Governor to the command of one of 
them. 

In 1865 he was elected state's attorney 
of Orleans countv, and was re-elected in 
1866. He represented Barton in 1868, 1S69, 
1870, and 1874. In 1876 he was elected 



i68 



to the state Senate from the county of Or- 
leans, and on organization was made presi- 
dent pro temfiore of that body. 

In 1878 he was nominated for Congress 
by the Repiibhcans of the third district, but 
was beaten by Bradly Barlow, a greenbacker. 
In iSSo he was elected to the Forty-seventh 
Congress from the third district. By the 
tenth census Vermont lost a member, and the 
third was absorbed by the first and second 
districts, (jeneral Grout was a candidate for 
nomination in the second district in 1882, 
but was beaten by Judge Poland, ex-member 
of both House and Senate, and ex-chief judge 
of the Supreme Court. In 1S84 General 
Grout was nominated by the Republicans of 
the second district and was elected to the 
Forty-ninth Congress by a majority of nearly 
thirteen thousand, and has since been re- 
elected to the Fiftieth, Fifty-first, Fiftv-sec- 
ond, and Fifty-third Congresses, invariably 
running ahead of his ticket. He has served 
on the committees on territories, levees and 
im])rovements of the Mississippi River, edu- 
cation, District of Columbia (of which he 
was chairman in the Fiftv-first Congress), 
expenditures in the interior and treasury de- 
partments, and upon the committee on ap- 
propriations, of which he is now a member. 

Meantime General Grout has been en- 
gaged in an active law practice till quite re- 
cently, and all the time interested in agri- 
culture. He now owns and resides upon 
the old homestead in Kirby where his grand- 
father settled in 1799, and which has been 
in the family ever since. 

(General Grout married Loraine M. Smitn 
in i860, who died in 1868. He buried two 
children in infancy. He has not remarried. 

GROUT, THEOPHILUS, of Newport, 
son of Josiah and Sophronia (Ayer) (Jrout, 
was born in Compton, P. Q., Sept. 3, 1848. 

His early education was received in the 
public schools of Concord followed by an 
academic course at the institutions at St. 
Johnsbury, Newbury and Mclndoes Falls, 
after which, as he had resolved to adopt the 
legal profession as his life work, he com- 
menced his studies in the office of Bisbee 
& Grout and was admitted to the bar of 
Orleans county at the September term in 
187 1. He commenced to practice in the 
town of Newport and with the exception of 
one year which he spent in Galveston, Tex., 
he continued his professional career in that 
place, having some of the time been in 
partnership with his brother Josiah and C. 
A. Prouty, Esq , but chiefly by himself. In 
1878 he was made state's attorney and he 
has been connected with many important 



cases in the county. In 1880 Mr. Grout 
was chosen member of the Legislature to 
represent Newport, in which body he served 
with marked ability on the committees to 
which had been entrusted the revision of the 
statutes and the rules. In educational af- 
fairs, he has always taken an active interest, 
has acted as superintendent of schools and 




trustee of Newport Academy. In these 
duties his early experience must have been 
of service, for he had been an instructor in 
his youth, having taught in several educa- 
tional establishments in the northern jiart of 
the state. 

He was united in marriage Nov. 25, 1873, 
to Ellen A., daughter of Charles and Mary 
(Stubbs) Black of CJalveston, Texas, and of 
this union there are issue : Charles T., and 
Addie Lou. 

Mr. Grout is a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal church, in which he is a warden 
and lay reader and is active in the work of 
the Sunday school. 

In Free Masonry he has received the 
honors of the 32d degree and he is the act- 
ing prelate of Malta Commandery No. 10, 
of Newport. When he withdrew from pro- 
fessional practice in 1891 he became editor 
and proprietor of the Newport Express and 
Standard, which journal he continues to 
imblish till the present time. 



i69 



HAILE, Benjamin Harrison, of Mont- 
gomery, son of Nathan and .Mary Ann (Tar- 
bell) Haile, was born in Montgomerv, Dec. 
26, 1S46. 

The family of Haile came from Scotland 
to Rhode Island at an early day in the col- 
onial period. Nathan Haile was an early 
settler in .Montgomery, a farmer and a lum- 
berman. 

Henjamin was the fourth child of a family 
of five, and was born on the farm where he 
now resides. He received his education in 
the schools of Montgomery. Early inured 
to the labor of a farm, he developed a 
sturdy physique and unusual executive ability, 
and from the time of his arrival at man's 
estate has taken charge of all the business 
appertaining to his father's farm and also of 
other properties which he has purchased 
from time to time. In the winter he devotes 
his attention to lumbering. In every calling 
he has met with merited success. He was 
largely instrumental in establishing a co- 
operative creamery at Montgomery. 

Like his namesake Mr. Haile is a stalwart 
Republican, and he has filled many public 
positions. In his native town, composed 
largely of a foreign element, his wise counsel 
and prudent advice have been influential 
and beneficial in the management of public 
affairs, and he was a useful member of the 
House of Representatives in 1888. He has 
been county commissioner. 

Mr. Haile married in 1880, Hattie, daugh- 
ter of .\. P. and Harriet (Rawson) Richard- 
son. Their children are : John Rawson, and 
Clarence Hamilton. 

HALE, Harry, late of Rindge, N. H., 
Windsor and Chelsea, was born in Rindge, 
N. H., Feb. 10, 1780. His father. Colonel 
Nathan Hale, who had been at home after 
July, 1777, upon his limited parole to return 
within the enemy's lines at the end of two 
years, if not sooner exchanged, had left home 
pursuant to the terms of his parole, to return 
within the enemy's lines, and at the time 
of his son's birth was a prisoner of war in 
the hands of the British at New Utrecht, 
L. I., where he died, Sept. 23, 1780, without 
again visiting his home, so that the subject 
of this sketch never saw his father. His 
training, of course, devolved upon his wid- 
owed mother, a woman of remarkable energy, 
decision, and intelligence. He was educated 
at the common schools in Rindge, with the 
addition of a term or two at New Ipswich 
-Academy, but succeeded in acquiring a 
thorough practical education, and was al- 
ways remarkable for his command of pure 
and forcible English both in writing and in 
speech. 



When about twenty years of age he joined 
liis brother Nathan at Windsor, and either 
then or on arriving at his majority, entered 
into copartnership with him under the firm 
name of N. & H. Hale as country merchants, 
having a store at Windsor street and, after a 
few years, another at the West Parish, now 
West Windsor. He removed from Windsor 
to Chelsea in 1807, and there continued for 
some years in partnership with his brother 
Nathan. On the dissolution of their partner- 
ship he formed a business connection with 
Joshua Dickinson for several years, carrying 
on a country store under the firm name ot 
Hale & Dickinson. They built the structure 
on the west side of the north common, since 
known as the Dickinson store. Somewhere 
about 1825 he retired from trade, and 
thenceforth devoted himself to the manage- 
ment of his grist mill and his farms. 

He was early chosen a captain of militia 
and was best known by the title of Captain. 
He was frequently elected to town offices, 
selectman, lister, town agent, etc. For many 
years he was justice of the peace. In 1828, 
1832, and 1836 he represented Chelsea in 
the Legislature. For several years he was 
county clerk of Orange county and bank 
commissioner of the state. He was repeat- 
edly moderator of the town meetings, and in 
all respects a leading citizen of his town. 
He always took an active interest in politics ; 
was an early Federalist, but when John 
Ouincy Adams became a candidate for the 
jiresidency warmly supported him against 
the violent opposition of many of the leaders 
(if the old Federal party. On the breaking 
out of the anti-Masonic excitement about 
1S27 and 1828, Mr. Hale, who had never 
been a Mason, fully sympathized with the 
hostility to that institution, and was first 
elected to the Legislature as a candidate of 
that party. Subsequently he acted for many 
vears with the whigs, but on the organiza- 
tion of the so-called "Liberty Party," his firm 
and unyielding hostility to slavery led him 
to join it, and to it adhered till his death. 
In 1S43 he received its nomination for state 
treasurer on the ticket with Lawrence Brain- 
erd as Covernor, an-d this compliment was 
renewed for several years. It may be added 
that he never sought office, and that all his 
nominations and elections came unsought. 

In all the relations of jniblic and jirivate 
life, he bore an honorable and unsullied 
character, and his whole career was marked 
by integrity and uprightness. Perhaps his 
most distinguished characteristic was his 
firm and exact adherence to justice, which 
made him a safe umpire not only between 
his neighbors, a duty he was often called to, 
but an almost equally safe arbitrator between 
himself and his neighbor. 



lyi 



He was a most liberal siqjporter of the 
Congregational church, with which he wor- 
shipped, but ne\'er became a member until 
1838. 

He was never a rich man. but never failed 
to "pay one hundred cents on the dollar," 
and but once while in business was com- 
pelled to ask so much as an "extension of 
time" from his creditors, which was most 
freely and willingly granted, and within 
which his indebtedness was fully met. The 
generous education which he gave his chil- 
dren was a continual drain on his resources 
which he never regretted, although it left 
him in moderate circumstances, financially, 
in his old age. He died at Chelsea, June, 
1861. 

Mr. Hale married, first in Rindge in 1802, 
Phebe, daughter of David and Phebe (Spof- 
ford) Adams. She died at Chelsea, Jan. 13, 
181 5, having been the mother of eleven 
children, six of whom survived her. He mar- 
rieil, secondly, Nov. 14, 1818, at Chelsea, 
Lucinda, daughter of Ephraim and Mary 
(Safford) Eddy. She bore him seven chil- 
dren. All her own children and four of her 
step-children survived her. She survived her 
husband and died at Chelsea, .August i, 1S71. 

On the renovation of the Congregational 
church in Chelsea in 1876 a memorial win- 
dow of stained glass was placed in the rear 
of the pulpit, which describes Mr. Hale as 
"Foremost among those who builded this 
house to the worship of God, iSio," adding 
the text selected by his children, "One that 
ruleth well his own house, having his chil- 
dren in subjection with all gravity." 

HALE, Mark, son of Harry and Phebe 
Hale, born .\ugust20, 1806, was appointed a 
midshipman in the navy in 1825 and re- 
signed in 1832. No tidings have been re- 
ceived of him since his resignation, and he 
probably died many years ago. He is de- 
scribed in a letter written by one of his ship- 
mates to his father as a young man of fine 
person, prepossessing manners, and as highly 
respected both in his private and official 
capacity by his brother officers in every 
grade. 

HALE, Thomas, son of Harry and Phebe 
Hale, was born in Chelsea, June 21, 1813. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1S44, but 
never practiced the legal profession to any 
extent. Most of his life was spent in jour- 
nalism. He was for many years editor of 
the Vermont Journal at Windsor, and also 
founded and edited the New England Ob- 
server at White River Junction. He was 
also the editor of the Sentinel at Keene, N. 
H., and of various other papers in New 
England. .\s a journalist he was very suc- 
cessful, continuing in that profession until 



he was comiielled to abandon it by the fail- 
ure of his sight. 

He was married to Sarah Rallou Potter in 
1869, and died in Plainfield, N. J., on the 
4th of March, 1893, leaving his widow and 
one son (Thomas) surviving him. 

HALE, Henry, son of Harry and Phebe 
Hale, was born in Chelsea, June 21, 1814. 
Graduating at the University of Vermont 
in 1840, he studied law and practiced his 
profession first at Orwell, \'t., then at Pough- 
keepsie, N. V., and remo\ed to St. Paul, 
Minn., in 1855, where he resided until his 
death in December, 1890. Not long after 
he removed to St. Paul he gave up profes- 
sional labor and devoted his time mainly to 
the care of the estate which he accumulated 
there, and to travel, making Ireijuent visit.sto 
Europe, where he spent a large portion of his 
time. 

He married, just before his remo\al to St. 
Paul, Mary Elizabeth Fletcher, daughter of 
Paris Fletcher, Esq., of Bridport. He had 
two children, who both died in infancy, and 
left only his widow surviving. By his will he 
left a large portion of his fortune to the city 
of St. Paul for the purpose of founding a free 
library and free dispensary. He was a man 
of great reading and ability and had a high 
standing in his profession. 

HALE, Safford Eddy, eldest son of 

Harry and Lucinda Hale, was born in Chel- 
sea, Oct. 26, 1818, and received his pro- 
fessional education in the medical dejjart- 
ment of Dartmouth College. In 1842 he 
went to Elizabethtown, N. V., where he 
entered upon the practice of medicine, 
which he continued until within a few 
months of his death, which occurred .April 
iS, 1893. 

With an acute and cultivated mind, pol- 
ished manners, agreeable presence, lively 
wit, fine professional attainments and skill, 
absolute integrity and fearless independence, 
he at once became and continued to the end 
to be one of the most respected citizens of 
Elizabethtown. He felt a lively interest in 
all matters of public concern, and although 
not an active politician or desirous of office, 
he from time to time served the community 
in such positions as justice of the peace, 
commissioner of highways, county treasurer, 
etc. He was for one term president of the 
Essex County Medical Society and its secre- 
tary many year?. 

He married Elizabeth Palmer Churchill, 
daughter of Joseph Churchill, Esq., of Wood- 
stock. She "died March 8, 1S71. He left 
surviving him three children : Frederick G. 
(a lawyer at Chicago), Joseph C. (of Lead- 
ville, Col.), and Clara L., who resided with 
her father, and still resides in P'lizabethtown. 



172 



HAl.E, Robert SaFFORD, second son 
of Harry and Lucinda Hale, was born in 
Chelsea, Sept. 24, 1822. He graduated at 
the University of Vermont in 1842, and re- 
ceived from that college the degree of LL.D. 
He studied law in Elizabethtown, N. Y., and 
was admitted to practice in 1847, continu- 
ing in that professon at Elizabethtown until 
his death, which occurred Dec. 14, iSSi. 
The following extract from the memorial 
minute adopted by the Board of Regents of 
the State of New York on the occasion of his 
•death, gives a concise and clear sketch of 
his public life ; 

" In 1856 he was elected judge of Essex 
•county, and in 1859 a regent of the univer- 
sity. In 1S60 he was appointed a presiden- 
tial elector, and in 1S65 he was elected to 
Congress. In 1868 he was employed as 
special counsel of the Treasury before the 
Court of Claims of the United States. In 
1870 he was nominated as a judge of the 
Court of Appeals, but, with the majority of 
his party candidates, was not elected. In 
187 I he was appointed agent and counsel of 
the United States before the mixed commis- 
sion of claims under the treaty of Washing- 
ton. In 1873 hs ^^'^5 again elected to Con- 
gress, and in 1876 he was appointed by the 
Legislature one of the commissioners of the 
■state survey. 

"To the discharge of these various pro- 
fessional and public duties, Mr. Hale 
isrought a singular combination of powers. 
His fine natural ability was admirably trained 
by various study and accomplishments. His 
mind was a treasury of well ordered knowl- 
edge. His eloquence was clear, forcible and 
brilliant ; and his quick sympathies, his pro- 
fuse and delightful humor, his moral earnest- 
ness and courage made him one of the most 
•delightful of companions, as he was one of 
the most persuasive of advocates and most 
upright of magistrates. His political, like 
his professional career, was distinguished by 
that independence which is as rare as it 
is manly, and which of itself is a public in- 
fluence of the highest character. In this 
board, Mr. Hale's service was constant and 
efficient. In all its deliberations his sound 
judgment, his clear perception and his 
great experience were invaluable, and the 
board are but too sadly conscious that his 
loss cannot be replaced." 

He married Lovina Sibley, daughter of 
Jeremiah Stone of Elizabethtown, who sur- 
vives him. He also left five children : one 
son Harry (who is a practicing lawyer in 
Elizabethtown), and four daughters, three 
of whom are still living with their mother at 
Elizabethtown. 

HALE, Rev. John Gardner, third 

son of Harry and Lucinda Hale, was born at 



Chelsea, Sept. 12, 1S24. He graduated at 
the University of Vermont in 1845, and 
Andover Theological Seminary in 185 1. In 
1852 he was sent by the Home Missionary 
Society to Grass Valley, Cal., where he re- 
sided for several years. Before his depart- 
ure to California he had married Jane P., 
daughter of Israel Dwinell of East Calais, 
and after a few years he returned to Ver- 
mont, and was settled successively at East 
Poultney, Chester and Stowe. His health 
was always rather delicate and the climate ot 
Vermont somewhat severe, therefore he 
again went to California, and settled at Red- 
lands, where he resided until his death in 
March, 1892. At all his places of residence 
he was respected and loved as an able, sin- 
cere and earnest minister of the gospel. He 
left surviving him, one son. Rev. Edson 
Dwinell Hale (a Congregational minister in 
California), and three daughters. 

HALE, William Bainbridge, fourth 

son of Harry and Lucinda Hale, was born in 
Chelsea, July 20, 1826. He had not the 
benefit of a college education, but was a 
great reader and had a wonderfully retentive 
memory, and was really a better educated 
man than most college graduates. He was 
for many years president of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Northampton, Mass., and a 
prominent and influential citizen of North- 
ampton. The following from the Spring- 
field Republican is a just tribute to his 
memory. 

' In Northampton he was interested in 
various manufacturing enterprises as well as 
banking, and for several years was president 
and manager of the old Florence Sewing 
Machine Co. in its palmy days. He was 
also interested in the Knapp dovetailing 
machine and other industries. He was 
identified with the affairs of the old town of 
Northampton, and, in i860, as president of 
the Young Men's Institute, did much in 
bringing about the establishment of the 
present large and flourishing free library. 
In town meetings he was a ready and fluent 
speaker, and always took an active hand in 
debates, frequently having stirring discus- 
sions on educational and other questions 
with Judge Bond, the late Charles Delano 
and others. 

" Mr. Hale was a man of more than ordi- 
nary ability, of wide reading and possessed 
an extraordinary gift of language, which at 
times mounted to eloquence. He spoke in 
public readily and fluently, and with great 
effect. His manner was autocratic; often 
he expressed himself with impolitic vigor ; 
his likes and dislikes were apt to be ex- 
treme ; but his weight of character overbore 
all the traits that might have made enemies. 
He was never persuaded to run for office. 



and his transparent unselfisliness increased 
his influence." 

He married, first, Harriet Amelia, daugh- 
ter of Wright Porter of Hartford, who died 
Dec. lo, 1882. July 7, 1S86, he married 
Mrs. Victoria Morris of Grassdale, Va., who 
survives him. After his second marriage, he 
removed to Grassdale, Va., where he con- 
tinued to reside until his death in Novem- 
ber, 1892. He left two sons, children of 
his first wife : Philip, an organist and musi- 
cal critic of lioston, Mass., and Rev. Edward 
Hale, a graduate of Harvard, who is now a 
Unitarian minister at East (Orange, N. J. 

HALE, Matthew, youngest son of 
Harry and Lucinda Hale, was born in Chel- 
sea, June 20, 1829. He graduated at the 
University of Vermont, in 1851, and after- 
wards received from that college the degree 
LL.l). He studied law with his brother 
Robert S. at Elizabethtown, N. ¥., and was 
admitted to the bar of New Vork in 1S53. 
He settled first in Poughkeepsie, N. V., then 
for a few years in New York City ; after- 
wards in Elizabethtown until 1868, since 
which time he has been engaged in the 
practice of his profession at Albany, N. V. 
He was a member of the New Vork state 
Constitutional Convention of 1867, and of the 
New York state Senate in 1868 and 1869. 
In 18S3 he was the Republican candidate 
for justice of the Supreme Court in the 
Third District, but was defeated by the Hon. 
Rufus W. Peckham. He has been an active 
member of the New York State Bar Asso- 
ciation from the time of its organization, and 
has been its president. In 18S6 he was ap- 
pointed by the New York Legislature one 
of three commissioners to investigate and 
report the most humane and practical 
method of carrying into effect the sentence 
of death in capital cases ; and in pursuance 
of the recommendation of this commission, 
the New York Legislature in 1888 enacted 
that the punishment of death should there- 
after lie inflicted by causing to pass through 
the body a current of electricity of sufficient 
intensity to cause death. This mode of in- 
flicting the death penalty has ever since pre- 
vailed in the state of New York, and has 
proved more efficient and less painful and 
revolting than the old method of inflicting 
capital punishment by hanging. 

Since 1884 Mr. Hale has been an inde- 
pendent in politics. He has been quite 
prominent in the advocacy of political re- 
forms, and is now {1893) president of the 
New York State Ci\il Service Reform League. 

He married in 1856, Ellen S., daughter of 
the late Hon. Augustus C. Hand, justice 
of the New York Supreme Court. She died 
in 1867. In December, 1877, he married 
his present wife, Mary, daughter of the late 



HALE. ,73; 

Col. Francis L. Lee, formerly of Loston,. 
Mass., by whom he has five children, three 
daughters and two sons, the eldest of whom 
was born in January, 1879. He still resides 
and practices his profession in .Albany, and 
is now the only surviving son of his father. 

HALE, Franklin D., of I.unenberg, son 
of Sprague T. and Nancy M. (Moulton) 
Hale, was born in Barnet, March 7, 1854. 

He alternately attended school and worked 
upon the farm, receiving his preparatory in- 
struction in the common schools of Concord,, 
and after continuing his studies at the high 
school of Northfield and at St. Johnsbury 
.Academy, finally graduated in the law de- 
partment of Michigan University in 1877. 

After being admitted to the bar, Mr. Hale 





.IN D. HALE. 



became a member of the firm of Hutchin- 
son, Savage & Hale at Lewiston, Me., and 
some time afterwards spent two years in 
traveling in the western states. In 1S81 
he settled in Lunenberg as a lawyer, and also 
engaged in farming. Here he has continued 
to reside. 

Mr. Hale was married Nov. 2, 1881, to 
Addie L., daughter of Hon. Levi and Susan 
(Powers) Silsby. Their children are : Susie 
M., and Charles S. 

The usual town offices have been entrusted 
to him. He was, in 1884, representative 
and senator from Esse.v county in 1SS6 in 
the state Legislature, elected by Republican 
votes. He was state's attorney from 1S83 to 



174 



iS8S. In 1S92 he was elected auditor of 
accounts of the state of Vermont. He also 
received the appointment of town site trustee 
in Oklahoma Territory in 1891. 

Mr. Hale belongs to the Masonic frater- 
nity, and is a member of the Knights of 
Honor ; also a member of the Congrega- 
tional church. 

HALE, Ja.mes Buchanan, of Newbury, 

son of lohn and Laura Burns (Hutchins) 
Hale, was born in Haverhill, X. H., July 13, 
1855, and removed to Newbury in 1S67 with 
his parents, entering the employment of the 
well-known firm of F. & H. T. Keyes & Co., 
May 22, 1871. Mr. Hale's instruction in the 
mercantile profession was thorough and prac- 
tical. In 1882 he bought the stock of gen- 
eral merchandise and good-will of Deacon 
Henry H. Deming in Newbury village, where 
he still continues, and by his energy and 
exceptional business ability has built up a 
large and prosperous concern. 

In 1889 Mr. Hale was elected town treas- 
urer, which ofifice he still holds, and is also a 
trustee of the Bradford Savings Bank and 
Trust Co., located at Bradford. 

In politics Mr. Hale is a Democrat, in 
religion a Congregationalist, of which church 
and society he is a member and officer. 
December 7, 1880, he married Carrie M., only 
daughter of Daniel P. and Melissa ( Keyes ) 
Kimball. Mr. Hale by this happy union has 
had one daughter, Mary K., and one son, 
Harold B. Mr. Kimball has for many years 
been a resident of Newbury, and one of the 
largest and most progressive farmers in the 
Connecticut \'alley ; an upright Christian, a 
deacon of the Congregational church, a man 
honored by his townsmen and a member of 
the Legislature in i88o-'8i. 

HALL, Alfred Allen, of St. Albans, 

son of R. H. and Mary E. (Crowley) Hall, 
was born in Athens, Dec. 31, 1848. 

He received his education in the common 
schools and at Leland & Gray Seminary, 
Townshend. He read law with 1 )a\is &: 
Adams at St. Albans and was admitted to the 
bar in April, 1873. 

Soon after he was admitted to the Supreme 
Court of the state and to the L'nited States 
district and circuit courts. In 1874 he 
formed a law partnership with W. I). Wilson 
at St. Albans, where they have since enjoyed 
a lucrative practice. Mr. Hall served as 
president of the board of trustees in 1880- 
'81. For six years he was a member of the 
school board, and during three years its 
chairman. For many years he has been one 
of the trustses of the Franklin county gram- 
mar school. He has ser\ed seven years as 
moderator of the town, and has been for fif- 
teen years treasurer of the public library. In 



iS82-'84 he was state's attorney. In 1892 
he was elected to the Vermont state Senate 
and was made president pro tern of that 
body. In June, 1893, he was appointed by 
the Governor chairman of a commission 
upon the revision of the laws of the state. 

He comes of good Revolutionary stock, 
and is a member of the Sons of the Ameri- 
can Revolution. He was a member of the 
National Guard from 1876 to 1886, being 
promoted from pri\ate to the non-commis- 
sioned and commissioned staff, and in 1884 
was appointed by Governor I'ingree colonel 
and aid-de-camp. 

Mr. Hall has had an eminent career as a 
Mason. He is past Grand Master, past Grand 
High Priest and past Grand Commander, 
being the first Mason in the state to receive 
all these honors. He has repeatedly repre- 
sented the \arious bodies of his state at the 
national gatherings of the order throughout 
the country, and has attained the 33d and 
highest degree in the Scottish Rite. 




June 15, 1874, he married Abbie L., 
daughter of John H.and Loantha Z.Austin. 
They have two children : Harrie Vaughn, 
born Feb. 2, 187S, and Leroy Austin, born 
August 10, 1 88 7. 

HALL, Charles Taylor, of Mont- 
gomery, son of Samuel S. and Martha M. 
(Taylor) Hall, was born in Montreal, P. Q., 
Feb. 23, 1862. He received his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of \\'altham, 



Mass., and completed his education in the 
high school at ^Nlontreal. 

His father was a manufacturer of wooden- 
ware, and the son, manifesting a natural 
aptitude for the business from the early age 
of sixteen, had the practical management 
and was foreman of the factory, remaining in 
that capacity until he was twenty years old. 
In 1882 the factory was burned, and he 
engaged in the manufacture of veneering for 
five years, at the expiration of which time he 
purchased an interest in the large butter-tub 
works of The W. H. Stiles Company, at 
Montgomery Centre, and has been ever 
nsice the junior partner and business nian- 



:i^sj,mij^^ 




LES TAYLOR HAL 



ager of the concern. The company also 
engage in the manufacture of floor boards 
and bobbins, and have been so successful in 
their operations that they are about to largely 
increase their plant, and have recently pur- 
chased one thousand acres of spruce timber 
land, thus providing a sufficiency of material 
for the next twenty years. 

Though taking a lively interest in isolitics 
as a member of the Republican party, Mr. 
Hall has never sought or held public office, 
and of secret societies he is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity only. 

He was married to Etta L., daughter of 
H. P. and Ann (Fogg) Foss, of Franklin, 
March, 1886, by whom he has had one 
daughter. 

HALL, Emerson, of St. Johnsbury, son 
of John and Jane (Graham) Hall, was born 
in Cabot, Jan. 9, 1816. 



H.ALL. 175 

He obtained his education in the schools 
(;1 Cabot and I'eacham Academy, for some 
time labored on his father's farm, then came 
to St. Johnsbury, where for six years he was 
employed in the hotel of that place. In 
\846 he became engaged in general trade 
and continued in this occupation for twenty- 
eight years. He has been for a long time 
one of the substantial business men of the 
town and by his personal integrity and in- 
dustrious energy has won an enviable posi- 
tion in the community. 

He has discharged the duties of deputy 
and high sheriff at a time when the insuffi- 
ciency of the police force made these duties 
more arduous than at the present time. He 
received the appointment of postmaster 
under President Lincoln, but resigned be- 
fore the expiration of his term to represent 
St. Johnsbury in the state Legislature in 
i868-'69. In this body he served on the 
committee on banks. 

Mr. Hall wedded, June 19, 1850, Mary S., 
daughter of Isaac W. and (Blount) Stanton 
of Danville. Three children have been born 
to them : Mattie J., Carrie May, and Eliza. 
The last named died in early childhood. In 
1859 he was elected trustee of the Passump- 
sic Savings Bank and for the last thirty years 
has been one of the executive officers of that 
institution, and for the last fifteen years its 
(jresident. A staunch Republican since the 
formation of the party, he cast his first presi- 
dential ballot for Gen. \Mlliam Henry Har- 
rison in 1840. 

Mr. Hall is a Congregationalist in his re- 
ligious belief, attending the North Church of 
St. Johnsbury. 

HALL, Isaac N., late of Groton, son of 
Henry and Susan (Burnham) Hall, was born 
in Rumney, N. H., June 3, iSoS. He was 
of FLnglish descent and came from a long- 
lived family. His grandfather lived to 
eighty-six years and his great-grandfather 
died at ninety-three years, while his mater- 
nal great-grandmother, Lydia Bradley, at- 
tained the age of one hundred and four, .^n 
ancestress of the latter was taken captive by 
the Indians near Haverhill, Mass., in the 
early colonial times. 

The parents of Mr. Hall were not in af- 
fluent circumstances, and his only educa- 
tional advantages were those afforded by the 
district schools in the time of his early youth. 
At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to 
his uncle Moses Burnham, a noted carpenter 
and builder, with whom he served his time 
and upon his master's removal to Groton 
the young apprentice accompanied him and 
at the expiration of his term of service set- 
tled in that town and has remained there 
ever since. In 1826 he lost his father, and 
his mother immediatelv after her husband's 



176 



death moved to Groton and made her home 
with her son, living to the age of eighty-one. 
Mr. Hall married Elizabeth, daughter of 
William Taisey of Groton, April 28, 1829. 
Nine children have been born to them, seven 
daughters and two sons. Of these five are 
living ; Judge T. B. Hall of Groton, Maria, 
(Mrs. Stephen Vance of Albany, Vt.), Helen 
(Mrs. George WiUard of Walt'ham, Mass.), 
Theresa (Mrs. Alex. Cochran of Groton), 
and I.vdia (Mrs. Whitnev of San Fran- 




ISAAO N. HALL. 



Cisco). The first Mrs. Hall died No\-. 11, 
1873, and he contracted a second alliance 
with Mrs. Louisa A. (Webster) Hall of Ply- 
mouth, N. H. 

In can be truly said of Judge Hall that he 
enjoyed the confidence of the people in a re- 
markable degree, as shown by his election to 
many responsible offices. He was justice of 
the peace and town clerk for more than a 
generation, and represented his town in the 
Legislature in 1835, 1836, 1840, and 1867. 
He was elected assistant judge of Caledonia 
county court in 1842, 1844, and 1845, and 
in 1848, i860, and 1861 was senator for that 
county. Judge Hall was appointed a state's 
prison director in 1868 and 1869, and was a 
delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 
1850; he was also made one of the directors 
of the bank at Newbury, at Wells River, and 
served as United States assistant assessor of 
the second district of the state of Vermont. 
He was one of the first projectors and build- 
ers of the Montpelier & W'eWs River R. R., 
and was one of its directors until the road 



was put into the hands of the bondholders, 
and its president from 1873 to 1877. ;■ In a 
.sketch of the early settlers of Groton it is 
said of him : 

"His agency and usefulness in all matters 
of public interest will be discovered in all 
that relates to the growth and prosperity of 
the town for the last sixty years. There is 
no man who has exerted a greater influence 
for good or who has advanced the interests 
and morals of the town in a greater degree." 

In early life he joined and was ever after 
an earnest and consistent member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. He was a 
delegate to its general quadrennial confer- 
ence held at Cincinnati. 

Judge Hall, while with Mrs. Hall at the 
residence of her daughter, died at South 
Chicago Nov. 21, 1893, and Nov. 25, 1893, 
he was buried at Groton. 

HALL,S.AMUEL Baker, of Pennington,, 
son of Marshall Carter and Sophia B. (Dem- 
ing) Hall, was born in Bennington, Feb. 
17, 1S46. 

His education was obtained in the Ben- 
nington public schools and seminary, and 
also at the Rock Point Episcopal Institute 
at Burlington, and Phillips Exeter Academy 
of Andover, Mass. 




SAMUEL BAKER 



\Vhen his school life was completed he 
commenced his business career as a clerk in 
a dry goods commisson house in New York 
City. In the fall of 1S67 he received the 



i 



HAMILTDN. 



■77 



appointment of bookkeeper of the First 
National Bank at North Bennington, and in 
1873 was promoted to the position of cashier 
of that bank, which office he still continues 
to fill. In 1890 he was elected treasurer of 
the Bennington & Rutland R. R. He is 
interested in real estate and also in the bank 
with which he is connected. 

Politically Mr. Hall is a Repiiblican l)ut 
has never taken an active interest in politics 
as he has been compelled to give the princi- 
pal part of his time and attention to his 
business affairs, but he has served the village 
at different times in local offices and is at 
present chairman of the North Bennington 
school board. 

He is a liberal supporter of the Congre- 
gational society at North Bennington and an 
attendant of that church. 

Mr. Hall was united in marriage Oct. 3, 
1870, to Sarah, daughter of (leorge W. and 
jane (Hinsdill) Robinson of Bennington. 
Their children are : Deming, Robinson, 
Francis H. (deceased), Samuel Carter, and 
Charles Lincoln. 

HAMILTON, JOSEPH, of St. Johnsbury, 
son of James and \L'iry (Hammond) Ham- 
ilton, was born in North (lore, P. (^., ^Lay 
T2, 1S39. 




His early education was received at La 
Chute Academy in Canada, and he has 
since taken the course of study prescribed 
by the Methodist Episcopal Church for all 



who enter her conferences. He came to 
\'ermont in 1865 and joined the Vermont 
Conference on trial in .Vjiril, 1866. His 
first appointment was Kirby where he re- 
mained two years. His second appoint- 
ment was Marshfield, and in April, 1868, he 
was ordained deacon by P>ishop Ames and 
admitted into the conference in full con- 
nection. In 1870 he was ordained elder by 
Bishop Simpson. In 1869 he was appointed 
to West Berlin and Gouldsville. In 1870 
to Waitsfield ; during his stay here a new 
church was built costing $6,000. In 1S71 
he was sent to Marshfield ; 1872 Plainfield ; 
1875 Groton ; 1877 he was sent to Roches- 
ter ; during his three years here he took 
eighty-five members into the church ; 1880 
he was sent to Wilmington; 1883 to West 
Fairiee ; 1886 to \Voodstock, where he raised 
S3, 200 to repair the church, making it one 
of the most convenient churches in the con- 
ference : in 1 888 he was appointed to White 
River Junction and while here he organized 
a Methodist church at (Jlcott and raised 
$2,000 and succeeded in building a new 
church worth $3,000. Fie served the church 
at Northfield from 1890 to 1892 at which 
time he was appointed presiding elder of the 
St. Johnsbury district and through his efforts 
a district parsonage was purchased in the 
village of St. Johnsbury. During his minis- 
try he has baptized three hundred and forty- 
eight persons and attended three hundred 
funerals. 

In political matters he is a Prohibitionist 
and has voted with that party. 

April 27, 1879, he married Charlotte E., 
daughter of Dr. J. Q. A. and Lavina A. 
(Newton) Packer of Marshfield. Of this 
union six children have been born : four 
sons and two daughters. 

HAMILTON, Merrill Thomas, of 

Newport, son of Hannibal and Julia E. 
(Tho;npson) Hamilton, was born in Berk- 
shire, F'ranklin county, April 7, 1849. 

Obtaining his education in the public 
schools of Berkshire, Richford Academy and 
the Northampton Institute at F'airfax, in 1869 
he entered the dental office of Oilman & 
Sheerar at St. Albans, where for three years 
he studied dentistry. In 1871 he removed 
to Newport where he has been established 
e\er since. Dr. Hamilton is unusually pro- 
ficient in his profession in which he takes 
the highest rank and has enjoyed a very ex- 
tensive practice, not only in the state, but 
also in Canada. In 1884 he became inter- 
ested in the manufacture of brick in Derby 
and also at Barton Landing, but three years 
subsequently sold out his interest in the 
business. 

He was united in marriage August 22, 1873, 
to Clara F., daughter of Warren and Emily 



178 



HAMMOND. 



HANFLAHAX. 



(Rowell) Fuller of Newport, whom he had 
the misfortune to lose after three years of 
wedded life. One son was born to them, 
Harry Fuller. Dr. Hamilton contracted a 
second alliance May 24, 1878, with Etta L, 
daughter of Eleazer and Mary .A.. (Culver) 
Porter of 'I'roy. Of this marriage there have 
been issue : Lavina Fuller, and Samuel Wor- 
cester Fuller. 

Dr. Hamilton is an expert horseman and 
takes much interest in equine matters. He 
posses.ses two large farms in North Trov, 
making a specialty of dairy products. Demo- 
cratic in his political views, he has never 
taken any active part in public affairs, but 
conscientiously devoted his whole time to his 
profession. For many years he has been 
the treasurer of St. Mark's Episcopal Church 
in Newport, and he has taken the degrees of 
Ancient Craft Masonry in Memphremagog 
Lodge of that place. 

HAMMOND, Fred Burton, of Troy, 

son of Oscar and Martha (Cole) Hammond, 
was born in Derby, Oct. 12, 1859. 



Notwithstanding his political f;iith, he be- 
ing a very strong Democrat of the conserva- 
tive class, he has been elected clerk and 
treasurer of the town, also one of the trustees 
of the public money. He was appointed 
postmaster under the Cleveland administra- 
tion in 18S5, and on the re-election of Mr. 
Cleveland he was reappointed postmaster, 
which position he is now filling. .Although 
Troy is a strong Republican town he was 
elected town representative, serving on the 
committee on claims. 

Mr. Hammond is an enthusiastic member 
of the Masonic fraternity, being a member 
of Masonic Union Lodge No. 16, at Troy, 
member of Cleveland Chapter No. 20, and 
Malta Commandery No. 10, of Newport. 
He also affiliates with the Mount Sinai Tem- 
ple at Montpelier. He was District Deputv 
errand Master of the tenth Masonic district 
in 1890 and 1891. 

May I, 1884, he married Frances ]\L, 
daughter of Robert B. Chandler of North 
Troy, and has two daughters : Adeline 
Moore, and Rachel Frances. 




=!ED BURTON HAMMOND. 



His education was obtained in the pub- 
lic schools of Derby and at Newport .Acad- 
emy. 

He served his mercantile clerkship in the 
Boston clothing store at North Troy, be- 
came manager of the same store in 1881 
and in 1884 he bought a half interest in the 
general store of Hiram K. Stewart of Troy. 
The firm dissolved partnership in 1885 ; Mr. 
Hammond then erected the building he now 
occupies. 



HANRAHAN, JOHN DAVID, of Rut- 
land, son of James and Ellen (O'Connor) 
Hanrahan, was born in Rathkeale, county 
Limerick, Ireland, Jan. 18, 1844. 

He attended the National schools in the 
place of his nativity till his father removed 
with his family to New York City. Here he 
became a pupil of the free academy, then 
entered the New York Medical University, 
where he remained till 1861, when at the 
breaking out of the rebellion he entered the 
\J. S. Navy as surgeon. During i86i-'62-'63 
he served in the Potomac flotilla, and on 
the 23d of August, 1863, the vessel on which 
he was serving was captured and all on board 
made prisoners. After being in Richmond 
six weeks he was paroled and transferred to 
Washington. While a paroled prisoner in 
\\'ashington he attended a course of medical 
lectures at the medical department of the 
(Georgetown University. In the early spring 
of 1864 was exchanged and ordered to duty 
in the North Atlantic squadron, where he 
served under .Admirals Lee and Porter until 
discharged in July, 1865. Two years subse- 
quently he received his diploma from the 
medical department of the New York L'ni- 
versity, practiced in New York until the 
spring of i86g, when he removed to Rut- 
land, where he has since resided and built 
up an extensi^■e general practice. 

Dr. Hanrahan has been connected with 
various medical societies, in which he has 
taken an active interest and held many posi- 
tions of trust and responsibility. Outside 
of his professional duties, he has been largely 
influential in both town and state affairs, has 
been trustee of the village of Rutland, as 



rl 





o^^^ 



l8o HAMMOND. 

well as the president of the board, was ap- 
pointed president of the Rutland county 
pension board in i.SSs, the duties of which 
he so acceptably discharged that, notwith- 
standing his loyal adherence to the Demo- 
cratic party, President Harrison continued 
him in office until his resignation to accept 
the position of postmaster of the city of 
Rutland, which appointment he received 
from President Cleveland in 1893. A strong 
Irish Nationalist in his views, Dr. Hanrahan 
has been a potential factor in the Rutland 
Land League and a delegate to all the na- 
tional conventions. He has served as chair- 
man of the Rutland county Democratic 
committee and has frequently been a mem- 
of the state committee ; has been a delegate 
to the Democratic national conventions of 
1884 and '88 and chairman of the delegation 
of 1892. Has always been a warm sup- 
porter of President Cleveland. Dr. Hanra- 
han is also prominent in G. A. R. circles. 
He is a member of the local post and has 
served on the staff of Commanders-in-chief 
Veazey, Palmer and Weissert, and has been 
medical director of the Department of Ver- 
mont. 

In his religious creed he is a Roman 
Catholic, worshi])ing with the congregation 
of St. Peter's in Rutland. 

Dr. Hanrahan was united in marriage Feb. 
12, 1870, to Mary, daughter of Bernard and 
Elizabeth (Halpin) Riley of Wallingford, 
who died April, 1882. October 31, 1883, 
he was again married to Frances, daughter 
of John C. and Mary (Hughes) Keenan of 
Rutland. Fi\e children have resulted from 
their union ; May, .Anna, Hugh, Frances, 
and John. 

Hammond, Lowell G., of Ludlow, son 

of ledediah and Clara (Bent) Hammond, 
was born Feb. 17, 1824, in Mt. Holly. 

A farm-bred boy, he received his education 
in the common schools of Mt. Holly, and at 
twenty-two years of age located at Ludlow, 
where he engaged in the grocery trade. Then 
he formed the ])artnership of Mason & Ham- 
mond, dealing in dry goods and groceries 
during four years. Since 1854, he has con- 
ducted an extensive business in general mer- 
chandise. In 1871, meeting with a severe 
disaster froni the loss by fire of his large store 
and a partial loss of his stock, he immediately 
constructed a much larger and finer block, 
containing one of the finest halls in the coun- 
ty, where he has carried on his business ever 
since. 

He has always voted the Republican ticket 
and repeatedly held positions of trust in vil- 
lage and town : being chosen representative 
in 1886. He was married in August, 1S47, to 
Maryette, daughter of Dr. Lowell W. and 
Sally (Pettee) Gurnsey, of Shewsbury. Their 



children are : Leonora ^L, Norris G., and Ad- 
die W. For almost forty years Mr. Ham- 
mond has been a most impor.tant factor in the 
business life of Ludlow, and an active pioneer 
in new features of trade. He has taken a 
lively interest in pubhc improvement and has 
been a generous donor to educational and 
religious enterprises. He is vice-president of 
thetrustees of the Black River Academy, of 
Ludlow. 



"^♦tf **< 




LOWELL G. 



He is a Universalist in his religious prefer- 
ences ; for more than forty years has belonged 
to the order of Odd Fellows, being a member 
of Altamont Lodge, of Ludlow. 

HARMAN, George Washington, of 

Bennington, son of Nathaniel and Alice 
(Hascall) Harnian, was born in Pawlet, 
May 7, 1812. 

He acquired the rudiments of his educa- 
tion in the common schools, this being sup- 
plemented bv six terms at the academy, and 
private instruction. He read law with his 
father, and was admitted to the bar at Rut- 
land in September, 1833. He practiced his 
profession at Pawlet until 1848, when he re- 
moved to Bennington, and for twenty years 
was cashier of a bank in that village. In 
1859 he resumed the practice of law, and is 
looked upon as one of the sages of the pro- 
fession. In 1843 he represented Pawlet in 
the Constitutional Convention, and was one 
of the county commissioners in i846-'47. 



iSi 



Mr. Harman has held most of the local 
offices in Bennington, including that of mun- 
icipal judge, but he has never had any polit- 
ical aspirations. He has been from the very 
first one of the strongest advocates and sup- 
porters of the bar association, and at various 
times has been importuned to accejjt its 
presidency, but has always firmly decline<l. 

Mr. Harman is the author of several arti- 
cles which have met with high approval from 
those interested in the subjects to which he 
has devoted his literary efforts. .Among 
these may be mentioned a sketch of the life 
of John Burnham, the first lawyer of Ver- 
mont, which was published in the records of 
the Vermont Bar .Association, a historical 
paper on Battenkill and Ondawa, another on 
Allen at Ticonderoga, pro\ing conclusively 
that Benedict .\rnold was present when that 
post was surrendered ; several papers relating 
to the batde of Bennington, and various 
others. 



In i<S74 he began his studies as an artist at 
the .Academy of Design and .Art Students' 
League in New York, and in 187S went to 
Paris, France, to continue same at the Gov- 
ernment Ecole-des-Beaux-.Arts under the in- 
struction of MM. y. I.. Gerome and .Alex- 





GEORGE WASHINGTON HARMAN. 

Judge Harman's whole life has been pre- 
eminently marked by ].irinciples of order, 
industry and perseverance, three character- 
istics which always contribute in a great 
measure to make an honorable and success- 
ful life. 

HARDIE, ROBERT Gordon, of Brat- 

tleboro, son of Robert (Jordon and Frances 
(Hyde) Hardie, was born in Brattleboro, 
March 29, 1854. 

He recei\ed his early education at the 
public schools of Brattleboro and RnHaiid. 



ROBERT GORDON HARDIE. 

andre Cabanel. E.xhibited in the Salon in 
the years i879-'8o-'8i-'82. Returning to 
.America in 1883. 

The first work which brought Mr. Hardie 
prominently before the public was the por- 
trait of Hon. David Dudley Field, painted 
in 1888 and now in the Capitol at .Albany, 
N. V. 

In the same year he married Catharine, 
second daughter of Hon. S. M. Cullom, U. 
S. senator from Illinois. 

HARRIS, BROUGHTON Davis, of Brat- 
tleboro, .son of Wilder and Harriet (Davis) 
Harris, was born in Chesterfield, N. H., 
.August 16, 1822. 

Mr. Harris began his preparation for col- 
lege in the Chesterfield .Academy, and later 
attended Kimball Union .Academy at Meri- 
den, N. H. Matriculating at Dartmouth in 
1S41, he was graduated with high honors in 
the class of 1845, being a member of the I'hi 
Beta Kappa and .Alpha Delta Phi societies. 

.After graduating Mr. Harris began the 
study of law under Judge .Asa Keyes, and 
continued it later in the office of P^dward 
Kirkland, Esq., of Brattleboro. While thus 
engaged he also entered the ranks of journal- 
i m, and for a year edited the \erniont 



l82 



I'hcjenix. In August, 1S47, together with 
William K. Hale, long president of the Urst 
National Bank of Northampton, Mass., he 
founded the Kagle, a semi-weekly news- 
paper devoted to the interests of the whigs. 
On his departure for Utah in the spring of 
1851 the paper was given over to the con- 
trol of others. On his return in the fall of 
1 85 2 Mr. Harris again became editor and 
proprietor of the Eagle, which he changed 
into a weekly paper. During those days of 
great excitement in the political situation of 
the country the Eagle maintained the po- 
sition of a successful and popular contem- 
porary of the ablest journals ever published 
in the state, and Mr. Harris won for himself 
the distinction of being classed with the most 
skillful and forcible writers then in the ranks 
of journalism. His connection with the 
paper ceased by sale in 1856. 




V 



/ V 



BROUGHTON DAVIS --- 

In the fall of 1850 his life-long friends. 
Senators CoUamer and Foot, without his 
knowledge, procured for Mr. Harris the ap- 
pointment of first secretary of the new terri- 
tory of Utah from President Fillmore. In 
his administration of this office many diffi- 
culties and obstacles were interposed by the 
Mormons. The first Governor of Utah was 
Brigham Voung, and the ideas and opinions 
of the two officials were so radically antago- 
nistic that there was soon friction and later 
an open rupture between the Governor and 
the secretary. So defiantly did the Governor 
an<i his pliant I,egislature disregard the pro- 
visions of the enabling act of Contjress that 



Secretary Harris, after earnestly expostulat- 
ing, finally positively refused to disburse the 
money committed to his care by the United 
States go\ernment for the benefit of the ter- 
ritory. He wrote an able letter assigning 
excellent reasons for this refusal, and as a 
result the Mormon Legislature waxed wroth 
and passed a series of resolutions requiring 
him forthwith to deliver over the money to 
the Mormon United States marshal of Utah 
on pain of instant arrest and imprisonment. 
The secretary, firmly adhering to his original 
conviction of duty and loyalty to his govern- 
ment, peremptorily refused to comply with 
this demand, and, amid threats of violence 
and assassination, returned to \\'ashington 
and restored every dollar of the coveted ap- 
propriations to the United States treasury. 

The administration heartily endorsed his 
action, and shortly afterward tendered him 
the office of secretary and acting Go\ernor of 
the territory of New Mexico, an offer which 
he promptly declined. 

In 1847 Mr. Harris was register of pro- 
bate in Windham county. In i860 he was a 
member of the state Senate and served on 
the committee on railroads. Being re-elected 
in 1861, he was assigned to the imiwrtant 
post of chairman of the committee on mili- 
tary affairs at the breaking out of the rebel- 
lion, when nearly all legislation pertained to 
military matters. In the celebrated Peace 
Congress, which asseinbled in Washington 
on the invitation of Mrginia, just before the 
war, Mr. Harris was a delegate appointed by 
(iov. Erastus Fairbanks, together with Ex- 
Clow Hiland Hall, Lieut. -(lov. Le\ i I'nder- 
wood. Gen. H. H. Baxter, and Hon. I.. ¥,. 
Chittenden. 

As senior member of the well-known firm 
of Harris Brothers & Co., he was engaged 
for many years \ery extensively and success- 
fully in the construction of railroads, being 
connected with some of the most important 
lines in the country. 

.Although never an office seeker, Mr. Har- 
ris's name has often been mentioned in con- 
nection with congressional ser\ice, and many 
prominent men and leading newspapers have 
at times urged him to become a candidate 
for the chief magistracy of the state. Mr. 
Harris is one of the corporate members of 
the Brattleboro Savings Bank and for many 
years has been, and now is, president of that 
solid and prosperous institution. 

Mr. Harris was married on the 24th of 
March, 1 851, to Sarah Buell, daughter of Ed- 
win M. Hollister of New York City (now 
deceased). Their wedding journey was to 
L^tah, there being then no white settlement 
between the Missouri River and Great Salt 
Lake. They have but one child, who is now 
the wife of John Seymour AN'ood, lawyer and 
author, of New York City. 



HARRIS, Charles A., of lOast Burke, 
son of Amasa antl Ruth (Tarbox) Harris, 
was born in Lyndon, Sejst. 2, 1820. 

His educational advantages were limittd 
to the public schools of Lyndon, sujiple- 
mented by a course of study at the academy 
of that \iliage. 







HARRI.S. 183 

entire satisfaction to the i)ublic during his 
administration of the office. Mr. Harris has 
held numerous town offices in Derby and 
Hast Burke, and was the representative of the 
latter town in the Legislature of 1874, where 
his services were creditable. Since 1884 he 
has been justice of the i)eace. In his relig- 
ious belief he is a Congregationalist, and he 
has long been an active member of this 
denomination. 

Mr. Harris was married, ( )ct. 20, 1847, to 
Kuphamea Ramsey, daughter of l-;ben and 
Mary (True) Blake. Two children ha\e 
l>een born to them : Charles K., and Marv K. 

HARRIS, John Edward, of Hardwick, 

son of Erasmus B. and Caroline (lirown) 
Harris, was born in Danville, July 27, 185 8. 

He received his educational training in 
the common schools and at Phillips Acad- 
emy at Danville. 

In 1874 he removed to Montpelier and 
read law in the office of Messrs. Randall & 
Durant. At the completion of his course of 
study he was admitted to practice at the 
Seinember term of the Washington county 
court in 1879. For two vears he followed 



As soon as he had arrived at man's estate, 
he commenced his business career by enter- 
ing the employ of the Farmers and Mechan- 
ics Mercantile Co., of St. Johnsbury, where 
he remained more than two years, when, in 
company with associates, he bought the busi- 
ness, and under the style of John Bacon iS: 
Co. they continued till 1847. He then went 
to Derby and remained two years pursuing a 
similar occupation, after which he connected 
himself with Mr. Harry Himman, under the 
firm name of C. A. Harris & Co. For twenty 
years Mr. Harris remained in business in 
Derby. In March, 1867, he removed to 
East Burke, where he jjurchased a small farm 
and also a store in company with Daniel 
Townsend, and engaged in trade till March, 
1872, after which time he continued by him- 
self till 1893, when he ga\e his stock to his 
children and retired from the active cares of 
hfe. 

His reputation as an able financier has 
been proved by his services as director of 
the Lyndonville National Bank for six years 
and his election to the presidency of that 
institution in 1889. 

He was made postmaster of both the towns 
of Derbv Centre and F^ast Burke, and gave 



r 



1 




JOHN EDWARD HARRIS. 

his prt)fession in Montpelier and Dan\ille, 
then he purchased the St. Johnsbury Index, 
now the Republican, which he sold in 1885 
and moved to Burlington, where he bought 
a half interest in the Burlington Clipper. 
This he parted with in 1889, when he trans- 
ferreil his business to Hardwick, establish- 



1 84 



HARTSHORN. 



ing the Hardwick (Gazette, of which paper 
and the accompanying job office he is now 
proprietor. 

Mr. Harris is an absokite independent in 
his political course and has always con- 
ducted the newspapers with which he has 
been connected on liberal principles, subject 
to no party control. 

He married in 1879, Carrie, daughter of 
N. K. and Susan (Moody) Brown of Bur- 
lington. She died June 20, 1892, leaving 
three children : Charles B., Frances N., and 
Edward J. 

Mr. Harris has done special journalistic 
work on the Boston Globe, the Washington 
Post, Chicago News, and Springfield Repub- 
lican. 

He is an Episcopalian and a member of 
the I. O. O. F., having held all the offices 
but the first in Caledonia Lodge of St. Johns- 
bury. 

HARTSHORN, JOHN WiLLARD, of 
Lunenburg, son of Colburn and Elizabeth 
(Fay) Hartshorn, was born in Lunenburg, 
Oct. I, 1815. 




JOHN WILLARD HARTSHORN, 

The public schools of Lunenburg gave him 
his educational training, and when he arrived 
at man's estate he left his native town to 
seek his fortune in the world. He went to 
Sterling, Mass., and remained three years, 
during which period he witnessed the com- 
pletion of the first railroad from Boston to 
^\■orcester. Then he returned to Lunenburg, 



and purchased a large farm for S800 and a 
hundred barrels of cider, ten of the latter 
to be paid annually. At the time of the 
famous cider and log cabin campaign in 
1840, the orchards of Mr. Hartshorn mani- 
fested "active partisanship" by producing 
twenty-one hundred bushels of apples. For 
many years he was a noted farmer, drover 
and stock breeder, and he acquired some 
local reputation as an auctioneer, and satis- 
factorily settled many estates in the neigh- 
borhood. He was one of the original direc- 
tors of the P. & O. R. R., and retained that 
position until the road passed into the hands 
of a receiver. 

From the time of his return until 1H7S, 
when he received an almost fatal injury from 
a fall, Mr. Hartshorn was continuously in 
the service of the town as lister, overseer of 
the poor, moderator and justice of the peace 
for fifty-one years. He has been chosen to 
both branches of the state Legislature, mem- 
ber of the House in 185 2 -'5 3, and senator in 
iS70-'7i, and been honored by two terms as 
judge of probate in i850-'5 7. For seven 
years he was one of the directors of the 
state prison. 

Judge Hartshorn married, Nov. 16, 1840, 
Ann, daughter of Chester and Betsey 
(Hutchins) Smith of Lunenburg, and four 
children have been born to them : Hon. 
F:iden J., of Emmettsburg, Iowa, Elizabeth 
(Mrs. George H. Emerson, deceased), Harry 
C., and Cora (Mrs. Edward Lowell), of Lew- 
iston. Me. 

HARVEY, RONEY M., of Topsham, son 
of John and ]\Largaret (Hight) Harvey, was 
born in Tojjsham, May 20, 1843. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of the day, and also attended Newbury Semi- 
nary, Peacham .Academy, and a select school 
at East Topsham, taught by Rev. N. R. 
Johnson. 

In his youth he became noted as a "ped- 
agogue," and was always in demand to ad- 
minister discipline in the notorious hard 
schools of the times. In 1866 he visited the 
Pacific coast with the \iew of making his 
home in that country, but was soon recalled 
by the sickness and death of his father. He 
went to West Topsham in the spring of 1867, 
and at once commenced the study of law in 
the office of J. O. Livingston, Esq., and was 
admitted to the bar at the December term of 
Orange county court, 1869. He soon 
opened a law office at West Topsham, where 
he now resides. Mr. Harvey was united in 
marriage to Cora I., youngest daughter of 
Hon. Roswell M. Bill, late of Topsham, 
Dec. 28, 1870. Three children have been 
born to them: Lrwin M., Laila J., and 
lohn N. 



HASEI,TON. 



IIASF.LTOX. 



iS:; 



A Republican of the most ijronounced 
type, Mr. Harvey has held many and various 
town offices, was state's attorney in 1878, 
and has twice represented his town in the 
Legislature. Here he served on important 
committees, and was elected one of the super- 
visors of the insane. In 1890 he was elected 
state senator from Orange county. He still 
continues his law Inisiness at W'est Tojisham, 




W^ "^f^^ 




and is well known in his section of the state. 
His success in many important cases in 
which he has been employed is principalh- 
due to his Scotch pluck and the personal 
interest which he takes in all his work. In 
addition to the law, Mr. Harvey has become 
well known as a dealer in limiber and real 
estate. He is a hurried man of business, 
and his many cares allow him little time in 
which to enjoy the quiet of his home. 

HASELTON, SENECA, of Burlington, 
son of Rev. Amos and Amelia ( Frink ) 
Haselton, was born in Westford, Feb. 26, 
1848. 

His early education was obtained in the 
public schools of Jericho, Underhill and the 
academies of Underhill and Barre. He then 
entered the classical department of the U. 
v. M., from which he graduated with high 
honors in 1871. During his college course 
he taught several terms in Barre, Shelburne, 
Richmond and Waterbury, and for a year 
after his graduation from the uni\ersity he 
occupied the jiosition of associate principal 
of Barre Academy. In 1873 he began the 
studv I if law in the office of Wales .S: Taft at 



ISurlington, but soon after accepted the chair 
of instructor of mathematics in the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, at the same time pursuing 
his ])rofessional studies in the law depart- 
ment of that institution. Later he returned 
to lUirlington where he has since remained, 
attaining a very high rank as a general prac- 
titioner. 

Judge Haselton is a strong adherent of the 
I )emocratic party and has always taken an 
active and leading part in both city and 
state politics. For many successive terms he 
was city judge and in 1886 represented Bur 
lington in the Legislature, serving on the 
judiciary committee. In 1888 he was ap- 
pointed a member of the state examining 
committee on admission to the Vermont bar, 
and the following year served as chairman 
of the same. Two years later he was chosen 
mayor of the city of Burlington to which 
l^osition he has been twice re-elected. His 
term of office has been characterized by ex- 
ceptional prosperity on the part of the city. 




SENECA HASELTON. 



A school building of rare beauty has been 
erected and an important modification ot 
the system of the city has been determined 
upon and is in progress. An electric rail- 
way has been secured through a contract 
which makes the enterprise especially ad- 
vantageous to the business interests of Bur- 
lington. Since Mayor Haselton has been in 
office the rate of taxation has been consider- 
ably reduced and now compares favorably 
with that of any other progressive city in 
New England. 



1 86 



HASKINS, KlTTREDGE, of Brattleboro, 
son of Asaph and Amelia (^\'ard) Haskins, 
was born in Dover, April 8, i8,^6. His great- 
grandfather, grandfather and father served 
respectively in the French war, the Revolu- 
tionary, and the war of 1812. 

Educated in the public schools of his 
nati\e town and by a private tutor, he com- 
menced the study of the law in the otifice of 
Messrs. Shaffer & Davenport at Wilming- 
ton ; was admitted to the bar of Windham 
county court, x\pril i-i, 1858, and immedi- 
atelv entered into a copartnership with the 
Hon. Charles N. Davenport at Wilmington, 
which was dissolved in the spring of 1861, 
when he removed to the village of Williams- 
ville, where he opened an offii e. He has 





KlTTREDGE HASKINS. 

been admitted at various dates a counsellor 
of the Supreme Court of the State of Ver- 
mont, a counsellor, attorney, proctor and 
solicitor of the Circuit Court of the United 
States for the District of Vermont at Wind- 
sor, and counsellor of the Supreme Court of 
the United States at Washington, D. C. In 
November, 1863, he removed to Brattleboro, 
pursuing the practice of his profession with 
marked success. 

In politics he was a Democrat until the 
breaking out of the rebellion, when he be- 
came a supporter of the administration of 
President Lincoln, and has acted with the 
Republican party since. 

He has been a justice of the peace since 
Dec. I, 1861 : state's attorney for Windham 
county ; was town representati\e of Brattle- 



boro in 1872, and was elected to the state 
Senate in 1892. He was appointed by I'res- 
dent Hayes and also by President Arthur 
United States Attorney for the District of 
Vermont, holding the ofifice until June 21, 
1887. In January, 1893, he was appointed 
by the Governor of Vermont one of the 
commissioners to establish, in conjunction 
with a similar commission on the part of the 
State of Massachusetts, a boundary line 
monument between the two states. .'\t the 
organization of the Bratdeboro Free Library 
in 1883 he was elected one of its trustees, 
and has served in that capacity and as pres- 
ident of the board to the present time. 

He enlisted as a volunteer, and on the 
organization of Co. I, i6th Regt. Vt. Vols., 
Sept. 20, 1862, he was elected and commis- 
sioned I St lieutenant of the company. He 
resigned and was honorably discharged, by 
reason of disabilities incurred in the service. 
On his return home he immediately entered 
the government service as a civil employe 
in the office of the assistant quartermaster 
of volunteers at Brattleboro, doing duty there 
and at Burlington, St. Albans and Mont- 
pelier until the close of the war. He was 
appointed and commissioned captain of Co. 
H, 12th Regt. Vt. jMilitia, and was appointed 
colonel and aid-de-camp of Governor Peter 
T. Washburn. 

He is a 3 2d degree Mason and has been 
prominently connected w-ith the order since 
June, 1857. He has been M. E. Grand 
High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chap- 
ter of Vermont ; was president of the Order 
of High Priesthood for many years, R. E. 
Commander of the Grand Commandery of 
Knights Templar of the state, and in the M. 
W. Grand Lodge of Vermont, has served as 
Grand Junior and Grand Senior Warden, 
and in June, 1893, was elected to the ofifice 
of R. \V. I )eputy Grand Master, which posi- 
tion he now holds. He has been a member 
of the Grand Army of the Reiniblic for 
many years. 

He married Esther Maria, daughter of 
Maj. Adna B. Childs of Wilmington, July i, 
i860, and had one child, who died in 1864. 

He is an Episcopalian and for many years 
has been one of the vestry of St. Michael's 
Church of Brattleboro. He has been quite 
constant in his attendance upon the conven- 
tions of the diocese as a delegate from his 
parish, and was elected as one of the lay 
deputies by the diocesan convention to the 
general convention of the church, which met 
in Chicago, 111., in 1886, again at the city of 
New York in 1889, and at Baltimore, Md., 
in 1892. 

Hastings, Jonathan Ham.mond, of 

\Vaitsfield, son of Garinter antl Hannah (Ol- 
cutt) Hastinffs, was born in Waitsfield, Feb. 



IS; 



12, 1824. His father came from New Hamp- 
shire to \\'aitsfield in 1823, where he fol- 
lowed the business of farming, innkeeper, and 
loaning money. With no educational ad\an- 
tages but those of the common schools he has 
acquired in his extensive business relations a 
wide knowledge of the world, and a large 
stock of general information. Owing to the 
ill health of his father he was early called to 
the management of his financial affairs whic:h 
he safely conducted for him until his decease 
in 1857. Since 1856 he has retired from ag- 
ricultural pursuits as his other business de- 
manded his sole attention. For four years he 
was in partnership with R. J. Gleason, engag- 
ing in general trade. The public has reposed 
.such confidence in him, that he has been 
called upon to settle a majority of the estates 
in the town for the past twenty-five years, also 
acting as guardian, trustee, referee, commis- 
sioner, and business adviser. He has been a 
director of the National Bank of Waterbury, 
since 1856, and is now vice-president of the 
same. 

Naturally Judge Hastings has been sought 
after to fill the various offices of the town 
where he resides, and the county also has 
sought his services as deputy and sheriff from 
1847 to i860. He was elected by a large 
Republican majority in 1862 and 1863 to 
the Legislature and was further honored by 
being the choice of that party to represent 
them in the Senate of which he was a mem- 
ber from 1869 to 1872, serving as committee 
on claims, and chairman of the committee 
on banks. Elected assistant judge in 1880, 
he held that office four years, and has acted 
as justice of the peace for more than thirty 
years. Again in 1892 his townsmen saw fit to 
make him their representative in the House, 
where he served on the committee of ways 
and means. He is now trustee of the public 
money and law agent for his town. Ener- 
getically devoted to the cause of temperance 
he was a charter member of Waitsfield Lodge 
L O. G. T. 

Judge Hastings was married Nov. i, 1848, 
to Miss Ellen M., daughter of Hon. Samuel 
and Hannah (French) Merriam, of Johnson. 
Six children have been born to them of whom 
two only are now living: Abbie M. (Mrs. J. 
C. Joslyn, of Minneapolis, Minn.), and Lucy 
H. (Mrs. John W. Gregory), of Waitsfield. 

Judge Hastings was again married Sept. 
29, 1892, to Orris, daughter of John C. and 
Charlotte (Lovell) Paddock of St. Johnsbury. 

HASTINGS, Stephen J., of Passumpsic, 

son of Warren and Lydia (Richardson) Hast- 
ings, was born in Waterford, Feb. 10, 1850. 
His grandfather and father were reputable 
citizens of the town, the latter being a mem- 
ber of the Legislature of 1864 and 1865. He 
gave his son the benefit of a common school 



and academical training, completing his edu- 
cation by sending him to Dartmouth College, 
where he graduated in 1873. 

M the age of twenty-one Mr. Hastings mar- 
ried Althea C, daughter of .\mos and C'osbi 
(Parker) Carpenter, and six children have 
been born of their union : Warren J. (de- 
ceased), .Mthea L., Ruth B. (deceased), 
Harold S., Frank B., and Dora K. 

Soon after his marriage he settled on a 
farm in Waterford, now- Passumpsic, and has 
devoted special efforts to the breeding of 
blooded Jersey stock. His attempt has been 
most fortunate, and his herd of twenty-three 
cows averaged 414 pounds of butter per cow 




in 1892. He is also a large maple sugar 
producer. .After discharging the duties-^of 
several public ofifices, he was sent to the 
Legislature in 1882, and in the following 
year was appointed by (iovernor Barstow as 
one of the Vermont representatives at_,the 
Farmers' Congress in New ^'ork City, and 
again served in that cajiacity by request of 
Governor Pingree. 

Mr. Hastings has passed the portals of 
Freemasonry and Odd Fellowship, is a 
Knight Templar of Palestine Commandery, 
of St. Johnsbury, and has been Noble (irand 
of Caledonia Lodge, as well as C. P. of 
Moose River Encampment L O. O. F. 

HATCH, Royal A., of Strafford, son of 
Royal and Marian (Chandler) Hatch, was 
born in Strafford, Se])t. 3, 1838. 



HAVWARD. 



He passed the usual time in the public 
schools of Strafford and continued his studies 
at Thetford Academy, and later at the acad- 
emy at Chelsea when Judge Ross was prin- 
cipal of the school. 

Finishing his educational training at the 
age of seventeen, he returned to Strafford 
and helped to raise the frame of the build- 
ing which has been the scene of his active 
labors for nearly forty years. He early dis- 
played an aptitude for mechanics, and his 
father erected this shop to give him an op- 
portunity to indulge his favorite pursuits 
and at the same time to develop the re- 
sources of the town. He has engaged in 
the manufacture of bedsteads for almost 
forty years, introducing new machinery to 
accommodate the changing demands of the 
market. 

Mr. Hatch was married to Mary E., 
■daughter of Samuel and Almira (Ripley) 
Cobb, of Hanover, N. H. Their children 
were : Mabel Ripley, Marian Chandler, 
Laura Alice, Caroline B. (deceased), and 
Royal. 

Although of Democratic stock he is a be- 
liever in protection, and consequently has 
acted with the Republican party. His busi- 
ness engagements have not allowed him 
much time to take an active part in public 
affairs, yet he has served his town in several 
important capacities. He now holds the 
position of agent for the Vermont Mutual 
P'ire Insurance Co., and is director for 
Orange county, having filled both jilaces for 
many years. 

Mr. Hatch has been for more than thirty 
years a Free and Accepted Mason, and 
affiliates with Temple Lodge, No. 54, n\ 
Strafford. He was a charter member at the 
■organization of Bishop Lodge, No. 31, L <). 
G. T., and is now treasurer of the Clrand 
Lodge of Vermont. 

He is well known as a reliable business 
man : enterprising and substantial, is re- 
spected by all, and is an important factor in 
the affairs of the town, where he has the 
good fortune to be surrounded by a refined 
and interesting family. 

HAY, Barron, of Bradford, wn of 
James and Laura (White) Hav, was born in 
Bradford, Sept. 26, 1828. 

His education was acquired in the com- 
mon schools of Orford and Bradford, and at 
Bradford .Academy. His father was a soldier 
in the war of 181 2, and when Barron was 
ten years old he went to Orford, N. H., 
to live with L. D. Corless, Esq. Here he 
remained for seven years, working upon the 
farm and attending school in the winter 
terms. In 1845 he returned to Bradford, 
where he has since resided. Ha\ing re- 
solved to de\ote his energies to business, he 



entered the store of 0. & E. Prichard as 
clerk, and has been connected with the firm 
for forty-two years, during twenty of which 
he has been a partner in the house. 

Mr. Hay is a Democrat in his political 
faith. He has held the position of town 
treasurer for seventeen years, was town clerk 
in 1875, and in 1891 was elected a member 
for five years of the board of water com- 
missioners. He has been a justice of the 
peace, and in i866-'67, and in 1884 was sent 
to the House of Representatives. 

He is a careful, capable, and honest busi- 
ness man, and owes his success in the world 
solely to his own efforts. 




He was united in marriage to Jeanette 
C, daughter of Levi and Almira (Abbey) 
Smith, Oct. 16, 1854. They have had two 
children : Fred E. (deceased), and John 
Barron. 

The Bradford Opinion, on the event of 
Mr Hay's sixty-fifth birthdav, savs : " We 
can truthfully say of him that he detests 
meanness and trickery in whatever form it 
shows itself, and is accredited by all w-ith 
being the best type of an honest man. These 
traits are so conspicuous that to some he at 
times seems 'cranky,' but, just the same, he 
is honored by those who ha\e known him 
for a half century, as well as those of more 
recent acciuaintance." 

HA^'WARD, HENR^- R., of Tunbridge, 
son of Reuben and Maria (Cushman) Hay- 



ward, was born in Montpelier, March 29, 
1 84 1. 

He was educated in the common schools, 
and moved in 1854 to Tunbridge, where he 
has since resided. 

In 1861 he enlisted in Co. E., 2d Regt. Vt. 
Vols., as 3d sergeant, and served three years. 
He was promoted to 2d lieutenant, and was 
honorably discharged at the expiration of his 
term of service, when he returned to Tun- 
bridge and engaged in the lumber and grist 
milling business, which he has since followed. 

He has been commander of Whitney Post 
No. 21, G. \. R., ever since its organization, 
with the exception of two years, and also held 
various town offices, serving as selectman, 
lister, overseer of poor, etc. Mr. Hayward 
represented Tunbridge in the Legislature of 
1880. 

He was married, Nov. 17, 1864, to Miss 
Susan E., daughter of Mason and Celenda 
(Thompson) Farnham, of Tunbridge, and 
thev have had six children, five of whom are 
living. 

HAZEN, Lucius Downer, of st. 

Johnsbury, son of Lucius and Hannah B. 
(Downer) Hazen, was born in Hartford, 
Jan. 19, 1834. 




LUCIUS DOWNER 



The common schools of his native town 
furnished the facilities for his early educa- 
tion and he afterwards attended Kimball 
I'nion Academy at Meriden, N. H., where 
he pursued a commercial course and com- 
menced at the age of fifteen to assist his 



HKATH. 1S9, 

father in his store and on the farm. In 
1863 his father died in possession of the 
largest farm in Vermont and, two years after, 
the subject of this sketch removed to Barnet,. 
where he was employed in purchasing wool 
for the Caledonia iManufac-turing Co. He 
then made a heavy investment in timber 
lanils in Whitefield, N. H., and in 1872 com- 
menced the manufacture of lumber, extend- 
ing his operations to the towns of (Iroton, 
N'ictory, JMill's Pond and Richford, Vt. In 
1890 he sold 1 6,000 acres of timber land in 
Mctory to the Olcott Falls Co , previous to 
which sale he was the owner of one half of 
the township. 

He was wedded Jan. 12, 1S62, to Orinda 
G., daughter of Lloyd and Lois (Griswold) 
Kimball of Mclndoes Falls. Four children 
have been the issue of their union : Lucius 
K., Mary L. (Mrs. N. H. Houghton),. 
Charles IJ., and Margaret E. 

Mr. Hazen was selectman of Newbury 
during the four years of the war and in 1869 
was chosen by a Republican constituency to- 
represent the town of Barnet in the Legisla- 
ture. He represented St. Johnsbury in 1888 
and served on the committee on the insane 
and also on that of banks. He has been 
director and vice-president of the Merchants. 
National Bank of St. Johnsbury for fifteen 
years, this being a longer term of service 
than that of any other director. In 1892 he 
was appointed a delegate at large to the 
national Republican convention at Minne- 
apolis. He is a deacon in the ^Xorth Con- 
gregational Church and a member of the A. 
B. C. F. M., and also of the American Home 
Missionary Society. 

„j;,Heath, Charles Henry, late of Mont- 
pelier, son of Elias and Ruth (Blanchard) 
Heath, was born in Woodbury, Nov. 4, 1829.. 

His earlier education was received in the 
public schools of Woodbury, the Washington 
grammar school and the People's .\cademy 
at Morrisville. He then entered the Llni- 
\ersity of Vermont, from w^hich he graduated 
in 1854, recei\ing three years later the de- 
gree of A. M. 

For two years after his graduation he was 
principal of the academy at Morrisville, 
which during that time ranked as the best 
school of its kind in the state. He then com- 
menced the study of law in the office of Thom- 
as (lleed, of Morrisville, and was admitted to 
the bar of Lamoille county court in Decem- 
ber, 1858. LTntil 1872 he practiced at Plain- 
field, but then removed to Montpelier. Early 
in the sixties he served as state's attorney 
for the county for two years, and in 1868, 
1869, and 1870 was elected to the state Sen- 
ate, and was subsequently made a trustee of 
the State I.ibrarv. 



1 90 HEATON. 

Mr. Heath was married Feb. 9, 1859, to 
Sarah EKza, daughter of Dr. David Wing and 
Rebecca (Caldwell) Putnam, of Morrisville. 
His death occurred July 12, 1889. 

Mr. Heath's life work was not all done in 
the law nor in the House where laws were 
made, but his outlook was as broad as the 
interests of humanity extend, and whatever 
commanded itself as helpful to these was 
sure to enlist his hearty co-operation. He 
]iossessed a marvelous memory and whate\er 
he observed seemed indelibly impressed 
upon his mind. 

The cause of temperance had in him an 
ardent supporter, and firmly believing in the 
principles of Free Masonry he was a staunch 
adherent of the order, being advanced to the 
degree of Knight Templar. 




A Rejjublican in politics, a liberal Christ- 
ian in his church relations, he attempted no 
disguise of his beliefs or disbeliefs, but de- 
clared them openly, forcibly and often. 

HEATON, Homer Wallace, son of 

Dr. Cershom and Polly (Wallace) Heaton, 
was born in Berlin, August 25, 181 1. 

Having received his early education at the 
schools of his native town, he continued his 
studies at the St. Lawrence Academy, Pots- 
dam, N. v., and the Washington county 
grammar school at Montpelier. 

He commenced the study of law with J. 
P. Miller, Esq., and N. Baylies, Jr., in Mont- 
pelier, and was admitted to the Washington 



county bar, November term, 1835. At the 
dissolution of the firm of Miller & Baylies, 
he at once formed a partnership with Mr. 
Miller under the firm name of Miller cS; Hea- 
ton, and when Colonel Miller retired in 1839 
he took as a partner Mr. Charles Reed, and 
under the style of Heaton & Reed they con- 
tinued to practice until the death of the lat- 
ter in 1873. 

Mr. Heaton was united in marriage July 
I, 1841,10 Harriet, daughter of John Stearns. 
Of this union were four sons, three of whom 
are now living : Charles H., James S., and 
Homer ^^'. Mrs. Heaton died April 26, 
1859. 

Mr. Heaton was state's attorney in 1839- 
'41, '60, and '61, and represented Montpe- 
lier in 1848. He has always been a staunch 
Democrat and was the Democratic candi- 
date tor Governor in 1869 and '70, and for 
Congress in 1872 and '74. Of late years 
Mr. Heaton has kept out of the practice of 
the law all that he could to devote himself to 
the care of his own property and the man- 
agement of the Montpelier Savings Bank and 
Trust Co., of which he has been presi- 
dent since its organization in 1871. 

HENDEE, George Whitman, of Mor- 

ris\ille, son of Jehial P. and Rebecca 
(Ferrin) Hendee, was born in Stowe, Nov. 
30, 1832. 

George W. Hendee was educated in the 
common schools, and at the People's Ac- 
ademy at Morrisville. His parents were 
|ioor, and all his educational advantages 
were obtained by his own strenuous and 
imaideci exertions. At the age of twenty he 
commenced the study of law in the office of 
W. (;. Ferrin of Johnson. He was admitted 
to the Lamoille county bar in 1855. It was 
in era of frequent justice and jury trials. 
The industry, pleasing address, and clear in- 
sight of the young advocate were soon re- 
warded with an ample and constantly increas- 
ing practice. .\ large proportion of the 
more important cases were soon committed 
to his charge, and nearly all of his recent 
practice has been in the county and supreme 
courts of the state and U. S. circuit and 
district courts. During the last twenty- 
five years the discharge of important politi- 
cal duties, and the management of great 
business enterprises, have at times withdrawn 
the attention of Governor Hendee from his 
professional labors. He was one of the 
pioneers in the construction of the P. & O. 
R. R., and gave his entire time to it for a 
period of seven years, and is now the only 
director who has given the road continuous 
service since the organization of the corpor- 
ation. He has been for three years, and is 
the president of the Montreal, Portland & 
Boston R. R. of Canada. His connection 

.. "a 



ip2 HEBARD. 

with banking interests has been varied and 
extensive. He is a director and the vice- 
president of the Union Savings Bank and 
Trust Co. of Morrisville. He was receiver 
of the National Bank of Poultney, and of 
the Vermont National Bank of St. .Mbans, 
and was national bank examiner from 1879 
to 1885. 

Governor Hendee is and always has been 
a Republican. When he was twenty-one 
years old, he was elected to the office of 
superintendent of schools, a position he has 
since repeatedly and worthily filled, and dur- 
ing the almost forty years since that time 
there has been no year in which he has not 
been called by the public to discharge some 
official trust. He has many times acted by 
order of court as auditor, trustee, and special 
master. He was a member of the Vermont 
House of Representatives for Morristown 
two sessions, 1861-62, state's attorney for 
Lamoille county in i8s8-'59, deputy provost 
marshal during the war, senator for Lamoille 
county in i866-'67, and 1868, and Lieutenant 
Governor in 1869. 

Sworn in as (;o\ernor by Judge Steele on 
the death of Gov. P. T. Washburn, he served 
the remainder of the term. He was a mem- 
ber of the Forty-third, Forty-fourth and Forty- 
fifth Congresses, and there served on the 
committee on pri\ate land claims, and on 
the District of Columbia. He was largely 
instrumental in drafting and securing the 
passage of the law which made an entire 
change of the form of government of the 
District, under which it has since existed, 
and which has placed it on an entirely 
sound financial basis. 

During his long public career Governor 
Hendee has served his town in many and 
varied capacities, and the grateful apprecia- 
tion in which his services, both public and 
private, are held, is well known. He is now 
.serving his third term as president of the 
board of village trustees. E)uring the last 
ten years he has sought relaxation in agri- 
cultural pursuits. He is largely interested 
in the breeding and development of first- 
class light carriage horses of the Morgan 
type and blood. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity; married Nov. 17, 1855, 
Millissa, daughter of Stevens and Caroline 
(Johnson) Redding. Their only child was 
Lillian Frances, now deceased. His wife 
died in 1861, and he married, Dec. 23, 1863, 
Viola S., daughter of Loren and Fidelia 
( Paine) Bundy. 

HEBARD, Salmon B., son of Hon. 
William Hebard, was born Nov. 15, 1835, 
and was educated at the Orange county 
grammar school of Randolph, and at Chel- 
sea Academy. [For an extended sketch of 
Hon. William Hebard see historical portion 
of this work.] 



He entered his father's office as a law stu- 
dent when he was nineteen years of age, but 
at twenty-one he was appointed clerk of 
Orange county court and held that office 
until i860. He was admitted to the bar in 
1 86 1. In the fall of that year he enlisted 
and was made 2d lieutenant of the istVt. 
Light Battery and served in the Department 
of the Gulf until November, rS63, when he 
returned to Chelsea and resumed legal prac- 
tice, soon forming a partnership with his 



«^ 




father which continued until the death of 
the latter. He has been town agent ever 
since 1875, and deputy clerk of Orange 
county court most of the time since i860, 
and on the death of Hon. L. G. Hinckley 
in 1887 was appointed clerk. In 1880 he 
was elected state's attorney for Orange county 
and in 1884 senator. 

Mr. Hebard is an earnest, reliable man of 
good judgment and ability. 

HENRY, William Wirt, of Burlington, 

son of James M. and Matilda (Gale) Henry, 
was born Nov. 21, 1831, in Waterbury. 

His educational advantages were limited 
to the district and village schools of Water- 
bury and one term in the People's .\cademy 
of Morrisville. 

He was in California in 1852, whence he 
returned in 1857, and entered into partner- 
ship with his father and brother. Selling out 
his interest in i86t, he enlisted as a ])rivate 
in Co. D, 2d Vt. Vols. Promoted ist lieuten- 
ant, Co. D, he was present at the first battle 



193 



of Hull Klin, mill a few months afterwards he 
was mustered out on a surgeon's certificate. 
He again entered the service, August 26, 
1862, as major of the loth Infantry, Vt. \'ols., 
and successi\ely was promoted to the grade 
of lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and finally 
to brevet-brigadier-general for gallant and 
meritorious service during the war. He 
commanded his regiment at the battles of the 
\\'ilderness, Spotts\'lvania, North Anna, Tol- 
opotomy Creek, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, 
Cedar Creek, Va., and Monocacy, Md. 
Slightly wounded at Cold Harbor and Mon- 
ocacy, he was hit four times at Cedar Creek. 
Congress granted him a medal for gallantry 
at Cedar Creek. 

The first entry of (General Henry into 
public life was his appointment as constable 
in White Oak township, Eldorado county, 
California, in 1856. After the war he was 
twice elected state senator from Washington 
county, and also from Chittenden county, in 
1874. He was appointed United States 
marshal for district of Vermont, in 1879, 
which office he held for seven years. He 
was mayor of Burlington in i887-'88, and 
appointed immigrant inspector in 1892. 

General Henry was married August 5, 
1857, to Mary Jane, daughter of Lyman and 
Mary (Sherman) Beebe. Five children were 
born to them : Bertram Beebe, Mary Matilda, 
Ferdinand Sherman, Katie Beebe, and Carrie 
Eliza. His second wife was Valera, daughter 
of Timothy J. and Susan P. (White) Heaton, 
whom he married at A\'atertown, Dec. 3, 
1872. 

After his return from the war, (ieneral 
Henry again re-entered the old firm and the 
business was removed to Burlington. This 
partnership was dissolved in 1870, and from 
it sprung the firm of Henry, Johnson & Lord. 

General Henry has been prominent in the 
Masonic fraternity and military societies in- 
stituted since the civil war. He received his 
first degrees in Masonry in Aurora Lodge, 
Montpelier, in 1858 : was a charter memlier 
and Past Master of the lodge at \\'aterbury ; 
also charter member of Burlington Lodge, 
Burlington. He has enjoyed the honor of 
Past Grand Master of the L O. (). F. and de- 
partment commander of the G. .\. R. of 
Vermont. He has been admitted to the 
military order of the Loyal Legion, the .Soci- 
ety of the Army of the Potomac, and the 
Knights of Pythias. 

HEWITT, ALEXIS B., of Putney, son of 
William and Abigail (Holman) Hewitt, was 
born in Windham, Nov. 29, 1822. 

He received his early education at the 
common schools of the town, and had 
several terms at the old Saxton's River 
academy, where he received a teacher's 
certificate. 



In i842-'43 he taught school in London- 
derry, but becoming dissatisfied with the 
small pay teachers received in those days, 
he removed to Putney, in the early part of 
1843, 3""^ found em])loyment in a woolen 
mill, where he remained for twelve years, 
being superintendent for nine years of the 
time. Here he acquired sufficient capital 
to establish himself in business, and in the 
spring of 1857 he bought a one-half interest 
in "The Old Corner Store" with Mr. Baker, 
continuing for fourteen years. In 1869 Mr. 
A. F. Kelley, now Kelley Bros., bankers, 
Minneapolis, Minn., bought the interest of 
Mr. Baker, and the firm name of Hewitt &: 







ALEXIS B. HEWITT. 



Kelley was adopted. This firm continued 
the business for three years, until 1S72, 
when ;\Ir. Hewitt bought the interest of his 
partner and continued it until 1882 

Mr. Hewitt has always been a man of 
high character and standing in the commu- 
nity, and has held many positions of trust, 
to which he has been both appointed and 
elected. 

In 1862 he received from President Lin- 
coln the office of postmaster : holding the 
office continuously until 1882, when he re- 
signed. In 1857 he was elected town treas- 
urer, a position of trust which he still holds. 
In 1868 he was elected town clerk, and since 
that time he has been elected each year. 
He has also been receiver of taxes since 
1884. 

In 1890 and 1892 he represented his town 
in the General Assembly at Montpelier, and 



194 HILL. 

was a delegate to the national Republican 
convention at Minneapolis in 1892. 

Mr. Hewitt was married August 4, 1845, 
to Miss Abbie F., daughter of John B. and 
Harriet Moore Pierce. 

A man of quiet habits, unostentatious, but 
of liberal views, having much sympathy for 
the unfortunate, and always taking a deep 
interest in the welfare of the town and its 
people ; he is beloved by the community, 
and most by those who know him best. 

HILL, George W., of Lunenburg, son 
of Carleton and Amanda M. (Carr) Hill, was 
born in Danville, Dec. 18, 1842. 

His father moved to Concord when George 
was three years old, and he received his ed- 
ucation in the common schools of that town 
and of Lunenburg. 



liilfliill 




At the age of eight he had the mis- 
fortune to lose his mother, and five years 
afterward he left home and found employ- 
ment in various places in Concord until 
1856, when he returned to Lunenburg and 
there engaged in farm labor until his patri- 
otic impulses led him to serve in the army 
of the Union. F^nlisting in Co. K, 8th 
Regt. ^'t. Vols., under the command of Col. 
Stephen Thomas, he shared in the vicissi- 
tudes of the Louisiana campaign. He was 
present at Routes Station, Bayou Teche, 
Fort Bisland, Port Hudson, Donaldson, Win- 
chester, Va., Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. 
Severely wounded in the first named engage- 
ment, he refused an honorable discharge and 



returned to his regiment. He entered the 
ser\ice a i)rivate, was promoted through 
e\ery grade to 2d lieutenant, and as such 
returned with his company at the close of 
the war. 

After the termination of the struggle 
Lieutenant Hill returned to Lunenburg, en- 
gaged in farming and finally settled on the 
place where he now resides. 

He was united in marriage, Nov. 7, 1865, 
to Amanda M., daughter of Sylvanus and 
Martha Lane. Four children have been the 
fruit of their union : Harry S., George W. 
(deceased), Clara AL, and Madge E. 

Mr. Hill is an adherent of the Re]3ublican 
party and has repeatedly been charged with 
the responsibilities of many offices in the 
gift of his fellow-townsmen. He ably repre- 
sented Lunenburg in the Legislature of i8go. 
He is a prominent member of Howard Post, 
G. -A. R., and for three years was commander. 
He is noted for energy and perseverance, is 
a good financier and successful farmer. 

HILL, Harlan Henry, of Lowell, son of 

Samuel and Jane (Fairbanks) Hill, was born 
in (ireensboro, April 16, i860. 

He is one of the most successful physi- 
cians in Orleans county, and has an univer- 
sally large practice. Dr. Hill is a self-made 
man and after leaving the public schools of 
( Greensboro, by a hard and diligent struggle 
])rocured sufficient funds for a more extended 
education in the Liberal Institute of Glover, 
and the Elclectic College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, of New York City, from which lat- 
ter institution he was graduated in 1883, af- 
ter an extensive experience in hospital 
practice at Bellevue and Blackwell's Island. 
.\fter graduating he pursued his profession 
a few months with his former preceptor, 
1 )r. Templeton, of Glover, with whom he had 
studied three vears, going from (Hover to 
Morgan. In the fall of 1884 he moved to 
Lowell, where he soon acquired an extensive 
practice. In 1886, Dr. Hill was elected town 
superintendent of schools. 

He is a member of the Vermont Eclectic 
Society and in 1892 was elected vice-presi- 
dent. Politically, he is a strong Republican ; 
in religious preferences he is a liberal. 

May 12, 1884, he married Zana B. Drew, 
of Cilover. 

HITCHCOCK, Aaron Charles, of 

Westfield, son of Medad Smith and Patty 
(Hitchcock) Hitchcock, was born July 19, 
1823, in \Vestfield. He is seventh in de- 
scent from Luke Hitchcock, who settled in 
New Haven, Conn., in 1644, from which 
place his two sons, Luke and John, removed 
to Springfield, Mass., building a log house 
on the present site of the old court house, 
which habitation was burned down when 



Springfield was attacked and pillaged by the 
Indians. The great-grandfather of Aaron 
was the first white settler who remained 
through the winter in lirimfield, Mass., and 
was one of the original proprietors of that 
town, from where Capt. Medad Hitchcock 
removed to \\'estfielcl in 1805 and there 
built the first grist and saw mill and the first 
frame barn, the latter serving as church and 
schoolhouse for a time. 

l"he Hitchcock family have always been 
prominent in Westfield, and no member 
more so than A. C. Hitchcock, whose edu- 
cation was received in the public .schools. 
His father died when he was seventeen 
years old and on him devolved much re- 
sponsibility (ably borne) as the eldest of a 
'family of six. Air. Hitchcock has de\oted 



HOI'.AkI-. 195 

Since the formation of the Republican 
party, Mr. Hitchcock has been a sturdy ad- 
herent of the same, and, while in no sense a 
politician, he has often been called upon to 
serve his town. In i860 and 1861 he was 
fitly chosen to represent \\'estfield in the 
state Legislature and at the special session in 
April, 1 86 1. He has been a trustee of the 
W'estfield grammar school since its incor- 
poration and for thirty years was its treasurer 
and one of the ]3ru(iential committee. .At 
the age of twenty-five he became an active 
member of the Congregational church to 
which he has been a most liberal contributor 
and supporter, always active in Sunday 
school work and taking much interest in 
home and foreign missions. 

The success of Mr. Hitchcock in the 
course of a long and active career has been 
the result of his personal energy, common 
sense, and natural good judgment. 




AARON CHARLES HITCHCOCK. 

his life mainly to agricultural pursuits and 
was a pioneer in fruit growing in his section, 
and as a farmer and business man has been 
eminently successful. He is a large owner 
of real estate in Orleans county and also in 
Iowa and Dakota. In 1873 he purchased a 
half interest in a general store at Troy for 
his son Edward and a year later bought out 
the other partner. This property, howe\ er, 
he sold after his son's death. 

He was married March 12, 1849, *" ^ '>'" 
ista L., daughter of Johnathan and Lydia 
(Rowell) Jenkins of Kirby, who is a direct 
descendant of the famous Hannah Dustin. 
They ha\e had three children : (,'harles S. 
(deceased), Edward A. (deceased), Emma 
C. (Mrs. Hiram O. Miller). 



HOBART, John White, of St. .Albans, 
son of Thomas S. and Mary (Packard) Hob- 
art, was born in Randolph, .August 23, 1829. 

The subject of this sketch is of English 
descent, and was educated at (Grange county 
grammar school, and at Thetford Academy, 
under the tuition of Hiram B. Orcutt. The 
traits of character which were to bring suc- 
cess to young Hobart early manifested them- 
selves, and before reaching man's estate he 
was fighting the battle of life unaided. At 
the age of eighteen he entered the employ- 
ment of the Vermont Central Railroad in the 
train department. In 1848, several months 
before the road was completed, and during 
the period of this employment, he had more 
or less to do with the construction of the 
line. 

In 1S49 the road was opened to .Mont- 
pelier on the 4th of July of that year, and 
Mr. Hobart was appointed station agent at 
the Capital. Ten years of faithful service in 
this capacity was rewarded by a further 
recognition of his ability and usefulness, and 
in March, 1859, he was made master of trans- 
portation. This position he held fourteen 
years, and at its close had completed a 
quarter of a century of active service for the 
Vermont Central corporation, commencing 
his second quarter as general superintendent 
of the road and its leased lines in 1873. The 
growth of the road, and its e,xtension by 
branch roads built, and other roads leased, 
furnished a large field, requiring more ex- 
tended supervision, and in 1883 Mr. Hobart 
was made general manager of the Central 
Vermont system. 

Continued application will tell on the 
strongest constitution, and though capable 
of more physical endurance than the average 
man, Mr. Hobart had to succomb to im- 
jiaired health, and on lunc i, 1891, for that 



196 HOIiART. 

reason, resigned his ]30sition, after having 
l.)een in the employment of the company 
forty-three years. 

lUiring a large part of the period of his 
service as general superintendent and gen- 
eral manager, the railroad management was 
harassed by vexations litigation, extending 
over a long i^eriod, and making heavy de- 
mands on the time and ability of the presi- 
dent, the late ex-Governor John Gregory 
Smith, and compelling him to depend 
largely, and at times entirely, upon his gen- 
eral superintendent and manager in all affairs 
connected with the ojierations of the rail- 
road ; how thoroughly and ably the many 



lacobs (I.yman) Howe. They ha^e one 
son : Norman L. 

He never aspired to any political office, 
though in 1870 he was elected a member of 
the Constitutional Convention. 

He is a member of the several local 
branches of the Masonic fraternity, and was 
district deputy grand master for a term. 

Mr. Hobart is associated with many of 
the local enterprises in the town of St. 
Albans, to which his well-balanced judgment 
and business instincts are a tower of strength. 
He is a member of St. Luke's Episcopal 
Church, and a generous contributor to its 
support. His genial disposition and uni- 
versal courtesy makes him essentially a man 
of the people. No corporation ever had a 
manager who so generally commanded the 
esteem of all classes of employes. 




HUE HOBART. 



duties of the latter were performed is shown 
by its prosperity, notwithstanding it was so 
heavily handicapped during that period, a 
prosperity that John W. Hobart helped to 
make possible. 

His reputation as an able railroad man- 
ager has extended far beyond the borders of 
his native state, and he has several times 
received offers from corporations, notably 
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the 
New Orleans & Mobile. These offers with 
large salaries connected with them would 
have persuaded many less unselfish natures, 
but through them all his loyalty to the old 
Central Vermont never swerved, nor his love 
for the Green Mountain state in which he 
was content to pass his life. 

He was married in Royalton, Jan. 18, 1853, 
to Mary lane, daughter of I.uther and Mary 



HOBSON, Samuel Decatur, of island 

Pond, son of Samuel and Hannah (Sawyer) 
Hobson, was born in Hollis, Me., Oct. 5, 
1830. 

Mr. Hobson is of English descent and was 
educated in the common schools and at Lim- 
erick Academy. Ih 1852, he removed to 
Island Pond, and aided in the erection of the 
first building in the village. He continued 
the business of builder and contractor until 
1857, when he was engaged by Isaac Dyer, 
of Portland, as foreman of his mill and lum- 
ber business, and he remained with him two 
years, when he became the agent of St. John 
Smith of the same place, whose interest he 
soon purchased. After continuing here for 
three years Mr. Hobson bought the Wood- 
bury Mills at East Brighton in 1886, and 
"Hobson's Mills" has since that time been 
his residence, until, in 1890, he removed to 
Island Pond, and his sons have been associa- 
ted with him. In addition to their regular 
trade, they maintain an extensive mercantile 
establishment and carry on a large stock 
farm. 

Mr. Hobson was united in marriage in 
January, 1854, to Mary E., daughter of Eben 
and Sarah (Haley) Sawyer, of Hollis, Me. 
To them have been born : Harry Howard, 
Helen M. (Mrs. K. B. Fletcher, jr., of Lan- 
caster, N. H.), John E. (deceased), Eugene 
F., Sarah M., Albion W., Mary C, and Elsie G. 

Mr. Hobson is an active and influential 
Republican. Having performed the duties of 
the various town offices he was chosen to the 
Legislature in 1856, and again in 18S2 and 
1883. The following year he was elected 
to the Senate from Essex county and was 
appointed by Governor Dillingham a mem- 
ber of the committe to locate the new state 
asylum for the insane. In i860 he received 
the honor of an election as assistant judge of 
the county court. 



197 



Judge Hobson is a liberal and iniblie-spir- 
ited man of strong temperance views and a 
consistent member of the M. E. Church. He 
possesses good judgment and remarkable en- 
ergy, in consequence of which he has l)een 
financially successful. 

HOI. BROOK, ARTHUR T., of l.cming- 
ton, son of Thomas P. and (Mi\e (Huffington) 
Hoibrook, was born Nov. 8, 1839, in Leming- 
ton. His father, Thomas, came to Lemington 
from Helchertown, Mass., as one of the earli- 
est settlers, in 1805. Here in the conipara- 
ti\e wilderness he reared, amid his rough 
surroundings, a family of eighteen sturdy 
children, who though accustomed to hard- 
ships and toil from early infancy, all lived to 
maturity. 

-Arthur attended the schools of his native 
town and the neighboring academy of Cole- 
brook, N. H., when not engaged in labor 
on the farm. He now is in possession of a 
fine fertile estate, embracing six hundred and 
forty acres, which he manages with great 
ability, producing two tons of maple sugar 
annually. A dutiful son, he has remained 
upon this farm his whole life long, and 
cherished the declining years of his father 
who died in 1873, at the ripe old 
age of eighty-eight ; and of his mother who 
still survives, and though nearly four score 
and ten, is a pleasant and intelligent old 
lady, retaining full possession of her mental 
faculties. 

Mr. Hoibrook is a prominent Republican, 
but though living in a Democratic town, has 
been pronounced worthy of almost all the 
ofifices in its gift, and was complimented by 
an election to the Legislature in 1S74. He 
has also been called upon to fill the responsi- 
ble position of justice of the peace ancl town 
clerk for thirty and twenty years respectively, 
while his assistance has been frequently 
sought in settling estates. In 1S70 he was a 
member of the Constitutional Convention. 

He was married in Colebrook, Jan. 17, 
1880, to Marial C, daughter of Judge Elias 
and Clarissa (Smith) Lyman. Two children 
have blessed their union : ^L^ude Lyman, and 
Harold .Arthur. 

Mr. Hoibrook is a member of the Patrons 
of Husbandry. He is independent in his 
judgment, honest, moral, industrious. Of 
frank and hospitable nature, one is always 
assured of a hearty welcome in his pleasant 
and comfortable home. 

HOLBROOK, JOHN, late of Hrattle- 
boro, son of John and Sybil (Lane) Hoi- 
brook, was born in Weymouth, Mass., July 
10, 1761, and soon after he became of age 
moved to Xewfane ( reporting himself to 
Hon. Luke Knowlton, who assisted him to 
employment as a land surveyor, as he had 



been taught drawing and the surveyor's art 
by British officers stationed at Dorchester 
Heights). Voung Hoibrook ran town and 
division lines in the vicinity of Xewfane 
hill. 

.\t the age of twenty-fi\e he married 
Sarah, daughter of Luke and Sarah (Hol- 
land) Knowlton. Luke Knowlton was one 
of the first judges of the Supreme Court of 
Vermont, and was one of the very earliest 
settlers, coming from Shrew-sbury, Mass., 
where most of his family were born. 

At that time the settlers sought high ele- 
vations in order to protect themselves from 
roaming Indians who were wont to attack 
from ambush along the valleys, and also to 
escape the malarial fevers. Mr. Hoibrook 
soon opened a small general store in the L 
of what is now about the onlv house left of 




JOHN HOLBROOK. 



the early ones built on Newfane hill. He 
took his produce and articles of barter on 
pack-horses over a bridle path defined by 
marked trees along the West River valley 
down through Brattleboro, then unsettled, to 
Greenfield, where they were exchanged for 
dry goods and groceries. .After accumulat- 
ing his first thousand dollars he moved to 
Brattleboro, buying the old mills which 
stood where Hines & Newman afterward 
built their shop, and also buying the house 
which is now known as the .American House, 
of which his family occupied a i)art, he 
opening a country store in the other part. 
He fmallv formed business relations with 



198 



HOLBROUK. 



HOLBROOK. 



David Porter, a leading merchant in Hart- 
ford, Conn., under the firm name of Porter 
& Holbrook at Hartford, and Holbrook & 
Porter at IJrattleboro. Mr. Holbrook was 
one of the original directors of the old 
Phoenix Bank of Hartford, and is said to 
have brought the first bank notes here for 
circulation. He started the first flat bottom 
boats on the Connecticut river between here 
and Hartford, and for many years these 
boats were the principal means of exchang- 
ing heavy freights with the seaboard. He 
also built a slaughter house on the island 
across the river, where large quantities of 
beef, pork, hams and tongues were cured 
for market, and which were sent mainly to 
the West Indies by the Hartford firm in ex- 
change for goods of that country. About 
the year 1809 he sold his property to 
Francis Goodhue, who came to Brattleboro 
from Wethersfield. 

Mr. Holbrook removed to ^\'arehouse 
Point, Conn., where he lived for two or 
three years or until the death of his son-in- 
law, William Fessenden, who left a small 
family and an extensive business, which 
made it necessary for Mr. Holbrook to re- 
turn and assume charge of the concern, 
which he subsequently extended and enlarged 
after taking as a partner Joseph Fessenden, 
brother of William, and, under the firm 
name of Holbrook &: Fessenden, the busi- 
ness was continued for many years. In 
1794 Mr. Holbrook was appointed post- 
master and served till July i, 1804. At the 
age of sixty, he retired from active business 
and built a house for his own occupancy on 
extensive grounds in the north part of the 
village, where for the remainder of his life 
he devoted himself to fancy gardening and 
to the beautifying and cultivation of his 
home farm. He was the second member of 
the original board of trustees of the Ver- 
mont Asvlum under the Marsh bequests, and 
died in office in 1838. 

HOLBROOK, Frederick, of Brattle- 
boro, ex-(;o\ernor of ^'ermont, was born in 
East Windsor, Conn., Feb. 15, 1813. His 
father was John Holbrook. [See preceding 
sketch.] 

Freckrick Holbrook receixed a sound Kng- 
lish education in the progress of which he 
devoted much attention to mathematics. For 
two years he was a diligent student at the 
Berkshire Gymnasium, Pittsfield, Mass., an 
institution then under the direction of Pro- 
fessor Dewey, and held by many to be the best 
private school in the country at that time. 
When twenty years of age he crossed the 
Atlantic to obtain the advantage of a Euro- 
pean tour. Returning home in 1833, he set- 
tled in Brattleboro and confined his energies 
mainly to agricultural pursuits. 



Frederick Holbrook was married on the 
13th of lanuarv, 1835, to Harriet, daughter 
of Joseph and Sarah (Edwards) Goodhue of 
Brattleboro. Their children are : Franklin 
F., William C. [see following sketch], and 
John. 

Public official life with Mr. Holbrook be- 
gan in 1847, when he was elected register of 
probate for the district of Marlboro. In 
1850 he was chosen to the presidency of the 
^'ermont State .Agricultural Society, of which 
he was one of the founders. The first ad- 
dress delivered before the association was 
from his lips. Eight consecutive annual 
elections followed his first elevation to that 
most useful and honorable post. In 1849, 
and 1850 he was returned to the state Senate 
as the representative of his fellow-citizens ia 
\Mndham county. While a member of the 
Senate, and acting as chairman of a special 
committee on agriculture, he proposed and 
prepared a memorial to Congress setting 
forth the usefulness and urging the establish- 
ment of a National Bureau of Agriculture. 
The project received the indorsement and 
commendation of the President of the United 
States in his message to Congress. It was 
no less favorably received by the rejjresenta- 
tives of the several states, and by their action^ 
approved by the chief magistrate, the depart- 
ment of agriculture soon passed from the- 
domain of possibility into that of reality. 

His essays and other writings lor the agri- 
cultural press for several years first attracted 
public attention to him. His style of writ- 
ing, the result of careful training in the for- 
mation of good composition, and clear, con- 
cise statement, was said to be graceful and 
forceful, and, later on, conspicuous in his. 
state papers and official correspondence. 

Qualities so useful and public service so. 
beneficial naturally led to Mr. Holbrook's. 
ele\ation to the gubernatorial chair of Ver- 
mont. In 1 86 1 he was placed therein by a. 
gratifying majority of votes. The choice was 
one of special honor to the subject, inasmuch 
as the time was one of the darkest and most 
portentous in the whole of our national his- 
tory. Responsibilities of the gravest char- 
acter devohed upon the executive head of 
the state and burdensome and incessant labor 
was required of him. 

\\'hile Clovernor of Vermont Mr. Holbrook 
was called upon to assist in devising means 
for the preservation of injured Union sol- 
diers. Under his guidance Vermont was the 
first state in the L'nion to provide hospitals 
for its soldiers. Thereby many were saved 
from sinking into untimely graves. There 
were no precedents to guide action. Good 
practical sense alone availed to work out the 
problem. But few mistakes attended the 
attempted solution, and brilliant success 
crowned it in the outcome. 




^rr^A^^^Aj' /^>^i/^^o^/^^ 



Since he was Governor he has dechned 
all overtures of public office, preferring the 
quiet, honored, and eminently useful life he 
is now leading. As an authority on many 
and diverse subjects, his opinions are eagerly 
sought and largely followed by an ever- 
widening circle of friends and acquaintances. 
Appointments from general government 
have sought his acceptance, but have been 
declined. Never an office-seeker, and com- 
paratively seldom an office-accepter, when- 
ever he has been persuaded to don the official 
harness he has always been noted for the 
efficiency, thoroughness and beneficence of 
his work. The best ends, the wisest means 
to the ends, and the highest rule of action 
have entered into all his meditations, plans, 
and deeds of pubhc activity. 

Chairman of the board of trustees of the 
Vermont Asylum for the past forty years, he 
has incessantly sought the best good of the 
patients and the best welfare of the institu- 
tion. Legislator, Governor, and public ben- 
efactor, his career has been one of dutiful, 
loving utility. In the tranquil but prolific 
department of agriculture his position, if 
vacated, would be extremely difficult to fill. 

HOLBROOK, William C, of New 

York, son of Frederick and Harriet ((lood- 
hue) Holbrook, was born in lirattleboro, 
July 14, 1842. 

He commenced his education in the pub- 
lic schools of Bratdeboro, and afterwards at- 
tended a private school for boys under the 
charge of the Rev. .\ddison Brown. He first 
engaged in mercantile pursuits in Boston, 
Mass. Returning to Brattleboro on the out- 
break of the war of the rebellion, and enlisting 
as private in Co. F, 4th Vt. Vols., he accompa- 
nied that regiment to Washington as ist lieu- 
tenant, and was shortly afterwards made act- 
ing adjutant. Subsequentiy he was promoted 
to major of the 7th Vt. Vols., which organi- 
zation he accom])anied to Ship Island, Miss., 
and was commissioned colonel of the com- 
mand in August, 1862. He served as such 
and as brigade commander until after the sur- 
render of all the rebel armies. Colonel Hol- 
brook actively participated in sieges and the 
battles of Vicksburg, Grand C.ulf, Baton 
Rouge, Jackson's Bridge, Gonzales Station, 
Spanish Fort, Blakely, Whistler and Mobile, 
and he re-enlisted in the 7th Regt. for three 
additional years service or for the war on the 
exjMration of its first term of service. 

.■\t the close of the struggle he entered the 
Cambridge Law School and began there the 
study of law. In 1868 he went to New York 
City, was there admitted to the bar and has 
since been actively engaged in the practice 
of the law. He has also been admitted a 
member of the bar of Windham county, and 
of the circuit and district courts of the L^nited 



States, of various departments in New York, 
New Jersey, and Western Pennsylvania. 

Colonel Holbrook was married in New 
York City, Jan. 17, 1872, to Anna Morrison, 
daughter of Thomas and Margaret Chalmers. 
Three children are issue of the union : Mar- 
garet Chalmers, Marion Goodhue, and Chal- 
mers. 

Colonel Holbrook is allied with numerous 
civil and military social organizations, among 
which may be named Sedgwick Post, No. 8, 



i 




WILLIAM C. HOLBROOK. 

of Brattleboro, G. A. R., the military order of 
the Loyal Legion, the societies of the Army 
of the Potomac, of the Officers and Soldiers 
4th Vt. Vols., of the \^"indham County ^'eter- 
ans, of the Windsor County Veterans, of the 
19th Army Corps, of the Xt. Officers, of the 
Veteran Officers and Soldiers of the 7th \'t. 
^'ols. Of the three last named he either is, 
or has been, president. He also belongs to 
the Association of the Bar of the City of New 
York, and is a life member of the New Eng- 
land Society of that city. 

HOLDEN, Charles Reed, of Holden, 

son of Fitch and Chloe (Todd) Holden, was 
born in Mt. Holly, June 3, 1840. 

i\fter the customary public school educa- 
tion he pursued a course of study at the 
Springfield Methodist Seminary, after which 
he went to Illinois, following the occupation 
of farmer and stock raiser for six years. 
Though meeting with success, he returned 
to the East in 1865, where after a temporary 
residence in several towns, he finally settled 



in Chittenden, and there has engaged ex- 
tensively in the lumber trade, paying some 
attention also to agriculture. So highly has 
Mr. Holden been esteemed in the (immun- 
ity where he resides that when the U. S. 
government established a new jjostottice in 
that part of the township known as North 
Chittenden, it received the title of Holden 
as a deserved compliment to him. 

He espoused, June 4, 1859, M. Ellen, 
daughter of Beeman and Rhoana Rixby, 
from which connection have sprung : Jennie 
May, Charles R., Jr., Agnes J., Ada R., Ottie 
L., and Guy B. 

Mr. Holden has passed through the rou- 
tine of office in his town and represented 
Chittenden in 1878, gi\ing his services to 
the committees on elections and debentures. 

HOLDEN, James Henry, late of Mid- 
dlesex, son of Elijah and Orpha (Steele) 
Holden, was born in Middlesex, Mav 26, 
1829. 

His father afterwards moved to Barre and 
then to Waitsfield, and James, whose educa- 
tion was limited to the common schools of 
those towns.bv takin^ ail\nntat;e to the utmost 




%v^ 




JAMES HENRY HOLDEN. 

of his opportunities was enab';d to master all 
the branches there taught. He became a 
fine penman and a good bookkeeper. He 
also gave much attention to music, and for 
many years was leader of the choir in his 
native village. Remaining upon his father's 
farm in Waitsfield until his majority, he was 
for seven vears afterwards emiiloved as a 



clerk in Waitsfield, an<l Danvers, Mass. , In 
1856 he commenced business for himself in 
.Middlesex, in which he continued for thirty- 
two years, until the time of his death, en- 
gaging in various partnerships during that 
time. Always honest and conscientious in 
his dealings he retained the confidence and 
respect of all his customers during his whole 
business career, and was the leading mer- 
chant of that town. 

In his early years he joined the Rep\ib- 
lican ]3arty in which he acted a prominent 
part during the rest of his life. He repre- 
sented the town of Middlesex in the Legis- 
lature of i860, and from 1872 to 1876 was 
assistant judge of the county court. Judge 
Holden was selectman of the town during 
the period of the war, and rendered good 
service to his country in enlisting and send- 
ing soldiers to the front. He has frequently 
acted on town and county committees, and 
was for two years county commissioner under 
the ]jrohibition law of the state. For more 
than twenty years he was postmaster at Mid- 
dlesex, and in every position of public trust 
proved himself a capable and faithful steward 
of the people. 

An acti\e member of the Masonic lodges 
at Moretown and U'aterbury, he was buried 
with the customary funeral ceremonies of 
the order. He was a member and a worthy 
chief of the (iood Templars, and in all moral, 
social, and benevolent enterprises in the 
town he gave freely his time, his talent, and 
his money. 

Judge Holden married at Fayston, July 
16, 1855, Catherine, daughter of Eli and 
riuma (Sherman) Bruce, from which union 
there were : Pluma Eliza (Mrs. J. E. (jood- 
cnough of Montpelier), William .Allen (de- 
ceased), and James Harry. 

HOLDEN, Sylvanus Marsh, of south 

Londonderry, son of Philemon and Sally 
(Faulkner) Holden, was born in London- 
derry, Feb. 14, 1838. 

His education was received in the com- 
mon schools of Londonderry and at the 
West River Academy, from which he gradu- 
ited in 1858. After leaving school he 
remained on the homestead until r 860, when 
he went to Brattleboro and learned the trade 
of a jeweler. In 1861 he started in this busi- 
ness at South Londonderry, continuing until 
1865, when he commenced to deal in general 
merchandise, and was thus employed until 
1 87 1. He then bought the farm where he 
has since residsd, de\()ting himself to agri- 
culture and dealing in cattle and real estate. 
He is now also conducting a farm in Lon- 
donderry, where he has started a general 
merchandise store in addition to his agricul- 
tural o])erations, and is now the ])ossessor of 
a large ]5roperty in South Dakota. 



He has served his town as chairman of 
listers for ten years, beginning in 1881, and 
as justice of the peace for the past six years. 

Mr. Holden was married, Nov. 28, 1861, 
at North Adams, Mass., to Kllen S., daughter 
of Thomas and Mary (Wiley) Jaquith. 
'I'here were born to them three children : 
Willie S. (deceased), Archie W. (deceased), 
and Arthur H. 

HOLDEN, ORSEMOR S., of Felchville, 
son of Joel and Priscilla (W'hitmore) Holden, 
was born in Reading, July 30, 1843. 

He received the school advantages of his 
native town. His father died when he was 
only seven years of age. From his father's 
family he inherited a rare taste and gift for 
music, which he has cultivated during his 
whole life, and of this accomplishment he 
has availed himself at times to earn his liv- 
ing. For about twenty-eight years he has 
followed the occupation of a house, sign and 
carriage painter, though he has meanwhile 
traveled extensively with concert troupes. 
In 1864 he commenced an engagement with 
Whitmore & Clari's Minstrels during their 
seasons, and this lasted five years. Mr. Hol- 
den is a popular ballad singer, possessing a 
baritone voice of great compass and power. 

He enlisted three times during the civil 
war, but could not pass the medical 
examination. 

He has received his degrees in Mt. Sinai 
Lodge, No. 22, L O. O. F. of Proctorsville. 

He is an earnest member of the Republi- 
can partv ; has been eight years justice of 
the peace, and ten years a selectman, eight 
years chairman of the board. He has been 
twice elected to the Legislature from Read- 
ing, in t886 and 1890, serving on the com- 
mittee on claims. He is now road commis- 
sioner, town agent and auditor. 

He contracted marriage July 2, 1873, with 
J. Ella, daughter of Samuel H. and Julia A. 
(Spaulding) Nutting of Andover. 

HOLDEN, John StedmaN, of Ben- 
nington, son of Lewis and Eliza A. (How- 
let) Holden, was born in Charlton, Mass., 
May 9, 1845. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Charlton but was sent to Nichols Academy 
at Dudley, when sixteen years of age ; and 
afterwards entered upon a course of study at 
the Weslyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., 
and finally graduated from Poughkeepsie 
Business College. 

The business experience of Mr. Holden 
has been widely varied. When nineteen he 
was employed as a clerk in Hartford, Conn., 
and for two years engaged in the roofing 
business in that city ; he next served three 
years on the police force of Hartford. 
Abandoning this occupation in 1871, he 



entered into a copartnership with his brother 
to trade in general merchandise at Palmer, 
Mass., under the firm name of H. P. & J. S. 
Holden, and while here they established two 
branch stores. This connection was dis- 
solved in 1S79, when Mr. J. S. Holden 
established himself in the oil" businesss at 
Miller's Farm, near Titusville, Pa , where he 
purchased the Crystal Oil Works and manu- 
factured refined oil, but in 1S80 sold this 
property to the Standard Oil Co., and then 
for two years did a wholesale trade in this 
article. He then erected woolen mills at 
Palmer, Mass., which he operated till 1889 
when he sold the establishment, bought the 
Hunt & Tillinghast woolen mills at Ben- 
nington, and entered into partnership with 
Charles W. and George F. Leonard under 
the firm name of Holden, Leonard & Co. 
Here they employ about three hundred 
hands during all the year in the manufact- 
ure of woolens, and in connection with this 
they have a large store. Mr. Holden has 
large interests in tenement house property 
in Palmer, Mass., and is president of a wire 
company in that town. He also is a direc- 
tor in the Bennington County National Bank 
and its vice-president. 

He is a member of the Congregational 
church and an ardent supporter of the Ben- 
nington Y. M. C. A. 

Belonging to the Republican party he was 
chairman of the committee of that organiza- 
tion in Palmer. He is trustee of the village 
of Bennington, a thorough protectionist, and 
though interested in politics, has no desire 
for official positions. 

He was married Oct. 21, 1868, to Jennie 
G., daughter of Cyrus and Almira (Burr) 
Goodell of Hartford, Conn. Five children 
have been born to them : Arthur (., Alice A., 
Lula J., Florence E., and Clarence L. 

HOLLAND, Emerson, of Vergennes, 
son of Stephen and .Achsa R. (Bi.xby) Hol- 
land, was born in Hinsdale, Mass., May 21, 
1829. 

He received a good education by attend- 
ing the common schools of Panton, to which 
town his parents moved when he was yet 
young. Later he attended a private classical 
school at ^'ergennes, and the academy at St. 
Albans. 

He spent the years 1854 and 1855 in 
Kalamazoo, Mich., as a clerk in a store and 
warehouse. When his father died, he was 
obliged to return and has since been a farmer 
and surveyor, and as both has been actively 
employed. He holds many positions of trust 
and has assisted by appointment of probate 
court in settling fifty-six estates. 

In politics Mr. Holland is a Republican 
and has held various town offices. He was 
town treasurer for seventeen years and five 



204 HOLTON. 

years selectman, after which he resigned. He 
represented Panton in 1864 and 1865, and 
served as chairman of the committee on mile- 
age and debentures. He was census enum- 
erator for Panton and \\'altham in 1890. In 
1892 he was elected associate judge for 
Addison county. 

judge Holland is unmarried, and his sister, 
lessie M., presides over his household at the 
old homestead. 

Judge Holland has a good library of classi- 
cal works. He has made a most conservative 
record in the positions of honor which he 
has held, but is a quiet, unassuming man and 
despises office-seeking. He is of a dignified 
bearing, and though naturally reserved is 
friendly and sincere in his relations, and is 
one of the able and respected men of Addi- 
son county. 

HOLTON, Charles O., of Canaan, 
son of John and Abbie (Morse) Holton, was 
born in Charleston, Jan. 8, 1855. 

His early educational advantages were lim- 
ited to the opportunities afforded by the com- 
mon schools of Charleston. 




LES O. HOLTON. 



After laboring on his father's farm till he 
was twenty years of age, he grew interested 
in the art of photography and practiced it in 
Charleston and later on in Sherbrook, P. Q., 
and North Troy. In 1875 he was employed 
in reproducing and enlarging ])ictures at the 
Centennial ex])osition in the city of Philadel- 
phia. He then returned to Charleston and 
engaged in the drug business with his brother. 



In 1880 he removed to Canaan, where, not- 
withstanding his limited capital, he has stead- 
ily prospered in business, adding to his orig- 
inal trade the sale of jewelry, silverware, and 
fancy goods. 

Mr. Holton has served as town clerk and 
superintendent of the schools and in 1872 
was complimented by an election to the 
state Legislature. 

He was married Dec. 11, 1S79, '" Lla M., 
daughter of George W'., and Mary (Clreen) 
Hamilton of Charleston. They ha\e one 
child : Neil. 

HOLTON, Henry DWIGHT, of Brattle- 
boro, son of Elihu D. and Nancy (Grout) 
Holton, was born at Saxton's River, julv 24, 
1838. 

Having prepared himself for college, he 
decided to forego the regular collegiate 
course and to at once enter into the profes- 
sion he had chosen for himself; therefore he 
immediately began to study the theory and 
application of medicine under the tuition of 
Dr. H. J. Warren of Boston. Subsequently 
he continued under Professors Valentine 
and A. B. Mott, in New York, and also at- 
tended the lectures in the medical depart- 
ment of the L'niversity of New York, from 
which he graduated in March, 1S60. After 
his graduation. Dr. Holton went to Brook- 
lyn, N. v., where for six months he acted as 
l)hysician to the Williamsburg Dispensary. 
In November, i8fio, he removed to Putney 
from whence, after seven years successful 
practice, he went to Brattleboro where he 
located permanently. 

Being always a firm believer in the bene- 
fits accruing from the association of medical 
practitioners, Dr. Holton, in i86t, became a 
member of the Connecticut River Valley 
Medical Association; in the year following 
he was made its secretary, a position ably 
filled by him for five years, when he was 
elected president. In 1873 he was elected 
president of the ^'ermont Medical Society, 
which he entered in 186 1, and of which he 
was a censor for several years. In 1864 Dr. 
Holton became a member of the American 
iMedical Association and was elected to its 
vice-presidency in 1880. During the ses- 
sion he was made a member of the judicial 
council to which was submitted for arbitra- 
tion all questions concerning professional 
ethics. He was sent as a delegate to the 
International Medical Congress held at 
Brussels in 1875. While abroad, during a 
visit to England, he was made a member of 
the British Medical Association. He is also 
a member of the .American Public Health 
Association and was elected its treasurer at 
the meeting held in the city of Mexico in 
1892. He is also a member of the Boston 




i^Z-^i-^Z-^. 



irCZd^^^' 



206 



tiynaecological Society, and tlie New York 
Therapeutical Society. 

Dr. Holton is the recipient of many grati- 
fying testimonials to his medical erudition 
and skill, not only from medical associa- 
tions, but also from the authorities of his 
own state. In 1873 he was appointed medi- 
cal examiner to the Vermont Asylum for the 
Insane, by the court ; and in the same year 
he was elected by the Legislature one of the 
trustees of the University of Vermont, in the 
medical department of which institution he 
was for some years professor of materia 
medica and general pathology ; and in 1881 
he received from the same institution the 
honorary degree of A. M. 

I!)r. Holton has been an extensive trav- 
eler in both the Eastern and ^\'estern 
Hemispheres. In 18.71 he crossed the con- 
tinent to San Francisco in order to attend a 
meeting of the American Medical .Associa- 
tion, at which he was elected to membership 
in the Rocky Mountain Medical Association. 

He has been a frequent contributor to 
current medical literature and his essays in 
turn have been published in various medica! 
journals and in the transactions of the 
societies. He reported " Mott's Cliniques" 
for the press. 

Dr. Holton has avoided that entire re- 
striction of active energy to one pursuit 
which sometimes subjects individuals to the 
charge of narrowness. For twenty years he 
has been an active member of the Urattle- 
boro school board, and during a large por- 
tion of this time its chairman. He was one 
of the first trustees of the Brattleboro Free 
Library ; has been a director of the Vermont 
National Rank for fourteen years : and presi- 
dent of the Brattleboro Gas Co. for twelve 
years. 

Politically, Dr. Holton is a staunch Re- 
publican, and in 1884 was elected to the 
state Senate from Windham county, serving 
in that body as chairman of the committee 
on education, chairman of the committee on 
insane asylum, and a member of the joint 
committee on the house of correction. In 
1888 he was elected representative from 
Brattleboro to the General Assembly, where 
he vcas a member of the committees on 
education, ways and means and public 
health. He served for three years as sur- 
geon of the 1 2th Regt. Vt. Militia. 

Dr. Holton was instrumental in the or- 
ganization, and is president of the board of 
trustees of the Pan-American Medical Con- 
gress, which, under the patronage of the 
government, met in \Vashington in 1893. 
(This organization was one of the most 
important in the medical profession, and 
was organized for the purpose of scientific 
discussion and more intimate relations of 
the medical fraternity of the Western Hemi- 



sphere, and undoubtedly will have an indi- 
rect influence upon the political relations of 
the United States and these countries.) He 
was appointed commissioner for Vermont of 
the Nicaragua Canal convention, held in 
New Orleans in December, 1S92; was also 
one of the commissioners for Vermont of 
the Columbian E.xposition. 

He is a member of Brattleboro Lodge, 
.\o. 102, F. and A. M. 

He married, Nov. 19, 1862, KUen Jane, 
daughter of Theophilus and Mary Damon 
(Chandler) Holt of Saxton's River. They 
have one adopted daughter: (Mrs. Clifton 
Sherman of Hartford, Conn.) 

HOLTON, JOEL Huntington, of 

Burlington, son of Erastus Alexander and 
Hannah Brainard (May) Holton, was born 
in Westminster, Nov. 15, 1841. He is a 
direct descendant of Kenelm, brother of 
( ;o\-. Edward Winslow of the old Plymouth 
colonv. 




Mr. Holton obtained his education in the 
schools of Westminster and the academies of 
Barre and West Brattleboro. In 1857 he 
commenced to learn the trade of a silver 
])later and continued in this employment for 
fi\e years, when, prompted by his patriotic 
impulses, he enlisted August 18, 1862, as 
private in Co. I, 12th Vt. Regt., in which 
organization he was promoted to the grade 
of sergeant, and served till the regiment was 
mustered out, |uly 14, 1863. 



After his return from the annv he was 
employed as clerk in a hardware store at St. 
Albans; he then jnirchased a half interest in 
a plating and saddlery loncern at Derby 
Line. In 187 1 he removed to Burlington, 
where he formed a copartnership to do a 
wholesale and retail trade in hardware, .sad- 
dlery and biulders' supplies. He shortly 
became sole proprietor in the wholesale 
department, and is now the most extensive 
hardware dealer in Vermont. 

A staunch adherent of the Democratic 
party, he has taken an active i)art in city 
and state politics, has been the incumbent 
of many important offices, was elected alder- 
man from a strong Republican ward of the 
citv, and nominated for mayor in op])Osition 
to the Hon. U. .A. Woodbury. 

Mr. Holton married, Oct. 29, 1863, Emma 
J., daughter of Sylvester and Amanda (Far- 
man) Diggins of Westminster, who died 
June 16, 1881. Three children were the 
fruit of their union: Frank F. (deceased), 
Harry Sylvester, and Susie May. Mr. Holton 
was again united in marriage, June 25, 1883, 
to Kate E., daughter of Thomas \\'. and 
Rebecca (Richardson) NMley of Westmin- 
ster. 

He is commander of Stannard Post No. 2, 
G. A. R., and is much interested in (1. A. R. 
work. He united with the Congregational 
church of Burlington, and is now serving his 
second term as member of its prudential 
committee. 

HOOKER, George White, of Brat- 

tleboro, son of Samuel S. and Esther (White) 
Hooker, was born at Salem, N. Y., Feb. 6, 
1838. 

He attended the common schools of Lon- 
donderry, and his scholastic education was 
subsequently supplemented in the West 
River Academy. Commencing life as a 
clerk, he continued at Londonderry and at 
Bellows Falls, and then went to Boston as 
tra\eling salesman. 

In August, 1 86 1, he enlisted as a private 
in Co. F, 4th Vt. Vols., and soon after he 
was made sergeant-major. In the spring of 
1862 he recei\ed the commission of 2d 
lieutenant, and in the summer that of ist 
lieutenant. After the battle of Antietam he 
declined a captaincy in the line, and was 
appointed to the staff of Gen. E. H. Stough- 
ton. From thence he was afterward trans- 
ferred to that of Gen. George J. Stannard. 
In June, 1864, he was appointed assistant 
adjutant-general of volunteers by President 
Lincoln, and held that position until mus- 
tered out, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel 
in 1865. After the triumphant close of the 
struggle Colonel Hooker returned to Boston, 
and traveled through the eastern and west- 
ern states. In the spring of 1876 he was ad- 



Hdol'KU 207 

niitted as junior partner to the firm of William 
Belden & Co., bankers and brokers, in New 
Nork. In 1S76 he remo\eil to Brattleboro, 
which has since been his home. 

Colonel Hooker has very properly mani- 
fested patriotic interest in the political affairs 
of his adopted state. In 1878 he was ap- 
pointed chief of staff with the rank of colonel, 
by (Governor Proctor. In 1880 he was a 
delegate-at-large to the national Republi- 
can convention in Chicago, and in the same 
year was chosen a member of the national 
Republican committee. In the fall of 1880 
he was chosen to represent the citizens of 
BratUeboro in the state Legislature, and re- 
elected in 1882. During the first session he 
was unanimously elected judge-advocate- 
general by the Legislature. 

Colonel Hooker was chosen sergeant-at- 
arms of the House of Representati\es at the 
beginning of the Forty-seventh Congress. 
In 1S79 he was elected department com- 
mander of the Grand Army of the Republic 
in ^'ermont, and was again elected in the 
following year. He also received the unusual 
compliment of nomination for the third 
term, but positively declined re-election. 

Colonel Hooker was married on the 28th 
of January, 1868, to Minnie G., daughter of 
James and Love (Ryan) Fiske of Brattle- 
boro. One son is the fruit of their union : 
James Fiske. 

HOOPER, Marco B., of Fletcher, son 
of John W. and Polly (Hall) Hooper, was 
born in Bakersfield in 1837. John W. Hooper 
was a soldier in the war of 181 2, and died 
from the effect of wounds received in the 
same. 

Marco was one of a family of twelve chil- 
dren and was left an orphan at the age of 
seven years by the death of both his parents. 
He was thus compelled in early youth to face 
the hardships and difificulties that beset his 
path, in which undertaking he had little as- 
sistance from educational facilities, as his ad- 
vantages in this respect were limited to the 
district school. Soon after he was fourteen 
he entered the employment of B. F. Bradley 
of Fairfield to learn the carriage maker's 
trade and he remained with him until 1861. 
After a residence of some years in East Fair- 
field he went back to Fairfield and engaged 
in business in Mr. Bradley's sho])s. Subse- 
quently he labored on a farm for eight years 
in Fletcher. In 1885 he bought the house 
and shops of the late S. E. Chase of Fletcher 
and gave his attention to carriage repairs 
and bucket manufacturing until 1892, since 
which time, in conjunction with his sons, he 
has occupied and cultivated a large farm in 
the town. 

Always a Republican since he cast his first 
ballot for .Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Hoojierwas 



208 



sent to the Legislature as the member from 
Fletcher in 1892 and served on the manu- 
factures and distributing committees. He is 
a Baptist in his religious faith. 

He married, Ma\' 31, i860, Mary, daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Junia (Montague) Robin- 
son Fletcher, belonging to one of the oldest 
families of that place. A goodly family of 
six sons have blessed their union : Elmer J-, 
\\". liurton. John W., H. .Arthur, Samuel R., 
and Joel .A. 

MORTON, Edwin, of Chittenden, son 
of John N. and Elsie (Potter) Horton, was 
born in Clarendon, .August 25, 1841. 




He was reared among the usual surround- 
ings of the youth in his time, dividing his 
time between an attendance at the common 
and select schools of Clarendon and Black 
River .Academy of Ludlow, and labor upon the 
paternal homestead. Being desirous of a more 
e.xtended education than that afforded by the 
course of study which he had pursued he de- 
voted much time to private research and read- 
ing. HesetUed in Chittenden in 1858, where 
he has principally followed the calling of a 
farmer, but has been ol)liged to devote much 
time to those official duties which his upright 
character and keen intelligence have brought 
to him. He has held at various times different 
town offices, especially that of lister. For 
twenty-three years he served as constable and 
collector, resigning these positions in 1S93. 
He was the Republican representative of the 



town for three terms and in 1884 was elect- 
ed senator from Rutland county, and served 
on the committee on claims. In 1890 he was 
again complimented by an election as repre- 
sentative and in that session of the Legisla- 
ture his previous experience placed him at 
once among the leaders of the House. 

Mr. Horton was married in Bethel, August 
4, 1862, to Ellen L., daughter of Zenias 
and Harriet (Brown) Holbrook. Their 
children are : Bertha A. (Mrs. Harley Baird 
of South Boston), Fred E., Ida M. ( Mrs. D. 
F. Spaulding of South Boston), and Hattie E. 

When the war which imperiled the exist- 
ence of the Union commenced Mr. Horton 
although restrained by his parents was re- 
solved to participate in the struggle. He there- 
fore deserted towards the front and enlisted 
in Troy, N. Y., June 15, 1861, serving for 
one year in Co. G., 2 2d Regt., of that state 
and in 1862 was discharged from the LT. S. 
service. When the draft took place in 1863 
Mr. Horton was the only one of the fifteen 
drafted from the town whom fortune selected 
to fight for their native land, to fulfill this 
duty. He immediately joined the 4th ^'t. 
Regt., and saw hard service in the battles of 
the AVilderness and at Petersburg and was 
twice wounded while in action, but remained 
with the regiment and was discharged when 
the regiment was mustered out in 1865. 

Mr. Horton has a large acquaintance 
throughout the state and many friends. He 
is a member of Roberts Post, G.A. R., of Rut- 
land, and of the society of Vermont Officers. 
He has taken the vows of the Masonic order, 
uniting with Otter Creek Blue Lodge, Daven- 
port Chapter and Council, and Killington 
Commandery of Knights Templar, and Mt. 
Sinai Temple ; he is also a member of Kill- 
ington Lodge, Otter Creek Encampment, and 
Canton Rutland of Odd Fellows. 

HOWARD, Charles W., of shore- 

ham, son of Willard and Sarah (Page) 
Howard, was born in Windham, Dec. 4, 
1S46. 

He was educated at the common schools 
in \\'indham and afterward fitted for col- 
lege at Chester Academy. He entered Mid- 
dlebury College in 1868 and graduated with 
honors. In 1874 he received a degree from 
the medical department of the University 
of Vermont at Burlington. During the next 
year, he studied medicine with Dr. Eddy of 
Middlebury, and afterward, for a year, was 
in the hospital at Hartford, Conn., remov- 
ing to Shoreham in 1875. From that time 
he has applied himself to his professional 
duties and built up a large practice. He 
has risen from the condition of a poor boy 
by steady work to that of a man of influence 
and repute, while he has also acquired some 
property. 



209 



I )r. Howard has no aspirations for politi- 
cal preferment, but has held several offices, 
serving continuously as town clerk since 
1881, and also as town treasurer. He has 
been honored with the town snperintendency 
of schools since 1S83, and has been a mem- 
ber of the committee on the county board of 
education. 




CHARLES W. HOWARD. 



He is highly esteemed by his citizens, not 
as a church member or society man, but for 
his true worth and high principles. He was 
a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity 
during his college course, and is an atten- 
dant of the Congregational church. 

On Nov. 28, 1876, in the town of Shore- 
ham, he was united in wedlock to Lottie N., 
daughter of Edwin B. and Naomi Douglass. 
From this union is one daughter : Florence. 

HOWARD, Henry Seymour, of Ben- 
son, son of Judson J. and Persis (Pierce) 
Howard, was born in that town, Feb. 26, 
1841. 

His education was obtained in the schools 
of Benson, the Casdeton Seminary, and from 
a course at the high school at West Rutland. 
After the completion of his school training, 
he taught school for a time, and being anx- 
ious to lend his personal aid in the defence 
of his country's welfare, he enlisted, August 
29, 1862, in the 14th Regt. Vt. \'ols., and 
was soon promoted to the grade of corporal. 
He participated in all the hard service which 
fell to the lot of his brigade. Upon his 



return from the South, he was for a few years 
employed in an establishment for the manu- 
facture of flour, at Pjrandon, and in 1868 he 
established himself in the hardware trade in 
Benson, in which business he has continued 
to the present time. 

Mr. Howard was married in Benson, Sejjt. 
1,5, 1S64, to Eunice P., daughter of John and 
Ruth ( Pratt) Balis. Two children are the 
fruit of this marriage ; Judson Balis, and Hal- 
lie Maud. 

Mr. Howard has been selectman, lister, 
and is town clerk and notary ])ublic, besides 
ha\ing held many other offices of honor and 
trust. .\s the candidate of a Republican con- 
stituency he represented Benson in the 
House of Representatives in 1884, serving 
on the committee on public buildings. He 
was a charter member of .Acacia Masonic 
Lodge, No. 91, of Benson, in which he has 
filled the chair of junior warden. He is also 
a comrade of the G. A. R. For a quarter of 
a century he has been a respected and hon- 
ored member of the Congregational church, 
and has long served as chorister in the soci- 
ety of this persuasion in Benson. 




^ENRY SEYMOUR HOW 



By his unquestioned sincerity, his honora- 
ble dealing in business and the public spirit 
which he has ever manifested when the prog- 
ress and welfare of his native place were in 
question, he has won the respect of all his 
friends and neighbors, and is considered a 
leading and influential citizen of the state. 



HOWARD, ROGER S., was born in 
North Thett'ord. Mr. Howard was educated 
at the district schools of his native town and 
at Kimball Union Academy, Plainfield, N. H. 
Being reared upon a farm he has naturally 
followed that avocation, and has dealt largely 
in lumber as a side issue. 

Mr. Howard has affiliated with the Demo- 
cratic party. Has been selectman of his 
town for seven successive terms, and was 
honored by his constituency with two elec- 
tions to the lower branch of the Legislature, 
in 1 884 and 1886, and took an active part 
in the legislation of those sessions. 

Mr. Howard married, March 5, 1868, 
Kathere T., daughter of S. C. and Mary 
(Reed) Taylor. Of this union is one son: 
Frederick T. 

He is prominently connected with the 
Masonic fraternity and has taken the chap- 
ter degrees. 

A man of sterling worth, Mr. Howard has 
had the lo\e and respect of the community 
in which he has resided. 

HOWARD, Walter E., of Middle- 
bury, son of William Bickford and Louisa 
(Cilley) Howard, was born in Tunbridge, 
May 29, 1849. 




Receiving his early education in the 
Springfield Wesleyan and Leland and Ciray 
seminaries, he entered Middlebury College, 
from which he graduated in the class of 
1871. After leaving this institution he fol- 
lowed the profession of a teacher and at the 



same time studied law. In 1S76 he was 
appointed principal of the State Normal 
School at Castleton, and five years later 
began the practice of his profession in Fair 
Haven. In 1889 Mr. Howard received the 
appointment of professor of history and 
political science at Middlebury College. 

Always a strong Republican, he was sent 
to the state Senate from Rutland county in 
1882. In this body he served as chairman 
of the special committee on amendments to 
the state constitution, and was also a mem- 
ber of those on federal relations, education 
and the library. Shortly afterwards he was 
made V. S. Consul at Toronto, Can., and in 
1892 received a similar appointment at 
Cardiff, \Vales. He represented the town of 
Fair Haven in the Legislature of 1888, where 
he was chairman of the committee on elec- 
tions and a member of that on the judiciary. 
In September, 1893, he resumed the profes- 
sorship of history and political science in 
Middlebury College. 

HOWARD, William Sumner, of Con- 
cord, son of James and Sarah (Adams) How- 
ard, was born in Ludlow, Sept. 7, 1822. 

Educated in the public schools of Ludlow 
and Concord, he made the best use of the 
opportunities afforded him. Hisfather moved 
to Concord and purchased the Howard home- 
stead when William was about fourteen years 
old, and the son assisted the father in btiild- 
ing, clearing, and developing their estate. 
L'nder his careful management, and by tak- 
ing advantage of all the resources in his 
|)0wer, he has now one of the very best up- 
land farms in town, well supplied with every 
modern appliance and excellent stock. Here 
he has always resided, enjoying the fruits of 
his energy and industry. 

Always a Republican since the formation 
of the party, such a man would naturally be 
called upon to discharge the duties of various 
town offices, and Mr. Howard has been 
prominently connected with educational 
affairs, serving as district clerk for more than 
thirty years and for more than forty as trus- 
tee of the Essex county grammar school, 
founded by Rev. Samuel Reed Hall as a nor- 
mal school, the oldest in the United States. 

Mr. Howard was a charter member of Es- 
sex Cirange P. of H. of A\"est Concord. 

He was united in wedlock, June 8, 1843, 
to Lucinda F., daughter of William and Ra- 
chel (Wilcox) Gorham of Kirby, and of this 
union there are issue : William Elmore, 
(leorge S., and Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. L. W. 
Macam of Moncton, N. B.). 

HOWE, Elhanan Winchester, of 

Northfield, was the son of Joel and Rebecca 
(Wakefield) Howe, and was born in the town 
of Winhall, March 2, 1825. 



He was one of a family of fifteen children, 
•and as his parents were poor he had to push 
his way in life unaided and alone. He re- 
ceived his education in the common schools 
in the town of Manchester. 
- He commenced the marble business in 
South Dorset in 1853 and continued the 
same at Northfield in the firm of Howe & 
Sawyer. He also was interested in an enter- 
prise of the same nature at Montpelier. In 
i860 he formed a business alliance with 




aged to surmount, a practical education in the 
schools of Clarendon and 'I'roy Conference 
Academy of Poultney. Subsequently he taught 
school and while teaching studied and im- 
proved his opiwrtunities. For some time 
he was engaged in farming in Clarendon and 
\\allingford, but mo\ed to Mt. Tabor in 1854. 

.Mr. Howe has served with credit in \ari- 
ous otficial capacities, first as an old-time 
whig and later as a loyal Republican. His 
residence in the town has seen him lister, 
town clerk, constable, collector, selectman 
and deputy sheriff. He has done good ser- 
vice as town representative in four different 
sessions, 1856, 1861, 1863, 1864, acting on 
important committees and finally was deemed 
worthy of a seat in the state Senate in 1874, 
where he was a member of the agricultural 
and general committees. 

He is allied both to the order of Free 
Masons and Odd Fellows. 




George ^^'. Soper, and later became a part- 
ner in the firm of F. L. Howe & Co. at 
Northfield, which at present is one of the 
most prominent in the state, carrying a \ ery 
large stock of ornamental work. 

Mr. Howe was married in Dorset, July ,5, 
1 848, to Miss Pamelia J., daughter of John 
C. L. and Eliza (Viall) Soper. Their children 
are : Frank L., A\'ilbur C, and Helen M. 
I Mr. Howe was appointed postmaster at 
South Dorset in 1850 and held the office 
fi\e years. He has served as deputy sheriff 
of Washington county for twenty years, and 
has been its sheriff since 1890. He has ever 
been a strictly temperate man, and has proved 
a reliable and efficient officer in the enforce- 
ment of the law. As a Master Mason he is 
affiliated to DeW'itt Clinton Lodge, No. 15. 

HOWE, Luther Proctor, of Danby, 

son of Joseph and Olive (Scott) Howe, was 
born in Ludlow, Jan. 6, 1821. 

Descended from a well-known ancestry, he 
obtained, despite difficulties which he man- 



1 




LUTHER PROCTOR HOWE. 



He married at Clarendon, Oct. 23, 1845, 
NLiry .Ann, daughter of Ozial H. and Avice 
(Harrington) Round. To them were born: 
.Addie (Mrs. Joel C. Baker), and Charles 
Luther. November 2, 1865, he formed a 
second alliance with Helen Maria, daughter 
of Judge .Austin and Betsey NL Baker. 'Lhey 
have one son : Luther Proctor, Jr. 

HOWE, Marshall Otis, of Xewfane, 

son of Otis and Sally (Marsh) Howe, was 
born in Wardsboro, Oct. 4, 1832. 
■ His early education was acipiired at the 
district school, su]i|ilemented by a few terms 



at the academy. In earlv life he read sev- 
eral of the standard elementary treatises on 
law and civil government. He has a general 
knowledge of the leading branches of the 
natural sciences, and has made a collection 
of minerals, grasses, etc. He was agricul- 
tural editor of the Vermont Phcenix from 
1880 to 1890, and has been a paid writer 





OTIS HOWE. 



for other publications. An article compar- 
ing, according to the census statistics, the 
agricultural products of Vermont with those 
of other eastern states and the leading agri- 
cultural states of the West, which he con- 
tributed to the New York Tribune, showed 
a surprisingly favorable result for Vermont, 
and the article was copied and commented 
upon by nearly all the papers in the state. 
Mr. Howe has since more fully elaborated 
the comparative statistics of Vermont pro- 
duction in many newspaper contributions, 
and in vols. HI and XI of the reports of the 
Vermont Board of Agriculture. He has 
treated of the "Past and the Present Pro- 
ducts of the Soil" in vol. V of the Vermont 
agricultural reports. 

Mr. Howe has been a school superin- 
tendent for nine years, and now holds that 
office in the town of Newfane. He has been 
for many years statistical correspondent of 
the department of agriculture for Windham 
county. He was census enumerator in 1880, 
and in 1S82 he represented Newfane in the 
I,egislature, where he attended strictly to his 
uties, never but once failing to be present 



and \ote when the yeas and nays w-ere 
called. In 1890, on recommendation of the 
\'ermont delegation in Congress, he was ap- 
pointed supervisor of the eleventh census 
for the district of Vermont. For the past 
twenty-five years Mr Howe's home has been 
in Newfane. 

He was married in 1866 to Gertrude I., 
daughter of Avery J. and Mary (White) 
Dexter of Wardsboro. They have five sons : 
Marshall A., Hermon A., Arthur O., Carlton 
D., and Clifton D. Marshall A. Howe, the 
eldest son, is now a member of the faculty 
of the University of California. 

HOWLAND, Frank George, of Barre, 
son of George and Angelina (Buszell) How- 
land, was born in Boston, Mass., August 27, 
1863. 

His father's employment was that of 
farmer and auctioneer and he has been a 
resident of F'ast Montpelier since April, 1866. 
He has been the incumbent of several im- 
portant town offices and was sent to the 
Legislature in 1882. 




FRANK GEORGE HOWLAND. 



F>ank G. Howland pursued the usual 
course of instruction in the public schools 
and then graduated from the Vermont M. E. 
Seminary at Montpelier, in the class of 1884. 

An adherent of the Republican party, he 
represented the town of Barre in the Legisla- 
ture of 1892, and served creditably as a mem- 
ber of the committee on banks. 



He was united in marriage Marrh 29, 
1 888, to Marv, daughter of Sidney and Irene 
A. (Heath) VVells of Barre. 

iSIr. Howland was elected teller of the Na- 
tional liank of Harre, Feb. 16, 1885, and 
two years later was promoted to the position 
of cashier. He was largely instrumental in 
securing the charter for the Barre Savings 
Bank and Trust Co , which commenced busi- 
ness Feb. 27, 1893, and of which institution 
he is treasurer. He is considered in the 
community in which he resides as an acti\e, 
energetic, and efficient man of business ; 
shrewd, intelligent, and honorable in all his 
transactions. 

HUBBARD, George a., of Guildhall, 
son of John and Susan D. Hubbard, was 
born in Guildhall, Sept. 10, 1850. 

At the age of seven he removed to Lunen- 
burg to attend the common schools of that 
place. Here he remained till he was seven- 
teen, at which time he returned to Guildhall 
and completed his education at the Essex 
county grammar school. 

For many years Mr. Hubbard made his 
residence at the place of his birth, and for 
most of that period was employed in farm- 
ing, but after his marriage he removed to 
the home of his wife, where he remained 
until 1892, when his position of county clerk 
required his immediate presence at the 
county seat. 

He was united in marriage at Lunenburg, 
Oct. 13, 1871, to Ida M., daughter of Lor- 
enzo and Ann (Woods) Manning of Guild- 
hall. One son was born to them and died 
in infancy. One daughter, Addie Manning, 
and an adopted child, Ethel May, are living. 

Mr. Hubbard is an active Republican, and 
has been selectman for five consecutive 
terms. He has also been town superintend- 
ent, and was elected to represent Guildhall 
in the Legislature of 1890. 

He is a quiet, self-respecting man of good 
moral principles, and gives promise of a long 
career of usefulness. 

He has been a member of the P. of H. at 
Guildhall. 

HUBBARD, LORENZO W., of Lyndon, 
son of Richard and Loraine (Weeks) Hub- 
bard, was born in Lyndon, Feb. 3, 1841. 

He received his education in the common 
schools of his native town and at Lyndon 
Academy. 

September i, 1863, he enlisted in Co. M, 
nth Regt. Vt. Vols., and on the completion 
of its organization he was appointed ser- 
geant. Serving in this capacity one year he 
was made hospital steward of the regiment 
and served as such until the close of the war. 

He then studied medicine at the Bellevue 
Hospital Medical College, New York, from 



hui!I;f,i.i,. 213 

which he graduated March i, 1867. In the 
following .April he went to Lunenburg, where 
he practiced medicine six years ; then 
located permanently at Lyndon. 

Dr. Hubbard represented Lyndon at the 
General Assembly in 1882 and 1886. In 
each session he was a member of the com- 
mittee on the insane, and offered in the 
House the joint resolutions requesting the 
Governor to appoint a commission to inves- 
tigate as to the advisability and location of a 
separate building for the care of the criminal 
and convict insane, which resulted in the 
construction of the asylum at Waterbury. 
In 1S83 Dr. Hubbard was made president 
of the St. Johnsbury board of examining sur- 
geons for pensions, which office he accept- 
ably filled for more than two years. 

Dr. Hubbard is a deacon of the Congre- 
gational church. He is a practitioner of the 
regular school and since 1867 has belonged 
to the White Mountain Medii:al Society ; he 
is also a member of the ^■ermont Medical 
Society, and was one of its license censors 
two years and has served as treasurer of the 
Lyndon Republican Club. 

He is a member of Crescent Lodge F. & 
A. M., Lyndonville, and of Chamberlin Post 
G. A. R., No. I, of St. Johnsbury. He has 
taken great interest in the academy and 
graded schools of Lyndon, serving on the 
committee for the past twelve years. 

Dr. Hubbard was married, Nov. 10, 1868, 
to Mary E., daughter of Bela and Martha 
(Perry) Halton. Of this union there was 
issue: Charles Bela, May E. (deceased), 
and one son who died in infancy. 

HUBBELL, MVRON R., of Wolcott, son 
of Seth and Sylvia (Spaulding) Hubbell, was 
born in Wolcott, .April 6, 1835. His grand- 
father was the first settler of the town of 
Wolcott. Coming there in 1 7S9, he endured 
privations and hardships, carrying his corn 
on his back twehe miles to mill for several 
years. LTnder such conditions he reared a 
family of seventeen children. Seth, the father 
of the subject of the present sketch, was a 
life-long resident of the town, and Myron R. 
was brought up among the usual surround- 
ings of a New England farm. 

Completing his education in the common 
schools, when he arrived at man's estate he 
went to the Northwest on a tour of observa- 
tion, but soon returned to the paternal home- 
stead, devoting himself to the care of his 
parents during their declining years. At 
their death he sold the farm and removed 
to the village. 

Mr. Hubbell has a decided talent for in- 
vention and for twenty years has devoted 
himself to this pursuit, constructing his own 
models and patterns, and has obtained in 
all fifteen patents. He has devoted much 



!I4 



HUMPHREY. 



time and thought to improving reversible 
plows, and is the originator of the theory 
that the draught attachment of a re\ersible 
plow should be adjusted to the right and left 
furrows, alternately, at each turn of the 
mouldboard. To accomplish this object he 
devised and patented the shifting-lever clevis 
now so generally used on reversible plows, 
and also patented the rod running length- 
wise of and swiveled to the beam for the 
same purpose. 






It is unnecessary to say more in reference 
to this matter, as the great value of his im- 
provements in reversible plows are generally 
and widely known. He has also invented 
and patented a car-coupler, which those who 
are conversant with this subject unhesitat- 
ingly declare to be far in advance of all 
others they have ever examined. Mr. Hubbell 
and W. W. Cate, of Wolcott, are joint invent- 
ors in a spiral rotary cylinder for planers, 
which is now in operation and is doing 
superior work. 

He married, .^Xpril 2, 1862, Miss Mary, 
daughter of Ralph and Sybil (Powers) Mar- 
tin, of Wolcott ; their only living child is 
Ralph M., of Wolcott. Mr. Hubbell has 
always been attached to the Republican 
party, but has never cared for or accepted 
official positions. He is a member of Min- 
eral Lodge, No. 93, F. & .\. M.. of ^Volcott. 

HUDSON, Solomon S., of East Haven, 
son of Calvin and Philomelia (Powers) Hud- 
son, was born in Athens, July 22, 1836. 



He was an industrious pupil of the public 
schools, and made the best use of his limited 
opportunities to obtain an education. 

.At the early age of nineteen he took to 
himself a wife, and with this responsibility 
commenced to clear a farm in the unbroken 
wilderness, carrying his worldly possessions 
on his back. In this enterprise he was en- 
gaged five years, when he was summoned to 
the field by the outbreak of the civil war. 
In 1862 he enlisted in Co. A, loth Regt.. 
Vt. Vols. He remained in the army about 
three years, most of the time on detached 
service, and was discharged when the regi- 
ment was mustered out. Returning to his. 
farm at the close of the war, he remained 
there until 18S6, when he moved to his 
present location in East Haven village, and 
has since been engaged in general trade. 

.Mr. Hudson has held many responsible 
positions in town, having been for many 
years justice of the peace and selectman. 
He represented East Haven in 1880, and 
under a Republican administration received 
the appointment of postmaster, a position 
which he worthily filled for six years. 

In 1855 he married Eunecia L., daughter 
of Russell and .Almira Hosford. .She died 
Jan. 29, 1881. He contracted a second alli- 
ance with Lydia Gero, daughter of Hoklen 
and \'iantha Partlow. 

Mr. Hudson has received the first three 
degrees of the Masonic fraternity, and is a 
member of Island Pond Lodge, No. 44. He 
also belongs to Erastus Buck Post, G. A. R.,. 
of that place. He stands prominently forth 
in the community as a moral, industrious- 
and energetic man of good judgment and 
ability. 

HUMPHREY, Charles Ti.wothy 

Allen, of East Burke, son of Timothy and' 
Sabrina (Cushing) Huinphrey, was born in 
St. Johnsbury, Jan. 2, 1822. 

His father was one of the early settlers of the 
town and Mr. Humphrey received only such 
educational advantages as were afforded by 
the public schools. .At the age of fourteen 
he commenced to labor for a livelihood. Four 
years after he bought his time from his father 
for S125, chopped cord wood and dro\e 
teams from Boston to Portland in order to 
reimburse his father for the time he had pur- 
chased. In 1840 with twenty dollars in his 
pocket he started for the West. Arriving at 
Conneaut, Ohio, he remained two or three 
years in this place, engaging in farming and 
trading ; then removed to Geneva, in the 
same state, and in 1847 returned to Burke, 
and finally took up his abode in East Burke, 
where he employed himself in general trade. 

Mr. Humphrey has held many responsilile 
offices. Has been justice of the peace, lister, 
o\ erseer of the poor, notary public, and town 



HUMPHREY. 

agent to settle claims. He received the honor 
of an election by Republican votes to the 
"war session" Legislature of i86o-'6i. In 
1877, he was elected associate judge of the 
Caledonia county court, serving the full term 
of two years. He has been director of the 
Merchants' National Bank, of St. Johnsbury, 
for more than eleven years ; has been the 
administrator for many valuable estates, and 
has acted as guardian in many cases. He 
attends and supports the Methodist church 
of that place. 



HLNrKK. 215 

in 1889, giving especial attention to the 
breeding of Devon cattle, and horses of the 
Wilkes strain of blood. For forty years he 
has been called upon to discharge the du- 
ties of various offices of the town and was 
sent to the Legislature as the representative 
of a Republican constituency in 1868, 1869 
and 1882, giving his service to the commit- 
tees on the grand list, highways and bridges, 
and on public buildings. Being drafted for 
service in the army he was rejected on ac- 
count of physical disability. He is a mem- 
ber and for several years has been steward 
of the ^L E. Church in Burke. 

.Mr. Humphrey married, F"eb. 25, 1856, 
1 .ucia A., daughter of Benjamin F. and .\nnie 
(Miner) Belden, of Burke. Four children 
ha\ebeen born to them : Mary Helen (Mrs. 
Sumner (r. Prescott of Lyndon), I'Vank Fras- 
tus, .Annie B., and Inez 1.. 



HUNTER, Ellsworth M., of Fair 

Haven, son of Mahlon and Susan Hunter, 
uas born in the town of 1 Inbb.irdton. April 
[I, 1S62. 




ChARLES TIMOTHY ALLEN HUMPHREY. 

He was united in wedlock Sept. i, 1 841, to 
Flavilla Pamelia, daughter of Matthew and 
Resia Gushing, of Bttrke, who died .'\pril 1 1 , 
1880. Four children were born to them : 
Violetta M. (.Mrs. OUn Smith, of Springfiekl, 
Mass., deceased), Fdwin Payson (deceased), 
Rose Sabrina (deceased), and Celia C (wife 
of Dr. Frederick Newell, of Barton). 

Judge Humphrey contracted a second 
alliance Sept. 14, 1880, with Mary L., daugh- 
ter of Samuel and F.milv (Har\e\) Prout\-, 
of Burke. 

HUMPHREY, JULIUS AUGUSTUS, of 
East Burke, son of F>astus and Hannah 1. 
(Johnson) Humphrev, was born in that town 
Nov. 3, 1830. 

His father came from Connecticut to East 
Burke very early in the present century and 
Mr. Humphrey attended the public schools 
until seventeen years of age ; since that time 
he has always lived and labored on the farm 
where he was born and which he purchased 




ELLSWORTH M. HUNTER. 

He received his early educational train- 
ing in the common schools and afterwards 
took a course of study at a business college. 
.\t the age of twenty-one, Mr. Hunter, who 
had adopted journalism as his (jrofession, 
was made business manager of the Rutland 
1 )aily Review, and in the following year was 
employed as an editorial writer on the Platts- 
burg (X. V.) Telegram, afterwards founding 



2l6 



the flipper at Fort Ann. He returned to 
his native state in 1887, and for the last 
four years has filled the position of editor 
and manager of the Vermont Record. 

He was united in marriage Sept. 5, 1886, 
to E. Alida, daughter of Lyman and Marie 
(Broughton) of Fort Ann, N. V. Of this 
marriage there have been three children : 
Gertrude, Anna, and Frances M. 

In 1886 Mr. Hunter was elected a mem- 
ber of the Republican county committee of 
Washington county, N. V., and with four 
others composed the executive board of that 
committee. After his return to Vermont he 
entered politics and assisted in 1888 in 
forming se\eral Re]jublican league clubs, 
and was secretary of the John A. Logan 
Club at Castleton. Twice he was elected a 
delegate to the Republican state convention 
of ^"ermont. He was a delegate to the press 
congress of the World's Fair. He was 
elected justice of the peace for two succes- 
sive terms, being nominated on the tickets 
of the Republican, Democratic and Labor 
parties, the last named of which nominated 
him for assistant judge in 1890, when his 
vote was much larger than that of his party. 

Mr Hunter is a charter member of Fair 
Haven I,odge, No. 52, L O. O. F., of which 
he is an officer. 

HUNTLEY, EBER W., of Duxbury, son 
of Gilbert and Mary E. (Nash) HunUey, 
was born in that town, Nov. 11, 1839. 

He a\ailed himself of the school training 
of his native town and then pursued a course 
of study at the Peoples Academy of Morris- 
ville. He early manifested an aptitude for 
mechanical pursuits, and soon after his ma- 
jority commenced working at the carpenter 
and joiner's trade, and later was a millwright 
and house builder. 

In the fall of 1886 he purchased the mill 
site in Duxbury, near Waterbury, a wonder- 
ful natural water privilege. There he re- 
built the mill and put in a large plant for 
planing, dressing and matching hard and 
soft wood lumber, which is sold as a finished 
product. A large share of his stock is pur- 
chased in the neighborhood and thereby the 
farmers are furnished with a convenient 
home market for their surplus wood products. 

Mr. Huntley was elected by the Republi- 
cans of Duxbury to the Legislature of 1882, 
where he was a member of the committee on 
corporations. His personal standing in the 
community has resulted in his being called 
to the occupancy of many town offices since 
he was twenty-one, and among these he has 
been the incumbent of the town clerkship 
and also town treasurer for more than a score 
of years. 

He has received the degree of the Blue 
Lodge in the order of Free Masonry, and 
has twice occupied the chair in the east. 



He married, August 26, 1863, Minta F., 
daughter of Janus and Eurette (Crosby) 
Crossett, of Duxbury. One child is issue of 
this union : Mertie E. 

HUSE, Hiram Augustus, of Montpe- 

lier, son of Hiram Sylvester and Emily Mor- 
gan (Blodgett) Huse, was born at Randolph, 
Jan. 17, 1843. 

His parents moved to \Visconsin in 1845 
and that was his home till 1868. In the 
West he went to school at the red school- 
house, at Willard Seminary in Watertown, 
Wis., and at Dixon. 111., and taught district 
school several terms. In 1860 he went to 
Randolph where he fitted for college (in 
part under Edward Conant), at the Orange 
county grammar school, and also taught dis- 
trict school again, and in i87i-'72 was Mr. 
Conant's assistant in the State Normal 
.School. 




HIRAM AUGUSTUS HUSE. 

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 
1S65, and from the .Albany Law School (of 
which .Amos Dean, formerly of Barnard, was 
then the head) in 1867, and was admitted 
to the New York bar in Albany. After a 
year at his home in Wisconsin, he moved to 
Vermont, where he was admitted to the ^'er- 
mont bar in Orange countv, lune term, 
1S69. 

While in college he enlisted .August 19, 
1862, at Randolph and served as a private 
in Co. F, 1 2th Vt. Vols., till the regiment 
was mustered out July 14, 1S63. 



lll'TCHINSON. 

He moved to Montpelier in 1872, begin- 
ning the practice of law, and for some ten 
years served as editorial writer on the (jreen 
Mountain Freeman. 

He has been state librarian since 1873, 
represented Montpelier in the Legislature of 
187S, and was elected state's attorney in 
1882. 

January i, 1883, a law partnership was 
formed by Clarence H. Pitkin and himself 
under the firm name of Pitkin & Huse, 
which continued seven years. At the close of 
William P. Dillingham's term as Governor in 
October, 1S90, the partnership of Dillingham 
& Huse was formed, and by the admission 
of Fred A. Howland in 1892, the firm is 
now Dillingham, Huse & Howland. 

Mr. Huse married at Randoljjh, Jan. 30, 
1S72, Harriet Olivia, daughter of Melzar and 
Eunice Harriet (Smith) ^^'oodbury. They 
have two children : Harriet Emily, and Ray 
Woodbury. 

Mr. Huse's mother died at his home in 
Montpelier, May 29, 1890, and his father 
now resides with him. 

He is a comrade of Brooks Post, G. A. R., 
and a member of .Aurora Lodge, F. & .\. iNL, 
and of the Sons of the American Revolution. 

HUTCHINSON, JaMES, of West Ran- 
dolph, son of James and Sophia (Brown) 
Hutchinson, was born in Randolph, Jan. i, 
1826. The grandfather, John Hutchinson, 
was one of the earliest settlers of Braintree. 
Noted for his industry and honesty, he was 
much in public life and represented the town 
in the Legislature for seventeen years, while 
his father, James, was an enterprising and 
prosperous farmer, enjoying the confidence 
and res])ect of the neighboring community. 

The education of the subject of the pres- 
ent sketch was obtained first in the district 
and then in a private school in West Ran- 
dolph, and after this course of instruction he 
was engaged in teaching for three consecu- 
tive winters. 

November 2, 1847, Mr. Hutchinson was 
united in the bonds of wedlock to Miss .Abby 
B., daughter of Fllijah and Patience (Netf) 
Flint, of Braintree (who died ^L^y 4, 1879). 

He settled upon the old homestead in 
Braintree, where he lived till 1869, when he 
moved to West Randolph. While in the 
former ])lace he filled many town offices and 
was elected delegate to. the state Constitu- 
tional Convention in 1856. For two years, 
1864 to 1866, he was associate judge of the 
county. 

Judge Hutchinson was elected state sena- 
tor in 1868, and also in the following year, 
while in 1S70 he received the appointment 
of county commissioner, and was in 1872 



HUTCHINSON. 



217 



chosen a delegate to the national Re])ublican 
con\ention at Philadelphia. He was ap- 
pointed postmaster at West Randol])h in 
1872, which office he held till 1887. With a 
few others. Judge Hutchinson petitioned the 
Legislature of 1889 for a charter for a savings 
bank in West Randolph, and on the organiz- 
ation of the institution, he was elected its 




president, a position in which he continues 
to the present time. 

.\mong the earliest founders of the Repub- 
lican party, he was always an acti\e worker 
in its behalf, and even previous to its exist- 
ence, in the days of anti-slavery agitation, he 
was an enthusiastic disciple of (larri.son and 
Phillips, ever extending a hearty welcome to 
all who were interested in the cause of aboli- 
tion. For five years he filled the office of 
\ice-president for \'ermont of the New Eng- 
Kngland Anti-Slavery Society. During the 
troubles in Kansas, Judge Hutchinson was 
connected with the Emigrant .Aid Society, 
and in the company of the state agent visited 
several places in the state to raise men and 
money to aid in freeing Kansas from the 
trammels of the slave-holders, and at one 
time he himself accompanied an expedition 
for this purpose. He has held leading jjosi- 
tions in the temperance societies of \"ermont 
and has always been a devoted adherent of 
the cause, strongly advocating the law of 
i)rohibition. 



IDE, Henry Clay, of St. Johnsbury, son 
of Jacob and Lodaska (Knights) Ide, was 
born in Barnet Sept. i8, 1844. 

He conducted his preparatory studies at 
the St. Johnsbury Academy and then entered 
Dartmouth College from which he graduated 
with the highest honors of his class in 1866. 

He was principal of St. Johnsbury .Acad- 
emy from the time of his graduation until 
the summer of 1S68, when he was appointed 
head master of the high school of Arling- 
ton, Mass., which po.sition he filled till the 
autumn of 1869, when he read law with the 
late Judge B. H. Steele of St. Johnsbury till 
December, 1870, when he was admitted to 
the bar. He immediately began to practice 
in St. Johnsbury and in 1873 formed a part- 
nership with Hon. H. C. Belden which con- 
tinued till 1S84, when the firm of Ide & Staf- 
ford was formed, which in 1890 was changed 
to that of Ide & (^uimby. This last partner- 
ship was dissolved in 1892 and since then 
Mr. Ide has practiced alone. In 1890 he 
was admitted to the bar of the United States 
Supreme Court. During this period Mr. Ide 
was engaged in much of the most important 
litigation in Northern Vermont, and stood in 
the front rank of his profession. 

He was united in wedlock, Oct. 26, 1S71, 
to Mary M., daughter of Joseph and Sophia 
Matcher, of Stoughton, Mass., who passed 
from life April 13, 1892. Of this marriage 
four children were born : Adelaide M., Annie 
L., Harry J. (deceased), and Mary M. 

Mr. Ide has been honored with manv of- 
fices in the gift of his fellow-citizens. For 
three years he was state's attorney for Cale- 
donia county and was twice sent to the state 
Senate, in which he served on several im- 



portant committees. He was prominent in 
carrying through measures securing the prop- 
erty rights of married women, simphfying 
legal procedure, etc. In 1884 he presided 
at the Republican state convention, and was 
chosen delegate to the national convention 
at Chicago in 1888 where he served on the 
committee on credentials. 

Mr. Ide was appointed by President Har- 
rison a commissioner on behalf of the United 
States to act with others appointed by Eng- 
land and Germany to settle the disputes in 
Samoa. Chosen by that commission as its 
chairman, he rendered important service in 
organizing, formulating and carrying on its 
work. In November, 1S91, he resigned this 
appointment on account of sickness in his 
family, returning to this country with expres- 
sions of regret from the King of Samoa, his 
associates, and all other officials with whom 
he had come in contact in the course of 
his official duties. On his return he also re- 
ceived from the president a letter of thanks 
for his efficient and valuable services as com- 
missioner. 

He has been for years a director of the 
First National Bank of St. Johnsbury, the 
Passumpsic Savings Bank — one of the largest 
institutions in the state — the 'I'redegar Na- 
tional Bank of Jacksonville, Ala., and in va- 
rious manufacturing and railroad corpora- 
tions, all of which trusts he has carefully 
and honorably fulfilled. 

In 1893 he was appointed chief justice of 
Samoa, and on the 6th of October left St. 
Johnsbury and on the 20th of that month 
sailed from San Francisco to enter upon his 
new and most important duties in those dis- 
tant islands of the South Pacific. 



JACKMAN, A. M.,of Barre, son of Abel 
and Dorothy (True) Jackman, was born in 
Corinth, March 2, 181 3. His father came 
from Salisbury, Mass., and was one of the 
early settlers of Corinth. 

The son, left an ori:>han at an earlv age, 
went to Barre and learned the trade of a 
wool carder and cloth dresser. His oppor- 
tunities for education were limited to the 
common schools of Corinth and a few terms 
at the Barre district schools. 

Working with untiring industry and living 
prudently, laying up and not squandering 
the liberal wages he received, he was enabled 
in 1836 to hire and three years after to pur- 
chase the mill in which he was employed, 
and he conducted the business until the 
factory was destroyed by fire in 1853. In 
February, 1856, Mr. Jackman bought an 



estate in liarre. Much of this he has sold, 
and this portion of the property is now occu- 
pied by the thriving village of Barre. When 
he commenced his business everyone, with 
perhaps the exception of the doctor, lawyer, 
and clergyman, wore homespun, the product 
of the family loom, woven and fashioned in 
the home circle, and there was but one cloth 
manufactory in the state, that of Governor 
Paine of Northfield, the only product of 
whose mills was exclusively indigo blue 
broadcloth. Mr. Jackman has lived to see 
an entire change in the population of the 
town of Barre, and he is the only one that 
remains of the bygone generation of Barre 
village. 

He took to wife, April 11, 1837, Christina, 
daughter of David and Delia (French) 
French. Their union was blesssd with four 



JACKMAN. 

sons and one daughter: Orvis French (a 
soldier of the Union, deceased in 1885), 
John, (leorge W., Eveline (Mrs. F. H. Rob- 
erts), and Charles Edgar (deceased). Mrs. 
Jacknian departed this life in 1885. 



JAMES. 



219 



I . 




1 




Mr. lackman has always been a Democrat, 
and has taken an acti^•e interest in town and 
county affairs. For twenty-five years he wa;-. 
sheriff or deputy sheriff, and also justice cf 
the peace. He was strongly in favor of a 
resolute prosecution of the war for the pres- 
ervation of the Union, and one of his sons 
lost an arm in the service. Mr. [ackman 
carries the cares and labors of his four score 
years bravelv, with form still erect and his 
mental faculties unimpaired. 

JACKMAN, HENR't' A., of East Corinth, 
son of Winthrop '1". and .Mary (Elkins) Jack- 
man, was born in Barre, Feb. 18, 1829. 

His mother died when he was four years 
old and for two years he resided with an aunt, 
then he was compelled to push his own way, 
working on a farm till he was twenty-one 
and obtaining such instruction as the winter 
terms of the district school afforded. .After 
attaining his majority he went to Boston where 
he remained nine years engaged in teaming. 

At the commencement of the civil war .Mr. 
Jackman enlisted in the 2d Mass. Light Bat- 
tery. This battery was first stationed at 
Baltimore and afterwards sent to Fortress 
Monroe and witnessed the naval contest be- 
tween the Monitor and Merrimac. Soon 



after he accompanied the command to Ship 
Island and New (Orleans in General Butler's 
expedition. He w'as jiresent at the first at- 
tem])t of Farragut to cajiture Vicksburg, and 
afterwards participated in almost all the bat- 
tles and hostile expeditions in the depart- 
of the Culf including the successful attack 
upon Mobile. When his term of service ex- 
pired he ])roni|)tly and patriotically re-enlisted 
as a \eteran volunteer, and with his command 
marched from Mobile to .Montgomery and 
thence to \'icksburg, where he remained till 
honorably discharged in .Xugust, 1865, after 
more than four years of active and continuous 
service, during the latter part of which he 
acted as quartermaster-sergeant. 

Soon after his discharge he came to East 
Corinth, and, in company with his brother, 
purchased and carried on the grist mill in that 
place for four years. In 1876 he moved to 
Topsham and engaged in the manufacture of 
bobbins and spools and to this end he has 
just erected a plant that promises much for 
the future prosperitv of the community. 

Mr. Jackman was married at Bradford in 
October, 1869, to Mrs. Nancy (Crown) Row- 
land, and four children have been born to 
them : .Alfred C, Winthrop T., Henry .\., Jr., 
and Mary E. 

He is an ardent Republican, a man of few 
words, but prompt, decided and resolute in 
action and with a persistence that in the end 
IS bound to succeed in whatever he under- 
takes. He has always avoided rather than 
sought office, as the demands of his business 
are imperative. For several years, however, 
he served as selectman and represented Tops- 
ham in the House in 1876. He is a mem- 
ber of the G. A. R. and for two years served 
as commander of Ransom Post, No. 7, of 
F^ast Corinth. 

JAMES, JOHN A., of Middlebury, son 
of .Samuel and Susan (Payne) James, was 
born in Weybridge, April 7, 1853. 

Descended from a family of undoubted 
worth and respectability, he received his 
earlier education in the schools of \\'ey- 
bridge and afterwards studied at the high 
school of Middlebury. 

His chief occupation has ever been that of 
a farmer and he resides on the old homestead 
which has been in the possession of the 
[ames family since i 788. Here he has stead- 
ily jnirsued his calling and like many farmers 
of his county gave much attention to sheep 
breeding, but in recent years he has devoted 
more efibrt to the dairy, and breeding of fine 
horses. His property yields him fine returns 
and he is one of those who find farming re- 
numerative. 

.Mr. James is a Republican and he has 
been honored by his fellow-townsmen with 
more offices than he cared to accept. He 



JANES. 



JENNE. 



was chosen 'representative of the town of 
Weybridge in 1890 and served on the com- 
mittee on agriculture. While in the House 
he was an intelligent and conservative mem- 
ber. 

He was married in \\'eybridge, April 15, 
1874, to Orpha, daughter of Philo and Eliza 
(Landon) Jevvett. Four children have 
blessed their union : Grace E., Emma C, J. 
Perry (died in vouth), and Samuel E. 




to follow that profession. He was made suc- 
cessively the principal of the graded and high 
schools of Northfield and of Middlebury. 
His popularity and success in these posi- 
tions, and his superior qualities as scholar 
and instructor, attracted the attention of the 
college authorities and his services were en- 
gaged as professor of Latin and French in 
Middlebury college, and he has occupied 
that chair since 1891. 

\A'hile at the University of Vermont, Pro- 
fessor Janes was an active and prominent 
member of the local Delta Psi society, and 
in Boston joined the Theta Delta Chi frater- 
nity, of which he has ever been an active 
and loyal member. 

He is a member of the Congregational 
church and has been actively connected 
with local county and state Christian Endea- 
vor societies, energetically furthering their 
work and usefulness and holding their high- 
est offices. Though one of the youngest 
professors in the state he has won the 
respect of all who have come into contact 
with him, and has gained a wide reputation 
in social and educational circles. 

JENNE, James Nathaniel, of St. 

Albans, son of John (Jilbert and Charlotte 
(Wordworth) Jenne, was born in Berkshire, 
I )ec. 2 I, 18^9. 



JOHN A, JAMES. 

Mr. James is a member and liberal sup- 
porter of the Congregational church of his 
town, to which the James family has ever 
been attached. He is esteemed a true and 
hearty supporter of the principles he pro- 
fesses, and all who know him predict for 
him a useful and honorable career in his 
county and the state. 

JANES, Arthur Lee, of Middlebury, 
son of Charles W. and Mina (Anderson) 
Janes, was born in Montgomery, .•\ugust 22. 
1867. 

His early education was obtained in the 
public schools of St. .-Mbans, where he fitted 
for college. After a course of hard and un- 
remitting study he entered the University of 
Vermont, following the classical course in 
that institution. In the fall of 1887 Mr. 
Janes changed the scene of his labors to 
Boston University, from which he graduated 
in 1889. During the time that he was thus 
employed in completing his education, he 
had at intervals engaged in teaching with 
much success, and on graduation determined 




JAMES NATH 



Ha\"ing recei\ed his preparatory educa- 
tion at the Enosburg Falls graded schools, 
he entered the medical department of the 
U. V. ^L and graduated therefrom in 1881. 



JENNINGS. 



He afterward attended for four years the 
regular courses of the Post Graduate Mediial 
School of New York, from which he took a 
diploma in 1890. 

Dr. Jenne began the practice of medicine 
at Georgia, remaining there until 1887, when 
he established himself at St. .Albans, and at 
once attained a high standing in his pro- 
fession, and won an enviable reputation as 
a skillful surgeon. Elected a member of the 
Franklin County Society, Clinical Society of 
N'ew York, .American Medical .Association, 
and the Yermont State Medical Society, he 
was made president of the latter in 1890. 
Previous to this date he was a member of its 
board of censors, and he has been a dele- 
gate on several occasions to the societies of 
other states, and to the .American Medical 
Association. In 1890 he was chosen a 
member of the board of consulting surgeons 
of the Mary Fletcher Hospital, to which ])osi- 
tion he has been elected annually since that 
time. In 1892 was invited to fill the chair 
of adjunct professor of materia medica in 
the medical department of the U. Y. M., and 
in 1893 to the chair of materia medica. 

In 1889 Dr. Jenne was commissioned as- 
sistant surgeon ist Regt. V. N. G., and the 
following year was promoted to the office of 
surgeon, which was subsequently followed by 
his advancement to the position of brigade 
surgeon with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 
which office he now holds. 

He is a member of the A. O. F. of .A., and 
of the Masonic fraternity ; in the latter or- 
ganization he is afifiliated with P'ranklin 
Lodge, Champlain Chapter, and Lafayette 
Cammandery. 

Dr. Jenne was united in marriage in 
September, 1883, to .Abbie, daughter of 
Hiram and Miranda (Gilmore) Cushman. 

JENNINGS, Cyrus, of Hortonville, son 
of Justin and Harriet (Hill) Jennings, was 
born in Hubbardton, Feb. 23, 1838. 

Having received his education in the 
common schools he adopted farming as his 
profession, in which pursuit he has been 
vigorously engaged to the present time. 

Strongly Democratic in his political faith, 
he has enjoyed the confidence of his fellow- 
townsmen to such an e.xtent that they have 
seen fit to entrust him with the offices of 
selectman and lister. In 1876 he was called 
upon to represent his native town in the 
General Assembly, which honor was sup- 
plemented by an election to the .Senate in 
1890. 

Mr. Jennings was united in marriage, 
Nov. 13, 1 86 1, to .Alice E., daughter of N. 
H. Eddy. Four sons have blessed this 
union : William .A., Edward J., Elmer E., 
and Joseph S. 



JENNINGS, REV. ISAAC, late of Ben- 
nington Centre, son of Isaac and Anne 
Beach Jennings, was born in Trumbull, Conn., 
July 24, 1816. 

\Vhile yet a lad he removed to Derby of 
that state and there his early days were 
passed. Having obtained his preparatory 
education in accordance with the admirable 
New England system in the common school 
and preparatory academy he graduated from 
Yale College in the famous class of 1837, 
which numbered among its numbers such 
prominent men as Hon. William M. Evarts 
of New York, Chief Justice Morrison R. 
Waite, Hon. Edwards Pierpont, Samuel J. 
Tilden and others, and the thoroughness of 
his mental training was apparent in all his 
after life. 

F'resh from collegiate honors, he com- 
menced the active career of life as the prin- 
cipal of a school in Washington, Conn., in 
iS37-'38, but transferred the scene of his 
labors to New Haven, where he took charge 
of the Hopkins grammar school, and num- 
bered among his pupils Dr. Timothy Dwight, 
afterward president of his alma mater, but 
he soon abandoned the profession of a 
teacher to study for the Christian ministry, 
pursuing a course of theology at New Haven, 
Conn., and subsequently at .Andover, Mass. 
From the theological seminary of the latter 
place he graduated in 1842. Though 
earnest in church work, he never lost his 
interest in schools, a fact fully substantiated 
by his connection with those of Akron, ().. 
where he commenced his ministry, becom- 
ing pastor of the Second Congregational 
Church of that city June 14, 1843. There 
he labored with untiring zeal to carry out 
measures of reform in their then defective 
school system, and his energetic efforts were 
rewarded, for he inaugurated there the sys- 
tem of graded schools, now so common 
throughput the country. To such an extent 
did he leave his impress upon the interests 
of education in that section that he has 
been justly styled in the annual reports of 
the board of education, "The Father of our 
Public Schools." 

February 17, 1847, he was married to 
Sophia, daughter of Matthias and Sophia 
(Loomis) Day of Mansfield, Ohio. They 
had nine children : Isaac, Jr., Walter 
Loomis (deceased), Sophia Day (deceased), 
Frederic Beach, Matthias Day (deceased), 
Charles Green Rockwood, Robert Gould, 
Philip Burton, and William Bigelow. 

.After a successful pastorate at Stamford, 
Conn., commencing in 1847, Mr. Jennings 
removed to Bennington, where he was in- 
stalled over the First Church of Christ, 
Bennington Centre, Sept. 21, 1853, and 
here the remainder of his useful and Chris- 
tian life was passed. For over thirty-four 



JOUXsnN. 



223 



years he presided over his Hock — a typical 
"New England hill-side ])arish," as he him- 
self quaintly termed it. With repeated op- 
portunities to go to larger fields, and with 
prospects of larger financial gain, Mr. [en- 
nings steadily refused to leave his people in 
historic Bennington, preferring to live and 
die among them. In 1859 he made a Ku- 
ropean tour and returned with fresh vigor 
and enlarged powers for his life work. 

(Jf his published writings the "Memorials 
of a Century" is probably the best known, 
and will go down to posterity as a history of 
Bennington and the old First Church. (Jne 
of the most remarkable pulpit efforts of Mr. 
Jennings was his centennial discourse deliv- 
ered in the old church on its one hundredth 
anniversary in 1863, which will long be re- 
membered by those who were privileged to 
listen to it. Ever zealous and active in all 
matters pertaining to the welfare and credit 
of the town from the inception of the enter- 
prise he took great interest and an influen- 
tial part in the erection of the Bennington 
battle monument. He was an active mem- 
ber and vice president of the association, 
and a member and secretary of the board 
of directors, while his last public utterance 
pronounced the benediction which closed 
the ceremony on laying the corner stone of 
the monument. A model pastor, faithful and 
beloved to an eminent degree, a public-spir- 
ited citizen, an enthusiastic promoter of good 
works, his useful and Christian life was 
brought to a close .August 25, 1887. 

JENNINGS, FREDERIC B., son of Rev. 
Isaac and Sophia Day Jennings, was born in 
Bennington Centre, August 6, 1853. 

.\fter completing the preparatory course 
he entered Williams College, where he grad- 
uated in 1872 with high honors. He subse- 
quently studied law at the Harvard Law 
School, taking his degree therefrom in 1S74, 
and from the University Law School in New- 
York City in 1875 ^^''^h honors. 

Mr. Jennings entered the office of William 
M. Evarts in New York City in 1874, where 
he remained in successful practice several 
years, after which he established his present 
law firm of Jennings & Russell, 30 ISroad 
street, New York City. 

While his time and energies have been 
chiefly devoted to his law practice, many 
other business interests have shared his at- 
tention. Mr. Jennings is the vice-president 
of the .American Trading Company, a large 
and prosperous concern engaged in business 
with China, Japan and London. He is also 
vice-president of the Bennington & Rutland 
Railroad Co., and of the First National 
Bank of North Bennington. He is a trustee 
of the Free Library Hall at Bennington, as 
well as a trustee of public schools in the 



city of New \ork, and a director or trustee 
in se\eral other business enterprises in New 
Nork. 




Mr. Jennings married, July 27, 1880, Laura 
Hall, daughter of Trenor W. and Laura W 
D. S. Park, and a granddaughter of the late 
(lovernor Hiland Hall. Their children are : 
Percy Hall, Elizabeth, and F"rederic B., Jr. 

JOHNSON, Leonard, of Pawlet, son 
of James and Ruth (^^■illiams) Johnson, was 
born at Pawlet, Nov. 28, 1828. 

Having recei^■ed the u.sual educational ad- 
vantages of the common schools, he was a 
tiller of the soil till he arrived at his majority, 
when his active disposition making him de- 
sire a change, he entered the employment of 
the R. & W. R. R. Co. as station agent, and 
has continued in this occupation for forty 
years. 

During the late civil war he acted as re- 
cruiting officer and assistant ])rovost mar- 
shal. 

In 1852 he became a member of the order 
of Odd Fellows, joining Hopkins Lodge, 
Hartford, N. Y., and he has been a Free and 
.Accepted Mason for thirty-fi\e years. 

Mr. Johnson was married at Pawlet, Feb. 
26, 1857, to Harriet, daughter of Harry and 
Harriet ^"iets. Of this union were born 
three children : Wayland, R. O. .M., and 
.Anna .A. .As his second wife he wedded 
Ellen, daughter of Charles and Julia Wright, 
of Hartford, N. Y. 



In his political career he has been re- 
peatedly elected selectman, and has been 
justice of the peace in Pawlet for thirty-eight 
years. Twice has he represented his native 
town in the state Legislature, and been 
deemed worthy of filling the responsibile 
position of senator from Rutland county for 
two successive terms. In all these positions 
he has never failed to merit the confidence 
reposed in him by those through whose in- 
strumentality he has been called to ofifice. 

JOHNSON, RUSSELL Thayer, of 

West Concord, son of Ransel and Sally 
(Farmer) Johnson, was born in Newark, 
April 4, 1S41. 




RUSSELL THAYER JOHNSON. 

The public schools furnished him with his 
early educational training and he fitted for 
college in the Charlestown (P. Q.) Acad- 
emy, after which he studied medicine with 
Dr. Charles S. Cahoon of Lyndon, and 
graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical 
College, Xew York City, in 1867. 

Dr. Johnson began the practice of medi- 
cine in Stanstead, Canada, and in 1869 he 
removed to Concord, and since that time 
has had an extensive practive not only in 
that, but also in adjoining towns. In 1862 
he enlisted in the nth Regt. Vt. Vols., and 
served nearly three years, most of the time 
in the medical department of the Sixth 
Army Corps and since 1872 has been ex- 
amining surgeon for pensions. 



He is a Republican, and was member from 
Concord in the Legislature of 1884. In 
1886 he was vice-president of the Vermont 
State Medical Society. For nine years he 
has been supervisor of the insane. He has 
been honored with several town offices, and 
at present is town treasurer. 

He is a prominent Mason and Odd Fel- 
low and is also a member of the C. A. R., 
having held several important offices in the 
department of Vermont. 

Dr. Johnson was married, March 29, 1869, 
to Asenath A., daughter of Samuel and 
.\lmira (Currier) Weeks of Wheelock. 

JOHNSON, William Edward, of 

\\'oodstock, son of Eliakim and Harrie A. 
(Collamer) Johnson, was born in \N'ood- 
stock, June 26, 1841. 

He received his preparatory education at 
Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., 
and entered Dartmouth College from which 
he graduated in the class of 1862. 

He studied law with Gov. P. T. Washburn 
and Hon. Charles P. Marsh of the firm of 
Washburn & Marsh, and was admitted to 
the bar of \\'indsor county at the May 
term, 1865. He has from that time on 




WILLIAM EDWARD JOHNSON. 

been actively engaged in the practice of his 
profession at Woodstock. A noticeable thing 
in his legal work is the large number 
of cases referred to him for decision, and 
for findings of fact, more perhaps than to 
any other lawyer in the state. Mr. Johnson 



JONES. 



is the grandson of the late Hon. Jacob 
Collamer. 

He has proved his business capacity, and 
is a director in the Woodstock National 
Bank, the Woodstock Hotel Co., and the 
Aqueduct Co. 

He has been always attached to the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party, and was 
elected to the state Senate in iSSSi From 
1872 to 1874 he was state's attorney for 
Windsor county. 

Mr. Johnson was united in marriage, 
August 20, 1866, at Woodstock, to Miss 
Elizabeth, daughter of Philo and l^lizabeth 
M. (Fitch) Hatch. Of this union there is 
one child : Margaret L. 

JONES, Edwin Kent, of South North- 
field, son of Daniel and Rhoda (Pratt) Jones, 
was born in the town of Randolph, June 4, 
1828. He was the youngest of a faniilv of 
five children, and his mother dying when he 
was an infant, he found a good home in the 
household of Mr. and Mrs. J. .A. Kent, of 
Warren, in the schools of which[place he re- 
ceived his education. 



|» -1^ 




EDWIN KENT JONES. 



He removed to Northfield when he was 
twenty years of age and became a house car- 
penter. He erected the first academy and a 
large number of dwelling houses in North- 
field during the thriving and prosperous 
times that followed the advent of the railroad. 
In i860 he went to South Northfield to settle 
the estate of his brother-in-law, George S. 
Edson, and soon after formed a ]iartnershi]) 



with his uncle, engaging in trade and at the 
same time giving some attention to lumber- 
ing and the manufacture of chairs. By his 
various enterprises he has added materially 
to the prosperity and welfare of the village. 

Mr. Jones is a Republican in his politi- 
cal i)references, has served the town in vari- 
ous capacities, as justice, selectman and as 
town representati\e in 1866 and 1867. He 
is the author of the militia law which is the 
basis of the present system. In 1882 and 
1884 he was elected senator from Washington 
county. He has been prominently connected 
with the Dog River Valley Fair .Association as 
its treasurer and president. 

He is a member of the DeWitt Clinton 
Lodge, F. & A. M. 

He was married I )ec. 30, 1852, to Har- 
riet E., daughter of .Samuel and Harriet 
((Gardner) Dodge, of Northfield. Four 
children have been born to them, of whom 
three are living : Fred A., Susie E.( deceased), 
Minnie .A. (Mrs. E. H. Prince of Chicago), 
and Jessie A. 

JONES, Henry R., of Benson, son of 
Henry and Lodema (Crawford) Jones, was 
born in Shoreham, Dec. 11, 1822. 

He received his early instruction in the 
public schools of Shoreham and Newton 
.Academy and afterward as a student at Burr 
Seminary in Manchester, from which he 
graduated in 1844. After teaching a pri- 
vate school for one year he commenced the 
study of medicine with Dr. Joel Rice of Brid- 
port. He attended his first course of lect- 
ures at the medical college in Castleton, con- 
tinuing his studies with Dr. Joseph Perkins, 
professor of obstetrics and materia medica 
in that institution, and graduated in the fall 
of 1849. The following year he commenced 
his professional labors in New Haven, but 
left to attend a post graduate course at the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons in New 
York Citv. Devoting se\ eral months to hos- 
pital practice and attending lectures, he re- 
turned to Vermont and settled at Benson, 
where he has since enjoyed a large and 
lucrative practice. 

In educational matters he has taken great 
interest and was for a long time town super- 
intendent of schools. Dr. Jones has always 
voted the Republican ticket, both national 
and state, up to the time of President Cleve- 
land's nomination in 1884 ; since then he has 
been independent in his political views. 

In the winter of 1863 he was appointed by 
Ciovernor Holbrook one of the board for the 
county of Rutland to e.xamine those liable to 
military duty with a view to selecting the fit- 
test subjects to choose from in case of a 
draft. He represented Benson in the House 
in the years 1868 and '6g, serving each ses- 
sion on the committee on education, and 



contributed largely to obtaining a special 
charter for a railroad from Fair Haven or 
Whitehall to some point on Lake Champlain. 
Early in its history he became a member 
of the State Medical Society. In 1884 he 
was chosen delegate to the American Medical 
Association and to the Burlington Medical 




cultural pursuits chiefly for many years, cul- 
tivating the estate which has been in the 
family for over a century. He formerly 
made a specialty of breeding Durham catrte 
and Merino sheep, but of late years has 
devoted his attention more especially to 
sheep and horses. Mr. Jones and S. S. 
Rockwell originated the business of export- 
ing improved sheep, sending away the first 
lot in 1843. This enterprise first extended 
to the Mississippi river, and in i860 to the 
Pacific coast. He made many trips west 
before any railroads were built in that sec- 
tion, and remained on that coast five years, 
having his horses and sheep shipped to him, 
his headquarters being at San Francisco. 

Mr. Jones was formerly a whig, and be- 
came a Republican when that party was 
formed. He has been elected four times to 
the House of Representatives from his town. 



College at its annual examination of students 
preparatory to graduation. In the organiza- 
tion of the Rutland County Medical and Sur- 
gical Society he took an active part and was 
early elected its jjresident. 

He was united in marriage at Benson, 
May 18, 1853, to Louise R., daughter of 
Hon. Isaac and Louise C. (Chase) Norton. 
Five children have been the fruit of this 
union, three of whom still survive : Emma 
S., Henry R., Jr., M. D., and Charles N. 

JONES, ROLLIN J., of West Corn- 
wall, son of Arnzi and Hepzibath (Harvey) 
Jones, was born in Cornwall, Nov. 12, 1819. 
His mother was a relative of James Hervey, 
M. A., one of the most popular English 
authors of the eighteenth century. His 
father was a great-grandson of Benjamin 
Jones, who was an officer in the F^nglish 
army. His progenitors came to America in 
the early settlement of the country. 

He received his early education at the 
common schools in Cornwall, and afterward 
went to Hinesburgh Academy and from 
thence to the high school at Saco, Me. 

He owns one of the most productive 
farms in the state, and he has followed agri- 




ROLLIN J. JONES. 

in 1849, 1850, 1867, and 1868, and three 
times to the Senate, in 1853, 1854, and 1869. 
He was a member of the Constitutional Con- 
vention in 1857. In 1870 he accepted the 
coUectorship of internal revenue for the first 
congressional district under President Grant, 
at the same time refusing to have his name 
considered for the position of Lieutenant- 
tiovernor of the state. He was a popular 
candidate, having never been beaten in con- 
vention or at the polls, and has declined 
being a candidate for many important offices 
that seemed easily within his reach. He re- 
tired from politics early in life, peferring to 



JONES. 



227 



devote his time to the management of his 
estate. 

Mr. Jones has been a member of the Bap- 
tist church since 1840. He is one of the 
board of managers of the state Baptist con- 
vention for helping destitute churches and 
one of the board of managers of the 15a])tist 
State Historical Society. He has also held 
for many years the position of a trustee of 
Saxton's River Academy. 

He was married in Hinesburgh, on Sejjt. 
15, 1842, to Flora, daughter of Sarah and 
Austin Heecher. From this union two 
daughters were born : Martha Grace, and 
AHce May, both of whom died in youth. 

Mr. Jones has been a liberal contributor 
to the Sheldon Museum of Middlebury. He 
is a man of literary tastes, quiet and unas- 
suming in his manner, yet withal possesses 
an extended acquaintance and is largely 
influential in the state. 

JONES, Walter Alonzo, late ot 

Waitsfield, son of Hiram and Laura (Car- 
penter) Jones, was born in Waitsfield, July 
27, 1840. His father, Hiram Jones, was 
prominent in town and county affairs. 







WALTER ALONZO JONES. 



The boyhood and youth of Mr. Jones were 
spent upon his father's farm, and he received 
his primary education in the public schools, 
after which he fitted for college at Barre 
Academy. In the fall of 186 1 he entered 
the University of Vermont, but was obliged 
to leave in his sophomore year on account 



of ill-liealth. He was graduated from the 
medical college at Pittsfield, Mass., in i<S65, 
and practiced his jirofession for a short time 
at Fabius, N. V., and afterwards in his native 
town. In 1868 he, with others, bought the 
somewhat extensive mercantile business of 
his uncle, and this soon after came into his 
liands exclusively, for which reason he relin- 
(|uished the practice of his profession and 
devoted himself to business piirsuits. 

Dr. Jones was actively identified with town 
affairs, especially interesting himself in edu- 
cational progress, and to him more than any 
other is due the great improvement and 
enviable reputation of the schools of Waits- 
field. He represented his town in 1880 and 
1SS2, serving each term as chairman of the 
grand list committee. His well demonstrated 
capacity for affairs, the high esteem in which 
he was held, easily gave him the nomination 
to the state Senate in 1888. This was his 
last public service. 

Dr. Jones was a leading and consistent 
member of the Congregational church and 
had its interests always at heart. For four- 
teen years he acted as superintendent of the 
Sunday school. 

He married, at Waitsfield, Nov. 17, 1869, 
Elvira, daughter of Jedediah and Naomi 
(Joslin) Bushnell, and of this union there 
were born two sons : Matt B., and Walter E. 
Dr. Jones died Feb. 9, 1892, not before the 
people of Washington county, and indeed 
of the state of Vermont, had learned and 
appreciated his worth, so that they sorrowed 
for the loss of a good man, a valuable citi- 
zen, a wise counsellor, and a trusted friend. 

JONES, Walter Frank, of West 

l^o\er, son of William H. and Diana (AUis) 
Jones, was born in Do\er, April 7, 1840. 

His educational advantages were obtained 
in the common schools of Dover and at Wil- 
mington high school, from which he gradu- 
ated in i860. After the completion of his 
studies he entered his father's store as clerk, 
in which he remained for some years, and 
then took charge of the hotel in West Wards- 
boro. Remaining there a year, he again 
returned to his native town and entered into 
partnership with his father to do a general 
merchandise trade, which connection lasted 
seven years. 

Mr. Jones was married, April 23, 1862, to 
Miss .Annette, daughter of Devi and Nancy 
(Rice) Snow, of Somerset. Of this union 
are two children : Orrin H., and H. Jennie. 
Mrs. Jones died Dec. 16, 1881. He was 
united to Martha A., daughter of Wells P. 
and Mary Ann (Bowker) Allis, who died 
Dec. 29, 1892, leaving one child ; Martha .V. 

Mr. [ones held the office of postmaster for 
ten years, being appointed under President 
Lincoln in 1861, and from time to time has 



228 



filled nearly every one of the town ofifices ; 
for ten years he was town clerk and treas- 



i 



^^*^ 



^kt, 




i«?S4> ' 



urer. He was elected to the General Assem- 
bly from Dover in 1888, an honor which he 
again received in 1892. 

JOYCE, Charles H., of Rutland, son 
of Charles and Martha E. (Grist) Joyce, was 
born in Wherwell, England, Jan. 30, 1830. 

He came to this country with his parents 
in 1836, and settled in Waitsfield. He 
worked on a farm and attended the district 
school, winters, until he was eighteen years 
old, when he left the farm and completed 
his education at the Waitsfield and North- 
field Academies and at Newbury Seminary. 

He was a page in the Vermont House of 
Representatives three sessions, assistant 
librarian one year, and librarian one year. 
He taught school several terms, at the same 
time pursuing his legal studies under Hon. F. 
F. Merrill of Montpelier, and the late Col. F. 
V. Randall of Northfield. He was admitted 
to the bar of Washington county at the Sep- 
tember term, 1852, and commenced the prac- 
tice of law at Northfield in December, 1855. 
In September, 1856, he was elected state's 
attorneyofWashington county, and re-elected 
in 1857. During the last year of service as 
state's attorney he greatly distinguished hmi- 
self in the prosecution and conviction of one 
Ariel Martin, for the murder of two men in 
Calais. Hon. James Barrett presided at the 
trial and ' Martin was defended by Paul 
Dillingham and Luther L. Durant. 



In June, 1S61, he was appointed by Gov. 
Erastus Fairbanks major of the 2nd Regt. 
Vt. Vols. Infantry, the first three years' 
regiment to leave the state, and in June 
following he was promoted by Governor 
Holbrook to lieutenant-colonel in the same 
regiment. He fought gallantly with his regi- 
ment in the first battle of Bull Run ; at Lees 
Mills ; at Williamsburgh ; at (lolden's Farm ; 
at Savage Station ; at White Oak Swamp ; at 
the second Bull Run ; and at Fredericks- 
burg. In several of these battles he was 
specially mentioned by his superior officers 
for gallant conduct upon the field. In Jan- 
uary, 1863, he was compelled to resign his 
commission on account of a severe disa- 
bility contracted during the campaign of 
1861. 

On his retirement from the army Colonel 
Joyce removed to Rutland and resumed the 
practice of his profession. At the March 




CHARLES 



term, 1869, of the Rutland county court, the 
case of State against Ziba, Fred and Horace 
Plumley for the murder of one John Oilman 
was tried ; Colonel Joyce had charge of the 
defence, and his argument for the respond- 
ents attracted wide attention and placed 
him at once in the front rank of jury advo- 
cates in this state. In 1874 he was engaged 
to assist the state's attorney in the prose- 
cution of John P. Fair for the murder of one 
Anne Frieze at Rutland under the most 
horrible circumstances. The case attracted 
wide attention and it was said by the daily 



• press of the day that Colonel Joyce's closing 
argument was a masterly effort and highly 
appreciated by the bar and the vast audience 
present at the trial. But probably the great- 
est effort ever made by him and the most 
splendid victory he ever achieved at the bar, 
was in the celebrated case of Calvin S. Inman 
of Poultney, tried for the shooting of Patrick 
Sennott, at the September term of Rutland 
county court, 1889, and acquitted. The 
colonel made the closing argument for the 
defence and during its delivery the large 
court room was packed with people from all 
parts of the county. A death-like stillness 
was preserved by the vast audience until he 
closed, when the deep murmur of applause 
showed the effect produced by the fiery and 
eloquent words of the advocate. The Rut- 
land Daily Herald speaking of the argument 
said : " Colonel Joyce was eloquent and im- 
pressive. It was the effort of his life. He 
was inspiring ; he was ])athetic ; and with 
the magical witchery of a silver tongue he 
painted a portrait so touching, so saddening 
that at times there was scarcely a dry eye in 
the audience. Again in characterizing the 
affray, and that which led up to it, he gave 
full reign to his terrible power of denuncia- 
tion." 

In 1869 he was elected a member of the 
state House of Representatives from the 
town of Rutland, and in 1870 was again 
elected for two years, during which time he 
was speaker of the House. In 1874 he was 
elected to Congress from the first congres- 
sional district, and re-elected in 1876, 1878 
and 1880. Colonel Joyce took an active 
part during his eight years service in the 
national House of Representatives, in the 
discussion of most of the important ques- 
tions which came before Congress. In 1876 
he made speeches on the death of Vice- 
President Wilson ; on the presentation of the 
statue of Kthan .Mien ; on early resumption 
of specific payments ; on the centennial cele- 
bration of the American independence ; in 
1878 on the repeal of the resumption act 
■and the remonetization of silver ; on the 
election of President and ^'ice- President ; 
on the tariff ; on an amendment to the Mexi- 
can war ]5ension bill, to exclude rebels from 
the pension roll ; in 1879, on the policy of 
the Democrats in forcing an extra session of 
Congress by failing to pass the regular a]j- 
propriation bills; in 1880, on commercial 
reciprocity between this country and Canada : 
■on the alcoholic liquor tariff; and in 18S2, 
on Chinese immigration ; on the apportion- 
ment of representatives to the national Con- 
gress ; and on the policy of the government 
in relation to pensions. Many of these 
speeches attracted the attention not only of 
the people of Vermont, but of the whole 
countrv and were widelv circulated. 



JLTDEVINE. 229 

In jiolitics Colonel Joyce has always been 
an earnest, thorough-going Re])ublican, antl 
has in every presidential canijiaign since 1852 
done effective work upon the stump for his 
jjarty, not only in Vermont, but in New 
Hampshire, Connecticut, Indiana and New 
York. 

He has long been ranked among the lead- 
ing platform orators in the country ; a fine 
voice, an earnest, im])ressive manner, a thor- 
ough knowledge of his subject, and a firm 
conviction of the truth of what he utters, are 
among the elements which make him one of 
the most eloquent and efTecti\ e speakers be- 
fore a popular audience in this country. 

During all the years of his busy and labor- 
ious life, in his profession and in Congress, 
he has found time to respond to all the num- 
erous calls made upon him for the 4th of 
July orations, addresses at agricultural fairs. 
Memorial Day addresses, and lectures upon 
a great variety of subjects. He has always 
been a close and thorough student and a 
keen and interested obser\er of men and 
things. His favorite books outside of the 
law, are the Bible, Shakespeare, Milton, Bun- 
yan's Pilgrim's Progress, Scott's works and 
I )ickens', while history, biography, political 
economy and general literature make up the 
catalogue. The esteem in which Colonel 
Joyce has always been held by the people of 
his adopted state is fully shown by the posi- 
tions of trust and honor to which they have 
so often called him. 

He was married, Feb. 21, 1853, to Rouene 
Morris, daughter of Gurdon and I.aura 
(Scott) Randall, of Northfield. Of this 
union there are now living one son and one 
daughter. The son, Charles Pitt F., gradu- 
ated at Princeton in 1887 and at Dartmouth 
Medical College in 1892. The daughter, 
Inez Rouene (educated at Tilden Seminary, 
Lebanon, N. H., and Temple Grove, Sara- 
togo, N. v.), was married, March, 1877, at 
Washington, D. C, to Theron C. Crawford 
of Michigan. 

JUDEVINE, Harvey, of West Concord, 
son of Cornelius and Lucy (Wetherbee) 
Judevine, was born in Concord, March 28, 
1820. The name of Judevine has been prom- 
inent in the annals of the town of Concord 
for almost a century. Cornelius Judevine 
came thither in 1805, was the first merchant 
who settled there, and had a large and pros- 
])erous trade, yet he found some leisure to 
attend to public affairs, for he represented 
the town in the state Legislature twice. 
'I'he maternal grandfather of Harvey, Ca]it. 
Samuel \\'etherl)ee, was a captain in the 
Revolutionarv war and marrieil Susannah 
Johnson, who with her father's family was 
captured by the Indians, .August 29, 1754, at 
Charlestown, N. H. She had a sister named 



Captive (from the fact that she was born on 
the march of the prisoners to Canada). 




Harvey Judevine passed through the usual 
educational course in the common schools, 



KELTON, Francis P., of East Mont- 
pelier, son of Samuel S. and Ursula (Sprague) 
Kelton, was born in East Montplier, May 6, 
1841. The name of Kelton has been well 
known and honored in this town for three 
generations. The grandfather of Francis P. 
settled in town in 1798. His son Samuel S. 
Kelton was prominent in official affairs for 
sixteen years ; was assistant judge of Wash- 
ington county court for two years. He 
moved to Montpelier in 1876 and died there 
March, 1892. 

Francis P. was born and reared on the 
paternal homestead, receiving such educa- 
tion as the common schools afforded, sup- 
plemented by a course of instruction at Dr. 
Spaulding's .\cademy at Barre. 

He married, Jan. 19, 1876, Joanna A., 
daughter of Capt. FMvvin J. and Mary ( Wig- 
glesworth) Colby of Salisbury, Mass., of 
which marriage there is issue : Mary H., 
Raymond A., and Robert S. 

IVIr. Kelton has successfully pursued the 
vocation of a farmer on the farm which his 
father occupied. He has made a specialty 
of dairy products and raising thoroughbred 
Jerseys. Here he lives, respected by his 



and then was admitted to the Concord gram- 
mar school. He also attended the academy 
in Plymouth, N. H. 

At the time of his majoritv, Mr. ludevine 
became practically the superintendent in the 
management of his father's affairs until the 
death of the latter in 1862. For years he 
has been in active business, being engaged in 
the manufacture of lumber. He is best known 
however, as a real estate operator and farm 
manager and is the owner of a very exten- 
sive property including no less than seven 
different farms. 

On the 23d of August, 1846, he was 
united in marriage to Florilla Jane, daughter 
of Rev. Josiah Morse of Concord. Their 
only child, Luthera M., died at the age of 
sixteen. Mr. Judevine contracted a second 
alliance, Feb. 27, r86i, with .Angle, daughter 
of P^benezer and Lepha (Joslin) Holbrook, 
also of Concord. 

Mr. Judevine is a staunch Republican, 
and, beginning with constable, has held al- 
most every town office and is now chairman 
of the board of school directors. He was 
representative from Concord in 1865 and 
fifteen years later senator for Essex county, 
serving in the Senate on the grand list 
committee. 

He is of a marked and original personal- 
ity, serious and reflective, but with an under- 
lying and spontaneous vein of wit and humor.. 
For nearly half a century his influence in 
town affairs has been extensive and contin- 
uous. 




FRANCIS P. KELTON 



231 



townsmen, all of whom recognize his private 
worth and hearty interest in all good works. 
He belongs to the majority party of the 
state, has been selectman and held other 
civil offices, as well as representing East 
Montpelier in the state Legislature in 1S90. 

KELTON, Truman Chittenden, of 

Flast .Montpelier, son of Xaum and Fanny 
(\'incent) Kelton, was born in the town of 
Montpelier, May 11, 181 7. The father was 
an early pioneer, born in Warwick, Mass., 
1778, coming to Montpelier in 1798. He 
was an e.xcellent farmer, a successful teacher 
and fiNe times a representative of the orig- 
inal town of Montpelier. 

The son received his education in the 
common schools and learned the trade of a 
mason, which he followed for more than 
thirteen years. He is, however, better 
known as a farmer and business man. He 
has successfully cultivated an estate of more 
than two hundred acres, the basis of which 
has been owned and occupied by the Kelton 
family for nearly a century. He is esteemed 
a man of excellent judgment and thoroughly 
conscientious in every work he undertakes. 




CHITTENDEN 



Such a man would naturally and jiroperly 
be sought for public office, accordingly we 
find him acceptably filling the positions of 
town treasurer for fourteen years, town clerk 
thirty-one years, and justice of the peace 
twenty-five years; while in 1863 and 1864 
he was called upon to represent East Mont- 
pelier .in the Legislature. 



In 1S46 he married iMiieline K., daughter 
of Joel and Ruba ( Metcalf) Bassett. Their 
marriage has been blessed with six children, 
fi\e of whom survive: Cieorge, Herbert, 
Henry, Fanny (Mrs. A. 1). Coburn), Walter 
(deceased), and Edwin, all residing in this 
vicinity. 

In recent years he has acted as a local 
counsel in business affairs, has executed 
nearly all deeds retjuired in his neighbor- 
hood, performed all the offices of a convey- 
ancer and settled more than twenty-five 
estates, some of them in\ol\ing extensive 
interests. 

KEMP, Dean GUSTAVUS, of .Montpelier, 
son of Phineas .\. and Betsey (Blanchard) 
Kemp, was born in Worcester, Nov. 8, 1841. 




DEAN GUSTA 



He resided with his father until he was 
about eighteen years of age, and spent his 
time in attendance at the district school and 
in hard work on the farm. He then went to 
.Montpelier, and became a pupil in the Wash- 
ington county grammar school. In 1S62 he 
entered the office of Dr. W. H. H. Richard- 
son, as a medical student, and afterwards 
attended a course of lectures at the Bellevue 
Hospital Medical College of New Vork City, 
where he graduated March 26, 1866, and 
commenced the i)ractice of his profession 
with his first instructor. Soon after, he pur- 
chased the residence of Ur. Richardson and 
succeeded him in a large and successful prac- 
tice, which he retains to the jiresent time. 



KENISTON. 



Dr. Kemp was a member of the board of ex- 
amining physicians for pensions under the 
administrations of Presidents Garfield, Arthur 
and Harrison, and has been for years the 
treasurer of the Vermont Medical Society and 
was its president in iSS6. He has been sec- 
retary of the Montpelier school board for 
several years and is a director of the Mont- 
pelier Electric Light and Power Manufact- 
uring Co. 

He was married to Annette C, daughter of 
George \V. and Laura (Cadv) Maxhani, of 
Northfield, Sept. 5, 1866. 

In politics he is a Republican : and is a 
member of Bethany Congregational church. 

KENFIELD, FRANK, of MorrisviUe, son 
of Asaph and F^liza (Shephard) Kenfield, was 
born in Sterling, now a part of Morristown, 
March 13, 1838. George Kenfield, the 
grandfather of Frank, was a soldier of the 
Revolution, .\saph was the first male child 
born in Morristown, and followed farming as 
his life occupation. He was born June 26, 
1794, and died Oct. 11, 1866. 




Frank was educated in the common 
schools, and at the People's Academy, 
MorrisviUe. After he was of age, he went 
to Massachusetts for a year, where he taught 
school and then made a tour of observation 
through the West and South. In the spring 
of i860 he returned from his wanderings, 
built a saw mill at Morristown Corners and 
commenced the lumber business, but this 



was interrupted by the call to arms, that 
resounded through the land in 1861. 

He enlisted Sept. 24, 1862, as a private 
in Co. E, 13th Regt. Vt. Vols., was immedi- 
ately elected 2d lieutenant, and soon after 
promoted to be ist lieutenant. He was with 
his regiment every day of its service, and 
when General Pickett made his furious 
charge at Gettysburg he had the good fortune 
to capture a confederate captain, whose 
sword is still in his ])ossession. In the latter 
part of this engagement he received a severe 
wound. On his recovering he again entered 
the service, recruited Co. C, 17th Regt., 
was commissioned its captain, and mustered 
in, Feb. 8, 1864. The third attempt at 
battalion drill of this regiment was on the 
bloody field of the Wilderness, and there 
Captain Kenfield was again severely wounded, 
sent to the hospital at Fredericksburg and 
allowed a thirty-days' furlough. At the 
battle of Petersburg Mine, July 30, 1864, his 
company was almost annihilated, and he was 
captured and sent to Columbia, S. C. After 
seven months' imprisonment he was trans- 
ferred to Wilmington, N. C, and paroled. 
He was mustered out of U. S. service, Mav 
IS, 1865. 

Since his return from the army Captain 
Kenfield has been actively engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits, but more recently he has 
given attention to farming and stock and 
produce buying. 

He has been entrusted with nearly every 
town office, and was sent to the Legislature 
in 1884, where he served on the general and 
military committees. He was influential in 
securing the appropriation for the soldiers' 
home, and was appointed one of its trustees. 
He holds the office of assistant quarter- 
master-general of the department of Vermont 
( ;. A. R. 

He married, Sept. 5, 1866, Lamott C, 
daughter of Lomis and Catherine Wheelock 
of Montpelier ; she died in 1872, leaving one 
daughter, Kate B. (Mrs. Carl Smith). Feb- 
ruary 9, 1874, he formed a second alliance 
with Airs. Margaret Lyman, daughter of 
David and Ann Cruller. 

Captain Kenfield is a member of the 
Loyal Legion, and has served as commander 
of J. M. Warren Post, G. A. R., of Morris- 
viUe. For more than thirty years he has 
been numbered among the brotherhood of 
Free Masons. 

KENISTON, Nathan, of Greensboro, 
son of Nathan and Grace (Currier) Kenis- 
ton, was born in Cabot, Feb. 5, 1816. His 
father was a native of Portsmouth, N. H., 
and was one of the earliest settlers of Cabot. 

The son received his scanty education in 
the district school and remained at home 
till he was twenty-two years of age when he 



'-35 



removed to (jreensboro and was em])loyed 
as laborer on a farm in that vicinity, but be- 
ing desirous to see something of the world 
outside the narrow circle to which his pre- 
vious life had been limited, he walked with 
a companion to Boston, a distance of more 
than two hundred miles, where he engaged 
in the occupation of brick making in the 
summer season while he drove a general 
delivery wagon between Dover and Boston 
during the winter. He remained in Boston 
and vicinity about five years, then returned 
to Greensboro, where he bought a small 
farm which he managed most successfully in 
spite of the serious apprehension of his 
friends that he would fail in this attempt, 
but this word was not to be found in his 
dictionary and he struggled on, bought ad- 
joining land — in all, five hundred acres— and 
devoting a large part of his efforts to dairy 
products, brought this enterprise to a pros- 
perous issue by his unflagging zeal and indus- 
try. In addition to his ordinary occupation 
he plied the trade of brick mason and plasterer 
and as he had no rival in the place he did a 
remunerative business. In 1858 he bought the 
grist mill at Greensboro \'illage, made exten- 
sive repairs and thus had another source of in- 
come ; not content he added to his other 
properties a saw mill privilege, built and 
equipped the mill with the first circular saw 
ever used in the place, then took as a partner 
Hiram Blaisdell. These mills they afterwards 
exchanged for a large agricultural property in 
Hardwick. Having obtained some knowl- 
edge of the trade of carpenter and joiner, he 
abandoned his farm in Greensboro and built 
the house where he now resides in Greens- 
boro Village and in addition erected other 
dwellings in that place and St. Johnsbury. 

Mr. Keniston was married. May 4, 1845, 
to Abigail, daughter of Zaccheus and Jennet 
(.\twood) Thompson, who died Nov. 12, 
1866. He was a second time wedded, 
.August 19, 1868, to Mary E. Ellsworth, 
daughter of Charles B. and Abigail (Cobb) 
Field. No children have been the fruit of 
either union, but in 1848 he adopted Elloit 
F. Rollins, who lost his life in the war of the 
rebellion, and in 1871 he adopted Myrtle 
Thompson who died about two years later. 

In political choice he has been a life-long 
Democrat, yet has never desired or sought 
preferment. He has been elected justice of 
the peace, member of the school board and 
highway surveyor. In 185 i he united with 
the Congregational church and he has ever 
been a generous donor to the society in 
Greensboro as well as a liberal contributor 
to home and foreign missions, with which he 
has especially identified himself by becoming 
an honorary member of the .American board 
and making Mrs. Keniston a life member of 
the .American Home Missionary Society. 



Mr. Keniston is the last survivor of a very 
large Bible class and has always taken a 
lively interest in church affairs, but his 
generous heart does not confine itself to the 
outward forms of religion, for his kindly 
charity is extended to all in need or sorrow. 

KEYES, Thomas C, of Newbury, son 
of Freeman and Emeline C. (Jewett) Keyes, 
was born in Newbury, Jan. i, 1844. 

He was educated chiefly at Newbury 
Seminary, and then passed through a course 
of instruction at the Commercial and Colle- 
giate Institute of New Haven, Conn. 

In 1864 Mr. Keyes was admitted as a 
partner in the mercantile firm of F. & H. 
T. Keyes & Co., and since his father's death 
in 1 87 1, he has owned and continued the 
business. 

He is a Republican in his political sym- 
pathies, and was appointed postmaster in 
1875, which office he continued to hold for 
ten years. He was elected to represent 
Newbury in the House in 1886, and has 
long been a member of the Republican 
town committee. 

Mr. Keyes was united in marriage, Nov. 
24, 1 88 1, in Chicago, III, to Martha P., 
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hosmer) 
Morse, of St. Johnsbury. 

KIMBALL, ROBERT JaCKSON, of Ran- 
dolph, son of Hiram and Jerusha (Piradish) 
Kimball, was born in Randol])h, Feb. 16, 
1836. His ancestors were English and his 
grandfather and great-grandfather both served 
in the Revolutionary war in Col. Samuel B. 
Webb's 3d Conn. Regt. His grandfather 
removed from Pomfret, Conn., to Ranclol])h 
about the year 1795. 

He was' educated at the West Randolph 
.Academy and commenced business at the 
early age of thirteen as a newsboy on the 
A'ermont Central R. R. : was afterwards a 
telegraph operator and expressman and has 
been interested in telegraph and railroad en- 
terprises to a considerable extent ever since, 
and is now director in the old Vermont & 
Boston Telegraph Co. He engaged in the 
banking business at Toronto, Canada, in 
1862 and in 1865 established a banking house 
in New York, which still continues as R. J. 
Kimball & Co. In 1872, owing to a great 
decline in securities, he was unable to meet 
his engagements in full and settled with his 
creditors within forty-eight hours after his 
failure by the payment of twenty- fi\e cents 
on the dollar and received his discharge 
from any further obligation. In 1881 he 
jiaid the other seventy-five per cent together 
with nine years' interest at six per cent, the 
whole amounting to manv thousands of 
dollars. 

He was an aid-de-camp on Governor 



234 KING. 

Dillingham's staff, i8S8 to 1890; represented 
the town of Randolph in the Legislature in 
1890 and 1 89 1, and served on the committee 
of ways and means, banks, and special joint 
committee on the ^Vork^s Columbian Expo- 
sition, and was consular agent at Toronto in 
1864. He is vice-president of the State 
Republican League, also the Republican 
Club at Randol])h, and a trustee of the State 
Normal School at Randolph. 

He married Martha L., daughter of Charles 
A. Morse, in 1863. 

While he has for manv vears been a mem- 




ber of the Baptist church, his liberal support 
to the cause has not been confined to that 
denomination. He has shown his gener- 
osity and public spirit in many ways in differ- 
ent enterprises in his native town. He has 
a home in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he was 
instrumental in forming a flourishing society 
of Vermonters, of which he was made presi- 
dent, and is connected as a trustee in various 
important religious, charitable and other in- 
stitutions in that city. He has maintained 
his home in West Randolph since 1864. 

KING, Aaron N., of Tunbridge, son of 
Kid. Nathaniel and Lydia (Noyes)King, was 
born in Randolph, July i, 1820. His father 
Elder King was one of the earliest settlers of 
Tunbridge, and was one of the first preachers 
of the Freewill Baptist denomination west of 
the Connecticut river. So marked was his 
abilitv manv were the revivals that followed 



his preaching. Through his efforts largely 
was the first conference of the denomination 
organized at Tunbridge. To him came the 
committee appointed to prepare the articles 
of faith, and the doctrines outlined by him 
and written down by the committee were the 
articles of faith found in the 'IVeatise of the 
denomination. He preached from stumps 
in the woods, in barns and later in houses of 
worship. The days not spent in preaching 
were spent in labor and by his frugality and 
industry he accumulated a large property. 
He represented Tunbridge in the Legislature 
thirteen years and held many offices of trust,, 
he found time however for study and was 
noted as a Bible student and theologian in 
the yearly meetings of the denomination in 
this state. 

Mr. A. N. King was the youngest of thir- 
teen children. In his earlier business life he 
was a farmer and was succesful in this pur- 
suit. 

December 2, i84i,he was married to Eliza 
B. Nutter at Northfield. Two sons were the 




fruit of this imion : Heber A., and Millard T. 
In 1854 Mr. King embarked in mercantile 
business in Tunbridge, and is still engaged in 
it. At about the same time he engaged in 
banking and was for several years a director 
in the Royalton bank. He was also a director 
in the Orange County National Bank, of 
Chelsea, and for several years, until its suc- 
cessful close in I S93, president of the First Na- 
tional Bank, of Chelsea. At the expiration 
of the charter of this bank the National Bank 



of Orange County was organized through his 
efforts, and he was elected its first (jresident. 
He has nearly completed forty years ser\ice 
as a bank officer. He has bought farm after 
farm until he is one of the largest landed 
proprietors of Orange county, and, at an age 
when other men retire from active business, 
is continually at work looking after various 
interests. 

He has been an active member of the 
Republican party since its organization and 
represented 'runbridge in the Legislature in 
1868 and iS6g, was for twenty-five years 
postmaster, se\ eral years town treasurer and 
has held other offices in Tunbridge. 

His elder son, Heber A., was early asso- 
ciated with him in his mercantile business, 
continuing in this until his death, Dec. 2, 
1889. The vounger son, after getting his 
education at Randolph Academy, entered the 
store of his father and has for a long term of 
years been the junior member of the firm of 
A. N. King & Son. He, like his father, is an 
active member of the Republican party and 
represented Tunbridge in i884-'85 and was a 
senator from Orange county in i888-'89. Has 
been treasurer of the town the greater part of 
the time since 1881. He has been post- 
master several years and is a director of the 
National Bank of ( )range County. 

KING, Charles W., late of Lunenburg, 
son of Willard and Laura L.(Ladd) King, was 
born at Lunenburg, Nov. 9, 1832. His 
father, Captain Willard King, was an old 
resident of the place, industrious, frugal, 
conscientious, and ever a most zealous 
worker in the cause of temperance and 
religion. He started in life with no capital 
but his two hands and an axe, cleared for 
himself a farm about three and one-half 
miles from the present village, and there 
lived, labored and reared his family of eight 
children. 

Charles ^V. was early trained to labor, and 
his opportunities for an education in the 
district school were but meagre. After the 
crops were harvested he was able to attend 
school a few weeks, boarding at home and 
walking seven miles. Hut he had an insa- 
tiable desire for knowledge, and every spare 
moment was spent in reading and studying. 
He taught school at seventeen, and at 
twenty-one was elected superintendent, and 
for several years was an important factor in 
educational movements in his town and 
county. Mr. King was bred a farmer, and 
to this occupation was given his chief atten- 
tion, though he was also successfully engaged 
in other business. He was everywhere re- 
cognized as a man of keen insight, at once 
sure and rapid in his conclusions, and of 
excellent general ability. He was frequently 



KING. 23s 

trusted with the management and settlement 
of estates, invested funds for others, and 
occupied responsible financial positions in 
large enterprises. January 18, 1884, he was 
elected treasurer of The Browns' Lumber 
Co., of VVhitefield, N. H., and occupied that 
position till his decease. He was for a long 
time a director of the First National Bank 
of St. Johnsbury, and was in his last years 
its vice-president. 

Republican in politics, as such he repre- 
sented Lunenburg in 1874, and served on 
the committee on education, and was influ- 
ential in abolishing the board of education 
and electing a state superintendent. In 
1878 he was chosen to the state Senate from 
Essex county, and again served on the com- 
mittee on education. He was trustee of 
Johnson State Normal School and two years 
county road commissioner, also many years 
justice of the peace. In all of the varied 
and private trusts committed to his hands 
Mr. King was faithful, diligent and efficient, 
and earned the respect and esteem of his 
associates. 

He married, Dec. 25, i860, Jennie, daugh- 
ter of Reuben and Fannie Chandler. Their 
children are : Charles C, and Willard G. 

Mr. King died at Whitefield, N. H., August 
12, 1S93, regretted by all to whom he had 
become known by his public, business and 
social life. 



KING, Charles M., of Benson, son of 
Mosley F. and Juliette King, was born in 
Benson, Feb. 26, 1849. 

He received a careful training in the com- 
mon schools of Benson and Barre Academy, 
forming the industrious habits and sound 
ideas which were to render him efficient ser- 
\ice in the events of his after life. Like so 
many citizens of the Creen Mountain state, 
Mr. King has devoted himself to farming in 
the town where he was born. This vocation 
he has jjursued in all its branches, and by 
patient and unremitting toil has met with 
merited success, attaining a high position 
among the citizens of Benson. He is a Re- 
publican in his political faith, and has dis- 
charged acceptably the duties of selectman 
and other town offices. He has been for 
many years a director of the Rudand County 
.\gricultural Society, and is also a director in 
the Western Vermont Agricultural Society. 
His high reputation for intelligence and 
energy met with a fitting reward in his 
choice as representative of Benson to the 
Legislature in 1888, where he manifested the 
same careful and attentive consideration 
which had always characterized his jirivate 
life, in his attention to his legislative duties, 
giving his services to the committee on agri- 
culture. 



236 KING 

Mr. King united with the M. E. Church in 
1 88 1, and is now filHng the office of one of 
its stewards. 




He was married at Fair Ha\en, March 31, 
1880, to Martha J., daughter of Nathaniel and 
Dorcas (Kenyon) Fish. They have one daugh- 
ter and one son : Candace 1)., and Carl F. 

KING, Royal Daniel, of Benson, son 
of Horace and Eunice (Belden) King, was 
born in Benson, Nov. 17, 1S24. His grand- 
father, a Revolutionary veteran, after the war 
of independence moved from Connecticut 
and settled in the town of Benson. 

Mr. Royal D. King received his prelim- 
inary instruction in district and pri\ate 
schools, fitted for college at Castleton Sem- 
inary, and graduated from the University of 
Vermont in 1846. His life has been mainly 
de\'oted to the profession of teaching, though 
he spent some time in the law office of 
Smalley & Phelps of Burlington. He has 
been an instructor both in his native state 
and in Illinois. 

His first presidential vote was cast for 
Henry Clay, and he has acted with the Re- 
publican party since its inception. He has 
taken an active part in the public work of 
Benson, serving for a long period as town 
superintendent of schools, and being select- 
man at the outbreak of the rebellion he was 
especially energetic in the enlistment of 
soldiers, till he himself was mustered into the 
United States service Sept. 10, 1862, in Co. 



D, 14th Regt. Vt. Vols., with which command 
he honorably ser\-ed till after the victory of 
Crcttysburg, when he w-as mustered out with 
the regiment July 30, 1863. 

Mr. King received the compliment of an 
election as representative from Benson to the 
Legislature in 1852 and 1854 and was ap- 
pointed a member of the committee on edu- 
cation in both sessions. He was reappointed 
town superintendent and held the position 
up to March, 1880. He was also elected 
senator from Rutland county in 1880, where 
he again served on the committee on educa- 
tion and also on that of the librarv. 




For several years he was secretary of .Aca- 
cia Lodge, F. & A. M. 

KINGSLEY, Jerome Orlando, of 

.Athens, son of Billy Gray and Lucy ( Pal- 
mer) Kingsley, was born in South Wood- 
stock, Sept. 29, 1822. 

Receiving a limited education in the dis- 
trict and select schools of South Woodstock, 
he lived at home until he was twenty-six 
years of age, teaching in district schools 
during the winter and laboring on the farm 
in summer. In 1849 Mr. Kingsley went to 
Plymouth and bought a farm, where he 
lived eleven years, during which period he 
held the offices of first selectman and super- 
intendent of schools for three and four 
years respectively. In i860 he sold his farm 
property and purchased an estate in Chester 
in 1 86 1, where he remained for seven years, 



until i86S, acting as selectman during two 
years of his residence in that place. He 
then sold his farm and removed to Athens, 
where he has since lived. 

In 1870 he was the delegate from .Athens 
to the Constitutional Convention, and repre- 
sented the town in 1870 and 1884. He has 



I.ANDON. 237 

discharged the duties of lister and justice 
of the peace, and selectman for several years. 
Mr. Kingsley was married on the 29th 
day of March, 1849, to Angeline E., daugh- 
ter of John and Rebecca (Eaton) Sargent. 
Of this union there was one child : Eugene 
S. His wife died .August 27, 1884. 



LADD, Chester M., of Worcester, son 
of Mark !'., and Harriet (Hildreth) Ladd, 
was born in Worcester, March 16, 1848. In 
early life his father was a Methodist preacher, 
and later a large and successful farmer, still 
continuing occasionally to labor in the 
former vocation in Worcester. 

The son divided his time during the days 
of his boyhood between farm labor and an 
attendance of the schools of Worcester, and 
upon the death of his father, went to Chicago, 
where in connection with his brother he 
established a mercantile business and also 
dealt in real estate. In 1882, on account of 
the failure of his wife's health, he returned 
to Worcester and bought the large lumber 
mill which he has since conducted with an 
ability that has met with well-deserved suc- 
cess. His business has steadily increased 
and he is now able to turn out one million 
feet of lumber annually. At the same time 
he is an agriculturist, owning an excellent 
meadow farm which he cultivates with in- 
dustry and care, thus giving to himself a 
pleasant rural home. 

Mr. Ladd is a member of the M. E. 
Church, and is a Republican in his political 
allegiance. He represented Worcester in 
the Legislature of 1892, serving on the com- 
mittee of highways. He is a member of the 
school board, and has held other town 
offices. 

He was united in marriage Sept. 2, 186S, 
to Ella S., daughter of William and Lydia 
(Carr) Bruce of Worcester. They have two 
children : Mildred E., and Mark P. 

LANDON, Mills J., of New Haven, son 
of Elisha H. and Charlotta (Hoyt) Landon, 
was born in New Haven, Dec. 14, 1845. 

He received his education at Beeman 
Academy at New Haven, and Black River 
Academy at Ludlow. He is and always has 
been a practical farmer and dealer in young 
stock. He has made a specialty of the dairy 
business, breeding Durham cows to quite an 
extent, has a well-laid-out and productixe 
farm which he carefully cultivates, and is one 
of the successful farmers of Vermont. 

In political faith he is a Republican and 
has held many town offices, including select- 
man, lister, and justice of the peace, which 
last position he has held for many years past. 
He represented his town in the Legislature 



of 1886, and ser\ed on the committee on the 
grand list. While there he made a most 
conservative record, and reflected credit 
upon the place of his nativity. 

Mr. Landon is a Free Mason and is affili- 
ated with Libanos Lodge, No. 47. He has 
been a member of the Congregational church 
since 1868, and has held for many years the 
position of treasurer of the society. He also 
served as chairman of the building commit- 
tee of the beautiful church recently erected 
in New Haven. 

He was married on Feb. 25, 1868, to 
Harriet L., daughter of Deacon Oliver and 
Louisa Dexter, of Windham county, of this 
marriage three children survive : Charlotta L., 
Mary Ann F., and Ralph Dexter. 

Mr. Landon is a man of energy and un- 
questioned integrity. He is yet in the prime 
of life and has a career in the future as one 
of the leading men of his town and county. 

LANDON, O. B., of Johnson, son of 
John S. and Lucy (Hinckley) Landon, was 
born in South Hero, June 28, 1839. 

He attended the common and private 
schools of his native town and this, with three 
months' instruction at the Commercial Col- 
lege of New Haven, Conn., completed his 
education. 

Mr. Landon labored as a farmer in South 
Hero till he was nearly thirty years of age 
and then took up his abode in Colchester, 
w'here he engaged in the manufacture of lum- 
ber and land plaster. Remo\ ing to Milton, 
for seventeen years he continued in the same 
employment and also conducted an exten- 
sive grist mill. In Johnson for some time 
he has been doing a business in feed and 
western grain, but his chief enterprise has 
been the erection of a creamery in connec- 
tion with his mill. This he commenced to 
operate in 1892, and he has increased the 
original capacity of the plant, w-hich was 
5,000 pounds of milk daily to nearly five 
times that amount. By his careful and sys- 
tematic management it is calculated that 
thirty per cent more product is realized than 
under the old system. 

He married, jime 4, 1867, Alice M., daugh- 
ter of Horatio and Beulah (Bliss) Chapin 
of Williston, who has borne him two chil- 
dren ; Persis L., and Wilbur .A. 



Mr. Landon enlisted in August, 1862, in 
Co. C, 1 2th Regt. Vt. Vols., commanded by 
Col. .\. P. Blunt, served out his term and re- 
ceived an honorable discharge when the 
regiment was mustered out of service. Since 
that time he has been a member of Old 
Brigade Post, G. A. R., of Johnson. Though 
an ardent Republican he has never sought 
for nor accepted any political ofifice. 

LANE, Edwin, of Lanesboro, son of 
Willis and Laura (Cutler) Lane, was born in 
Barre, April 2, 1835. 

His father moved to Orange when he was 
a child, and he received his education in the 
common schools of that town and at Barre 
Academy. Soon after attaining his majority, 
he was engaged for six years in building at 
Barre, and later in the wood and lumber 
trade at Montpelier. In 1867 he desired to 
see something of the world, and visited the 




state of Michigan on a tour of inspection, 
where he was employed as a millwright and su- 
perintendent. Two years afterwards, he 
built a steam mill in Marshfield, and soon 
formed a partnership with his father, which 
continued about twelve years. He then form- 
ed a partnership with his uncle, Dennis Lane, 
which continued till the death of the latter, 
and entered upon a similar enterprise at 
Montpelier, running the Pioneer Mills of 
that place, and finally located his business 
at Lanesboro, where he has built up a large 
and successful lumber business. During his 



residence at South Marshfield, in two years 
his mills were thrice burned, and a man with 
less courage and determination would have 
surrendered himself to despair ; and again 
in 1892 he suffered a loss of §7,000 by the 
destruction of his plant at Lanesboro, but 
his energy and force of character were now 
called into action, and in less than two 
months the present large, convenient and 
well appointed mill was constructed. He 
has always been considerate in his treatment 
of his employes, and consequently has never 
suffered from the inconvenience of a strike. 

Mr. Lane was united in marriage in De- 
cember, i860, to .\nn L., daughter of Will- 
iam and Ann Perrin, who died two years 
after their union. He contracted a second 
alliance with Lilian, daughter of Jerry and 
Mary U'ebber of Rochester, N. Y., with 
whom he lived eleven years. In 1881 he 
married Lffie P., daughter of Nathan and 
Philena Skinner, who passed from earth 
January, 1893. By his first wife he had one 
child : Lilian A. Lane. Of the second mar- 
riage there were issue : /\rthur E., Glen C. 
(Mrs. Charles M. Bennett of Montpelier), 
and Fred C. Hallie E., and Efifie were the 
children of his last marriage. 

Mr. Lane was Republican in his politics, 
but with one exception has always refused 
the honors of office. He, however, con- 
sented to represent the town of Marshfield 
in the Legislature of 1892. 

He is a Free Mason, affiliated with Granite 
Lodge, No. 24, of Barre. 

LANE, HENRY Clark, of Westminster, 
son of Ithamar and Lucinda (Clark) Lane, 
was born in ^Vestminster, Jan. 26, 1824. 

He received his education in the common 
schools of his native town and Walpole 
Academy, Walpole, N. H., from which after 
a four years course he graduated at the head 
of his class. Mr. Lane's ambition was to 
qualify himself for a professional life, but 
upon his graduation the duties of a son to an 
invalid father so strongly impressed him, 
that he voluntarily relinquished his ambitious 
hopes and assumed the cares and responsi- 
bilities of his father's estate, which he found, 
in consequence of his parent's ill-health, to 
be seriously burdened with debt. Having 
decided as to what was his present duty, he 
applied himself to the work and in due time 
the obligations were fully discharged. He 
had, however, now reached that age which 
made it practically impossible for him to 
take up and prosecute his studies again 
with any hope of realizing his early ambition, 
and finding farming a congenial pursuit he 
continued to follow this vocation until the 
age of thirty, when he gave his attention to 
the settlement of estates and devoted him- 
self largely to the public affairs of the town. 



In 1866, Mr. Lane was elected a select- 
man and held that ofifice continuously for 
twelve years, during which time the state 
erected the William French monument, and 
the management was given by (Governor 
Converse into his hands, which duties he 
discharged with credit to himself, and to the 
satisfaction of the state. Republican in his 
political creed he was elected in 1874 a 
justice of the peace and has continued in 
this office to the present date, and it is 
doubtful if any other justice in this section 
of the state has heard so many cases as he 




HENRY CLARK LAKE. 



has. Mr. Lane has an unusual faculty for 
financial affairs and in 1881 was elected a trus- 
tee in the Bellows Falls Saving Institution, 
in 1 88 2 was advanced to its presidency, and 
has continued to fill that postion to the 
present time. 

He was married, Sept. 11, 1850, to Mary 
P., daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth 
T. (Peniman) Nutting. Of this union were 
four children : Fred L, Emma E., Caroline 
L,, and Nellie V., all of whom are married. 
Mrs. Lane died March 19, 1874. 

LANE, Henry James, of F:ast Burke, 
son of Sylvanus and Martha (Balch) Lane, 
was born in Lunenburg, March i, 1855. 

He received his preparatory education in 
the public and graded schools of Lunenburg, 
entered the L'. V. I\L in 1881, and four years 
later graduated from the classical depart- 
ment. In 1887 he received the degree of 
M. D. from the Burlington Medical College, 



I.AIHKOP. 239 

antl soon after fi.ved his abode at East Burke 
where he entered u]ion the practice of his 
profession and where he still continues to 
reside. 

Born and reared upon a farm, during his 
educational career he partially gained his 
support by employment as a clerk at Burke 
in the intervals of study. Dr. Lane has been 
appointed to serve on the state l^oard of 
health and is s])ecial health officer for Burke 
and East Haven, has been made su])erin- 
tendent of schools, and in 1892 was elected 
as a Republican to the lower branch of the 
Legislature, where he was a member of the 
joint special committee for public health and 
reform, also on special committee on elec- 
tions in Caledonia county. 

May 20, 1876, he espoused Sarah E. Phil- 
lips. By her he has had issue : Jessie E., 
and Charles S. 

Dr. Lane is an ardent advocate and 
staunch supporter of the cause of tem])erance 
and served on several special committees in 
the Legislature appointed to consider this 




important subject. In his religious creed 
he is Congregational, and is a member of 
LTnion Lodge, No. 4, I. O. O. F., I.yndon- 
ville. He also takes an active interest in the 
order of Cood Templars and by all means 
in his power labors to advance the cause of 
total abstinence and prohibition. 

LATHROP, Cyrus U., of Williams- 
town, son of Urbane and Eliza (Wiggins) 
Lathrop, w-as born in Chelsea, Oct. 31, 1839. 



240 



LATHROP. 



He was the youngest of a family of six 
children, and his mother, left a widow when 
he was only three years of age, by great 
industry and prudence managed to keep the 
family together. Cyrus commenced at the 
common school, and by strong personal 
effort was enabled to continue his studies at 
the Chelsea and Newbury Academies. At 
. the age of twenty-two he purchased a farm 
at Williamstown, and the cultivation of this 
estate has been his principal occupation 




ever since. He was one of the pioneers in 
the formation of the Williamstown Granite 
Co., and chairman of the board of railroad 
commissioners for the town of Williamstown 
in their bonding and contracting for their 
railroad, and is at present chairman of the 
Williamstown Construction Co. He has 
settled many estates and gives an active 
support to every wise measure for the ad- 
vancement of the interests of the town. 

When the Union of the states was threat- 
ened with dissolution by the slave aristoc- 
racy, Mr. Lathrop determined to battle for 
his country's flag, and he enlisted for three 
years in Co. C, Sth Regt. Vt. Vols., under 
the leadership of General Stephen Thomas. 
He followed the standard of his regiment in 
every engagement after his enlistment until 
the war was ended, and he received an 
honorable discharge from his military duties 
in June, 1865. 

He has ever been a stalwart Republican, 
and been thought worthy by his party to 



hold many responsible offices in town and 
county. For four years he was associate 
judge of the Orange county court, and in 
1892 was elected to represent Williamstown 
in the present Legislature. 

Judge Lathrop is a comrade in the G. A. 
R. He was a member of Waterson Post, 
No. 45, of Chelsea, but later became charter 
member and commander of William Wells 
Post, No. 113, of Williamstown. 

November 24, 1861, Judge Lathrop was 
united in marriage to Frances A., daughter 
of Denison and Eliza (Luce) Hopkins, of 
Williamstown. One son, Frank D., has been 
the fruit of this marriage. 

LAVIGNE, JOSEPH W., of Winooski, 
son of Henri and Francoise (Beausoleil) 
Lavigne, was born in the town of St. Da- 
masse, district of St. Hyacinth, Province 
(Quebec, July 14, 1844. 




In 1848, the father with his family came 
to Williston, where they continued to live 
till 1852. He then moved to Essex, and 
remained there two years. From this place 
he removed to Indiana and remained two 
years, coming back to Essex in 1856, where 
they lived till 1864. In Essex, Joseph, as a 
boy and young man, attended the common 
schools and the classical institute, and re- 
ceived his education which he subsequently 
improved by reading and studying at home. 
From the age of sixteen till he reached 
twenty-four, he assisted his father in the 



241 



manufacture and sale of brick. In iiS72 he 
entered the employ of the |. & J. Rogers 
Iron C'o. of Ausable Forks, N. V., in the 
brick manufacturing business, where he 
continued about thirteen seasons. He then 
entered the wholesale grocery house of 
George W. Kelley of Burlington. .At the end 
of a year he established himself in a retail 
grocery store in Winooski, where he has 
carried on the business ever since, and in 
which he built up an extensive and lucrative 
trade. In this business, as well as in his 
previous career, he has earned the reputa- 
tion of being an honest and upright man. 
These qualities, together with good business 
qualifications and sound judgment induced 
his fellow-townsmen to elect him to various 
town and village offices, among which may 
be mentioned that of member of the board 
of school commissioners, which he held for a 
period of eight years, selectman, grand juror, 
trustee of the village, and town representa- 
tive, which he was elected in 1892. In 
politics he is a Democrat, and has been a 
hard worker and influential member in the 
local councils of the party. 

In 1865 he was united in marriage to 
Adeline Desautels, daughter of Francis and 
Julia (Le Claire) Desautels of St. Jean 
Baptiste, P. Q., on the 2 1 st day of April. By 
her he had three children : Helen (Mrs. 
Capt. M. H. Daniels of Vergennes), J. 
Henry, and Arthur. His wife died Oct. 9, 
1870. Subsequently he married Mary A. 
Chagnon, daughter of John and Celeste 
(I'rudeau) Chagnon, by whom he had four 
children : Lillie A., Luke L., Lizzie C, and 
George W. 

Mr. Lavigne is a member of the Roman 
Catholic church, and also of St. Jean Bap- 
tiste Benevolent Society. 

LAWTON, ShaILER Emery, of FJrattle- 
boro, son of Benjamin and jane E. (Nettle- 
ton) Lawton, was born in Goshen, Conn., 
Oct. 3, 1S53. 

He attended the public schools of his na- 
tive town until 1863, when he removed with 
his parents to Great Barrington, Mass., 
where he took a course at the Sedgwick 
Institute, in the meantime assisting his 
father, who was a merchant. Mr. Lawton 
went to Bridgeport, Conn., in 1873, and 
engaged in mercantile pursuits, continuing 
for a year, when his desire for the study of 
medicine prevailed, and he returned to 
Great Barrington and was enrolled as a stu- 
dent under the watchful eye of that distin- 
guished physician, Clarkson T. Collins. He 
continued his studies here for a year, and 
then pursued a two years' course at the Col- 
lege of Physicians and Surgeons of New 
York City, but owing to a lack of funds he 
was not able to remain. Learning from a 



friend of the medical department of the 
L'niversity of \'ermont, of the exceptional 
opportunities offered there, he began anew, 
and availing himself of all the advantages of- 
fered by that institution, he was graduated 
M. I), in 1881. During the vacation time of 
his school years he was employed as attend- 
ant at the Hartford (Conn.) Retreat, where 
he was afforded special opportunities for the 
close study of mental diseases. 

In 18S1, after graduating. Doctor Lawton 
came to the Vermont Asylum for the Insane 
at Brattleboro, to fill the place of assistant 
physician during the temporary absence in 
Europe of Doctor Draper. In the fall of 
1 88 1, at the resignation of Doctor Phelps, he 




was appointed second assistant physician, 
and during thewinterof 1 881 -'82 he received 
the appointment of first assistant physician, 
to succeed Dr. J. \\'. Clark, holding that po- 
sition until the fall of 1889, when he resigned 
to fulfil a long-cherished design of spending 
a year in a special course of study in neuro- 
logical and psychological medicine. His 
resignation was not, however, accepted, and 
he was voted a year's leave of absence by 
the board of trustees. He spent six months 
of his year's leave at the Post-Graduate 
Medical School in New ^'ork, and the bal- 
ance of the time in travel abroad, visiting 
and studying at the principal institutions of 
the old world. 

Doctor Lawton returned to ISrattleboro in 
November, 1891, and again took up the du- 



242 



ties of first assistant physician, which position 
he held until March 19, 1892, when, at the 
death of Doctor Draper, he received the 
appointment of acting superintendent, and 
was elected superintendent, April 20, 1892. 
He was united in marriage, June i, 1893, 
to Mary Lillian, daughter of Cajjt. James M. 
and Croline (Stamds) Upton, of Roxbury, 
Mass. 

LEACH, Chester K., of Fletcher, son 
of loseph and 01i\e (Burton) Leach, was 
born in F'airfield, Jan. 17, 1830. 




He was one of a family of sexen children 
and his early history is that of hundreds of 
young men in his native state, born and lired 
upon the farm and in the intervals receiving 
a meagre education in the district schools. 

From 1856 to the time of the civil war he 
was employed in the \ocation to which he 
had been brought up, but sharing in the 
general outburst of patriotism that followed 
the fall of Fort Sumter, he enlisted in the 2d 
Regt. of the old Vt. Brigade and was mus- 
tered into the L'nited States service June 20, 
1861. He was immediately made 2d Lieut, 
of Co. H., and participated with his regi- 
ment in the first battle of Bull Run. After 
this defeat he was present at every important 
battle and engagement in which that veteran 
regiment took part, and received his dis- 
charge as ist Lieut, after three years of gal- 
lant and arduous service. 

Captain Leach was married, Oct. 8, 185 1, 
to .\nn A., daughter of .Samuel and Hannah 



(Thomas) Montague, and four children haxe 
been the issue of the union : Justin S., Zelia 
J. (Mrs. D. C. Robinson), Byron L. and 
Myron C, the two last being twin brothers. 

After his discharge from military duty 
Captain Ixach, like Cincinnatus, returned to 
the plough, and, after cultivating different 
farms, finally settled on the old homestead, 
where he still remains. He is a successful 
dairyman and also produces a large crop of 
sugar from his orchard of more than two 
thousand maple trees. 

Captain Leach has received the blue lodge 
degrees of F"ree Masonry and unites with 
the Mt. Vernon Lodge of Morrisville. He 
has also a membership in J. M. \\'arner 
Post, No. 4, (;. A. R. 

He was elected as the Republican candi- 
date to the state Senate in 1878 and was a 
member of the committee on military affairs 
and agriculture. Fiesides this position he 
has also held manv offices of minor impor- 
tance in the town where he resides. 

LEACH, Moses J., of Wolcott, son of 
F3rvin and Mary .Ann (Scott) Leach, was 
born in Craftsbury, Dec. 22, 1837. He can 
trace his lineage back to the old Puritan 




stock that made the glory of New England, 
to within ten years of the time when the 
little band of pilgrims first landed on 
Plymouth Rock. 

When he was nine years old his father 
moved to Wolcott where the son received 



LEAVKNWDRTH. 



LKAVENWdRTH. 



243 



whale\er educational advantages the com- 
mon schools afforded and afterwards at- 
tended the I'eople's Academy of Morrisville. 
He remained in the employment of his 
father one year after his majority to repay 
him the amount spent in his academic train- 
ing. Soon after young l.each went to Massa- 
chusetts where he was employed in a saw 
mill until the early winter of that historic 
year, 1861. In August, 1862, he enlisted in 
Co. E, 13th Regt. Vt. Vols., and participated 
with that organization in the famous flank 
movement of (General Stannard's brigade 
which repulsed (General Pickett's great 
charge at Gettysburg. He wore a corporal's 
stripes and was not absent from his com- 
pany a single day. 

Upon his return to civil life he " beat his 
sword into a pruning hook " and established 
himself upon a farm which he cultivated 
till 1S69, then sold the property and re- 
moved to the centre of the village where he 
built the first drug store ever erected in the 
town and has carried on this business since 
that time. 

Mr. Leach was united, March 16, 1864, to 
Ellen B., daughter of Moody and Milliscent 
(Moulton) Parker of Wolcott. 

Naturally he is a comrade of Gen. George 
P. Foster Post, G. A. R., and has filled 
several important offices in the department 
-and national encampment of the order. 
He has received the three first degrees of 
Ancient Craft Masonry in Mineral Lodge, 
No. 93, of Wolcott. 

Mr. Leach cast his first presidential vote 
for Abraham Lincoln and has continued a 
Republican ever since. He has done 
thorough and successful work in many town 
offices, having served as town clerk con- 
tinuously since March, 1872, and was ap- 
pointed postmaster in December, 1890. 
Several times he has been selected as a 
delegate to county and state conventions, 
and under no circumstances has he betrayed 
a trust reposed in him. 

LEAVENWORTH, ABEL EDGAR, of 
Castleton, son of Abel and Anna (Hickok) 
Leavenworth, was born in Charlotte, Sept. 3, 
1828. 

Having obtained his preparatory educa- 
tion at the district schools of Madrid, N. V., 
and Charlotte, he continued his studies at 
Hinesburgh Academy, and afterwards en- 
tered the University of Vermont, from which 
he graduated in 1856, on his return from 
the South. 

He commenced his career as a teacher in 
1846, taught district schools five winters and 
became successively the principal of Bolivar 
(Mo.) Academy, and the academies of 
Hinesburgh, Brattleboro and New Haven. In 
1870 he secured the incorporation and en- 



dowment of Beeman Academy at New 
Haven, the position of princi])al of which, 
after a most successful administration, he 
resigned in 1874 to become principal of the 
State Normal School at Randolph, leaving 
the former institution with an endowment 
fund of twelve thousand dollars. Leaving 
the Normal School at Randolph in 1879, 
after having greatly increased its facilities 
and the number of the pupils, he spent two 
years in institute work and the collection of 
a large and choice cabinet of minerals, 
while recruiting his impaired health. In 
1 88 1 he purchased the school building and 
equipment of the Rutland county grammar 
school, and was appomted principal of the 
State Normal School at Castleton under its 
patronage. Since that date Mr. Leaven- 




ABEL EDGAR LEAVEN 



worth has devoted his energies to the inter- 
ests of the school, and has always given 
special attention to the training of teachers, 
having signed six hundred and thirty-nine 
certificates while principal of the various 
institutions under his charge. 

Mr. Leavenworth is a veteran of the civil 
war, and soon after his enlistment as a pri- 
vate in Co. K, 9th Regt. Vt. Vols., was pro- 
moted through the ranks of sergeant and 
I St lieutenant to that of captain. He was 
made assistant inspector general of Wistar's 
brigade of the Lfnited States forces on Vork 
Peninsula, of the 2nd division of the 18th 
army corps, and of the provisional brigade 
at Bermuda Hundreds. He also served as 



244 



LE BARRON. 



assistant adjutant general of the last named 
command, later of the 2d brigade, j;d divis- 
ion, 24th army corps, and led the skirmish 
line into the city of Richmond, April 3, 
1865. He was appointed assistant provost 
marshal of that city and subsequently assist- 
ant adjutant general of the district of Appo- 
mattox. He was mustered out of the service 
at Richmond, June 13, 1865, having received 
highly commendatory letters from the gen- 
erals on whose staff he had served. 

Mr. Leavenworth was married at Corning, 
N. Y., Sept. 14, 1853, to Mary Evelina, 
daughter of Samuel and Sally (Hubbard) 
Griggs of Cazenovia, N. Y. To them were 
born : Anna Maria (deceased), Francis Abel 
(deceased), Samuel Edgar, Clarence (Jreen- 
man, William Stowell, Emily Reynolds (de- 
ceased), and Philip Reynolds. Mrs. Leav- 
enworth died July 30, 1877, and he con- 
tracted a second alliance at Linden, Md., 
August 12, 1889, with Lucy Elizabeth, 
daughter of Marcus N. and Julia ^L (Burt) 
^^'adsworth of Oswego, N. Y. 

At the age of twelve he united, with the 
Congregational church, with which he has 
continued his connection, serving the local 
congregation as deacon and delegate to 
county associations and state conventions. 
Never sectarian in belief or practice, he has 
ever maintained most friendly relations with 
all branches of the Christian church. 

He was one of the founders of the Delta 
Psi fraternity in the U. V. M., and in early 
life was an active Mason, Odd Fellow, Son 
of Temperance, and Good Templar, having 
been presiding officer in each, as also in 
various county and state teachers' organiza- 
tions, and later in the Grand Army, from 
which body he was a delegate-at-large for 
Vermont at the twenty-fifth national encamp- 
ment at Detroit, in August, 1891. He has 
also been a member of the .American Acad- 
emy of Political and Social Science from the 
first year of its organization. 

Le baron, Isaac Newton, of Morris- 

ville, son of Apollos and Rhoda (Sanger) Le 
Baron, was born in Calais, April 30, 1839. 

He received his early education at the dis- 
trict school, and afterwards w-as a pupil of the 
academies of Barre and Morrisville. Com- 
mencing his life as a farmer, he met with 
great success in his chosen vocation. In 
1866 he began the mantifacture of brick, 
which he continued for four years, but unfor- 
tunately the financial result was not propor- 
tionate to the skill and industry displayed by 
Mr. Le liaron in the business. The lack of 
fortune was followed by a large decrease in 
the value of real estate in his vicinity, and 
after an ineffectual struggle, he was obliged 
to abandon the old homestead upon which 
he had so long and earnestly labored, but 



though suffering pecuniary loss, he could now 
solace himself with the comforting reflection, 
that his honor and respectable standing in 
the community still remained. 

Casting his first vote for .Abraham Lincoln 
Mr. Le Baron has ever since remained a 
strong adherent of the principles which that 
vote professed. Repeatedly he has been 
called upon by his townsmen to fill the differ- 
ent positions of trust and importance in their 
gift. As lister, selectman, justice of the peace 
and superintendent of schools, he has always 
merited their confidence and in 1888 he rep- 
resented their interests in the state Legisla- 
ture where he made a manly and satisfactory 
record. 

Mr. Le Baron is an active and conscien- 
tious member of the L'niversalist church to 
whose interests he has devoted much active 
effort, for seven years serving as the sup- 
erintendent of their Sabbath school. In 
years past he has been the faithful secretary 
of the old Lamoille County Fair. 

He was united in wedlock to Maria L., 
daughter of Malachi and Patience Barrows of 
Morristown. From this marriage there are 
seven children : Dana F., Eva L, Ada C. 
(deceased), Daisy M., Washington Irving, 
and Isaac Newton, Jr. 

LELAND, George Farnham, of 

Springfield, son of Charles A. and Susan 
(Farnham) Leland, was born in Baltimore, 
Jan. 25, 1858. 

His education was obtained at the public 
schools of Springfield, and at seventeen 
years of age he entered the employment of 
his father, Charles A. Leland, of North 
Springfield, as clerk, remaining with him 
two years. After that, his father having sold 
his business to Hon. F. G. Field, he con- 
tinued four years as clerk for him. In April, 
1882, in company with his father, he formed 
a business partnership under the title of C. 
A. Leland & Son, and purchased the stock 
and good-will of Cobb & Derby of Spring- 
field, to deal in general merchandise, and 
they have conducted their business on the 
principle of a farmers' exchange, which 
method has given wide and general satisfac- 
tion in the community where they reside. 
This has enabled them to greatly increase 
their stock, and they now do the largest 
general country trade of any establishment 
in their vicinity. 

Mr. Leland has filled many town offices, 
and as a Republican candidate was sent to 
represent S]iringfield in the Legislature of 
1892, .served on the grand list committee 
and was chairman of tfiat on rules. 

He is an enthusiastic Mason, and is past 
master of St. John's Lodge, No. 41, and in 
Royal .Arch Masonry has held the highest 
office in Skitchewaugh Chapter, No. 25, of 



Springfield and Ludlow. He is also a 
member of Vermont Commandery, No. 4, of 
Windsor. 

November 8, 1881, Mr. Leland married 
Nellie A., daughter of Edson X. and Mary 
(Barrett) Pierce. Their union has been 
blessed with two children : .Arthur !>"., born 
August 28, 1886, and .A[ary .\., born June 
2, 1890. 

LEWIS, Frank W., son of .Mbert R. 
and Emily (Holt) J>ewis, was born in Mid- 
dlesex, Oct. 21, 1852. He is a grandson of 
the late Dr. Joseph Lewis, Jr., whose father, 
a surgeon in the Re\olutionary army, was by 
the_side of (leneral Montgomery when the 
latter fell in the unsuccessful attempt to storm 
(Quebec. 




The school privileges enjoyed by Mr. 
Lewis were rather limited and somewhat 
irregular, but this lack was compensated in 
a measure by the fact that he was, from 
childhood, an omnivorous reader and a dili- 
gent student, and that for some years he had 
access to extensive libraries. He was usually 
graded with [nipils much older than himself, 
managing even then to lead his classes, and 
at fourteen had mastered such elements of 
an education as were afforded by district 
schools of the better grade, besides giving 
some attention to the study of languages. 
.At fifteen he entered an advanced class in 
the high school at Canton, Mass., after leav- 
ing which he continued his studies, mainlv 



LEWIS. 2^5 

without assistance. Later he pursued the 
course in "English Literature and Science" 
l^rescribed for the candidates for the minis- 
try of the Methodist Ejiiscopal church, and 
the four years' course in "Biblical, Ecclesi- 
astical and Literary" studies required after 
admission on trial, passing his examinations 
with credit. 

Being dependent for supi)ort and educa- 
tion chiefly on his own efforts, little of Mr. 
Lewis' boyhood and youth was exempt from 
hard work, even when attending school. He 
was variously emjjloyed, gaining some in- 
sight into ijursuits of several kinds, mercan- 
tile and mechanical, as well as those of the 
farm, and in city as well as country, having 
spent some years in Boston. He has taught 
several terms of district school, and for a 
year had charge of the Weston high school. 

In the fall of 1877 he united with the 
Methodist Episcopal church, entered actively 
into its work, and was at once singled out 
as having qualifications for, and an im- 
doubted call to, the ministry. Yielding to 
the conviction that duty lay in this direction, 
and urged forward by what seemed pro\iden- 
tial indications, he passed the required ex- 
aminations the following spring, was licensed 
to preach, and appointed by Bishop Gilbert 
Haven to supply the pulpit at Topsham. A 
year later he was admitted to the Vermont 
conference, ordained deacon in i8Sr, and 
elder in 1883. He was appointed to Barton, 
his present charge, in 1890, where he is 
serving his fourth year. 

Mr. Lewis has never taken any acti\e part 
in politics, but has served as superintendent 
of schools and in some other minor offices. 
He has been statistical secretary of Vermont 
conference since 1883, and for several years 
on the conference board of examination. 

He wedded, March 26, 1879, Miss Ella P., 
daughter of David H. and Fidelia (Thresher) 
Whitney of Granville. Their marriage has 
been blessed with three children : Bessie 
Ethel, Lula Miriam, and Annie Louise. 

Mr. Lewis is considered one of the most 
efficient, intellectual, and well educated 
young divines on the St. Johnsbury district. 
Whatever recognition his merits have re- 
ceived, in promotion or otherwise, has been 
bestowed unsolicited. No man in the con- 
ference has surrendered the designation of 
his work more entirely into the hands of 
the constituted authorities of his church. 

LEWIS, L. HalSEV, of Hyde Park, son 
of David and Julia (Smith) Lewis, was born in 
the town of Blooming Grove, X. V., Dec. 2, 

185.3- 

He received his education in the schools 
of New York City and Michigan, and when 
his education was completed, learned the 
printer's trade at Middletown, X. Y. 



246 



August 1 8, 1878, he settled in Hyde Park 
and purchased the Lamoille News. Three 
years after he united that paper with the 
Vermont Citizen. Since that time he has 
conducted the combination of the two 
papers under the title of the " News and 
Citizen " with offices at Morrisville and 
Hyde Park. The News and Citizen is un- 
swerving in its advocacy of Republican 
principles, and under Mr. Lewis' manage- 
ment its influence is strongly felt throughout 
the state. Notwithstanding the active part 
he takes in politics, Mr. Lewis has never 
found time to hold political office, as his 
newspaper business monopolizes all his time 
and personal attention. 

Notwithstanding his devotion to journal- 
ism, he has however found time to devote 
to the two great secret societies of Odd 
Fellows and Free Masons. He is a mem- 
ber of Mt. Vernon Lodge, F. & A. M., 
Tucker Chapter R. A. M., Burlington Coun- 
cil, and Burlington Commandery. He also 
belongs to Sterling Lodge, No. 34, I. ( ). O. F. 

Mr. Lewis was married, Nov. 4, iSSo, to 
Alice D., daughter of Russel S. and ^L ^L 
Page. 

LEWIS, Rodney M., of Wells, son of 
Benjamin and Cherlina (Culver) Lewis, was 
born in Wells, June 30, 1839. 

He obtained his education by a course 
in the common and select schools, supple- 
mented by more advanced studies in North 
Hebron Academy, N. Y. 

Mr. Lewis has devoted his whole business 
life to the manufacture of woolen goods, 
chiefly cashmeres and knit underwear, being 
until 1875 a partner with his father under 
the firm title of B. Lewis and Son. At that 
time he took charge of the business and has 
managed it individually ever since. He is 
also the proprietor of the Lewisville cheese 
factory and of a large farm, the cultivation of 
which he carefully oversees. 

He married, at Castleton, Dec. 31, 1859, 
Maria A., daughter of John and Agnes Fos- 
ter, and by her has had two children : Helena 
(Mrs. George D. Carter), and Genevie\e. 

Mr. Lewis is an adherent of the Repub- 
lican party and has been called ui)on to dis- 
charge various public trusts appertaining to 
town and county for periods varying from 
one to si.xteen years. While considering the 
list of offices whose duties he has discharged, 
it is difficult to see how he has had oppor- 
tunity to manage his pri\ate affairs, .\mong 
other positions may be mentioned that of 
state representative for four years from 1870 
to 1874. 

He has also found opportunity in his busy 
life to give some attention to the ancient 
craft of Masonry, being a member of Morn- 
ing Star Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter of 



Poultney, in one of which he has held the 
position of scribe and in the other of junior 
warden. 

LINCOLN, Benjamin Franklin, of 

Lyndon, son of Benjamin and Sophia 
(Makepeace) Lincoln, was born in Ware- 
ham, Mass., Sept. 4, 1831. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of his native town, and at twelve years of age- 
went to New Bedford, Mass., where he lived 
for six years and then moved to Wilmington, 
Del., and there learned the tinner's trade. 
.At twenty years of age he visited California, 
spending one year in mining, and thence re- 
moved to Oregon where he engaged in the 
hardware business, remaining four years,, 
when he returned to New Bedford, Mass. 




BENJAMIN FRAN 



In 1S62 he came to Vermont and engaged 
in the hardware business at Lyndon. In 
-April, 1866, he commenced the lumber busi- 
ness in which he has been employed for 
twenty-five years, operating in Michigan and 
\'ermont jointly. 

.-Vs a Republican, he represented his town 
in the General Assembly in 1876, 1878, and 
1888, and was elected to the state Senate in 
1890 and 1892. 

Mr. Lincoln is a member of Crescent 
Lodge, No. 66, F. & A. M., is now presi- 
dent of the Lyndon National Bank, also 
president of the Caledonia Publishing Co., 
of St. Johnsbury. 

He was married at .\cushnet, Mass., Nov. 
28, i860, to .'Annie A., daughter of John .A> 



LIVINGSTON. 

and Sophronia (Skinner) l.oniljard. hive 
children are the issue of this union ; Alice S. 
(Mrs. Homer C. Wilson), Mary S., lienja- 
min, John E., and Charlotte C. 

LIVINGSTON, Fred B.,of Morrisvillr, 
son of William R. and Anna S. (Allard) 
Livingston, was born in Schuylerville, .\. \ ., 
.Aucrust II, 18^2. 




FRED B. LIVINGSTON. 



His educational advantages were derived 
from the public schools, and a course of 
study at the Cambridge Washington .-Xcadmy. 
.\t the age of seventeen, while acting as 
station agent at Cambridge, N. Y., he mas- 
tered the art of telegraphy, and followed 
this as his occupation for some years in Rut- 
land and Burlington, but in the latter city 
failing health compelled him to resign his 
])osition. .After a short rest to regain his 
health, he came to Morrisville and settled on 
a farm, where he has been engaged ever 
since in extensive agricultural operations, 
making a specialty of dairy products and 
maple sugar and syrup. With a sugar 
orchard of three thousand trees, an un- 
developed resource of nearly an equal 
amount, and using all modern improvements 
in the manufacture, he has built up an ex- 
tensive trade, sending the ])roduct to all 
parts of the world. In 1880 he received the 
sweepstakes prize on butter at the New 
Orleans exposition, accompanied by a medal 
and a pecuniary testimonial of seventy-five 
dollars. 



l.OCKWOOI). 247 

Mr. l.ixingslon was married to Stella L., 
daughter of Alnon I), and Susan (Bingham) 
Thomas of Morrisville, Jan. i, 1875. Three 
children have been born to them : Florence 
I!., (lertrude A., and Stella (deceased). 

He is a member both of the Odd Fellows 
and Masonic societies, belonging to the 
Sterling Lodge, No. 44, 1. O. O. F., and 
holding the office of treasurer of Mt. \'ernon 
Lodge, No. 8, F. & A. M. 

As a Republican he was elected repre- 
sentative from Morristown to the state Leg- 
islature in 1890 where he served on the 
committee on rules, and that of ways and 
means, and in the extra session of 1891 he 
was made chairman of the World's Fair 
committee. He introduced the agricultural 
college bill, and labored earnestly for its 
])assage. .AH his service in the Legislature 
was ably performed and duly appreciated by 
those whose vote secured him the position of 
representative. 

LOCKWOOD, ALBERT H., of Ludlow, 
son of William and Sallie (Oriswold) Lock- 
wood, was born in Springfield, Oct. 18, 1840. 



!% t^ 





He is the youngest and only survi\ing 
member of a family of four children. When 
less than a year old, by the death of both of 
his parents he was left an or])han, and was 
entrusted to the care of Mr. and Mrs. Bucklin 
Burnham of Springfield, with whom he re- 
mained till he was seventeen years old, and 
whose kindly care he repaid by support 
during their declining years. While under 



248 



the roof of Mr. Burnham, he received such 
education as the common schools could 
afford. 

In 1858, he came to Ludlow, a poor boy 
without influence but with a firm resolve to 
push his way and win a support by his own 
unaided effort and after twelve years spent in 
the subordinate position of a clerk he formed 
a partnership with Charles Raymond to deal 
in clothing, boots and shoes. In 1S76, he 
moved to the West but the experience of one 
season expedited his return and he made his 
residence in Ludlow, where he was for five 
years associated in business with Edward E. 
Parker, but is engaged at present by himself 
as a dealer in boots and shoes in that town. 

He married, June 10, 1863, Mary A., daugh- 
ter of Albert and Dolly Adams, of Evansville, 
Wis. They have two children : Alice M., and 
Edward A. 

For eighteen years Mr. Lockwood has been 
an active member of the Congregational 
church and a liberal contributor to the same. 
He has also chosen to ally himself to the 
charitable organization of Freemasonry, re- 
ceiving the first three degrees in Lafayette 
Lodge \o. 53 and afterwards passing through 
the higher grades of Royal Arch Masonry and 
Knight Templar. He is treasurer of his 
chapter and is a Sir Knight of Killington 
Commandery No. 6, of Rutland. 

.^s a Republican, he received the appoint- 
ment of postmaster in 1884 and continued in 
office four years. He is now, and has been 
for ten years, treasurer of both town and cor- 
poration. In 1 888 he represented his town 
in the Legislature and served on the com- 
mittee on claims. Notwithstanding the early 
disadvantages against which he was obliged 
to struggle, Mr. Lockwood, by his own un- 
aided and persistent effort has amassed a 
handsome comijetency. 

LYFORD, Horace W., of Warren, son 
of Hazen and Electa (\Vhite) Lyford, was 
born in that part of the old town of Mont- 
pelier which is now East Montpelier, Feb. 
16, 1835. 

After he had passed through the usual 
educational course at the schools of East 
Montpelier and also in Montpelier village, 
he learned the sash and blind trade from his 
uncle, and while thus occupied manifested a 
natural aptitude for mechanical pursuits. At 
the age of nineteen he formed a partnership 
with his father, under the title of Hazen 
Lyford & Son, to manufacture sash and 
blinds. Horace was from the first the busi- 
ness manager, and soon became sole proprie- 
tor of the concern. In 1861 he exchanged 
this property for a hotel in \Varren, which 
he has since conducted in a manner satis- 
factory to the public. In 1865 he engaged 
in the tin and hardware trade, and followed 



this by the manufacture of pail-bail handles 
and clothes-pins. During the last ten years 
he has devoted his attention to the manu- 
facture of butter-tubs, and has invented sev- 
eral appliances that not only turn out a 
superior article, but result in an immense 
saving of labor. 

Mr. Lyford is an earnest Republican and 
has held many public positions of trust and 
influence. He was first selectman in Warren 
in the years of the war, and was many years 
deputy sheriff. He was from 1872 to 1876 
sheriff of \\'ashington county. He has been 
justice of the peace continuously for twenty- 
nine years. In 1888 he was elected assistant 
judge of \\'ashington county court, and was 
re-elected in 1890. 




Judge Lyford was united in marriage, 
Sept. 9, 1858, to Sarah R., daughter of John 
and Sarah (Chamberlain) Vincent, of F^ast 
Montpelier. 

He has been long and prominently identi- 
fied with the Masonic fraternity, being a 
member of Aurora Lodge, No. 22, of Mont- 
pelier, King Solomon Chapter, No. 7, of the 
same place, Montpelier Council, No. 14, a 
Knight Templar of Mt. Zion Commandery, 
No. 9, of the Washburn Lodge of Perfection, 
No. 14, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 
and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. 

LYMAN, Charles A., of Royalton, son 
of Jabez and .Abigail (Woodbury) Lyman, 



249 



was born in Royalton, Oct. 21, iS^ijand 
has always been a resident of that town. 

He received the customary common 
school education in Royalton. He has 
chiefly followed the vocation of a farmer but 
has also practiced the trade of a carpenter 
and given much attention to the manufact- 
ure of lumber. He has been entrusted with 
many responsible positions, among which 
may be mentioned those of selectman, over- 
seer, lister, auditor, and trustee of the sur- 
plus revenue fund. He has always dis- 
charged these duties with honor to himself 
and profit to his fellow-citizens. In 1892 
he was elected by a strong Republican 
majority to represent the town of Royalton in 




CHARLES A. LVK 



the General .Assembly, where his energetic 
action in behalf of his constitutents merited 
the approbation of those who had entrusted 
him with that position. 

Mr. Lyman was united in wedlock, March 
8, 1S54, to Hannah W., daughter of Horatio 
and Sarah ( W'alcott ) Freeman. Four chil- 
dren were born to them, of whom only one 
(Mrs. Nellie M. Doyle), is now surviving. 
He contracted a second alliance, July 5, 
1866, with Laura J., daughter of William and 
Elizabeth (Walcott) Fay. Four children 
were issue of this second marriage, three of 
whom are now living : Albert F., Ida C, and 
Elizabeth W. 

LYNDE, George W., of Williamstown, 
son of John and Dolly (Smith) Lynde, was 
born in Williamstown Feb. 3, 1849. 



He was educated at the common schools 
and at Randolph and Barre academies. 
When twenty years of age he commenced 
extensive operations in the lumber business 
in Groton and these he carried on in part- 
nership with his father-in-law for fifteen 
years. He then remo\ed his plant to Mill 
X'illage and has since employed it in running 
the grist and saw mill, and i)olishing works. 

Mr. Lynde was united in marriage, March 
16, 187 1, to Frances, daughter of Richard 
L. and Phebe (Moore) Martin, by whom he 
has had two children : Fred G. (deceased), 
and John Richard. 

In 1886 he removed to the farm formerly 
belonging to his father-in-law and has con- 
tinued there the latter ]5ortion of his life. 
He may be styled the typical X'ermont farmer, 
so large is the scale on which he conducts 
his operations and so great the success he 
meets with in all his enterprises. He is also 
the possessor of a fine maple grove and one 
of the four owners of the Williamstown gran- 
ite quarry. 

Mr. Lynde is a Republican in his ijolitical 
sympathies; and in religious belief a L^niver- 
salist. After having filled the usual town 
offices he was sent to the Legislature in 1888, 
where he served on the genera! committee. 
He is active, public-spirited, and influential 
in every social and business enterprise, and 
a highly esteemed member of the commun- 
ity in which he resides. 

LYNDE, John, of Williamstown, son of 
Cornelius and Rebecca (Davis) Lynde, was 
born in \Villiamstown, August 6, 1810. Cor- 
nelius Lynde left Harvard College at his 
country's call, enlisted in the Continental 
army and served through the Revolutionary 
war, attaining the rank of major. In 1 786 
he moved from ^^"illiamstown, Mass., to the 
town of the same name in Vermont, and 
was one of the original proprietors. He laid 
out and allotted the land to his associates, 
was justice of the peace and first town clerk. 
He constructed the first saw mill in the 
town, was representative from 1791 to 1795, 
member of the state council, first postmas- 
ter, and associate judge for two years. In 
the first year of the century at a meeting in 
his house, a Universalist society was organ- 
ized, believed to be the earliest in the state. 
The mother of John Lynde was the oldest 
daughter of Col. Jacob Davis, the pioneer of 
Montpelier. 

The subject of the present sketch was 
educated at the common schools of Will- 
iamstown, and at the early age of sixteen 
began to teach, working in the summer on 
his father's farm. 

He married at the age of twenty-two, 
uniting himself in the bond of wedlock to 
Dollv Smith. She bore him twelve children, 



250 



nine of whom still survive : Ellen ( Mrs. W. 
B.Bass), John, Martha (Mrs. Jerry Kenis- 
ton), Rebekah (Mrs. Nat Simons), George 
W., James K., Laura (Mrs. Harvey L. 
Cheney), and Emma (Mrs. Dr. William B. 
Mayo of Northfield, Vt.), and Dr. Cornelius 
V. Two of his sons, John and Charles (the 
latter deceased), served in the civil war. 
His first wife died in July, iS8i, and he was 
again married in 1S82 to Laura E., daughter 
of Norman Davis. 




Mr. Lynde was a farmer till 1865, and 
after that was engaged in trade until 1887, 
when he sold out his interest to his son, 
James K., and again returned to farming. He 
has been very prominent in all social and 
public affairs, has settled many estates, and 
was a general counsellor in business and 
legal matters. For more than ten years he 
was one of the directors of the Northfield, 
and later of the Rarre bank. 

Formerly a whig, but now a Republican, 
he has been for forty-four consecutive years 
justice of the peace, has held every town 
office, and was twice town representative 
before the war and three times afterwards, 
and was chosen senator in 1876. He was 
assistant judge of Orange county court for 
two terms. 

Judge Lynde has ever been a liberal donor 
to all benevolent and religious enterprises, a 
public-spirited citizen, and has given to all 
his children every educational advantage 
that was in his power to bestow. 



LYON, JOHN Stanley, of Fair Haven,. 
son of Seth S. and Jane (Barnard) Lyon, 
was born in Winhall, Jan. 28, 1861. 

He received his early education at Black 
River Academy, Colgate University, Hamil- 
ton, N. v., and the University of the City of 
New York. In college he develo])ed marked 
taste in the fields of mental philosophy, polit- 
ical science, literature and oratory, and was 
especially interested in Creek and Latin 
literature. He was class poet in both acad- 
emy and college, and also editor of the 
college magazine. In his early youth he 
taught the district school. In 1885 he was 
called to the position of instructor in Greek 
and Latin in Friends' Seminary, Stuyvesant 
Square, New York City, which position he 
held for five years ; and, though not a 
Quaker, was appointed vice-principal of the 
institution at the end of the third year. 
While thus employed he was actively engaged 
in church work, and feeling called to the 




gospel ministry, he resigned the chair of 
classics, and was ordained in the Fair Haven 
Baptist Church, Feb. 26, 1891. 

Mr. Lyon married Ella G., daughter of 
John E. and Almina White, of Mount Holly, 
Dec. 29, 1886. He has two children : Clif- 
ford S., and Raymond F. 

Of rare natural ability and attainments, 
and withal an earnest and impressive speaker. 
Rev. Mr. Lyon has placed the church at Fair 
Ha\en among the leading Baptist congrega- 
tions of the state. Enthusiastic in his work 



MtFAKI.ANl) 



and watchful for opportunities teach am c tlie 
interests of his people, he has won many- 
friends in his chosen field of labor, a fact 
which fully attests his Christian, manly char- 
acter. He is deeply and actively interested 
in all public matters but es])ecially in those 
that advance the welfare of his beloved (Ireen 
Mountain state. 

LUND, Henry W., of Canaan, son of 
Hezekiah and Mary (Shores) Lund, was 
born in Granby, Oct. ii, 1S54. 

He commenced his education at district 
school No. 2, of Granby, from which more 
teachers and professional men have come, 
than any other district of its size in that 
section of the state. He continued his 
studies at St. Johnsbury .\cademy and then 
commenced reading law with Hon. H. C. 
Bates of St. Johnsbury, completing his pro- 
fessional training with George W. Harts- 
horn, Esq., at Canaan. He was admitted 
to the bar of Elssex county at the March 
term of 18S4, and immediately opened an 
office in Canaan in which locality he has 
remained and by assiduity and energy has 
secured a large connection and profitable 
practice. 

Mr. Lund is a self-made man and by 
teaching paid all the necessary expense in- 
curred in obtaining his education and while 
pursuing his legal studies. When only 
twenty-one he was elected superintendent of 
schools in Granby and he has held a similar 
appointment in the town of Canaan. In 
1892 he was made state's attorney and still 



fills that office. Lie is a young man of keen 
observation, ready wit and resolute will, and 




will undoubtedly, if he so elects, become 
prominent in town and county affairs. 

He was married in 1881 to Carrie V., 
daughter of Sylvester P. and Carrie (Col- 
burn) Jones of Canaan and formerly of 
Farmington, Me. 



MCFARLAND, HENRY Moses, of Hyde 
Park, son of Moses and Livonia ( Leach ) 
McFarland, was born in Waterville, August 

5, 1852- 

Mr. McFarland's great-grandfather served 
in the war of the Revolution, coming out of 
the service with the rank of major. His 
father also served his country in the civil war 
as captain of Co. A, 8th Regt. Vt. Vols., and 
was a brave and resolute officer, having at 
various times received honorable mention 
for meritorious conduct on the field of battle. 

He received his preliminary educational 
training in the schools of Water\ ille and the 
People's Academy, working his way through 
the University of Vermont, where he grad- 
uated as valedictorian in the class of 1878. 

.■\fter his collegiate course he came to 
Hyde Park, for three years teaching in the 
academy, and at the same time reading law 
with Messrs. Brigham & Waterman. In 1881 
he was admitted to the bar and commenced 
to practice, being elected three years after- 
ward state's attornev for Lamoille countv. 



In connection with his law practice, hehas 
built up an extensive insurance business, his 
agency being by far the largest in this sec- 
tion of the state. Mr. McFarland served his 
town for several years as superintendent of 
public schools. He was secretary of civil 
and militarv affairs under Governor Page ill 
1890. He was the first \ice president of the 
Lamoille County Savings Bank and 'i'rust 
Co., and in 1892 was elected to a similar 
position in the Lamoille County National 
Bank of Hyde Park. 

He has joined both the orders of Free 
Masons and Odd Fellows ; was a charter 
member and the first N. G. of the local or- 
ganization of the latter institution in Hyde 
Park, and has received not only the degrees 
of .Ancient Craft Masonry, but those con- 
ferred by Tucker Chapter, as well as being a 
Knight 'Lemplar of Burlington Commandery. 

Mr. McFarland was united, Dec. 22, 1881, 
to Julia, daughter of Hon. Waldo and Ellen 
(Noyes) Brigham of Hyde Park. Three 
children are the issue of their marriage. 



MACKIE, George CaRDNO, of Barre, 
son of John and Ann (Clark) Mackie, was 
born in Fraserburg, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 
May I, 1849. 

He received his education by attending 
the public schools of his native land, and 
when seventeen years of age was appren- 
ticed to the trade of a granite stone cutter. 
He emigrated to America in 1871 and worked 
at his trade in many states of the Union. At 
this time the art of cutting and polishing 
granite was in its infancy and mostly all of 
the finished work of this description was im- 
ported from abroad. Mr. Mackie came to 
Barre in 1880, accompanied by his half- 
brother, James C. Simpson, and entered the 
employment of \\'etmore & Morse. They 
were the first Scotchmen to ply their trade 
in that community, though at present there 
are probably a thousand of their countrymen 
engaged in similar pursuits in and around 




the neighborhood. In 1884 he commenced 
business in partnership with his brother. 
They met with great success and at the end 
of three years found themselves the owners 
of a valuable pro])erty and employing sixty 
men. At this time they made an advan- 
tageous sale of their business to Jones Bros, 
of Boston and for five years Mr. Mackie con- 
tinued to act as their superintendent, during 
which time the firm has been very prosper- 
ous, owing not a little of their success to the 
industry and executive ability of their mana- 
ger. Since parting with his interest in the 



quarry, Mr. Mackie has invested largely in 
real estate and to the care and improvement 
of this he has devoted much of his time and 
energy. In 1893 he bought out the firm of 
Sortwell & Morse and now owns one of the 
best manufacturing plants in Barre, consist- 
ing of about six acres of land, a fine water 
power, with some very valuable granite cut- 
ting machines. His sons, James and Will- 
iam, are now his business partners. 

He was married in 1869 to Mary, daughter 
of ^\■illiam and Jane (Scott) Cameron, of 
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and they have four 
sons living : James, William, John, and 
Robert. 

Mr. Mackie belongs to the brotherhood of 
the "square and compasses" and is treasurer 
of Granite Chapter, R. A. M., of Barre, and 
is also trustee of the Burns Club of that 
place. He is an adherent of the Republican 
party, and has held the office of village 
bailiff. He has had to make his own way in 
life, and affords a notable example of what 
can be accomplished by energy, intelligence 
and public sjiirit. 

MACOY, BVRON Grafton, of Cam- 
bridge, son of Daniel and Laura (Downer) 
Macoy, was born in Cambridge, Jan. 8, 
1S44. Daniel Macoy was a long-time resi- 
dent of the town, and when a bov of twelve 
years paddled the \'ermont \'olunteers bound 
for the seat of war at Plattsburg, across the 
river at Jeffersonville in a log canoe. 

Byron was one of a family of seven chil- 
dren, and was educated in the public and 
jirivate schools of Cambridge. In 1858 he 
went to live with his brother, H. N. Macoy, 
who was a lumber merchant in Cambridge 
and built the first steam and circular saw- 
mill in Lamoille countv. During the six 
years that he remained with his brother, he 
turned his natural mechanical dexterity to 
good account, doing all kinds of work that 
required this species of skill. He then 
rented the mill for a year of his brother, who 
meantime had gone to Ottumwa, la. Byron 
soon joined him there, but a year's experi- 
ence removed all desire to remain in the 
West, and he returned to Cambridge in 
1S66. He, with his brother, W. D. Macoy, 
and two others, built the large steam saw- 
mill now established there. Ill-health soon 
compelled him to relinquish the business, and 
during the last twenty years he has been en- 
gaged in the occupation of a furniture dealer 
and undertaker. 

He married. May 16, 187 i, Emma, daugh- 
ter of Joseph Riley. 

Mr. Macoy is a Re]niblican and was elected 
to the Legislature in 1890; served on the 
committee on manufactures. As one of the 
committee for the construction of the Con- 
gregational church he was largely instru- 



MANCHESTER. 

mental in securing the services as architect 
of his brother, H. N. Macoy. 

Mr. Macoy, by his integrity of purpose and 
interest in the general welfare, enjoys in a 
large measure the esteem and confidence of 
his townsmen. 




MANI.EY. 253 

I )r. Manchester has always belonged to 
the Republican ])arty, but his professional 
duties ha\e not allowed him to mingle much 
with political affairs. He is a member of 
the Rei)ublican county committee and chair- 
man of the Republican town committee in 
Pawlet. 

lie is secretary of Morning Flower 
Lodge, F. & A. M., and has also regularly 
])assed the chair in the same body, and is a 
member of the chapter R. A. M., and of the 
council R. & S. M. at Poultney, as well as a 
Sir Knight of Killington Commandery K. T. 
of Rutland. A Congregationalist in his 
creed, he is both clerk and treasurer of the 
church of that denomination in his place of 
residence. 

MANLEY, JOSEPH E., of West Rutland, 
son of Fobes and Wealthy (Hill) Manley, 
was born at Sutherland Falls, then a portion 
of the town of Rutland, Feb. 15, 1831. 

'I'he subject of this sketch was of English 
and Scotch descent, and one of twelve chil- 
dren of a typical New P^ngland family. His 
father was stern in discipline and of sterling 
religious character, leaving the impress of 



BYRON GRAFTON MACOY 



His devotion to the principles of the 
Masonic order has gi\en him all the honors 
his local lodge could confer upon him. He 
is a member of Warner Lodge, No. 50, F. 
& A. M., of Cambridge, and has filled all 
the chairs of that organization. 

MANCHESTER, HlRAM LEVI, of Pawlet, 
son of Le\i A\'. and I'^eline (Shaw) Manches- 
ter, was born in Hamilton, N. Y., Dec. 28, 

1855- 

He attended the common schools till the 
age of seventeen and for a year pursued his 
studies at Castleton Seminary. He com- 
menced his medical education in Burlington 
and received his diploma from the University 
of the City of New York, from which institu- 
tion he graduated on the iSth of Februarv, 

1879. 

Dr. Manchester began the pursuit of his 
profession in Fair Haven with Dr. T. K. 
Wakefield but after three months opened an 
office in Pawlet, in June, 1879, where he has 
since remained and built up a large practice. 

He married, July 8, 1879, in Whitehall, N. 
Y., Flora A., daughter of Harry and .Annis 
(Benjamin) Bartholomew. Two children 
have blessed their union ; Paul R., and 
Hazel A. 




his teachings upon the minds of his children. 
Mr. Manley early in life was educated in the 
common schools, but after attaining his ma- 
jority, being desirous of higher educational 
advantages, he entered Castleton Seminary, 
a then leading institution under the charge 
of Rev. K. J. Hallock, graduating therefrom 



254 



in 1854. During this time he provided for 
his support by teaching school in the winter 
and employing his vacations in agricultural 
labor. 

He was wedded August 19, 1857, to Electa 
A., daughter of Kbenezer Porter of Orwell. 
Two children were born to them ; \Vilbur 
P., and Lillian K. 

After he left the seminary he engaged in 
the marble business, and is considered as an 
expert in all matters relating to the deposits 
of this stone, and has published an article 
on the "Marbles of Rutland County," which 
can be found in the first report of Professor 
Collier of the Vermont Board of .\griculture. 

He is a staunch Republican and believes 
in Democracy from a Republican stand- 
point. .'\t the age of twenty-eight he was 
chosen justice of the peace for Rutland 
county, receiving the compliment of thirteen 
consecutive elections, during which time he 
has tried many hundred cases, both civil 
and criminal, and his decisions have been 
characterized by such justice and impar- 
tiality, that jury trials were resorted to in 
only two instances, and one appeal only 
from his decision was reversed in the county 
court. During his term of service he secured 
a small but well selected library, and occu- 
pied his leisure hours with the study of the 
law. He entered the office of Hon. C. H. 
Joyce of Rutland in 1S74, and at the March 
term of the following year was admitted to 
the Rutland county bar, since which time he 
has been in successful practice. His ser- 
vices have been especially sought in the set- 
tlement of estates as administrator and com- 
missioner. Mr. Manley is philanthropic in 
spirit, and has done much in the aid of the 
church and the cause of temperance : held 
the office of special prosecutor for six years 
prior to 1892 ; was secretary of the Rutland 
County Temperance Society for ten years, and 
for a considerable period dischared the du- 
ties of president. He was elected a resident 
member of the Webster Historical Society 
of Boston in 1884, and evincing an early 
taste for literary metaphysical study he has 
written and published many articles on 
standard and popular subjects. 

In his religious belief he is a Congrega- 
tionalist, and united with the First Church at 
West Rutland, July 4, i860. During a resi- 
dence of over thirty years at West Rutland, 
he has taken a lively interest in promoting 
the welfare and prosperity of the village, 
having invested to a large extent in real 
estate. He has erected many structures, 
both dwelling houses and for business pur- 
poses, and ever manifests a strong desire to 
promote the progress of the town and state. 

MANN, Charles David, of ira, son of 

Benjamin S. and Harriet (Thornton) Mann, 



was born in Middletown Springs, Dec. 21, 
i860. He is of mixed Elnglish and Scotch 
descent and his paternal grandfather took 
part in the campaigns of 181 2. His parents 
moved from Miildletown Springs to Ira in 
1S61, from which place his father enlisted in 
Co. B, 9th Regt. ^"t. \'ols. Benjamin was 
taken a prisoner at Harper's Ferry and was 
sent to Chicago on parole where he died of 
fever. 

Charles D. Mann received the usual edu- 
cational advantages of the public schools and 
was afterwards a pupil in the Vermont Acad- 
emy at Saxton's River. His father's death 
left his mother and one brother to face the 




CHARLES DAVID 



Struggle of life alone. Since Mr. Mann 
reached his majority he has always devoted 
himself to some extent to public affairs. He 
commenced his public career by an appoint- 
ment as constable and collector of his native 
town which latter office he has held until the 
present time. He has also been made 
school superintendent and was the choice of 
the county convention in 1892 to discharge 
the duties of commissioner. In 1893 Gover- 
nor Fuller conferred upon him the honor of 
a commission as justice of the peace. He 
has been actively connected with the work 
of the Baptist church since the age of six- 
teen and even while at the academy he was 
largely interested in the V. M. C. A. He 
was one of the charter members of Camp 
John .\. Sheldon S. of V., and for a time 
acted as their quartermaster. He follows 



principally the callina; of a fanner but pays 
considerable attention to pension claims and 
insurance. 

MANN, HOSEA, Jr., of Wilmington, son 
of Hosea and Maria (Grousbeck) Mann, was 
born in Wilmington, July 13, 1858. 

He received his early education at the 
•common schools of his native town, and at 
the Brattleboro Academy and Eastman's 
Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. After 
leaving school he commenced the study of 
the theory and practice of law with the fjon. 
O. E. Butterfield, was admitted to the Wind- 
ham county bar^in 1882, and at once began 
the practice of his profession at Wilmington. 




HOSEA MANN, JR. 

In 1879, as soon as Mr. Mann had reached 
his majority, he was elected treasurer of the 
Wilmington Savings bank and town clerk of 
the town of Wilmington, both of which posi- 
tions he held until 18S5, when he resigned 
to devote his time to other matters. In 1886 
he was elected state's attorney for Windham 
county, and served in that capacity for a full 
term of two years. He was elected to the 
General Assembly for the successive terms, 
1886, 1888, and 1890, and served with great 
credit, giving \aluable assistance in putting 
through many important measures. In 1890 
his ability as a legislator was recognized, and 
he was elected sjaeaker of the House, being 
one of the youngest men who ever recei\"ed 
that honor. 

Mr. Mann is interested in many financial 
and industrial enterprises, and has given a 



great deal of his time and money to the de- 
\elopment of his own town and state as a 
place of summer resort. 

He was married, February, 1880, to Eva 
A., daughter of Rev. Jeremiah and Jane 
(;ifford of Wilmington. Of this union is one 
son : Ralph Hosea. 

MARSH, Charles Phelps, late of 

Woodstock, son of John and Amstis Marsh, 
was born in Wethersfield, Jan. 7, 18 16. 
He came of distinguished ancestry, the first 
progenitor of the family being John Marsh, 
who organized a colony in Connecticut in 
1635- 

The subject of this sketch graduated from 
the University of Vermont in 1839, com- 
menced the study of law in the office of 
Chandler & Billings of Woodstock, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1843 at the May 
term of the Windsor county court. A year 
later Mr. Marsh formed a partnership with 
Peter T. Washburn, Esq., which continued 
for a quarter of a century. During these 
years of active professional life he held sev- 
eral high positions of honor and trust, and 
for four years was state's attorney for Wind- 
sor county. He was in 1870 a member of 
the Constitutional Convention, and in 1886 
and 1888 represented Woodstock in the 
House of Representatives. He was for many 
years one of the assistant judges of the 
Windsor county court, and the bar of his 
own county and lawyers from other counties 
having cases at Woodstock were content with 
his judgment and rulings as with those of a 
regular presiding judge from the supreme 
bench. 

Politically, he was an original Harrison 
and Clay whig, and naturally became an 
adherent of the Republican party when it 
was formed in 1854. In 1842, while a law 
student, he edited the \\'hig Advocate, a 
campaign paper, and with such care and 
ability that it attained a great circulation and 
won him deserved praise. 

Judge Marsh was always a strong friend of 
education, an earnest advocate of morality 
and whate\er tended to the promotion of 
the public good. His talents both in busi- 
ness and in a judicial way were jiarticularlv 
administrative, and he ever evinced a mas- 
tery of the situation whatever might be the 
emergency. His life was such in all his re- 
lations with his fellowmen that it is not to be 
wondered at that his death, which occurred 
[an. 13, 1893, was so generalh- mourned in 
Vermont. 

judge Marsh was married on the 5th of 
|uiv, 1844, to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of 
Rev. U'orthington Wright. Four sons were 
l)orn to them, the oldest of whom alone sur- 
\ives : John W. Marsh, Esq., a lawyer now- 
residing in Chicago. Mrs. Marsh died in 



256 



MARSHALL. 



1854 and Judge Marsh contracted a second 
alliance, in 1859, with Amelia Brayton of 
Swanton, who survives him. 

He was a member of the Masonic fratern- 
ity, and the society of Odd Fellows. 

Judge Marsh was a gentleman of a school 
that, if it was not the old school, yet was old 
enough to carry memory back to pleasant 
days "before the war." A stranger would 
hardly have selected him as one to lead in 
an "end of the century" body of legislators, 
yet in a House of two hundred and forty 
members, made up largely of farmers, this 
faultlessly dressed lawyer of courtly and not 
new-fashioned manner did lead. 'I'he secret 
was an open one. He was a clear-headed, 
candid gentleman, one fit to represent 
Woodstock. 



eminently successful in all his agricultural 
enterprises, and was one of the substantial 
men of the town whose good judgment and 
sound sense was esteemed by all who came 
in contact with him. He became a large 
stockholder in the Fairbanks Scale Co., in 
various banks, and was largely interested in 
real estate in the town of Burke and its 
vicinity. 

He was united in marriage July 20, 1843, 
to Calista A., daughter of John and Nancy 
(Bemis) Martin, of Burke, whom he had 
the misfortune to lose by death, [une 18, 
1862. By her he had; Carrie (deceased), 



MARSH, PlaTT T., of Simonsville, sonof 
Col. Sylvanus and Sarah D. (Thorn) Marsh, 
was born in the town of Andover, Jan. 5, 
1 844. His father served with distinction in 
the war of 1812. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Andover, and has always devoted himself to 
the occupation of farming. He has a very 
pleasant home, around which cluster the 
cherished memories of kindred running back 
for more than a hundred years. Here he 
cultivates his fertile acres, making a specialty 
of the dairy and in addition possessing a 
fine orchard of maple trees, from which he 
annually gathers an abundant crop of sugar 
and syrup. 

He married, April 13, 1869, Abbie H., 
daughter of Mills and Emily (Lockwood) 
Redfield. Their children are : Mary A. 
(Mrs. George P. Stickney), Henry P., and 
Arthur R. 

Mr. Marsh is a strong Republican and for 
several years has performed the duties of 
selectman, while he has been called upon to 
fill many offices of trust and responsibility in 
the town where he resides. In 1890 he was 
elected to the Legislature and again in 1892. 
In this body he served on the committee of 
the grand list and that on the insane, and 
has always discharged his duties creditably 
and conscientiously. 

MARSHALL, JESSE, late of West Burke, 
son of Jesse and Sarah (Hall) Marshall, was 
born in Ludlow, Dec. 12, 181 7. 

Receiving his education in the public 
schools of Guildhall and Burke, to which 
latter town his parents removed in 1833, he 
first purchased a small farm which he cleared 
but sold in 1854. He then bought a much 
larger property, on which he lived during 
the rest of his days, bringing it up to a fine 
state of cultivation, and devoting especial 
attention to the breeding of Devon cattle 
and Morgan horses. Mr. Marshall was 






L^' 



JESSE MARSH 



Benoni Hall, and Fayette (deceased). He 
was again married, July 30, 1862, to Isabel 
M., daughter of Joshua and Sarah M. 
(Allen) Thomas, of Burke. 

Mr. Marshall for very many years had 
served as selectman, overseer, lister and 
auditor of the town in which he resided, and 
enjoyed to such an extent the confidence of 
the community, that, in 1870 and 1872, he 
was called by a Republican constituency to 
represent Burke in the Legislature where he 
rendered important service upon the grand 
list and other committees. He was intrust- 
ed with the duties of administrator of many 
estates. A strong Lhiiversalist in his relig- 
ious belief, he attended and supported the 
Universalist church. He was a very charit- 
able and public-spirited man, and his death, 
which occurred May 2t, 1892, was sincerely 
mourned as an irreparable loss by a large 
circle of friends and acquaintances. 



MARSHALL. 

MARSHALL, OSCAR AZOR, latent I'.rat- 
tleboro, son of Azor and Ann (ICstahrook) 
Marshall, was born at ( )ak Gro\ e, \\'is., 
August 9, 1858. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Brattleboro, and entered the employment of 
the Vermont National Bank, May 31, 1875. 
He became assistant cashier of the People's 
National Bank in 1S83, and cashier in j886, 
which position he held to the time of his 
death. He was a director of the People's 
National Bank, and also a trustee of the 
Brooks Library. Mr. Marshall was one of 
the incorporators of the Brattleboro Savings 
Bank, the Vermont Savings Bank of Bratde- 
boro, and the Wilmington Savings Bank. 




. £1:4 




OSCAR AZOR MARSHALL. 

Mr. Marshall represented Brattleboro in 
the Legislature of Vermont in the sessions of 
1890 and 1 89 1. He was a useful member, 
and ably served his town and state. He 
introduced the first bill providing for a 
secret ballot law in the state, basing it upon 
the Australian system, and it was largely 
through his painstaking efforts that this be- 
came a law. He held numerous minor town 
offices, in all of which he pro\ed himself a 
conscientious, scrupulous, honorable gentle- 
man. 

He was one of the rising young men of 
the state, enjoying the full confidence and 
esteem of all who knew him, and his death 
was universally regretted, for no man in the 
community was more beloved. A good 
citizen, a faithful friend, and a public bene- 



NLARriN. 257 

factor, he was most sincerely mourned when 
he jiassed from this mortal life. 

Mr. Marshall was married Sept. 25, 1883, 
to Katherine R., daughter of Francis W. 
and .Matilda C. (Smith) Brooks. Of this 
union are two children: Klizabeth (L, and 
Brooks. 

MARTIN, Frank J., of P.arre, son of 
Kimball P. and Delana (Wiley) Martin, was 
born in Washington, Oct. 22, 1858. The 
Martin family came to Vermont from Con- 
necticut. Frank Martin's progenitors were 
early settlers of Williamstown and their de- 
scendants form no inconsiderable share of 
the population of that town. 

The early life of Mr. Martin was on a farm, 
and more than ordinary tasks devolved upon 
him in consequence of the sickness and early 
death of his father. In spite of his increased 
duties he managed to secure such a share of 
knowledge as was afforded by the schools of 
iiarre and Williamstown and some attend- 
ance at the Barre Academy. 

For four years after he had entered active 
life he divided his attention between employ- 
ment as a clerk in the winter season and 
labor on the farm in summer. In 1880 he 
had acquired sufficient funds to take a four 
years' course of study at Worcester Academy, 
Mass. This he accomplished in three years 
and graduated in June, 1883. He then 
taught school in Connecticut and in Will- 
iamstown, and after employment as a clerk 
in Massachusetts and Vermont, he com- 
menced, in 1887, the study of law in the 
office of Frank Plumley, of Northfield, re- 
maining there till May, 1888, when he went 
to Montpelier, and while deputy-clerk of the 
Washington county court studied with M. 
K. Smilie, till .April, 1S90, when he entered 
the office of H. A. Huse, of Montpelier. 
He was admitted to the bar at the general 
term, 1890. 

In Deceinber, 1890, with F. P. Carleton, 
he began practice at Barre in the firm of 
Martin & Carleton, which continued till Mr. 
Carleton 's removal to Montpelier in 1892. 
December, 1892, he and L. P. Slack formed 
the firm of Martin & Slack. 

Mr. Martin, Dec. 28, 1892, espoused Ida 
M., daughter of Samuel G. and Lucy M. 
(\Vheeler) Norris. 

He is a Re])ublican and is one of the 
town grand jurors and one of the listers of 
Barre. In 1890 and 1892 he was second 
assistant state Hbrarian. He has taken the 
blue lodge degrees and affiliates with 
Granite Lodge, No. 38, F. & .\. M. 

MARTIN, Joseph Gray, of Nfanches- 
ter Center, son of James and Lucy ((iray) 
Martin, was born in Landgrove, Oct. 8, 1S50. 



258 



His education was obtained in the schools 
of Landgrove and Londonderry and for a 
time he enjoyed private instruction in the 
latter place and Peru. After a visit to the 
South he returned to his native place on 
account of ill-health, and in 1869 he studied 
law with his brother J. L. Martin in South 
Londonderry. Here he remained till 1874 
when he was for a short time with Jon- 
athan G. Eddy of Jamaica. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar at the April term of the 
Windham county court in the same year, 
and soon after opened an office in London- 
derry where he remained till 1881 when he 
removed to Manchester Center. Mr. Martin 
has been admitted to practice in the Supreme 
Court and both the district and circuit 
courts of the United States. By meritorious 
e.xertion he has arrived at a large general 




JOSEPH GRA 



practice, has been retained as attorney for 
two national banks and employed as counsel 
for either the state or the respondent in 
several important criminal cases. In 1886 
he formed a copartnership with Frank T. 
Spring, which continued till the death of the 
latter, and in 188S he formed a partnership 
with Frank Archibald, state's attorney, which 
arrangement still continues. In 1894 he 
organized the Vermont Spring Co., of which 
he is president. This corporation owns a 
large tract on Putney mountain containing 
chalybeate and sulphur mineral springs. 

January 14, 1873, Mr. Martin was united 
to Mary E., daughter of Joshua and Lydia 
A. (Walker) Barnard of Winhall, who died 



March 9, 1886, leaving four children : Lucy 
E., Willard B., Lucius P., and James G. 
(deceased). 

Mr. Martin belongs to the dominant 
party of the state but has held only a few 
minor offices. He is an Episcopalian in 
religious belief and has taken the Masonic 
degrees conferred in Anchor Lodge, No. 99, 
F. & .A. M. of South Londonderry. 

MARTIN, James LOREN, of Brattleboro, 
son of James and Lucy (Gray) Martin, was 
born at Landgrove, Sept. 18, 1846. 

His early education was in the district 
schools, and at Londonderry and Marlow 
(N. H.) academies. In 1867 he became a 
student of Judge H. H. Wheeler, and pursued 
his legal studies as time and opportunity 
permitted. The following year he went to 
the law school in .Albany, N. Y., from which 
he graduated, and was admitted to the Ben- 
nington county bar at the June term in 
1869. He practiced law in Londonderry 
from that time until January, 1882, when he 
bought out the law business of the late Charles 
N. Davenport, and moved to Brattleboro. In 
1 888 he formed a copartnership with Hon. 
E. L. Waterman, and later George B. Hitt 
became a member of the firm. He com- 
mands a leading position as a lawyer. 

In 1886 he was elected president of the 
Brattleboro Tool Co., and two years later was 
appointed tax commissioner by Governor 
Dillingham, which office he still holds. In 
the fall of 1 89 1 he formed a partnership with 
L. E. Holden, for the manufacture of lumber, 
and the firm is now conducting a large busi- 
ness. He is also president of the Martin & 
Fitts Lime and Cement Manufacturing Co. 

Mr. Martin's political career began with 
his election to the Legislature as representa- 
ti\e of Londonderry in 1874, in which body 
he served on the committee on education, 
having charge of the bill to abolish the board 
of education and for the appointment of a 
state superintendent. Two years later he 
was again returned to the Legislature, serv- 
ing as chairman of the committee on elec- 
tions, and a member of the judiciary com- 
mittee. In 1878 he was for a third time 
elected to the same position, and was chosen 
speaker of the House on the second ballot. 
He was elected to the House in 1880 and 
1882, and at both of the last-named sessions 
was again chosen speaker. His thorough 
knowledge of parliamentary law, and singular 
aptitude for the prompt dispatch of business 
rightfully won for him his reputation as a 
model speaker. In 1892 he represented 
Brattleboro, and declined being a candidate 
for speaker. He was chairman of the judic- 
iary committee, second on the ways and 
means committee. .At this session he won the 
reputation of being a painstaking, hard- 



working, and a very useful mcml.ier of the 
House of Representatives. 

He was first married, Nov. 19, 1X69, to 
Delia E., daughter of Lewis and .\lary 
(Aiken) Howard. She died Dec. 14, 1881. 
Three children were born to them, none of 
whom survive. 

On the loth of January, 1SS3, he married 
Jessie Lilley, daughter of Capt. Kdward and 
Susan (Lilley) Dewey, of Montpelier. They 
ha\e three children : Margaret Susan, Helen 
Ruth, and Katharine (Iray. 

MARTIN, Milton, of Williamstown, son 
of James and Martha (Coburn) IVLirtin, was 
born in AMlliamstown, Feb. 19, 1809. 

He was one of a family of nine children, 
and a brother of the late ex-Lieut.-Gov. 
Burnam Martin, and lived the frugal life of a 
farmer's bov until he was eighteen years old. 
During this time he obtained what educa- 
tional advantages he could from the common 
schools of Williamstown. Abandoning his 
original occupation he resolved to learn the 
trade of a blacksmith, and was apprenticed 
for three years to Enoch Howe, with whom 
he served his time. 

Shortly after he went to Wolcott and there 
married, in 1832, Mary ALartyn, by whom he 
had seven children, three of whom are living : 
Albert R., Lenora (Mrs. Austen H. Young of 
Minneapolis), and Fred R. His wife died 
in 1868, and he espoused Mrs. Nancy (Whit- 
ney) Covil, who passed away March 12, 1875. 
He has contracted a third alliance with Mrs. 
Nancy (Martin) Chamberlain. Mr. Martin 
remained in Wolcott for five years, pursuing 
his trade, and then returned to Williamstown, 
where he continued at the forge, until his 
eldest son had gained skill and experience 
sufficient to succeed him, when he turned his 
attention to farming and also the manage- 
ment of the village inn. He bears his years 
lightly and "the grasshopper is not a burden" 
in his ripe old age, and though somewhat 
deaf all his physical and mental faculties are 
'Unimpaired and active. 

Mr. Martin may properly be designated a 
Jacksonian Democrat, for he cast his first 
presidential vote for "Old Hickory" and he 
has adhered to that party ever since. He 
has been honored with official trusts both in 
Wolcott and Williamstown ; was postmaster 
for five years and justice for fifteen in the 
latter town, which place he has twice repre- 
resented in the Legislature. He has also 
been a director in the Montpelier t^ White 
River R. R. 

MARTIN, William, late of I'lainfield, 
son of William and Sabrina (Axtell) Martin, 
was born in the town of Marshfield. His 
grandfather, Jesse Martin, was a veteran of 
Bunker Hill, and his father, Hon. A\illiam 



.MAkii.\. 259 

Martin, was a man of mark, who represented 
Marshfield for thirteen years in the Legisla- 
ture, was colonel of a cavalry regiment, and 
associate judge of the county court. 

William Martin passed through the usual 
experience in his boyhood days, receiving 
his education in the common schools. The 
rough and constant labor of the farm devel- 
oped his energy and endowed him with un- 
common physical strength and endurance 
He was always a prodigious worker, and for 
a time was a manufacturer and merchant, 
but for many years devoted his chief atten- 
tion to the occupation of his youth. He is 
a large owner of real estate, possessing at 
the time of his death several extensive farms 
in this and neighboring towns, and he was 
also the proprietor of a large saw mill, which 
is carried on by his sons. 

Mr. Martin was an enthusiastic adherent 
of the dominant party in the state, and held 
many public offices ; representing Marshfield 
in the Legislature. 

He was strongly in favor of a vigorous 
prosecution of the civil war, and one of his 
sons, William E. Martin, served as 2d lieu- 
tenant in Co. C, 13th Regt. Vt. Vols., under 
the command of Col. F. V. Randall, and 
was promoted to ist lieutenant before that 
regiment was mustered out. He then en- 
listed in the 17th Regt., and was killed at 
the battle of Petersburg Mine, July 30, 1864. 
In honor of his memory the local organiza- 
tion of the Grand Army of the Republic in 
Plainfield received its title of the William 
E. Martin Post. 

The subject of this sketch was wedded 
Jan. II, 1838, to Vienna L. Perrin, by whom 
he has had eight children: Julia S. (Mrs. 
Walter Page, deceased), \Mlliam E. (killed 
at Petersburg, Va., as stated above), C'urtis 
A., Cassius L., Charles P., F'dwin B., Harry 
H., and Benjamin F. 

MARTIN, WILLARD S., of Plainfield, 
son of Joshua B. and Betsv (Sheppard) 
Martin, was born in Marshfield, |nn. 26, 
1827. 

He enjoyed only the pri\ileges of the 
common school, but by active observation 
and assiduous reading he is practically a 
well educated man. 

In i860 he moved to Plainfield and ]iur- 
chased a fine property of nearly six hundred 
acres, and he has made his home here ever 
since. He has been an extensi\e dealer in 
and breeder of fine stock. .A public-spirited 
man of kindly and sympathetic nature, he 
has met with some serious losses in generous 
attempts to assist his neighbors and friends. 

Mr. Martin was united in marriage, Feb. 
21, i860, to Fannie, daughter of Orlando 
and Cecilia (Nash) Lewis of East Mont- 
pelier, who died May 7, 1889. Five chil- 



26o 



MATIHEWS. 



dren are the issue of their marriage : K. 
AHce, Willard S., Jr., Orlando L., Arthur R. 
(deceased), and Edgar L. 

Mr. Martin is a Republican in his political 
belief and has been entrusted with many 
responsil)le positions in his town. He has 
held the office of justice of the peace for 
thirty years and was chosen to the Legisla- 
ture in 1864 and 1S65. He received the 
election of associate judge in iS74,andcon- 




WILLARD S. MARTIN. 

tinued on the bench for four years. He was 
elected senator from Washington county in 
1882. He was six years director of the Barre 
National I'ank, and two years president of the 
Washington County Agricultural Society. 

Judge Martin is a L'niversalist, has always 
taken a lively interest in educational matters, 
and for a long time has been a trustee of 
Goddard Seminary of Karre. 

MASON, Charles W., of Vergennes, 
son of Lawrence S. and Sarah (French) 
Mason, was born in Potsdam, N. V., Nov. 6, 
1837. 

He was educated at the common schools 
and academy at New Haven, receiving a 
thorough preparation for after life. He has 
always devoted his attention to farming, and 
by industry and skill from small beginnings 
has increased the value of his property to 
such an extent that he has now one of the 
best farms of .\ddison county, consisting of 
over four hundred acres of productive land. 
He is a breeder and dealer in thoroughbred 
Merino sheep, and has raised many of very 



high \alue. These have been exported to 
nearly all states of the L'nion, and he has 
also shipped many to Africa, being one of 
the first to establish this enterprise. " He also 
is a breeder of high-blood horses. 

Mr. Mason is a Republican, and has been 
honored with various town offices, and is 
popular and prominent in Addison county. 

He enlisted in Co. G, 14th Vt. Vols., when 
they organized Sept. 9, 1862, and was 
mustered in in October of the same year, 
holding the position of 2d lieutenant. ' Re- 
turning to Vermont in July, 1863, he raised 
Co. E for the 3d Vt. Militia Regl, and was 
commissioned captain by ex-Gov. J. Gregory 
Smith. He was present and took part in the 
bloody struggle at Crettysburg, and has a war 
record of which one may well be proud. 

He belongs to the Masonic brotherhood, 
being a member of Libanus Lodge, No. 47, 
of Bristol, and the Chapter and Royal Arch 
Lodge of Vergennes. He has been a mem- 
ber of the Congregationalist church for a 
quarter of a century, and is one of the ex- 
amining and building committee of the 
church recently erected. 

Mr. ALason is a well-informed gentleman 
on state and foreign matters, and an intelli- 
gent and pleasant conversationalist. 

MATTHEWS, CHARLES W., of Granby, 
son of Jonathan and Nancy F. (Bell) Mat- 
thews, was born in Clranby, August 31, 1857. 

Jonathan Matthews came to Granby in 
1838, and has ever since been a resident of 
that place, purchasing the farm on which he 
now lives. The son received an excellent 
education in the district school, and com- 
pleted his instruction at the St. Johnsbury 
.•\cademy. He has always remained on the 
paternal estate, and is an enterprising and 
substantial farmer, an enviable lot in these 
days of bustling and by no means remuner- 
ative toil in other branches of money getting. 

He belongs to the ruling party of Vermont, 
and has received the offices of lister and 
selectman, and enjoyed the honors of town 
clerk and treasurer for nearly fifteen years. 
He has served as county commissioner, and 
also was a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives in 1880 and 1892. Though a 
young man, Mr. Matthews has been promi- 
nent in town and county affairs, and gives 
promise of a career of much usefulness. 

He is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F. 

Mr. Matthews was married June 25, 1879, 
to Hettie, daughter of Loomis and Adeline 
(Farr) Wells. They have one child : Leila. 

MATTISON, William P., of South 

Shaftsbury, son of Reuben and Eunice (Slye) 
Mattison, was born in Shaftsbury, Dec. 22, 
1828. His great-grandfather, Thoinas Matti- 
son, caine from Rhode Island in the latter 



26l 



half of the i8th century, was chosen the first 
town clerk of Shaftsbury, and the earliest 
deed on record in that tow'n bears his signa- 
ture. 

The opportunities for early education en- 
joyed by William P. were those afforded by 
the schools of his native town, supplemented 
by a short course at North Bennington Acad- 
emy. For several succeeding winters he was 
employed in teaching in Bennington and 
Hillsdale, N. V. On his return to Shaftsbury 
he gave his attention to the manufacture of 
squares for se\eral years, still continuing at 
intervals his former profession and devoting 
all his spare time to the study of law, which 
he hoped to adopt as a profession. 




'ILLIAM P. MATTISON. 



Mr. Mattison was united in wedlock August 
9, 1853, to Sarah C, daughter of William F. 
and Catherine (Sharts) Stickle, of Hillsdale, 
N. Y. Five children were the fruit of the 
union : Katherine A. (Mrs. Charles F. Chapin 
of \\aterbury. Conn.), Frederick L., May V. 
(Mrs. Ceorge A. Bruce of South Shaftsbury), 
William R. and Clayton S. 

Some time after his marriage, he removed 
to Hillsdale, and during a period of about 
five years engaged in teaching and farming, 
and also became a partner in a general store. 
In 1 86 1 he again returned to Shaftsbury, 
and entered the employment of the Kagle 
Square Co. He had always taken great in- 
terest in the affairs of this corporation, giv- 
ing much time to the study of square-making 
and imiiro\'ed machinerv therefor. In 1864 



the Kagle Square Co., which till then had 
been organized as a ]jartnership, was incor- 
porated and three years later Mr. Mattison 
was elected secretary and treasurer. In 
1883 he was promoted to the position of 
vice-president, which office he holds at 
the present time. In 1880 the plant of the 
company, which had been rejjeatedly en- 
larged to accommodate the manufacture of 
bedsteads, sash and blinds, and boring ma- 
chines, was destroyed by fire, with the excep- 
tion of the sfpiare-finishing department, and 
it was principally owing to the active and in- 
telligent efforts of Mr. NIattison that the works 
were reconstructed. To him was entrusted 
the responsible task of erecting the necessary 
buildings and providing a new plant on a 
larger scale than the former, equipped with 
the most improved machinery. In this en- 
terprise he was eminently successful and the 
company is now more prosperous than e\er 
before. His success as the chief acting execu- 
ti\e officer of the Eagle Square Manufacturing 
Co. for a long term of years stamps him as a 
representative member of that large and 
valued class of New Kngland manufacturers 
who have done so much to win the high repu- 
tation which these states enjoy as industrial 
centers. 

Politically, Mr. Mattison has been a Repub- 
lican since the inception of the party. His 
natural ability and energy have made him a 
fit candidate for many official positions in 
both Shaftsbury and Hillsdale. In 1872 he 
represented his town in the Legislature, serv- 
ing as a member of the committee on land 
taxes and taking an active part in all matters 
affecting the manufacturing interests of the 
state. Six vears subse(]uently he was chosen 
state senator from Bennington county, in 
which body he was a member of several 
highly important committees. 

Mr. Mattison, by an accident received in 
185S, had the misfortune to lose the sight of 
his right eye, which disqualified him for ser- 
vice in the late war. 

In his religious preferences he inclines to 
the Baptist faith. He has always taken a 
li\ely interest in the welfare of his native 
town to whose material welfare he has been so 
large a contributor. 

MATTISON, Fred LELAND, of South 
Shaftsbury, son of William P. and Sarah 
(Stickle) Mattison, was born in Hillsdale, 
N. v., April 20, 1857. 

His educational advantages were received 
in the public schools of Shaftsbury, the 
graded school of North Bennington and the 
Wilbraham (Mass) Academy. He com- 
menced the active business of life as a clerk 
in his father's store in South Shaftsbury and 
afterwards became bookkeeper of the Eagle 
Square Co. till the year 1884 when he was 



262 



McCULLOUGH. 



elected secretary and treasurer of that cor- 
poration, which position he still retains, and 
since the illness of his father has had the chief 
control of the business. He is one of the stock- 
holders in that company which was founded 
by Silas Hawes in i'8i2. In 1878 Mr. 
Mattison purchased a third interest in the 
general store owned bv \\'. P. Mattison & 
Co. 

In his political sentiments he is Republi- 
can and he supports and attends the Aletho- 
dist church. 




trines of the protectionists, and is now a; 
strong Cleveland Democrat of the independ- 
ent type, who believes in principle rather 
than party. 

Mr. May was married Dec. 12, 1872, to 
Miss Eunice A. S., daughter of Sumner W. 
and Rosette (Eastman) xArnold. Three chil- 
dren have been the issue of this marriage : 
Florence Joanna, Eunice Rosette, and Bea- 
trice Sophia. 

During the war he made an attempt to en- 
list in the 17th Regt. Vt. Vols., but was re- 
jected. A second effort was more successful, 
and he was enrolled in the 26th Regt. New 
York Cavalry under Col. Ferris Jacobs. He 
received a commission from Governor Fen- 
ton as ist lieutenant and regimental com- 
missary, but was not present at any battle of 
the war. 

Mr. May has also knelt at the shrine of 
Free Masonry, having taken the degrees of 
blue lodge, chapter and temple and he is a 
member of Chamberlain Post, No. i,(;. A. R. 

A modest and unassuming man, notwith- 
standing his liberal and advanced view of 
the present aspect of public affairs, he has 
never sought for political promotion, but he 
was the candidate for auditor of accounts on 
the Democratic ticket in 1890 and 1892, 
and is a member of the Democratic state 
committee for Caledonia county. Mr. May 
was in 1893 appointed bank examiner in 
\'ermont by President Cleveland, and is at 
present director of the state prison and house 
of correction. 



AND MATTISON 



He married, Nov. 29, 1881, Jennie, 
daughter of Clark and Sarina Bates of South 
Shaftsbury. Four children have blessed the 
union : Raymond, Louis, Irwin, and Dorothy. 

MAY, ELISHA, of St. Johnsbury, son of 
Preston and Sophia Stevens (Grout) May, 
was born in Concord, Dec. 12, 1842. 

He was educated at the common schools 
and at St. Johnsbury Academy. After his 
preliminary studies he read law with Jona- 
than Ross, Esq., at St. Johnsbury and was 
admitted to the bar at the December term 
in Caledonia county in 1867. The following 
year he served as assistant clerk in the House 
of Representatives under John H. Flagg. .At 
one time a partner of Henry E.Belden, Esq., 
Mr. May is now associated with Hon. Henry 
C. Bates. 

F"ormerly a member of the Republican 
party, he withdrew his allegiance in 1884, 
being a pronounced opponent of the doc- 



MCCULLOUGH, JOHN GRIFFITH, of 
Bennington, son of Alexander and Rebecca 
McCullough, was born in Newark, Del. He 
is of mingled Scotch and AVelsh ancestry, 
and the circumstances which surrounded his 
early youth did not present a rosy prospect 
for his future ; for his father died when he 
was three years of age, and his mother when 
he was seven. His early educational advan- 
tages were meagre, but with unwearied in- 
dustry he made the most of them, and suc- 
ceeded in graduating from Delaware College 
with the highest honors before reaching his 
twentieth year. He then commenced the 
study of law in the office of St. (leorge 
Tucker Campbell of Philadelphia, dividing 
his time between study and practical expe- 
rience in the office and attendance at the 
law school of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, from which institution he received 
the degree of LLB. In 1859 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of 
Pennsylvania. At this time impaired health 
rendered a change of climate and surround- 
ings necessary, and he set sail in that vear 
for San Francisco, but the severity of the 
seacoast winds induced him to remove to 
Sacramento, where he was admitted to the 




^^^g/1/Vl.C^^^t..^^^onx^^ 



264 



McCUI.LOUGH. 



bar of the Supreme Court of California. 
Even here the climate was too rough for his 
delicate condition, and he soon changed his 
residence to Mariposa, at the foot of the 
picturesque Sierra Nevadas. California at 
this time was passing through her trying 
pioneer period, and her precarious situation 
was about to be complicated by the bursting 
of the war cloud of the rebellion, and the 
young lawyer arrived on this rough scene in 
time to perform his part in the drama. A 
terrible struggle between the Secessionists of 
Southern California and the Unionists ap- 
peared inevitable, when the arrival of Gen- 
eral Sumner, sent by the government to su- 
persede Cen. Albert Sidney Johnston, then 
in command at Fort Alcatraz, frustrated the 
scheme of Southern sympathizers to separate 
California from the Union. In young Mc- 
Cullough, whose loyalty to the Federal 
government was intense, { General Sumner 
found a ready and efficient supporter and 
coadjutor. .Ascending the stump, in spite 
of his delicate health which precluded active 
service in the field, by his courage and elo- 
quence, he did yeoman service for the cause 
of freedom and national unity. 

Having secured the admiration and confi- 
dence of the Union element, he was nomi- 
nated for the General Assembly in 1861, and 
elected by a triumphant coalition of Repub- 
licans and Douglas Democrats. In 1862 his 
constituents returned him to the state Senate, 
though the district up to that time had been 
overwhelmingly Democratic. Such was his 
success and vigor in shaping legislation, that 
notwithstanding his youth and his brief ex- 
perience as a practical lawyer, he was nomi- 
nated the next year by the state convention 
of the Republican party as attorney-general 
of California, and elected by an overwhelm- 
ing majority. In this position he labored 
with signal skill and success in the interest 
of and for the honor of the state. Renomi- 
nated in 1867, he failed of a re-election, 
though receiving the largest vote of any can- 
didate on the Republican ticket. For four 
succeeding years as the head of a well-known 
law firm in San Francisco, he enjoyed a 
highly renumerative practice and the en- 
viable reputation with court, counsel and 
client, of a practitioner scrupulously accurate 
in statement and in every action or position 
governed by the nicest sense of professional 
honor. 

In 187 1, while on a visit to the eastern 
states. General McCullough married Eliza 
Hall, daughter of Trenor W. and Laura V. H. 
Park of Bennington. They have four chil- 
dren : Hall Park, Elizabeth 1,., Ella S., and 
Esther Morgan. 

Two years after his marriage, having 
acquired an ample fortune, he remoxed to 
Southern Vermont, where he interested him- 



self in railroad, commercial and banking 
enterprises. His active operations in these 
directions have made him for some months 
in the year a resident of New York, where a 
portion of his time is passed, but his home 
and permanent and favorite residence is in 
the Green Mountain state. Some disap- 
pointed individual has said that Vermont 
was a good state to emigrate from ; the sub- 
ject of this sketch believes rather that it is a 
good state not only to emigrate to, but to 
marry into also. He is an ardent admirer 
of those Vermont methods and principles by 
which, the Grecian statesman said, a small 
state may be made great, and a great state 
greater still. 

From 1873 to 1883 he was vice-president 
and general manager of the Panama Railroad 
Co., and from the latter year until his resigna- 
tion in 1888 he was president and directing 
genius of the corporation. He was elected 
a director of the Erie R. R. in 18S4, and 
since 1888 has been chairman of the execu- 
tive committee. He was the first president 
of the Chicago & Erie R. R., a position 
which he still holds, and is president of the 
Pennington & Rutland Railroad Co. He 
is also president of the First National Bank 
of North Bennington, a director in the New 
York Security and Trust Co., of the Fidelity 
and Casualty Insurance Co. of that citv, and 
is largely interested in many other corpora- 
tions. 

American politics have always possessed 
the liveliest interest for (leneralMcCullough, 
and he has suffered no political campaign to 
pass by since i860, in which his voice has 
not been heard in earnest and efficient 
advocacy of the men and principles of the 
Republican party, yet he entertains no 
ambition in the direction of public office. 
His genial nature and social tastes have won 
him hosts of friends, and his home life in 
the state of his adoption is singularly happy 
and contented. 

McDUFFKE, Henry Clay, of Bradford, 

son of John and Dolly (Greenleaf) McDuffee, 
was born at Bradford, Oct. 3, 1831. John 
McDuffee was one of the first settlers of the 
town. He was a teacher and later a railroad 
projector and civil engineer of distinguished 
ability and extended reputation. 

Henry C. was educated in the Bradford 
public schools and at Bradford .Academy. 
He lived upon the farm where he was born 
until 1 868, when he removed to his pleasant 
home on Main street in Bradford where he 
now lives. He learned surveying at an 
early age and has always pursued that voca- 
tion more or less. .After the death of his 
father, and brother Charles, who were agents 
for Joseph Bell of Pioston, an extensive land 
owner in Canada, New England and the 



iMcGE'n KICK. 



265 



western states, Mr. McDuffee was appointed 
agent, having complete control of the man- 
agement and sale of this large property, and 
discharged that trust with much credit. 
During that time and since, he has had 
charge of many other complicated estates 
in different parts of the country, and has 
also conducted a widely extended business 
in buying and selling real estate in the 
South and West. For a number of years 
Mr. McDuffee had the management of some 




HENRY CLAY McDUFfEE. 

large oil wells and coal mines in Ohio. 
Afterwards he was manager of a linen mill 
in Claremont, N. H., where he remained 
until 1 8 70, when he returned to Bradford. 
Mr. McDuffee has always been a public- 
spirited man, and greatly interested in any- 
thing which he thought was for the true in- 
terest of his town. He was one of the 
organizers of the Bradford Savings Bank 
and Trust Co., personally secured its char- 
ter and for many years was one of the 
directors. He was also influential in estab- 
lishing the Bradford Opinion and soon after- 
wards became the principal owner. He has 
been for many years a trustee of Bradford 
Academy. Mr. McDuffee is a man of large 
business experience and has traveled exten- 
sively. 

He was for some time engaged by a large 
banking establishment of Boston to inspect 
and to establish loan agencies throughout 
the West and along the Pacific Coast. 

He is a loyal Republican and is a man 
who has the courage of his convictions. He 



has held nearly all the important town 
offices. He was elected as representative 
from Bradford to the deneral Assembly of 
icSyo and 187 1, being the first Republican 
representative ever elected in that town. 
He was re-elected in 1872 receiving at this 
time the largest Re]Hiblican vote ever polled 
in Bradford before or since. He was high 
bailiff of Orange county for 1872 and 1S73 ; 
assistant U. S. .Assessor from 1871 to the 
time the office was abolished, and was 
elected state senator from Orange county in 
18S4 serving at this time on the committees 
of finance, railroads and banks. He was 
also for many years chairman of the Orange 
county Republican committee and in 1888 
was one of the presidential electors. 

He is a member of Charity Lodge 43 and 
Chapter of F. & A. M. of Bradford. 

March 12, 1863, he married Laura Water- 
man of Lebanon, N. H., who died the fol- 
lowing September. He married his present 
wife, Rosie ^L, daughter of Hon Roswell 
M. and ^^arinda (Nelson) Bill of Topsham, 
June 8, 1869. They have one child : Ernest 
Bill. 

MCGETTRICK, FELIX WILLIAM, of SL 
Albans, son of Michael and Mary (O'Con- 
nell) McGettrick, was born in Fairfield, 
Nov. 20, 1847. 




The educational facilities which Mr. Mc- 
( lettrick enjoyed before the war were exceed- 
ingly limited, as he li\ed nearly three miles 
from the nearest district schoolhouse, but 



266 



after his return from the battlefields of \"ir- 
ginia he took a partial course of study at the 
New Hampton Institute at Fairfax, and then 
placed himself as a private pupil under the 
charge of Mr. C. J. Alger at Burlington, in 
whose office he commenced the study of law, 
which he afterward continued with the firm 
of Edson & Rand at St. Albans. 

In 1870 he combined his legal studies 
with the teacher's profession, but two years 
later he began to practice at St. Albans. 
He has been engaged in several important 
cases and ranks high as an able criminal 
lawyer, and as an advocate he has no supe- 
rior in the state, possessing great command 
of language, and is both forcible and elo- 
quent as a .speaker. 

Mr. McGettrick enlisted, when a lad of 
sixteen, in Co. E, 2d Regt. U. S. Sharp- 
shooters, and in the winter of 1864 the com- 
mand were in camp around Brandy Station 
and Culpepper, Va. He was present at the 
battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, 
and in the latter engagement was seriously 
wounded. He was discharged at the close 
of the war. 

He is actively interested in politics, being 
a staunch supporter of the principles of the 
Democratic party. He has been town grand 
juror and member of the school board, as 
well as town agent for prosecuting and de- 
fending suits. He was sent as a delegate to 
the Democratic national convention in 1880, 
and seven years afterward was appointed 
special inspector of customs. He was the 
nominee of his party for Congress in 1892, 
and the following year received the appoint- 
ment of superintendent of construction of 
the new United States custom house and 
postofifice at St. Albans. 

Mr. McGettrick was married, January, 
1872, to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and 
Mary (Burke) Morris of Fairfield. They 
have three children : Edward Thomas, 
Charles Henry, and Mary Catherine. 

MCLAM, James R., of Topsham, son of 
James and Agnes (Leech) McLam, was 
born in Ryegate, Nov. 24, 184 1. His parents 
came from Scotland to Caledonia county 
about 1830, and James received a good prac- 
tical education in the schools of Ryegate, 
supplemented by a course of instruction at 
the Caledonia grammar school and at Mcln- 
does Academy. He remained with his father 
upon the farm until he was twenty vears of 
age, when he went to Boston, Mass., and en- 
gaged in the business of trucking for three 
years. 

After spending a year in Iowa, he returned 
to Ryegate, and finally removed to Topsham, 
where he engaged in general trade for four 
years, and then parted with his interest in 
the business to Mr. Stewart, who had been 



connected with him. For several years he 
ga\e his attention to insurance, pensions and 
town affairs. He then went back to his old 
stand, and taking A. C. Wormwood, of Bos- 
ton, as a partner, they successfully conducted 
the business till 1892, having a practical 
monopoly of trade in the ^•illage, when Mr. 
McLam sold out to Mr. Wormwood. 

February i, 1871, he married Susan ]., 
daughter of Daniel and Jeanette (Cochrane) 
Wormwood, and of this union were issue : 
Elmer D. (deceased), George L., Cora J., 
and Affnes M. 



^•*^ ^^^ t 




Though not a farmer, he has gi\-en both 
time and money to the establishment of a 
co-operative creamery in East Topsham, and 
is a director and secretary of the company. 

MCLEAN, Albert, of Norton Mills, son 
of John and Mary (Carleton) McLean, was 
born in Alna, Me., August 31, 1849. 

He received his education in the public 
schools of Alna and at Eastpitston (Me.) 
Academy. 

His father was a farmer and merchant 
and to these \ocations he added a large ship- 
ping business, finding opportunity, neverthe- 
less, to discharge the duties of town clerk 
for a period of fifty years. Albert remained 
with him until his majoritv, in his extensive 
operations, when he moved to Norton Mills 
and engaged as clerk for Wilmot Nelson, 
remaining about four years. .Afterward he 
went into partnership with Mr. Nelson as 



iMiMASTKR. 

A. McLean & Co., and continued in trade 
until the business was sold to A. M. Stetson 
& Co., in 18S9, when he entered their em- 
ployment as head clerk. 

Mr. McLean is a Republican and a Free 
Mason, having received his degrees in Island 
Pond Lodge No. 44. 

\\hen the town was organized in 1885 he 
was chosen town clerk and has served most 
faithfully and acceptably ever since. He 
also has made a most efficient town treasurer 
for five years. He is obliging and of sterl- 
ing moral worth. 

He was wedded, in 1885, at Island Pond, 
to Ella B., daughter of \\'illiam and Margaret 
Libby of East Machias, Me., and by her he 
is the father of two children : John Walter, 
and Cora P^nuna. 

MCMASTER, William D., of Wood- 
stock, son of John and Nancy (Burke) Mc- 
Master, was born in Ireland, Nov. 28, 1833, 
and emigrated with his parents to X'ermont 
when a child. 

His education was obtained in the public 
schools, and from the experience derived in 
an a]i|irenticeNlii|i served in a printing uffi( r. 



Mcr)UIVE\-. 



26^ 




WILLIAM D. McMASTER. 

Mr. McMaster has followed the vocation 
of printer, editor and publisher. From Jan. 
I, 1861, he has been the proprietor and pub- 
lisher of the Spirit of the Age. He is now 
the oldest journalist as regards continuous 
service in the state. 

Mr. McMaster was married lulv to, 1867, 
to Maria E., daughter of Wilder and F'Jiza 



C. (Demary) Raymond. Two children were 
the fruit of their union : Charles 1^., and 
William R., both deceased. 

Democratic in his political faith, he has 
served on state, county and town committees, 
was postmaster of Woodstock during Presi- 
dent Cleveland's first administration, hold- 
ing the office for four years and ten months, 
and several times has been the candidate of 
his ])arty for town representative. During 
the period of the rebellion of the slave states 
his paper heartily endorsed and supported 
all measures leading to a \ igorous prosecu- 
tion of the war. 

MCQUIVEY, ALSON N., of Bread Loaf, 
son of Nathaniel and Family E. (Dunham) 
McQuivey, was born in Ripton, Feb. 3, 
18:^1. 




He passed through the common schools 
of Ripton, the high school of Middlebury 
and the Vermont Methodist Seminary at 
Montpelier. After completing his educa- 
tional training he settled down as a farmer 
near Bread Loaf Mountain, a noted summer 
resort, where he has methodically and suc- 
cessfully pursued his business. He has 
dealt somewhat extensively in real estate and 
is iiiuch interested in breeding driving 
horses. 

He was united in marriage at Middlebury, 
Jan. 25, 1876, to Mary, daughter of Carlos 
and Marcia Hooker. Shortly after her 
marriage she died and he then espoused 
Florence A., daughter of William N. and 



268 



Joanna B. (Fletcher) Cobb. Three chil- 
dren have been born to them : Agnes A., 
Gordon D., and Arthur. 

Mr. McQuivey belongs to the dominant 
party in the state and for six years has filled 
the offices of superintendent of schools, 
auditor, lister and selectman. He was 
appointed census enumerator in 1890, and 
two years afterwards was called upon to 
represent the town of Ripton in the Legisla- 
ture, where his services were given to the 
committee on the library. 

He belongs to the order of Odd Fellows, 
and is specially attached to Lake Dunmore 
Lodge, No. II. He formerly affiliated with 
the state Grange, and is at present a mem- 
ber of the Congregational church. Mr. 
McQuivey is one of the leading men in the 
town, and is prominently connected with all 
affairs of social and political life. 

MEAD, Elisha Ferguson, of starks- 

boro, son of William and Mandana ( Fergu- 
son) Mead, was born in Hinesburgh, June 
25, 1824. His grandfather, Alpheus Mead, 




' Mt t^r^^^ 



ELISHA FERGUSON MEAD. 

was born in Greenwich, Conn. He was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war, was cap- 
tured and confined in the old sugarhouse in 
New York. He was one of the early settlers 
of Hinesburgh, where he died in 1837. The 
mother of the subject of this sketch was the 
daughter of Flisha Ferguson, of Starksboro. 
His grandmother on his mother's side was a 
sister of Elijah Hedding, one of the early 
bishops of the Methodist church. 



Elisha Ferguson Mead was educated in the 
common schools and in the Hinesburgh 
Academy. He studied law in the office of 
Hon. Asahel Peck, at Burlington, and was 
admitted to the bar of Chittenden county, in 
1847. He practiced in Chittenden county 
until 1855, when he moved to Michigan, 
where he opened an office at Romeo, and 
had a large practice in that and the sur- 
rounding counties, and in the United States 
circuit and district courts. He was elected 
to the Legislature of Michigan in 1866, and 
served on the judiciary committee, was re- 
elected in 1868, and was a])pointed chairman 
of that committee, and filled the position 
satisfactorily the next two years. He prac- 
ticed law in Michigan until 1874, when he 
retired from professional life and has since 
resided at Starksboro. 

MEAD, JOHN ABNER, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Fairhaven, on the 20th 
day of April, 1841. His ancestors were En- 
glish and the family was an ancient and hon- 
orable one. There is in Westminster .\bbey 
a monument erected to the memory of Rich- 
ard -Mead, ^L I)., one of his ancestors, who 
was the friend and physician of the talented 
though not amiable George H, and of Queen 
.Anne. Col. Richard K. Mead, aid-de-camp 
to General Washington from 1777 to 1783, 
attained the rank of colonel and rendered 
valuable service throughout the war of the 
Revolution. He was with the commander-in- 
chief in all his principal battles and person- 
ally superintended the execution of Major 
Andre, a duty which he was accustomed to 
say, he was not able to perform without shed- 
ding tears. The Rt. Rev. William Mead, 
Bishop of Virginia, was also of the same 
family. Richard \\'. Mead, another ancestor, 
born in Chester county. Pa., in June, 1778, 
was said to be the first importer of Merino 
sheep into the United States. The great- 
great-grandfather of the present sketch. Col. 
James Mead, was the first white settler in 
Rutland and in the valley of the Otter creek, 
and was a descendant from one of the two 
families of Meads who emigrated from F^n- 
gland about 1642. He was born at Horse- 
neck, N. Y., August 25, 1730, and married 
Mercy Holmes of the same place. Having 
purchased seven thousand acres of land at 
six cents an acre, situated on either side of 
Otter creek and near the falls at Center Rut- 
land, Colonel Mead left Manchester, \t., on 
the morning of the 28th of September, 1769, 
with his wife and eleven children and a son- 
in-law, and starting out into the unbroken 
wilderness, arriving at Central Falls on the 
evening of the 30th, having been en route 
three days and two nights. .\n extract from 
the inaugural address of Mayor Mead on the 
organization of the city government graphi- 



270 



callv describes the experiences of the first 
settler : "Go back with me for a moment 
for one hundred and twenty-four years, and 
picture, if you will, that man, the first settler, 
with his wife and eleven children ; one pair 
of oxen with the old-style sledge piled high 
with all their earthly belongings ; the mother 
and girls riding alternately upon two small 
horses ; the father and boys in turn driving 
the oxen, and closely behind, their two cows. 
At Manchester, Vt., they leave all roads and 
strike out into the unbroken forest ; they 
push their way, slowly but surely, along the 
sides of the mountains. There are no setders 
along their route to point the way or shelter 
them by night. They mo\e along that rocky 
crest and after three days and two nights, 
they arrived at their destination, the Central 
Falls, as they were known upon the old 
survev, viz., the falls at Center Rudand. 
They stopped the first night near the present 
village of Dorset, the second night near that 
•of Danby ; they passed through Tinmouth, 
West Clarendon, and finally arrived at the 
home of the Caugnawaga. (Jne of the chiefs 
met him at the door of his wigwam, talked for a 
few minutes in an unknown tongue to his 
.squaw, and papooses and other Indians, and 
then throwing his hands high in the air and 
wide apart, he exclaimed in English, 'Wel- 
come, Welcome !' The father allowed the 
cattle to feed upon the leaves in the under- 
brush near by, the boys arranged to sleep 
near the sled, while the mother and girls, 
kneeling in a circle, utter their feeble prayers 
in the Indian wigwam, thirty miles from the 
nearest white settler. If sickness threatens 
the parents or their children, there are no 
neighbors to help and to sympathize, there 
is no physician to consult or relieve their 
anguish, and should death overtake them in 
this wilderness, the parents must hew from 
the trees of the forest the cofifin for the loved 
one, and bury their dead alone in the lonely 
wilderness ; there are no friends, no bearers, 
no chapel, no church, and no pastor to soothe 
and minister and to ask divine sustenance in 
this hour of anguish ; there are no stores, no 
shops, no mills of any kind, no fields of grass 
or grain, no roads or paths, except an occa- 
sional Indian trail." 

At the organization of the town go\ern- 
ment on the 2d Tuesday of October, 1770, 
Col. James Mead was made the first modera- 
tor, first selectman and first town representa- 
tive of Rutland, and the old farm cleared by 
Colonel Mead still remains in the Mead 
family, having been deeded from father to 
son for one hundred and twenty-five years, 
the original purchase having been from the 
Caugnawaga Indians. 

.Abner, son of Col. James Mead, was great- 
grandfather of Mayor Mead, from whom he 
derived a portion of his name. He married 



Amelia, daughter of Rev. Benjamin Roots, 
the first clergyman in Rutland. John .A. was 
the only child of Roswell R. and Lydia A. 
(Clorhani) Mead. His father was a success- 
ful farmer and merchant in West Rutland till 
his death in 1S75. His mother died when 
he was but six months old. Her father ser\ed 
in the war of 181 2, and so maternal and pa- 
ternal ancestors give him a loyal claim on 
the country. John A. Mead was educated 
in the common schools of West Rutland 
and at Franklin Academy, Malone, N. V., 
graduating from Middlebury College in 1864, 
and in 1868 received his diploma of M. D. 
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
in New York City. He immediately accepted 
a position as house physician in the Kings 
County Hospital, Brooklyn, N. V., remaining 
there until December, 1870, when he removed 
to Rutland, where he successfully practiced till 
1S88. At this time he was tendered a "chair" 
in the medical department of the University 
of Vermont and for some time he hesitated 
as to whether he should or not continue in 
his chosen profession, but he finally and re- 
luctantly retired from professional pursuits in 
order to give his whole attention to his ex- 
tensive business interests. During his career 
in medicine he was appointed surgeon-gen- 
eral of the state on the staff of Gov. Redfield 
Proctor, was medical superintendent of the 
house of correction from the time it was es- 
tablished till he gave up his profession, was a 
member of the pension examining board for 
eight years, and was appointed surgeon-gen- 
eral of the Vermont state encampment of the 
G. A. R. in 1890. 

Dr. Mead is now one of the largest real 
estate owners in Rutland, was director and 
cashier of the old National Bank of Rutland 
for several years, was treasurer of the Rut- 
land R. R. and director and treasurer of the 
Addison R. R. for nearly five years, director 
of the Clement National Bank since it was 
organized, vice-president of the State Trust 
Co. since its organization, and continued as 
such till he was elected its president. 

He is president of the New England Fire 
Insurance Co., of the P. E. Chase -Mfg. Co., 
and the Rutland board of trustees, and 
trustee of Middlebury College of Middle- 
bury. In 1888 he reorganized the Howe 
Scale Co., and is now president and execu- 
tive officer of that corporation. The history 
of this corportion had been unfortunate since 
its first organization in 1857, but in his new 
sphere Dr. Mead proved more successful 
than ever before, as the wonderful growth 
of this company fully testifies. Within five 
years under his administration he made this 
company second to none other manufactur- 
ing a weighing machine. In addition to 
the production of the renowned Howe 
scales, he added the truck department, and 



in two years thev developed over a thousand 
varieties, and manufactured more trucks 
than any other comijany in America. Letter 
presses were added, and soon a large busi- 
ness in this line was established. A full line 
of lifting jacks was also added to their out- 
put, increasing their sales largely. In 1895 
he contracted for the sole manufacture of 
the Cyclone coffee mills, formerly made in 
Portland, Me., and all the patterns have been 
removed to Rutland and become a part of 
the business of the Howe Scale Co. The 
Harrison Conveyor Co. was also added to 
the manufactured products of this company, 
and today they are melting more iron than 
any concern in the state, and are producing 
more scales than any corporation in the 
world. 

In the administration of the financial and 
a. supervision of the mechanical affairs of 
this company, Dr. Mead has exhibited rare 
e.\ecuti\e ability. His watchful care of 
every detail, and his judgment of human 
nature, enabling him to select competent 
assistants in the varied departments, and 
his untiring perseverance have contributed 
largely to the remarkable success of this in- 
dustry. 

He has always shown a kindly interest in 
the welfare of his employes, and of the 
■workingmen, and has never hesitated to 
chairipion their cause whenever their de- 
mands were reasonable and in his judgment 
just, and they in turn evinced their apprecia- 
tion of his efforts in electing him to the 
state Senate in 1892 by a large majority, and 
again in 1893 by making him the first mayor 
of the city of Rutland by over three-fourths 
of the total vote cast for the candidates for 
this office. 

Dr. Mead is most emphatically one of that 
large class of New Englanders who are the 
sole architects of their reputations and for- 
tunes, having acquired his academic educa- 
tion by his own efforts in the school room 
and on the farm. He left his studies for a 
year to acquire means to begin the study of 
his profession, and on his receiving his 
diploma in medicine, he found himself a 
debtor to quite an extent, and, in short, on 
leaving the hospital and starting in prixate 
practice in Rutland, it was an absolute ne- 
cessity that financial success should attend 
his first efforts, or he could have maintained 
himself but a few weeks. 

Impelled by patriotic duty. Dr. Mead 
enlisted in Co. K, 12th Vt. Vol. Regt., serv- 
ing in the campaign of 1862 and 1863, and 
returning to college he graduated with his 
class in 1864. He is a member of Roberts 
Post, C. A. R., and has always felt a warm 
interest in matters pertaining to the "Boys 
in Blue." He was a member of the staff of 
General Alger and of General Veazev when 



they were commanders-in-chief of theClrand 
.Arm v. 

Dr. Mead is a staunch adherent of the 
Republican party, and as state senator was 
chairman of the committees on claims, and 
of the World's Fair, also a member of the 
committees on manufactures and banks. He 
is a member of the Congregational church, 
and for many years has been one of the ex- 
ecutive committee, and is \ice-president of 
the Congregational Club of Western Ver- 
mont. 

He was united in marriage, Oct. 30, 1872, 
to Mary M., daughter of Hon. William N. 
Sherman, a prominent citizen of flreenwich, 
R. I. Dr. and Mrs. Mead have one child, 
a daughter : Mar\' Sherman. 

MtAD, John B., late of Randolph, was 
born in Stratham, N. H., March 15, 1831. 
In 184 1 he catue to Randolph and lived 
with Dr. and Mrs. I^. D. lilodgett, who were 
childless. 




/ 



His education was obtained in the district 
school and in the Orange county grammar 
school, and was supplemented by discipline 
obtained by teaching school both in Ver- 
mont and New Jersey. 

The first year of the rebellion found him, 
at the age of thirty, settled with wife and 
two young children on what had been the 
Dr. Blodgett farm, just south of Randolph 
Center, where Mrs. Blodgett still lived, receiv- 
ing love and care from him in his manhood 



as he had received them from her in his 
boyhood. Late in 1861 he enlisted, making 
such arrangements as he could for the well- 
being of the family left behind him. 

Colonel Mead's military service, and that of 
no soldier was more honorable, was in the 
8th Vermont Regiment, where he held every 
commission from 2d lieutenant to colonel. 
His record is this : 2d lieutenant Co. G. 
Jan. 7, 1862 ; ist lieutenant Co. G, April 2, 
1863; captain Co. G, May 5, 1863; major, 
July 26, 1864 ; lieutenant-colonel, Nov. 24, 
1864; colonel, March 4, 1865 ; taken pris- 
oner at Bayou des Allemands, Sept. 4, 1862 ; 
wounded Oct. 19, 1S64, at the battle of 
Cedar Creek ; mustered out June 28, 1865. 

At the close of the war Colonel Mead re- 
turned to the farm, and was in 1867 and 
1868 elected to represent Randolph. In 
1878 he was a senator from Orange county. 
In 1875 he was a member of the State Board 
of Agriculture, and from 1878 to 1880 was 
state superintendent of agriculture. In 
1884 and 1S85 he was commissioner from 
Vermont to the New Orleans Hxposition, 
and in 1886 was the commissioner from 
New England to the New Orleans Exposi- 
tion of that year, and was a member of its 
board of management. 

He was a practical farmer on modern 
lines, and was an importer and breeder of 
red-polled cattle, and in 1883 spent some 
time in England selecting stock for impor- 
tation. 

Colonel Mead was from young manhood 
an active member of the Congregationalist 
church, and for many years a deacon there- 
in. He was an earnest advocate of tem- 
perance and held the highest official posi- 
tions in the organization of Good Templars. 
Full of zeal in all educational matters he 
was for many years a member of the board 
of trustees of the Randolph State Normal 
School and secretary of the board, and with 
public spirit invested thousands of dollars in 
erecting a large boarding house, which he 
and others thought necessary for the better 
condition of the school. 

He was engaged at the last in an enter- 
prise looking to the settlement by Ver- 
monter.s of a large tract of land in North 
Dakota. 

Colonel Mead died suddenly at his home 
in Randolph, Dec. 16, 18S7 — his death 
doubtless hastened, and it is believed, caused 
by the lingering effects of his years of mili- 
tary service. 

He married in May, 1858, at Randolph, 
Orpha O., daughter of Elias and Orinda 
(Blodgett) Carpenter. Their children were : 
Charles C., born in 1859 ; John F., born 
August i6, 1861; Nellie 0."(Mrs. W. F. 
Morse of Barre), born in 1864; Myra B., 
born in 1866 and died in 1879, ^^id Orinda 



C, born in 1868 and died in 1885. Mrs. 
Mead died May 6, 1877. In August, 1880, 
Colonel Mead married Laura C, daughter 
of Hiram and Jerusha (Bradish) Kimball. 
Mrs. Mead and their daughter, Annie K., 
born in 1882, now reside in West Randolph. 
Colonel Mead was of commanding pres- 
ence and soldierly bearing — earnest, elo- 
quent, and brave physically, intellectually 
and morally. He was a real and, so far as 
in man lies, the ideal Christian citizen and 
soldier. 

MEAD, John P., of Randolph, son of 
John B. and Orjiha O. (Carpenter) Mead, 
was born in Randolph, August 16, 1861. 




His education was received at the Ran- 
dolph Normal School and St. Johnsbury 
Academy, and during his earlier life he 
remained with his father on the farm, acting 
as his foreman during his frequent absences. 

He now owns the homestead at Randolph 
and a large cattle ranch in North Dakota, 
the latter property jointly with his brother 
now located in that state. He is engaged 
in dairying and horse breeding, and has the 
character of an enterprising, industrious and 
successful farmer. He held the appoint- 
ment of assistant commissioner of Vermont 
at the International Exhibition at New 
Orleans in 1885, and in 1886 was superin- 
tendent of the second division of the first 
Minneapolis Exposition. He has traveled 
in every state but one this side of the 



Mississippi, and for a man of his age pos- 
sesses wide knowledge of men and affairs. 
He is one of the trustees of the Randolph 
Normal School, has held town offices, and 
in 1892 was representative from Randolph 
and servetl on tiie committees on education 
and the World's Fair. 

MElfCH, LEONARD E., of ICast Monk- 
ton, son of Henry B. and Jane E. (Burritt) 
Meech, was born in Hinesburgh, Oct. 27, 
1844. 




His education was principally received at 
the academy of Hinesburgh, but he supple- 
mented his school instruction by a long 
course of judicious reading and home study. 

He served in the civil war in Co. G, 14th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., in which command he was 
promoted to the grade of corporal and a 
little later was compelled to accept his dis- 
charge on account of disability. 

He has always followed the occupation of 
a general farmer, especially devoting his at- 
tention to the breeding of Jersey cows, and 
horses of a high class. 

Well informed in political affairs he has 
been chosen to nearly all the official posi- 
tions in his town, and in 1884 represented 
Monkton in the state Legislature where he 
gave his services to the committee on the 
state's prison. 

Mr. Meech w^as married in Monkton, July 
3, 1865, to Edna S., daughter of Daniel S. 
and Frances M. (l)eming) Ladd. From 



MEI.ENUV. 273 

this union were four children, only one of 
whom, Daniel, survives. 

He is allied with the Masonic fraternity, 
and for twelve years has been a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church in which 
he has served for some time as steward. 
Sincere and unassuming, his straightforward 
and honorable dealings have won for him a 
numerous body of warm friends in his com- 
munity. 

MELENDY, JONATHAN WASHBURN, of 
South Londonderry, son of Emery and 
Jerusha (Pierce) Melendy, was born in Lon- 
donderry, Nov. 18, 1845. 

His education was derived from the com- 
mon schools and the West River and Sa.xton's 
River academies, and after its completion he 
engaged with his father in the trade of a 
blacksmith, which he had learned during his 
boyhood. Later he devoted his attention to 
agriculture, and in conjunction with his 
brother has operated the home farm to the 
present time. 




JONATHAN WASHBURN MELENDY. 

He was twice elected first constable and 
collector, and was selectman of the town for 
nine years, during six of which he served as 
chairman of the board. In 1879 he was 
made town railroad commissioner and was 
instrumental in the building of the B. & W. 
R. R. In 1 87 1 he was appointed deputy 
sheriff, which position he held by successive 
ajipointments until 1878, when he was 
elected sheriff of Windham county, dis- 



2 74 



MERRIFIELL). 



charging the duties of that office for six 
years, and was afterward appointed by his 
successor as a deputy, which position he still 
retains. In 1890 he was elected a state sen- 
ator from Windham county, and served on 
the committee on claims, and was chairman 
of that on fish and game. 

He is a member of .Anchor Lodge, No. 
99, F. & A. M., of South Londonderry, in 
which he has filled the Master's chair, and 
of .Adoniram Chapter, No. 15, of Manchester. 

Since the construction of the B. & W. R. 
R. Mr. Melendy has been a director of the 
corporation. Since 1880 he has been en- 
gaged with his brother in the undertaking 
business at South Londonderry. 

Mr. Melendy has been a public-spirited 
man and prominent in all movements for the 
benefit of his town and community. 

He was married, Nov. 26, 1868, to Carrie 
L., daughter of Hon. David and Lydia 
(Dudley) Arnold of Londonderry. Of this 
union is one child : Emery A. 

MERRIFIELD, JOHN HASTINGS, of 
Williamsville, son of John A. and Louisa \\'. 
(Williams) Merrifield, was born in Newfane, 
June 12, 1847. 

He received his early education in the 
common schools and the Springfield Wes- 
leyan Seminary. 

Working on his grandfather's farm, and 
finally conducting the same, he commenced 
his business career by the purchase of a gen- 
eral merchandise store, which he carried on 
till 1 88 1. The following year he went to 
Dakota and for four years was connected 
with the Vermont Loan and Trust Co., when 
he returned to Williamsville, and since 1S87 
has been acting station agent of the B. & W. 
R. R. 

Mr. Merrifield was married, Feb. 24, 18S6, 
to Miss Ella R., daughter of .\sa and Polly 
M. (Morse) Stratton, of Newfane. 

He has discharged the duties of lister, 
selectman, and superintendent of schools in 
his native town, which he represented in the 
Legislatures of 187S and 1880. In 1874 and 
1876 he was engrossing clerk of the Legisla- 
lature, second assistant clerk of the House in 
1882 and 1888, first assistant clerk in 1890, 
and clerk in 1892. 

MILES, LORENZO Dow, of Newport, 
son of Orrin and Eunice (Clark) Miles, was 
born in the town of St. Johnsbury, Sept. 26, 
1838. 

He received his preparatory education in 
the schools and academy of Johnson, and 
was contemplating a college course, which 
design he was unable to carry out on ac- 
count of the bursting of the war cloud in 
1861. He enlisted in Co. E, 3d Vt. Regt., 
while yet a schoolboy, but was detached on 
special service with Battery F, 5 th U. S. 



regulars, with which organization he re- 
mained till early in the winter of 1863, when 
he returned to his regiment, with which he 
served till he was honorably discharged at 
Burlington, July 27, 1864. He participated 
in all the battles in which the Sixth .Army 
Corps were engaged, except the seven days' 
fight in front of the rebel capital, including 
Lee's Mills, .\ntietam, both engagements at 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
Wilderness, Petersburg, Welden Station, Cold 
Harbor and Fort Stevens. In all these 
bloody struggles he escaped unscathed, nor 
was he ever captured by the enemy, but did 
his duty every day during the three years of 
his service except a period of three months, 
which he spent in the hospital, sick with 
typhoid fever. .\t the expiration of the war 
Mr. Miles came to Albany, where he settled 
down as a farmer. 




March 14, 1865, he was united to Harriet 
E., daughter of Eben K. and Jennett (Gregg) 
Lord ; they have three children : Carrie E., 
Eddie F., and Frank E. 

In 1 8 74 Mr. Miles was appointed deputy 
sheriff" and successively re-elected until he 
was made sheriff" ten years later. Since the 
fall of 1878 he has resided in Crafts- 
bury, Barton, Irasburg and Newport, but 
finally made his place of abode in .-M- 
bany. He has been concerned in the arrest 
of many prominent criminals and was active- 
ly employed in search of the murderer 
Almy. 



Republican since the formation of tiie 
party. He is a member of Baxter Post, d. 
A. R., of the K. of P., and in the Masonic 
order is a member of the K. T. He is Hberal 
in his reUgious preferences. 

MILES, WILLARD WESBERY, of Barton, 
son of Orin and Eunice (Clark) Miles, was 
■born in Albany, Feb. 6, 1845. His ances- 
tors were among the early settlers of this 
country and his father's and mother's grand- 
fathers were Revolutionary soldiers and set- 
tled in \'ermont at the close of the Revolu- 
tionary war. 

Mr. Miles, after a course in the public 
schools in Albany, fitted for college at the 
Barnston and Hatley academies in the Prov- 
ince of (Quebec, at the time intending to 
complete his education at college ; but being 
compelled to rely upon his own resources 
and financial means, consisting [principally 
of stood health, a robust constitution and 




freedom from expensive habits, he finally 
decided to abandon his purpose to take a 
college course, and devote the time necessary 
to complete that course, to the study of law. 
Previous to entering an office, he took pri- 
vate lessons in Greek and Latin of Re^•. S. 
K. B. Perkins. For some time he taught in 
the common schools in Albany and vicinity 
and two terms in each of the academies of 
Albany and Craftsbury, employing his leisure 
time in reading law. In 1866, he entered 
the office of Charles I. Vail, I'^sii., then of 



MILLER. 275 

Irasburgh, where he remained for two years. 
He then went to Ann .'\rbor, Mich., for the 
pur|)ose of entering the law school at that 
place, but on account of ill-health he was 
com])elled to return to Vermont, and in the 
fall of 187 1, entered the office of Hon. 
\Villiam W. Grout at Barton, where he re- 
mained until the Se])tember term of Orleans 
county court, 1872, at which time he was ad- 
mitted to the bar and was ap])ointcd master 
in chancery. 

He commenced the practice of law at 
South Albany, where he remained till June, 
1873, when he removed to North Craftsbury, 
and there opened a law office. He prac- 
ticed law at this place until April, 1881, 
when he removed to Barton, and formed a 
copartnership with Gen. William \\". (irout, 
under the name of Grout & Miles. That 
firm did a large and remunerative business 
during its continuance, and was engaged in 
many of the important suits in that ])art of 
the state. In 1888, on account of congres- 
sional duties. General Grout withdrew from 
the firm, since which time Mr. Miles has 
conducted that business alone at Barton, 
where he is now located. Since the dissolu- 
tion of the firm of Grout & Miles, he has 
retained and continues to hold the clientage 
of that firm. 

Mr. Miles is a strong Republican and has 
ever felt a deep interest in the prosperity of 
the Republican party. He has been entrust- 
ed with official positions both in .Albany 
and Craftsbury, holding the office of town 
clerk in the latter named town for several 
vears and until his removal to Barton. In 
1872, he was sent to the Legislature to rep- 
resent the town of Albany, serving on the 
committee on elections, and in 1878 he rep- 
resented the town of Craftsbury, serving on 
the judiciary committee of which Judge 
Poland was chairman. In 1 890 he was elect- 
ed state's attorney for the county of Orleans, 
which office he still holds. 

He is a member of Meridian Sun -fcodge 
of F. & A. M., No. 20. In his religious be- 
lief, he is Congregationalist and a member 
of the Congregational church at Barton. 

September 29, 1872, he married Ellen M., 
daughter of Luther and Lavinia (Dewey) 
1 low of Albany. They had three children : 
Ida M., Mabel A., and Orin L. (deceased). 

MILLER, Crosby, of Pomfret, son of 
John and Hannah (Crosby) Miller, was born 
in Pomfret, June 6, 181 1. 

Educated in the common schools and 
afterwards at Chester .Academy, he has 
de\oted the principal energies of a long life 
to farming, but has found opportunities to 
discharge many other duties which have de- 
devolved upon him in consequence of the 
high reputation for integrity and ability 



276 



which he has always maintained in the com- 
munity. 

In politics he was a whig until the Repub- 
lican party was formed, since which he has 
steadfastly adhered to its principles. For 
several years postmaster, and having held 
most of the town offices, including treasurer 
for thirty years, he was sent to the state Sen- 
ate in 1851 and 1852, and for four terms was 
the representative from Pomfret, commenc- 
ing that service in i860. He has been 
county commissioner and United States as- 
sistant assessor, and was made assistant 
judge of the county court in 1872, which 
office he held for ten vears. The limits of 




this article are hardly sufficient to enumerate 
a tithe of the trusts which ha\e devohed 
upon him. As a farmer, Judge Miller was 
president of the Windsor" County Agricul- 
tural Society, and a director and vice-presi 
dent of the State Agricultural Society, a 
director of the Champlain Valley and Con- 
necticut River societies, while as a financier 
he has held for seventeen years the position 
of director of the Royalton National Bank, 
and that of its president for ten years, and 
vice-president of the Otter Queche Savings 
Bank. For a long time past he has beena 
trustee of the U. V. M. and State Agriculural 
College, and a member of the board of con- 
trol of the experiment station since its 
establishment. Judge Miller's wisdom as to 
what is best to be done and how to do it is 
the reason of his having been called to so 
many and important duties. 



Judge Miller married, April 5, 1835, '"^ 
Pomfret, Orpha, daughter of Joseph Denni- 
son and Rebecca (Miller) Hewitt. Their 
five children were : Melvin, KUen Matilda 
(Mrs. A. B. Chandler), Isabella (deceased), 
Crosby Park, and Kmma Lucy (Mrs. H. H. 
Mclntyre). 

MILLER, JOSEPH, of East Dummerston, 
son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Wilson) Miller, 
was born in Dummerston March 3, 1817. 
His great-grandfather, Capt. Isaac Miller, 
who surveyed the township of Dummerston 
in 1767, ga\e in 1775 the land, which was 
lot No. 37, containing one hundred acres, to 
his eldest son, Capt. \'espasian .Miller. \'es- 
pasian had been a soldier in the old French 
war in 1759, afterward followed the sea until 
1775 when he came to Dummerston and in 
1778 moved his family to this town. 

Mr. Joseph Miller received a somewhat 
limited education in the public schools, but 
availed himself of his opportunities so profit- 
ably that for five winters he was an instructor 
in the village schools and was made town 
superintendent in 1857. The business of his 




life has been the tillage of the soil, and his 
intelligent and industrious efforts have been 
rewarded with merited success. His farm is 
pleasantly situated in the eastern part of the 
town and produces excellent crops. He has 
a large orchard from which he manufactures 
the best quality of maple sugar. Some 
friends of Grover Cleveland during his first 



term as President bought a box of this pro- 
duct and sent it to him, and to be strictly 
impartial a similar purchase was made and 
sent to President Benjamin Harrison. His 
sugar was especially noticed by the French 
commissioners at the Centennial in Philadel- 
phia in 1876, and received an award at the 
Columbian Exposition in 1893. 

Mr. Miller's political life began at the age 
of thirty-two, when he was chosen, town 
clerk, and having held the ofifice for forty- 
four years, he was re-elected at the last March 
meeting. From 1850 until 1884 he dis- 
charged the responsible duties of a justice 
of the peace, and has represented his town 
in the state Legislature for two successive 
terms (in 1862 and 1863). Soon after the 
war he was chosen town treasurer, holding 
that office at the present time, and was made 
census enumerator of the United States for 
the township of Dummerston in 1880. His 
long experience in public business makes 
him a valuable officer and reliable legal 
counsellor in matters pertaining to town af- 
fairs. His assistance and advice are often 
sought in making wills and the settlement of 
estates. He is an excellent penman, and the 
town records kept by him can be as easily 
read as typewriting. 

Mr. Miller was first united in marriage, 
March 3, 1841,10 Eliza A., daughter of Isaac 
and Abigail (McWayne) Reed, who died 
Nov. 26, 1843. His second wife was Sophia, 
daughter of \\'illiamand Polly (Frost) Arms, 
whom he espoused Dec. 25, 1844. She de- 
ceased July 26, 1883. Of this marriage there 
are three children now living : J. Arms, Adin 
P., and Ansel Irwin. 

MILLER, JOSEPH ARMS, of East Dum- 
merston, son of Joseph and Sophia (.'\rms) 
Miller, was born in Dummerston, August 22, 
1847. 

Mr. Miller was born and bred upon a 
farm, and in the intervals of hard and unre- 
mitting labor availed himself of such educa- 
tional advantages as were afforded by the 
district schools of Dummerston. He has 
always followed the occupation in which he 
was brought up, and the instruction of his 
youth, added to the experience of riper 
years, has brought him a well-earned com- 
petency, derived from commendable care, 
industry and punctuality. 

For four successive years he was chosen to 
perform the duties of first selectman, and 
refused at the beginning of the fourth year 
to longer hold the office. He was consid- 
ered a fitting individual to represent Dum- 
merston in the Legislature of 1890, and 
se\eral times has been selected to minor 
offices in that town. 

Mr. Miller was married, Jan. 10, 1871, to 
Sarah M., daughter of Thomas L. and Maria 



MILLER. 277 

(Ramsdell) Read. Ten children have been 
issue of this union ; Willie A., .\ddie S., J. 





^ 



Warren, Arthur L., Avery F., Earnest (;., 
Florence E., Dwight R., R. Irving, and 
Floyd S. 

MILLER, Harris M., of \Vest Fairlee, 
son of Madison M. and Sarah E. (Vesper) 
Miller, was born in West Fairlee, May 24, 
1852. 

He was brought up on the farm of his 
father, who, in addition to cultivating his 
property, bred and extensively dealt in 
horses. The son received his educational 
training in the common schools of the town 
and at Thetford Academy. When he arrived 
at his majority, Mr. Miller resolved to see a 
little of the outside world and consequently 
made a tour of observation through the 
Northwest, visiting Iowa, Minnesota and 
Dakota. This trip occupied two years, and 
on his return he determined to engage in 
business as a butcher and on account of the 
growth of population from the working of 
the Ely copper mines he soon enjoyed a 
trade of $20,000 per annum. .\t this time 
he purchased the property where he now 
resides and he has erected thereon a com- 
modious and elegant mansion. 

Mr. Miller was united, Nov. 16, 1S78, to 
Katie A., daughter of A. I. and Mary (Piper) 
Abbott of Medford, Minn. They have one 
son : Llewellyn M. 

He is a member of Jackson Lodge, No. 
60, F. & A. M., in which he took his degrees 



when he was twenty-one years of age, has 
filled all the chairs and is its present Wor- 
shipful Master. 

Mr. Miller is an active and influential 
Democrat and has repeatedly served his 
party as chairman of the county convention 
and upon the county committee. After 
serving as lister, selectman and constable 
he was elected the representative from 
West Fairlee in 1890 and complimented by 




a re-election in 1S92. For six years he 
actively and vigorously discharged the duties 
of deputy sheriff, proving himself to be a 
most able and efficient executive officer. 
For a man of his age he is widely known 
and deservedly popular in his town and 
countv- 



of what energy and industry can effect on a 
Green Mountain farm, for he has paid off an 
encumbrance of $7,000, improved his prop- 
erty, and retired to enjoy his latter days in. 
peace and dignity in Shelburne village, sell- 
ing at a profitable advance his estate, which 
at times has produced thirteen hundred bar- 
rels of apples annually. 

Mr. Aliller was maried, Feb. 8, 1844, to- 
Ann Maria, daughter of Asahel and Frelove- 
( Irish) Ballard, of Lawrence, N. Y. 

He was brought up a Democrat of the- 
Jackson school, but, when the Kansas agita- 
tion occurred, became a Free Soiler, and 
finally a Republican, to which party he has- 
steadfastly adhered and gi\en a hearty sup- 
ort. He has been entrusted with many 
town offices, is now town clerk and justice of 
the peace, and was sent to the lower branch 
of the Legislature in 1890, where he served 
with credit on the committee on elections. 




MILLER, NORRIS Robinson, of shel- 
burne, son of Caleb and Polly (Naramore) 
Miller, was born in Charlotte, Jan. 23, 1822. 
He is of mixed lineage, for his grandfather, 
an old Revolutionary veteran, was a Scotch- 
man, while his mother was of Dutch descent. 

The former was an early settler of Char- 
lotte, where Norris enjoyed the limited edu- 
cational resources of the common schools, 
and was a tiller of the soil until he was of 
age, when he relinquished agriculture in part 
for the calling of a carpenter. He continued 
working at his trade in Lawrence, N. Y., till 
1868, when he purchased a fruit farm in 
Shelburne and commenced to raise fruit for 
the Boston market. He is a marked proof 



NORRIS ROBINSON MILLER. 

Mr. Miller became a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church in 1839, and has 
been honored with many of the official 
positions which a layman can hold in that 
church. He has also been a member of the 
Patrons of Husbandry. 

MILLER, ADIN FRANKLIN, of East 
Dummerston, son of Joseph and Sophia 
(.-\rms) Miller, was born in Dummerston, 
July 16, 1850. 

Born and bred on a farm, he commenced 
his education by attendance in the common; 



schools and then ])iirsued a course of in- 
struction at Power's Institute of I'.ernards- 
ton, Mass. 

He has been all his life a farmer, devoting 
his entire effort to this honorable calling, 
reaping where he has sown and winning a 
comfortable and well earned subsistence 
from the soil. 




ADIN FRANKLIN MILLER. 

Mr. Miller has been called upon to serve 
in many offices in his native town. For 
nearly ten years he has been constable and 
collector and represented Dummerston in 
the Cleneral Assembly of the state of \'er- 
mont in 1888. 

He was united in marriage, Dec. 31, 1874, 
to Hattie Alice, daughter of Deacon Adin A. 
and Fannie (Kathan) Dutton. 

MORRILL, Justin Smith, of Strafford, 

son of Nathaniel and Mary (Hunt) Morrill, 
was born at Strafford, .\pril 14, 1810, and 
now resides there. 

He received his early education in the 
public schools of his native town and at 
Thetford and Randolph academies, begin- 
ning business life at the age of fifteen, enter- 
ing a local store as a clerk, afterward going, 
in 1828, to Portland, Maine, where he also 
was employed as a clerk with a merchant en- 
gaged in the West India shipping trade and 
then with a wholesale and retail dry goods 
establishment. In 1831 he returned to Straf- 
ford, and became the ]jartner of the late 
Judge ledediah Harris, the leading merchant 
in Strafford, lint tliis business connection was 



.Mokkii.i,. 279 

terminated by tlie death of Judge Harris, in 
1.S55. l'"or many years he was one of the 
directors of the Orange County P,ank, of 
Chelsea. Mr. .Morrill ceased to give his per- 
sonal attention to mercantile business in 1S48, 
and devoted himself chiefly to agricultural 
and horticultural jiursuits. 

From his boyhood Mr. Morrill had given 
his unoccupied working hours to careful and 
diligent perusal of standard and classical 
authors and while a clerk had read such works 
as "P)lackstone's Commentaries." He was 
thus storing a retentive memory with facts 
and fitting himself consciously or uncon- 
sciously for public life and national usefulness. 
I'ntil he was forty-four years old, however, he 
had neither sought nor held any office higher 
than that of a justice of the peace, although 
in the circle of his numerous acquaintances 
he had become known as a man of much 
more than ordinary intellectual ability, of 
remarkable balance of judgment, of marked 
business capacity, of uniform courtesy, and 
of pleasing personal address. Suddenly he 
stepped to the front. In 1854, the late 
.\ndrew Tracy, of Woodstock, representative 
of the second congressional district in Con- 
gress, after a single term declined to be a 
<andidate for re-election. Mr. Morrill was 
suggested by some discerning friends as a fit 
man to succeed him. The suggestion found 
favor, and he received the nomination of 
the whig party convention of the district. It 
was a notable compliment to be paid to a 
(piiet and studious man, who had never 
e\en represented his town in the Leg- 
islature. Mr. Morrill was elected by a small 
majority, as there were then three political 
l)arties in the state, and took his seat in the 
Thirty-fourth Congress, on the 3d of Decem- 
ber, 1855. He had been elected as an anti- 
sla\ery whig, but the whig party was then in 
the throes of dissolution, and when he ap- 
peared in Washington it was as a representa- 
ti\e of the new Re])ublican partv, in the 
organization of which in Vermont he had 
taken part, and of whose principles he be- 
came the earnest advocate. He soon made 
his mark as an intelligent legislator. He 
o])posed the tariff of 1857 in a s]:)eech which 
attracted wide attention. He carried through 
the House the first bill against Mormon 
jiolvgamv. Con.scious that a college educa- 
tion would have been of great value to him- 
self in public life, he resolved to do what he 
could through national legislation to promote 
liberal and scientific education for the youth 
of the land. He introduced the first bill to 
grant iniblic lands for agricultural, scientific 
and industrial colleges, and advocated it in 
an able speech. It was \etoed by President 
liuchanan, but was again introduced by Mr. 
Morrill in 1862, and through his able man- 
agement became a law. Under this act forty- 



28l 



se\ en or more land-grant colleges have l)een 
successfully established in various states, with 
five hundred professors and over five thous- 
and students. The national bounty has 
called out state aid in large amounts and the 
act supplemented by the recent act (also 
carried through by Mr. Morrill) increasing 
the fund at the disposal of these institutions, 
has given an immense impulse to liberal, 
scientific and industrial education, and will 
confer incalculable benefits upon the rising 
generations of our land. Mr. Morrill was five 
times re-elected to the House by majorities 
ranging from seven thousand to nine thous- 
and, and grew steadily in standing and influ- 
ence in the lower branch of Congress till, in 
the Thirty-ninth Congress he held the leading 
position of chairman of the committee of 
wavs and means ; and it was said of him, with 
truth, that his influence in the House was 
greater than that of any other member with 
the exception of Thaddeus Stevens. Among 
the important speeches made by him during 
the critical period before the ci\ il war was 
one in support of a report, also made by him, 
in opposition to the admission of Kansas 
with a pro-slavery constitution. During the 
war he had charge of all tariff and tax bills in 
the House of Representatives— a herculean 
task — and made arguments thereon, and the 
"Morrill tariff" of 1861, a monument of indus- 
try and practical wisdom, and the internal 
revenue tax system of 1862 connect his name 
indissolubly with the financial history of the 
time. 

In 1866, after twelve years of honorable 
service in the House, Mr. Morrill was trans- 
ferred by the Legislature to the U. S. Senate. 
He took his seat with an established national 
reputation as a statesman. Subsequently as 
chairman of the committee on finance in the 
Senate, he held a most important position 
of power and influence, and his service as 
chairman of the committee of public bviild- 
ings and grounds, and as a member of the 
committee on education and labor, has 
been of the most laborious and useful char- 
acter. He is authority in ^^'ashington on 
questions relating to finance and taxation, 
and his opinion on any subject carries much 
weight in Congress. Mr. Morrill's period of 
ser\ice in the national Legislature is as re- 
markable for its duration as it is distin- 
guished for its usefulness. His fifth election 
to the Senate, at the age of four score, was 
an event without a precedent, and will jjrob- 
ably remain without a ])arallel. If he sur- 
vi\ es to the end of his present term it will com- 
plete forty-two years of service. The longest 
pre\ ious continuous term of service in Con- 
gress was that of Nathaniel Macon of North 
Carolina, w^hich was thirty-seven years, or 
twenty-four in the House and thirteen in the 
Senate. Mr. Morrill already looks back ujion 



nearly thirty-nine years of congressional life, 
and he is now younger in mind and body 
than most men of three score. 

It is the crowning glory of such a career 
that it is absolutely spotless. No act of dis- 
honor or word of discourtesy was ever 
charged to him. He has uniformly held the 
highest respect and esteem of his brother 
legislators of all parties, as well as the citi- 
zens of \'ermont. 

Mr. Morrill has been too busy in affairs of 
the state to give much time to literary labor, 
though making some contributions to the 
Forum, and to the North American Review, 
but a volume entitled "Self-Consciousness of 
Noted Persons," being a collection of ex- 
pressions of self-appreciation on the part of 
many famous men and women, gathered by 
him in the course of his wide reading, was 
published in 1882, and a second edition in 
1886. 

Mr. Morrill was married in 185 1, to Ruth, 
daughter of Dr. Caleb and Ruth (Barrill) 
Swan of Easton, Mass. Of this union there 
is one son living : James S. 

Mr. Morrill has been for twenty-six years 
a member of the board of trustees of the 
L'uiversity of Vermont and State Agricultural 
College, and for many years one of the 
regents of the Smithsonian Institution. The 
degree of M. A. has been conferred upon 
him by Dartmouth College, and that of LL. 
D. by the Pennsylvania ITniversity, and also 
by the Vermont University, and the State 
Agricultural College. Of Senator Morrill's 
speech on the tariff, made in the Senate Dec. 
13, 1893, George Alfred Townshend, the 
veteran and up-to-date correspondent, says : 
"I fell to wondering whether Daniel Webster 
ever made a speech in better literary form 
or with more sense of proportion." Charac- 
terizing the senator himself— the Nestor of 
the Senate — Townshend uses not unfitly the 
words, "our Clladstonian friend." 

MORSE, George A., of Last Elmore, 
son of Ira and Huldah S. (.Ainsworth) Morse, 
was born in Plainfield, Oct. 22, 1848. 
Descended from a grandsire who was a sol- 
dier in the Revolutionary war, his boyhood 
was spent upon his father's farm, and in the 
intervals of labor he attended the common 
schools and then continued his studies at 
Hardwick Academy, teaching school win- 
ters. 

For two years after attaining manhood he 
worked upon different farms but in 1871 re- 
moved to East Elmore and bought a saw- 
mill, engaging in the manufacture of lumber. 
.\t first his capital was very limited, but by 
his industry and strict attention to business, 
his resources soon increased, and he is now 
in possession of two thousand acres of timber 
land and turns out a million and a half feet of 



282 



boards per annum, while the product of his 
plant is still increasing He lets the logging 
principally to the neighboring farmers. By 
diligence, energy and good management he 
has accumulated a handsome property, sold 
his mill and has removed to Morrisville. 
Mr. Morse is president of the Morse Manu- 
facturing Co. of Wolcott, and is owner of a 
large portion of the stock : he also is a di- 
rector of the Hardwick Savings P'ank and 
Trust Co. 




MOULTON, Clarence f., of West 

Randolph, son of Horace and Lucy (Smith) 
Moulton, was born in Randolph, Alarch ii, 
1837- 

He spent the early years of his life on the 
farm, and in the intervals of agricultural toil 
he attended the common schools of Ran- 
dolph and later the New London Literary 
and Scientific Institute, where he received 
his preparatory instruction for Dartmouth 
College, from w^hich he graduated in the 
class of 1863. Soon after his graduation he 
went to New York and entered the office of 
Austin Corbin & Co., bankers. After this he 
became a partner in the mercantile house of 
Clapp, Braden & Co., importers of millinery, 
having also the charge of Mr. Clapp's private 
estate and acting as guardian for his minor 
nephews and nieces, after his death. In 1877 
he became a member of the firm of A. F. 
Roberts & Co., commission merchants in 
flour and grain. He now became the pro- 
prietor of a seat in the Produce Flxchange, 
and was made a director of the Hanover 
Fire Insurance Co., of New York. He is 
also a member of the New York Consolidated 
Exchange, but his early fondness for the soil 
of Vermont brought Mr. Moulton back to the 
scenes of his boyhood and youth. In 1882 
he bought the place where he now resides. 



He has been appointed to many of the 
town offices, has been constable, selectman, 
justice, and commissioner, and chairman of 
the school board. He received the position 
of postmaster under the administration of 
President Grant, and is still the incumbent 
of the same, having had the care of the 
office for about twenty years. He was 
elected by the Republicans to the Legisla- 
ture in 1882, and was chosen senator for 
Lamoille county in 1890, in which he was a 
member of the finance committee and chair- 
man of that on the grand list. 

Mr. Morse has taken the three degrees of 
Ancient Craft Masonry, and is a member of 
Mineral Lodge, No. 93, of Wolcott. 

He espoused, Jan. i, 1874, Alice M., 
daughter of William and Pheoba (Olmstead) 
Silleway of Llmore. Two children have 
blessed their union : George G., and Ethel 
(;iee. 




ARENCE F. MOULTON 



Mr. Moulton was united in marriage in 
1875, to Annie J., daughter of Addison F. 
and Mary (Sherman) Roberts. Three chil- 



283 



dren ha\ e been born to them : Shernuui Rob- 
erts, Horace Freeman, and Desier (lapp. 

In his pohtical affiliations Mr. Moulton is 
a Repubhcan, but he has never been an act- 
ive partisan in public affairs, since he has 
devoted his active energies to business and 
his leisure to reading and social enjoyment. 

Mr. Moulton is one of the ]>roprietors and 
the secretary of the Green Mountain Stuck 
Farm Co., an establishment which must be 
seen to be fully appreciated. Here a plant 
has been erected, with every detail and 
appointment perfected, regardless of ex- 
pense, and a magnificent herd of nearly 
three hundred registered Jerseys are kept 
under ideally perfect conditions with respect 
to feed and care. The result is butter of 
great perfection, which was found worthy to 
take the gold medal at the Paris Exposition, 
1889, also the gold medal at the World's 
Fair at Chicago in 1893. 

MUNSON, LOVELAND, of Manchester, 
son of Cyrus and Lucy (Loveland) Mimson, 
was born in Manchester, July 21, 1843. 

The first ancestor of Mr. Munson to be- 
come a resident of Vermont was Jared Mun- 
son, who emigrated from Lanesboro, Mass., 
in 1778 and settled on a portion of the land 
on which Manchester village now stands. 
His son Rufus was born in 1762 and accom- 
panied his father to Manchester, where he 
died at the early age of thirty-five in 1797. 
Cyrus Munson, son of Rufus, was born in 
Manchester, Jan. 22, 1790, and was twice 
married. His first wife, to whom he was 
married on the loth of August, 181 1, was 
Catherine Walker, who died in i8 
On the 1 6th of November, 1841, he married 
Lucy, daughter of Deacon Asa Lo\eIand. Mr. 
Munson led the life of a quiet, industrious 
farmer, was honored by election to different 
town offices, and died on the ist of October, 

1857- 

Loveland Munson received a good acad- 
emical education. Choosing the legal pro- 
fession, he began the study of law in 1862 
in the office of Elias B. Burton. Admitted 
to the bar of Bennington county in June, 
1866, he at once entered into copartnership 
with his former preceptor. The firm of Bur- 
ton & Munson, while it continued, had a 
good practice, as did afterward its junior 
member when alone. 

Mr. Munson occupied for many years a 
prominent place in the political affairs of the 
state. About 1866 he was elected member 
and afterward chairman of the Republican 
county committee and served as such for 
several years. After his selection for this 
position he was made chairman of the Re- 
publican district committee, and was con- 
tinued in this for several years. From 1863 
to 1866 Mr. Munson edited the Manchester 



Journal and his interest in literature he has 
always kept alive. In 1S82 he deli\ered an 
excellent address on "The llarly History of 
.Manchester" which was afterward published. 
From 1866 to 1873 he was town clerk of 
Manchester, and in the latter year declined 
further election because of the jiressure of 
professional ]nirsuits. From December, 1866, 
to December, 1876, he was register of pro- 
bate for the district of Manchester. He was 
a member of the famous Constitutional Con- 
vention of 1870. 

In 1872 Mr. Munson entered the \"ermont 
Legislature as the representative of the town 
of Manchester. During the session of that 
year he served on the committees on the 
judiciary and on railroads, and also on a 
special joint committee appointed to inves- 
tigate the affairs of the Central Vermont 
R. R. The latter assembled after the ad- 
journment of the Legislature and made its 
report to the Governor. Again elected to 
the House in 1874, he served in the session 
following as chairman of the judiciary com- 
mittee. He received a large vote for the 
speaker's chair in competition with judge 
H. H. Powers. In 1878 he represented 
Bennington county in the Senate, and re- 
ceiving the honor of an election to the presi- 
dency /;y; /<?;;/, was for that reason excused 
from all committee service, except that on 
rules, of which committee he was chairman. 
Mr. Munson was again returned to the 
House in 1882, and by the action of his 
friends was made a candidate for the speak- 
ership against Hon. J. L. Martin, but the lat- 
ter was elected. At this session he was chair- 
man of the general committee and was also 
a member of the judiciary committee. His 
sound sense and absolute sincerity gave him 
the leadership on the floor of the two Houses 
in which others carried off the honors of the 
speakership. Strong in debate, his speeches 
uniformly commanded the close and respect- 
ful attention of his colleagues, and almost 
always their hearty support of measures ad- 
vocated by him. 

In May, 1S83, he received the appoint- 
ment of judge of probate for the district of 
Manchester, succeeding Judge Ranney How- 
ard, deceased. 

He was appointed by Governor Ormsbee 
in 1887 chairman of a committee authorized 
by the Legislature of 1886 to revise and re- 
draft the school laws and incorporate with 
their revision new features to improve the 
schools and present the same in the form of 
a bill. The bill so drafted with some few 
changes became the school law enacted in 
1888. 

Judge Munson was, in September, 1889, 
upon the resignation of Judge Veazey, ap- 
pointed sixth assistant judge of the Supreme 
Court, and in 1S90 was elected fourth assist- 



284 



NEEDHAM. 



ant judge of that court which position he 
now holds by re-election in 1S92. 

Judge Munson's fairness, studious habit, 
and literary skill rendered him a most valu- 
able acquisition to the bench, and his pe- 
culiar ability as a presiding officer helps to 
keep up the well-deserved reputation the 



\'ermont trial courts have won as places 
where the law is administered with fit dignity 
and decorum. 

Judge Munson married. May 4, 1882, 
Mary B., daughter of Rev. Alexander B. and 
.'\nna M. (Hollister) Campbell, of Men- 
don, 111. 



NEEDHAM, LEWIS CaSS, of Leicester 
Junction, son of Benjamin E. and Amanda 
(Page) Needham, was born in Shrewsbury, 
April 6, 1843. His parents were early set- 
tlers of Massachusetts, and his great-grand- 
father, Benjamin Needham, was one of the 
founders of the town of Shrewsbury. Owing 
to his being the only dependent of a widowed 
mother and her younger children, Mr. Need- 
ham is about the only member of his family 
who is without a personal war record. His 




LEWIS CASS NEEDHAM. 

great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revo- 
lution ; his grandfather, father, and an uncle 
were soldiers in the war of 1812 ; an uncle, 
Horace Needham, served in the Mexican 
war, and many others of the family were 
engaged in the war of the rebellion. 

The early education of the subject of this 
sketch was obtained in the schools of Shrews- 
bury during the fall terms, his summer and 
winter months being spent in farm labor and 
teaching. Mr. Needham resolved upon a 
business career, and pursued a course of 
study in the Eastman Business College of 



Poughkeepsie, N. V. Subsequently he re- 
turned to his birthplace and lived with his 
widowed mother until her death. In 1868 
he went to Rutland and commenced work in 
the employuient of the Rutland Railroad Co. 
In 1878 he moved to Leicester and since 
then has been agent for the CentraU'ermont 
Railroad Co. in that place. 

He represented Leicester in the Legisla- 
ture in the session of 1884 ; has been justice 
of the peace since that time, and superin- 
tendent of schools since 1890. He was 
chairman of the Republican town committee 
in 1S90, and takes an active interest in 
political affairs. 

Mr. Needham became a member of Centre 
Lodge, F. & A. M., at Rutland, in 1865, and 
afterward affiliated with St. Paul's Lodge at 
Ikandon, in 1890. He became a member 
of Killington Lodge, L O. (). F., of Rutland 
in 1870, and was a zealous and efficient 
worker in the order. He united w-ith the 
Congregational church at Rutland in Janu- 
ary, 1S75, and was transferred to the church 
in Whiting in 1885, where he has been a 
deacon since 1887. 

Mr. Needham was married, Jan. 23, 1879, 
to Ella, daughter of Nelson and Nancy 
( Farr) Brown of Rutland. Of this union 
there are two children : Martha E., and 
Florence R. Mrs. Needham is a grand- 
daughter of Solomon Brown of Lexington, 
Mass., who was a Revolutionary soldier, and 
fired the first gun in the battle of Lexington. 
The gun is a keepsake in the Brown family. 

NELSON, WILMOT C, of Norton's 
Mills, son of Nathaniel and Eliza (C.reen- 
liaf) Nelson, was born in Alna, Me., May 9, 
1850. 

His education was derived from a course 
of study at the common schools, at the com- 
pletion of which he entered his father's 
shop to learn the tanner's trade and engaged 
in this calling till he arrived at his majority, 
when he entered the employ of the Norton 
Mills Co., as clerk. When the company 
failed in 1874, Mr. Nelson went to Island 
Pond, but soon returned and rented a store, 
in which he carried on the principal retail 
general trade of the place. In 1884 he 
entered as senior partner the firm of A. 
McLean & Co. This concern five vears 



after sold their interest to A. M. Stetson iS: 
Co., by whom Mr. Nelson was engaged as 
foreman of the establishment. 

Mr. Nelson was united in marriage, August 
7, 1874, in Boston, to Cora A., daughter of 
\\'illiam and Margaret Libbey of Elast 
Machias, Me. Four children have been the 
fruit of their union : Frank M. (deceased), 
Gertrude E., Edward J-, and Edith M. 




WILMOT G. NELSON. 

He has taken the several degrees of the 
blue lodge, working with Island Fond Lodge, 
No. 44, and is also a Royal Arch Mason and 
a member of the lodge of Odd Fellows in 
that town. 

When the town of Norton was organized 
in 1S85 Mr. Nelson acted as moderator and 
first selectman, which office he held for 
three consecutive terms. He has also been 
postmaster for fifteen years and deputy 
sheriff for twelve years. His business en- 
gagements have been so pressing and im- 
portant, that he has avoided office. He is 
an outspoken Republican and his influence 
can be seen in the constantly increasing 
vote of that party in the town, which, not- 
withstanding the large foreign element, gave 
a majority for Harrison in 1892. His in- 
fluence in the community has been con- 
stantly on the side of good morals and 
progress. 

NEWELL, Lyman Merrifield, of 

Wardsboro, son of Jackson and Sarah ( Mer- 
rifield) Newell, was born in Wardsboro, April 
14, 1833- 



NEWTON. 285 

Having availed himself of the educational 
advantages derived from the common 
schools, he was employed as clerk in his 
father's store until 1S55, when he bought 
his father's interest and continued the busi- 
ness for four years. He then retired from 
active mercantile life and bought a farm, 
which he has conducted u|) to the present 
time. 

He was united in marriage April 20, 1855, 
to Sylvan D., daughter of Calvin and Orrilla 
(Choate) Taylor. 

For twelve years past Mr. Newell has been 
town treasurer and town agent. For many 
years he was lister and constable, and also 
trustee of public money. He was a mem- 
ber of the Constitutional Convention in 1870, 




JtERRlFIELD NEWEL 



while for four years, 1867, 1868, 1872 and 
1S73, he represented the town in the General 
Assembly. An upright citizen, Mr. Newell 
has the respect of the community in which 
he resides. 

NEWTON, WILLIAM S., of ISrattleboro, 
son of Willliam and Betsey (Harris) New- 
ton, was born in Marlboro, June 26, 1822. 
He was of the seventh generation on the 
line of descent from England. Cotton New- 
ton, his grandfather, was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, and was at the battle of 
Stillwater. 

His educational training was obtained 
in the common schools and at the Brattle- 
boro Academy, and when seventeen years of 



age he left the farm upon which he was 
born, to take his first step in active business 
life, being employed as clerk in the store of 
Jesse Cone at the center of the town, which 
was then located on the present site of the 
meeting house. Subsequently he came to 
Brattleboro, where he obtained a similar 
position in the store of (lardner C. Hall, in 
whose service he remained for two years. 
Again he returned to the place of his nativity, 
but in 1852 accepted a position in the 
employment of the Vermont & Massachu- 
setts Railroad Co., at Brattleboro ; from 
thence he transferred his services to the 
post-ofifice under the administration of 
Samuel Dutton. In March, 1S59, he formed a 
copartnership with Nathaniel Cheney and 
engaged in the grocery business. This con- 
nection was dissolved in July afterwards and 
he continued the trade at the old stand till 
Dec. I, 1887. 

He was elected town clerk, March 3, 1863, 
and justice of the peace at the September 
Freemen's meeting afterwards ; elected a 
trustee of the Vermont Savings Bank in 
January, 1882, and vice-president in Jan- 
uary, 1 89 1. In all of these capacities he 
has given universal satisfaction by the exact- 
itude, impartiality and conscientiousness 
with which he has discharged the some- 
what delicate duties of his official position, 
and the unwavering rectitude and constant 
probity of his daily life have earned the 
entire respect of the community where he 
resides. 

Gifted with a keen sense of the ridiculous, 
no one more appreciates the comic side of 
life or enjoys with more hearty zest the droll 
occurences that are continually arising to 
relieve in some degree the irksome toil to 
which poor humanity is otherwise con- 
demned. 

His religious preference is the Congrega- 
tional faith. 

Mr. Newton was united in wedlock, March 
30, 185S, to Lucinda \\'. Harris, daughter of 
David \V. and Salome (Wheeler) Goodrich, 
of Chesterfield, N. H. 

NICHOLS, William Henry, of Brain- 
tree, son of William and Betsey (White) 
Nichols, was born in Braintree, Dec. 23, 
1829. He descends from old New England 
stock, which has exhibited the virtue of good 
citizenship through successive generations. 
Isaac Nichols, his great-grandfather, was a 
colonel in the Revolutionary army, and a 
participant in the battles of Bennington and 
Saratoga. He came to Braintree with his 
wife and seven stalwart sons and one grand- 
child in October, 1787, and took up his 
residence on Quaker Hill, building a rude 
log hut, covered with bark. From that time 
to the present, the family has been promi- 



nently and officially connected with public 
affairs. Isaac was the first representative, 
repeatedly holding that position ; and he and 
his wife were original members of the First 
Congregational Church, of which he was for 
a long time a deacon, and which was organ- 
ized in 1794. His wife, Dorcas (Sibley) 
Nichols, was a woman of unusual mental 
and physical vigor, of great celebrity as a 
nurse, and lived to the remarkable age of 
one hundred and four years and ten months. 
His youngest son, Rev. Ammi Nichols, was 
a clergyman for two-thirds of a century. 

Betsey White, mother of Judge Nichols, 
was a lineal descendant of Peregrine White, 
the first born of the Pilgrims, and the old 
family homestead, now occupied by the son 
of Judge Nichols, has been the home and 
unencumbered property of the family for 
more than a century. 

William H. Nichols attended the Orange 
county grammar school and West Randolph 
Academy, and graduated from Middlebury 




College in the class of 1856. He studied 
law with John B. Hutchinson, meanwhile 
teaching several terms of the Orange county 
grammar school and West Randolph .Acad- 
emy. He was admitted to the Orange 
county bar in 1857, and continued to prac- 
tice until the fall of i860, when he estab- 
lished himself as a lawyer at Cedar Falls, 
Iowa. 

On the breaking out of the war he enlisted 
as a private, served in the departments of 



Mississippi and the (ailf, at X'icksburg, 
Shiloh, the siege and second battle of Cor- 
inth, and capture of Mobile, and was 
wounded at Corinth. He served at times as 
drill-master, and ordnance and commissary 
sergeant. .After being mustered out he came 
to Braintree and took charge of his father's 
farm. 

A Republican in politics, he has discharged 
many public and official trusts. He was a 
member of the last Constitutional Conven- 
tion ; re])resentative from Braintree in 1870 ; 
judge of county court, 1872 to 1874; has 
been superintendent of schools, and was for 
a long time clerk and treasurer, a position 
that has been held by successive members 
of the family for nearly three-quarters of a 
century. In 1879 he was elected judge of 
probate, and has since creditably filled that 
position. 

Judge Nichols married, .August 3, 1856, 
Ann Eliza, daughter of William A. and 
Abby (Curver) Bates. Their children are : 
Henry Hebert, William Bates, Edward H., 
and .Anna. 

Judge Nichols is a whole-souled gentle- 
man, and in all of the various relations of 
civil and military life has discharged his 
duties ably and faithfully. He has been for 
thirty-six years a member of Phcenix Lodge, 
No. 28, F. & A. M., and is also a comrade 
of U. S. Grant Post, No. 36, of West 
Randolph. 

NIMBLET, Oscar L., of Monkton, son 
of Hosea and .Althea (Williams) Nimblet, 
was born in Monkton, Jan. 16, 1832. 

His scholastic training was recei\ed at the 
public and private schools of his native town 
and at Bakersfield .Academy. Immediately 
after leaving Bakersfield he commenced the 
studv of medicine by attending lectures at 
Dartmouth College, and afterwards graduated 
with high honors from the medical depart- 
ment of the University of Vermont, receiving 
his diploma in the class of 1854. Returning 
to Monkton, he practiced successfully in that 
town and vicinity. 

Doctor Nimblet was married at Mont- 
pelier, August 16, 1853, to Sarah V., daugh- 
ter of David and Hannah (Prescott) Mason, 
by whom he has had issue : Ida A. (Mrs. 
Moses Sears, of Williston), Katie L. (Mrs. 
Alfred Hull, of Hinesburgh), Altha S. (Mrs. 
William Stone, of U'illiston). Mrs. Nimblet 
died Dec. 2, 1884, and Doctor Nimblet was 
united, Jan. 2, 1886, to Mrs. Eliza C. Weller. 

Doctor Nimblet has always been an ardent 
supporter of Republican principles. On ac- 
count of his interest in educational matters, 
he has been called upon to act as superin- 
tendent of schools for a quarter of a century, 
besides serving as school director and town 
agent. He represented Monkton in the Leg- 



NORTON. 2S7 

islature of 1888, giving his .services to the 
committee on the insane, in which capacity 
he established a most desirable record. He 
has enrolled himself a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, and though a believer in 
C'hristianity, is not a member of any particu- 
lar sect. 

He possesses marked literary ability, and 
has often contributed to papers and periodi- 
cals. He is a fluent and eloquent speaker, 
and has often displayed his oratorical powers 
in lectures and on public occasions in vari- 
ous parts of the state. 

NORTON, LUMAN Preston, of Ben- 
nington, son of Julius and Maria (Spooner) 
Norton, was born in Bennington March 20, 
I S3 7. Mr. Norton is directly descended 
from William C. Spooner, signer of the De- 
claration of Independence, and his great 
grandfather, John, fought in the Revolution- 
ary army in which he held the rank of 
(■a])tain. 




He received his preliminary education at 
the public schools of Cambridge, N. Y., and 
afterward pursued his studies at the acad- 
emies of Randolph and Bennington and also 
that of Bloomfield, N. V. Entering Union 
College, Schenectad)', N. Y., he graduated 
in June, 1858, and the following year formed 
a copartnership with his father at Benning- 
ton for the manufacture of pottery, a busi- 
ness established by his great-grandfather in 
1793. After his father's death in 1861 Mr. 
Norton continued in the concern for twentv- 



OLMSTEAD. 



one years, when he sold his entire interest 
to his partner and removed to Bismark, Dak., 
for the benefit of his impaired health. On 
his return to Vermont he accepted the gen- 
eral agency of the Northwestern Mutual Life 
Insurance Co. He was elected the first 
president of the Bennington County Savings 
Bank and also of the vitlage of Bennington. 
He is largely interested in real estate both in 
Vermont and in the West. 

A Republican in his political preferences, 
he has taken little active part in public af- 
fairs, though confidence in his integrity and 
financial capacity have called him to the 
office of trustee of Bennington \illage, repre- 
senting that town in the Legislature of 1874, 
being assigned to important committees. 



In Mt. Anthony Lodge, No. 13, F. &: A. 
M., he has been the incumbent of all the 
ofifices with the exception of that of master ; 
is a charter member of Bennington Histor- 
ical Society, and belongs to the Improved 
Order of Red Men. He is a communicant 
of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is 
auditor of the diocese of Vermont and has 
been for many years lay delegate to the dio- 
cesan convention. 

Mr. Norton married, Oct. 12, 1858, Alice 
L., daughter of Bradford Godfrey. Four 
children have been issue of this union : 
Luman S., Agnes C. (wife of Judge Charles 
H. Darling of Bennington), Alice Mabel, 
and Julius Philip. 



OLMSTEAD, ALNER AllYN, of South 
Newbury, son of Isaac H. and S. Ann 
(Allyn) Olmstead was born at Newbury, 
Tune 15, 1850. He is of English-Scotch 
descent. 




OLMSTEAD. 



He received his education at Newbury Sem- 
inary and Vermont Methodist Seminary at 
Montpelier. In 1 87 1 he commenced the study 
of law with Orrin Gambell of Bradford, but on 
account of difficulty with his eyes he was 
compelled to abandon his hopes of entering 
that profession, and formed a partnership 
with his father for the manufacture of chairs, 
which trade he had learned in his minority. 



This business connection continued until the 
death of his father in 1878. The next vear 
Mr. Olmstead built a large and commodious 
chair factory, costing about S6,ooo, and since 
that time he has successfully conducted the 
business, with the addition of the lumber 
and furniture trade. He is a farmer and 
breeder of blooded horses, of which he is a 
great lover, owning twelve at the present 
time. He is enterprising and possesses a 
marked degree of will power, with that con- 
tinuity that makes it painful to give up. He 
is a director, treasurer, and manager of the 
Orange County Canning Co., which he was 
instrumental in organizing. 

Mr. Olmstead is a Democrat, and although 
his town is strongly Republican, in 1890 he 
was elected a member of the General As- 
sembly, a position not held in Newbury by a 
Democrat since Henry Keyes, thirty-five 
years before. He served on the committee 
of manufacturing and on the joint special 
committee of the World's Fair. He gained 
the reputation of being a prudent and care- 
ful legislator, and won the confidence and 
esteem of his associates. His townsmen 
honored him with a re-election in 1892, when 
he served on the committee of grand list, 
and, being a staunch temperance ad\ocate, 
was placed on the committee of temperance, 
where he did good work. On the 5th of 
May, 1892, at the Democratic state conven- 
tion in Montpelier, Mr. Olmstead was chosen 
a member of the Vermont Democratic state 
committee, and now holds that position. On 
the 13th of June, 1893, J. Sterling Merton, 
Secretary of Agriculture in Mr. Cleveland's 
cabinet, appointed Mr. Olmstead to the posi- 
tion of state statistical agent for Vermont at 
a salary of $600 per year. 

He joined the M. E. Church in 1870, and 
has been an active member, officer and lib- 
eral supporter since. He was made a Mason, 
in 1874, and is now a Royal Arch. 



On May 27, 1880, at South Newbury, he 
married Miss Jennie M., daughter of John 
and Susan C. (Fuller) Thompson, a noble 
Christian woman, "who did him good and not 
evil all the days of her life." She died Dec. 
25, 1889. 

ORVIS, Franklin Henry, of Man- 
chester, was born on the 12th day of July, 
1824, and is the eldest child of Levi Church 
and Electa Sophia (Purdy) ()r\is. His 
father, Levi Church Orvis, and grandfather, 
Waitstill Orvis, were likewise natives of Ver- 
mont, though born east of the mountains. 
His mother was descended from Reuben 




.IN HENRY ORVIS. 



Purdy, who will be remembered as the head 
of one of the oldest and most highly re- 
spected pioneer families of the town of 
Manchester. Levi Church Orvis came to 
Manchester about the year 1820, living for a 
time in the family of Ephraim Munson, and 
attended Hill's School. Shortly afterward 
he married Electa Sophia Purdy. He was 
engaged in the mercantile and marble busi- 
ness at Manchester up to the time of his 
death in 1849. 

It was in his father's store that Franklin 
H. Orvis obtained his early business train- 
ing. He was educated in the common 
schools of the town, and at the Barr Semi- 
nary, and the Union Village Academy at 
Greenwich, N. V., from which last institution 
he graduated in 1842, being then eighteen 
years of age. The next two years were 
passed in Wisconsin and Illinois in mercan- 



tile ]nirsuits, but in 1S44 he went to New 
\ ork City as a clerk in the wholesale dry 
goods house of Marsh & Willis, which posi- 
tion he held for about two years. In 1846, 
Mr. Orvis, in association with Elijah .M. 
Carrington, formerly of Poultney, under the 
firm name of Carrington & Orvis, engaged in 
the wholesale dry goods business, whuh he 
continued until about the year i860, when 
he retired to give his whole attention to the 
hotel which he had established some eight 
years before. But the Equinox of Man- 
chester, as is very well known, has been con- 
ducted as a summer resort exclusively ; there- 
fore, when Mr. Orvis withdrew from his 
occupation in New York City, the winter 
months became to him a season of compara- 
tive inactivity, except during the period of 
his connection with the Manchester Journal, 
which paper he purchased in 1871, and con- 
tinued with gratifying success. In 1872 Mr. 
( )rvis became proprietor of the St. James 
Hotel at Jacksonville, Fla., which he con- 
ducted as a winter resort. In 1875 he pur- 
chased the Putnam House at Palatka, Fla., 
enlarged it and continued its management 
imtil it was destroyed by fire in Noxember, 
1884. In 1880 Mr. Orvis leased the Wind- 
sor at Jacksonville, conducting this and the 
Putnam at Palatka until the latter was burned, 
since which the Windsor has occujiied his 
time during the winter, and the Equinox at 
Manchester during the summer. The suc- 
cessful conduct of a large hotel calls for as 
much of tact and good judgment as the man- 
agement of any other extensive enterprise. 
These necessary traits and qualifications are 
possessed by Mr. Orvis in an abundant 
degree ; and while to him is due the credit 
of having built up these large enterprises, 
and made for them a reputation second to 
none in the country, acknow-ledgment should 
be made of the efficient assistance rendered 
by his sons, who have inherited much of the 
business thrift and energy of their father. 

He was married Nov. 17, 1852, to Sarah 
M., daughter of Paul and Sarah R. Whitin, of 
\\hitinsville, Mass. Six children are the fruit 
of this union. 

It will seem from the foregoing brief 
resume, that the life of Franklin H. Orvis has 
been one of busy activity for more than half 
a century. While he has been thus engaged 
with his business affairs he has nevertheless 
found time to participate in the \arious 
events and measures looking to the welfare 
and improvement of his native town. P^very 
enterprise tending to its advancement has 
found in him an earnest advocate, and every 
worthy charity has received from him sub- 
stantial aid. In the fall of 1869 he was 
elected to the Vermont Senate from lienning- 
ton county as the candidate of the Republi- 
can party, of which party he has been an 



290 



active member since 1861. In 1892 he was 
again elected to the Vermont Senate for two 
years. Although now in his seventieth year 
he is actively engaged as the head of the well- 
known Equinox Spring Co., of Manchester. 

OSGOOD, Charles Wesley, of Bel- 
lows Falls, son of Peter and Rebecca Osgood, 
was born in North Andover, Mass., Nov. 14, 
1841. 

His early education was received at the 
common schools of .\ndover and supple- 
mented by a short course of study at Phil- 
lips Academy. At the age of fifteen he 
ended his brief schooling and commenced 
to learn the trade of a machinist. Having 
mastered this, after various vicissitudes Mr. 
Osgood came to Bellows Falls in 187 1 and 
entered into partnership with William G. 
Barker, under the firm name of Osgood & 
Barker, to do a general trade. When they 
started they employed but one man, but the 
firm was successful and business steadily in- 
creased. Ten years after the formation of 
the concern Mr. Barker died, and since then 
Mr. Osgood has owned and operated the 
plant and he is now chiefly occupied in the 
manufacture of paper-making machinery. 
In 1883 his shops were burned, but in 1891 
he purchased the estate known as the Island 
House property and erected a spacious 
building thereon, in which now nearly a hun- 
dred men are employed. 

Though a strong Republican, Mr. Osgood 
has neither cared for nor sought ofifice. 

He married at North Andover, Mass., Fan- 
nie M., daughter of B. Gardner Searle. Three 
children have been issue ; Edward Gardner, 
Charles Herbert, and Fannie Rebecca. 

OWEN, Clarence Philander, of 

Glover, son of Philander and Irene (Knapp) 
Owen, was born in (Mover, March 31, 1844. 
He is of Puritan lineage, being a descendant 
from Samuel and Priscilla Owen, who emi- 
grated from Wales about 1685, settled in 
Salem, Mass., but not finding sufficient re- 
ligious liberty there, went to Roger Williams 
colony at Providence, R. I. 

His great-grandfather, Capt. Daniel Owen, 
was the president of the first state conven- 
tion of Rhode Island, which adopted the 
Constitution, and drafted the letter which 
informed General Washington of the organ- 
ization of the state government. He was 
also chief justice of the state and Dept.- 
Governor from i 786 to 1 790, and with five 
others was granted the exclusive privilege of 
coining money for a term of twelve years, 
then was a partner in an iron foundry with 
the celebrated John Paul Jones until the 
breaking out of the Revolution. .^Lt the 
close of the war, with others, he received a 
grant of land in the towns of \\'estfield and 
Barton. 



Mr. Clarence Philander Owen obtained 
his education in the public schools, the 
Orleans Liberal Institute of Glover, and 
Barre Academy. .After a course of legal 
study in the office of Knapp and ^^"^ight of 
Keosaukqua, Iowa, in the fall of 1866 he 
was admitted to the Van Buren county bar 
of that state, but never practiced his pro- 
fession, for he was immediately appointed 
United States inspector of customs for the 
First Iowa district. While visiting his home 
in 1868 he was seized with a dangerous ill- 
ness the nature of which precluded all in- 
door occupation, and he became a farmer. 
In this employment he has always remained, 
making a specialty of Jersey stock and Mor- 
gan horses. 




CLARENCE PHILANDER OWEN. 



He was united in marriage Feb. 4, 1869, 
to -Anna, daughter of William and Fanny 
(Randall) Chase, of Wheelock. Two daugh- 
ters have been born to them : Maud L. 
(Mrs. William S. Mason of Glover), and 
Kate (Mrs. Willard C. Leonard of New 
London, N. H.) 

Mr. Owen has been earnestly interested in 
public affairs, is a member of the Repub- 
lican party, has served on the county com- 
mittee, held most of the town offices and is 
county auditor, now serving his third year. 
In 1886 and 1888 he was elected associate 
judge for Orleans county, serving the full 
term of four years, and in 1S92 represented 
the town of Glover in the General Assembly, 
serving on the ways and means committee. 



Judge Owen is a C'ongregationalist, and a 
Free and Accepted Mason, affiliating with 
Orleans Lodge, No. 55, of Barton, and 
Cleveland Chapter, No. 20, of Newport. 

OWEN, JOSEPH, of r.arton, son of Jos- 
eph and Esther (Cohvcll) Owen, was born 
in Clover, Feb. 18, 1818. He is the grand- 
son of Hon. Daniel Owen, Covernor of Rhode 
Island, to whom part of the towns of Barton and 
Westfield was granted in 17S1. The young- 
est son of the Covernor, and father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, in com])any with other 
settlers came to Barton in i 798, thence floated 
down the ri\er to Newport, made an excur- 
sion through the woods to Westfield, where 
they built camps on their own lots, subse- 
quently settling in Barton. 




OWF.N. 291 

by all for his i)ersonal integrity and financial 
ability. 

He has taken small share in political or 
town matters, nevertheless he has served as 
collector and selectman in Barton. He has 
always voted with the Re])ublicans since the 
dissolution of the whig party. 

For fifty-seven years he has been a mem- 
ber of the Methodist church of which he has 
been one of the stewards since his early 
manhood. He has been a faithful instructor 
in the Sunday School besides being a liberal 
and generous benefactor to the church. 

He married, Dec. 14, T848, Diana, daugh- 
ter of Daniel and Sally (Cilman) Shaw, of 
Sutton, who died August 23, 1884, leaving 
two children : Flla F. (Mrs. Waldo Mossman, 
of Barton), and Ceorge W. July 22, 1886, 
he was married to Mrs. .Abbie B. Bickford, of 
Montpelier, daughter of Reuben and ICliza- 
beth (Sawyer) Cliffin. He has now retired 
from business, enjoying the fruits of his 
labors. 

OWEN, Oscar Daniel, of Barton, 

son of Daniel and Sarah (Barnard) Owen, 
was born in Barton, Oct. i. 1842. His 



JOSEPH OWEN. 

The present Joseph Owen obtained his 
education in the schools of Barton and Clover 
and afterwards at Browington Academy. He 
commenced the active business of life as an 
instructor in Westfield, Barton, and Sutton, 
and after employment as a clerk in the latter 
place removed to Barton and settled upon a 
farm, the greater part of which is now occu- 
pied by the village. He was a farmer, and 
tilled the soil for the love of it, and conse- 
quenrty made it a success ; and he stoutly 
affirms that a young man now, with pluck 
and courage for capital stock, can acquire 
wealth on a Vermont farm. Mr. Owen has 
been one of the most prominent busines men 
in Orleans county and was much respected 




OSCAR DANIEL OWEN. 

ancestors came to this country from Wales 
in 1685 for the better enjoyment of civil and 
religious liberty and to seek a wider field for 
agricultural labor than they could find in 
their native land. They settled in Rhode 
Island and from thence the grandfather of 
Mr. Owen removed to the Hampshire Crants 



292 ORMSBEE. 

and was one of the earliest settlers of the 
town of Barton. 

Mr. Owen passed through the customary 
course of instruction at the common schools 
and academy and at the age of nineteen 
made his first step in an active business 
career by being employed as clerk in the 
local store. He then took his departure for 
Rockford, 111., and worked in the same 
capacity for two years, after which he trans- 
ferred his abode to Boston, Mass., where he 
still continued to hold a similar position. 
Having by this time a wide and varied 
knowledge of business affairs, in 1869 he 
returned to Barton, where he commenced as 
a merchant on his own account. By his 
energy, thrift and industry, he has been 
more than successful, has built up a most 
flourishing trade and deservedly acquired a 
handsome fortune by honorable and straight- 
forward dealing. In 1875 he had the mis- 
fortune to lose his entire stock and store by 
fire, but, undismayed by this stroke of ill- 
luck, with characteristic pluck, he imme- 
diately commenced the erection of his 
]jresent business block at that time the finest 
in the vicinity. He is largely engaged in 
buying and shipping Vermont butter and 
dairy produce in general. 

Mr. Owen married, Nov. 5, 1874, Mary 
A., daughter of Judge Fordyce S. and 
Martha H. French of Barton. One daugh- 
ter, Julia, is issue of their union. 



ORMSBEE, EbeNEZER JOLLS, of Bran- 
don, son of John Mason and Polly (Willson) 
Ormsbee, was born in Shoreham, June 8, 
1834. 

He received the education afforded by the 
common schools of the state and the acade- 
mies at Brandon and South Woodstock, 
dividing his time between the farm and the 
school until his majority, when he taught 
school winters while acquiring the higher 
branches taught in the academy. He began 
the study of the law in the office of Briggs & 
Nicholson, at Brandon, in 1857, and was 
admitted to the bar of Rutland county at the 
March term of court in 1 86 1 . 

Instead of entering upon the practice of 
his profession, however, he enlisted in the 
"Allen Grays," a military company of Bran- 
don, in April, 1861 ; this company became 
Co. G of the I St Regt. Vt. Vols., and having 
been elected 2d lieutenant thereof, he was 
commissioned as .such, April 25, i86i, and 
was with his company in the service of the 
United States during the term of its enlist- 
ment, being mustered out of the United 
States service, August 15, 1861. Returning 
home, he again enlisted in Co. G of the 12th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., was elected captain of the 



company, and commissioned Sept. 22, 1862. 
This regiment was attached to the 2d ^'t. 
Brigade, commanded by General Stannard, 
which became the 3d Brigade in the 3d 
Division of the ist Army Corps, Army of the 
Potomac, and taking a most noteworthy part 
in the Gettysburg campaign. Captain Orms- 
bee was with his company during its term of 
service, sharing the dangers and hardships 
of his men, and was again mustered out with 
them, July 14, 1863. 

Taking up the duties of civil life, he com- 
menced the practice of law at Brandon, as a 
partner of Anson .A. Nicholson, in 1864, af- 
terwards entering into a like business con- 
nection with Hon. Fbenezer N. Briggs, with 
whose son he is now engaged in the practice 
of his profession at Brandon. Was appointed 
assistant United States internal revenue as- 
sessor, in 1868, serving as such until 1872. 
Was elected state's attorney for Rutland 
county, 1870 to 1874; town representative 
from Brandon in the General Assembly of 
the state in 1872, and senator from Rutland 
county in that body in 1878. .Appointed 
and served as a trustee of the Vermont re- 
form school, from 1880 till 1884, when he 
was made Lieutenant-Governor of the state, 
and was chosen Governor of the state in 
1886. 

Among many other positions of trust to 
which he has been called, and in which he 
has served with eminent ability, is that of 
chairman of a commission to treat with the 
Pi ITe Indians, at Pyramid Lake, Nevada, 
concerning the relinquishment of a portion 
of their reservation to the L'nited States, to 
which he was appointed by the President in 
1 891 ; the same year he was appointed by 
the President as the United States land com- 
missioner at Samoa, the duties of which of- 
fice he discharged until Mav 16, 1893, when 
he returned to this country and resumed the 
practice of his profession. 

The subject of this sketch has been twice 
married : In 1862, to Jennie L. Briggs, 
daughter of Hon. E. N. Plriggs, of Brandon ; 
and in 1867, to Frances (Wadhams) Daven- 
port, daughter of William L. Wadhams, of 
Westport, N. Y. 

Always an ardent Republican in politics, 
he has been an active member of the state 
Republican committee, and a firm supporter 
of the principles and policy of that party. 

He is a member of St. Paul's Lodge F. and 
A. M., of Brandon, and has long been a 
comrade of C. J. Ormsbee Post, No. iS, G. 
A. R., an order at whose annual memorial 
services he has been a speaker and partici- 
pant for many years. 

His religious preference is that of Episco- 
palian. 

He is now ( 1894) engaged in law practice 
at Brandon. 




^•-^^-<-»-«-t-4A-»>^ J \JjLy%^xyLAy^^-*--*^ •• 



294 



PAINE, Milton Kendall, of Windsor, 

son of Isaac and Martha Locke (Riggs) 
Paine, was born in Boston, Mass., July 15, 
1834. He is of English descent. When 
Washington assumed the command of the 
Revolutionary forces at Cambridge, Milton's 
great-great-grandfather, William Paine, then 
in the eighty-third year of his age, entered 
the camp accompanied by his son and two 
grandsons, and when the general questioned 
him with regard to his own presence there, 
he replied that he was there to encourage his 
son and grandsons and see that they did 
their duty to their country. 

Milton K. Paine received his educational 
training at the common and high schools of 
Chelsea, but before attaining his fifteenth 
year he entered the drug store of A. & H. 
Wardner of \Mndsor as clerk, and seven 
vears afterward started in that business in the 



/* 



1> % 




tion of Paine's Celery Compound, of which 
the local sales were immediately enormous,, 
and the medicine is now known and used 
throughout much of the civilized world. Mr. 
Paine has also originated many appliances 
for the economical manufacture of medi- 
cines, and has received several U. S. patents 
for articles of practical value. His health 
failing after nearly forty years of arduous 
application to his profession, he disposed of 
his stock in trade, and on March 19, 1887, 
sold his interest in the Celery Compound to 
A\'ells & Richardson Co. of Burlington. He 
retired from active business April 20, 1888,. 
one of the oldest and most widely known 
druggists of the state. 

Mr. Paine was married in May, 1S57, to 
Helen A., daughter of Dr. Horace Austin of 
Athol, Mass., whom he had the misfortune 
to lose by death in September, 1864. She 
left one daughter, Jennie Louise Paine, now 
Mrs. W. R. Sheldon of Charlestown, N. H.. 
<.)n May 6, 1S72, he wedded Mrs. Mary 
( Lemmex) Smith, daughter of William H. 
and Elvira (Warner) Lemmex of Windsor. 

Colonel Paine is an active Republican,, 
attesting his faith by his works, and has held 
several official positions. He was a member 
of the staff of Governor Farnham in 1881, 
receiving the rank of colonel, and in 1888 
was elected the Windsor county member of 
the state Republican committee, which posi- 
tion he still holds. He is a justice of the 
peace, and was for two years president of 
the Vermont Pharmaceutical Association. 
He was an incorporator, and has been for 
four years past the treasurer of the \'ermont 
society, Sons of the American Revolution. 
He is treasurer of the Old South Congrega- 
tional Church at Windsor, and superinten- 
dent of the Sabbath school. 

In the Masonic order Colonel Paine has 
ever taken a deep and abiding interest, and 
in this has attained an eminent position,, 
having reached the 33d degree. He is one 
of the senior members of the Supreme 
Council in the state of \'ermont. 



KENDALL PAINE. 



same town, with a capital of $30, running in 
debt for his entire stock. So successful was 
he, owing to his prudence and energy, that 
in two years he was free from all pecuniary 
obligations and had built up a trade that was 
ever widely increasing. A man of original 
mind and natural inventive faculty, devel- 
oped by careful observation, even in his 
youthful days, he began the preparation of 
])erfumes by processes originated bv himself, 
and later compounded the "Wild Cherry 
Tonic," which had an immense sale, not 
only in the state, but in various parts of the 
LTnion. His crowning effort was the in\en- 



PAGE, Carroll Smalley, of Hyde 

Park, son of Russell S. and Martha Malvina. 
(Smalley) Page, was born in Westfield, Jan. 
10, 1843. 

He was educated at the People's Academy 
at Morrisville, the Lamoille county gram- 
mar school of Johnson, and the Lamoille 
Central .Academy of Hyde Park. 

Covernor Page is identified with many of 
the important business enterprises of his 
county and state, being president of the 
Lamoille County Savings PJank and Trust 
Co., of the Lamoille County National Bank,, 
of the Hyde Park Hotel Co., and of the 
Fife Lumber Co. He is the treasurer of the- 
Hvde Park Lumber Co., of the Morse Man- 




'"^^^ JoJj'^' 




296 



ufacturing Co., of the Buck Lumber Co., ami 
a director of tlie St. J. & L. C. R. R. 

.Altliougii aiways a very busy man lie lias 
foun(i time to give good service to iiis party 
and to iiis state. He represented Hyde 
Parli in the House from 1869 to 1872, was 
senator from Lamoille county from 1874 to 
1876, and was county treasurer and reg- 
ister of the probate court for the district of 
Lamoille for about ten years. In 1880 he 
was a delegate to the Republican national 
convention at Chicago, that nominated 
James A. Garfield for President. From 1872 
to 1S90 he was a member of the Republican 
state committee, serving from 1878 to 1884 
as its secretary, and from 1884 to 1890 as its 
chairman, his chairmanshi]) covering the 
notable campaign of 188S. 

.■\s a financier he became well known to 
the people of the state while filling the oiTice 
of inspector of finance (examiner of savings 
banks) from 1884 to 1888. In 1890 he was 
elected Governor — the highest office in the 
gift of the people. To this position, which 
he filled till 1892, he brought the same ad- 
ministrative ability that has characterized 
the conduct of his private affairs. 

But first and always a business man, it is 
not in political or official life that Governor 
Page's reputation has become most widely 
extended, but rather as a dealer in Green 
Calf .Skins, in which line of business his trade 
is confessedly the largest in America, if not in 
the world, extending not only to the Pacific 
coast, but through all the British provinces 
in .-\merica, and to England, France and 
Germany. 

Governor Page is a Mason, an Odd Fel- 
low, and a member of the Society of the Sons 
of the American Revolution. 

.April II, 1865, Mr. Page was united in 
marriage to Ellen F., youngest daughter of 
T. H. and Desdemona Patch, of Johnson. 
They have three children : Theophilus Hull, 
Russell Smith, and Alice. 

PARK, TRENOR William, late of Ben- 
nington, son of Luther and Cynthia (Pratt) 
Park, was born in Woodford, Dec. 8, 1823. 

His parents removed to Bennington when 
he was two or three years of age, and as they 
were poor he had few educational advan- 
tages, but in his earliest youth he contrived 
to contribute something to the famly sup- 
port. Resoh ing to adopt the legal profes- 
sion he began to study law in an office in 
the town when only sixteen, and a few years 
later he was admitted to the bar. In 1852 
a political appointment changed the whole 
current of his life, and interru])ted a suc- 
cessful professional career in Bennington. 
His father-in-law, ex-fJov. Hiland Hall, had 
been selected by President Fillmore as 
chairman of the V. S. land commission of 
California, to settle disputed land titles in 



the territory lately acquired from Mexico. 
This appointment induced Mr. Park to re- 
move to San Francisco, where his skill and 
success in the management of his first case 
attracted the attention of the newly estab- 
lished firm of Halleck, Peachy & Billings, 
and he was invited to become a member of 
that concern. This offer he accepted, and 
the firm soon became, and continued for 
years, the most eminent one in California. 
Mr. Park became prominently identified 
with the reform movement in San Francisco 
in 1855, and assisted James King to estab- 
lish the San Francisco Bulletin, and after 
the assassination of that editor in the streets 
of the city, he became the attorney of the 
historic vigilance committee, which de- 
livered San Francisco from the reign of 
terror established by lawlessness and ruffian- 
ism. The commercial panic of 1858 swept 
away a considerable portion of the large 
fortune w-hich Mr. Park had acquired, but he 
soon recovered his lost ground. .About this 
time he became interested in politics, and 
was a candidate for L". S. senator, lacking 
but few votes of an election. Returning to 
Vermont in 1863, he established the First 
National Bank at North Bennington, and 
soon after was elected to the Legislature, 
exercising great influence in that body. He 
now gave his attention to a number of rail- 
road enterprises in his native state, assisted 
in the reorganization of the Vermont Central, 
and was one of the original incorporators of 
that company under its new title. He pur- 
chased the Western \'ermont R. R., 
and commenced the construction of the 
Lebanon Springs R. R., hoping to make 
Bennington an important railroad cen- 
ter, but not meeting with adequate co- 
operation he sank a large fortune in this 
latter patriotic enterprise. In 1872 Mr. 
Park was associated with General Baxter in 
the ownership and conduct of the famous 
Emma Mine, and he was for many years a 
director of the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. 
In 1874 he was elected president of the 
Panama R. R., holding the office till the 
time of his death. Under his skillful man- 
agement, and with the able assistance of 
Gen. J. G. McCullough the stock rose from 
par to three hundred cents on the dollar, at 
which price it was sold to the I)e Lesseps 
Canal Co. Mr. Park was pre-eminently a 
public-spirited man. When a trustee of the 
U. V. M. he donated to that institution the 
art gallery which bears his name. He was a 
liberal contributor to the New York Tribune 
"Fresh An P'und," established the Benning- 
ton Free Library, and with ex-Go\ernor 
Prescott of New Hampshire, ex-Governor 
Rice of Massachusetts, and E. J. Phelps of 
Burlington, constituted a committee on the 
design of the Bennington battle monument. 
He also contemplated a magnificent charity 



298 



to be entitled the "Park Home," to be 
established in Bennington, a refuge lor desti- 
tute women and children. Unfortunately 
his death occurred before his plans could be 
completed, and a large property which had 
been secured near the town as the site of 
the new charity was donated to the state by 
his heirs and is now occupied by the Soldiers' 
Home. 

Mr. Park was married Dec. 15, 1S46, to 
Laura, daughter or ex-Clov. Hiland Hall, of 
Piennington. He had the misfortune to lose 
this estimable lady in June, 1875. He es- 
poused as his second wife, Ella, daughter of 
A. C. Nichols, Esq., of San Francisco. His 
own death occurred in 1882, while en route 
to Panama. One son, Trenor L., and two 
daughters (Mrs. J. G. McCullough and Mrs. 
Fred B. Jennings), survive him. 

The energy, perse\eranc, and public spirit 
of Mr. Park carried him from the humblest 
circumstances in youth to a manhood of 
noble attainments, and his enterprises pro- 
cured for him the possession of great wealth, 
a large portion of which he conscientiously 
employed, not in selfish self-indulgence, but 
for the benefit and assistance of his fellow- 
men. 

PARKER, Charles S., of Elmore, son 
of Henry C. and Mary (Batchelder) Parker, 
was born in Barre, Nov. 2, 1820. 

He availed himself of the educational fa- 
cilities afforded by the common school and 
academy of the time, and in early life was 
both teacher and farm laborer, but soon de- 
voted all his attention to the tillage of the 
soil and has followed this occupation through 
the course of a long and honorable life. He 
has now practically retired from active pur- 
suits, but can look back with satisfaction 
upon his career, contented with the success 
he has achieved. 

Mr. Parker prided himself upon the fact 
that he was the first to introduce the breed- 
ing of Jersey cattle into Lamoille county and 
he possesses at the present time a fine herd 
of thirty thoroughbreds. For two years he 
has been the president of the Lamoille 
County Agricultural Society, and is a recog- 
nized authority in all matters pertaining to 
the cultivation of the farm or the breeding 
of stock. 

From the formation of the party Mr. Par- 
ker was a Republican, but since 1884 he has 
identified himself with the Prohibitionists. 
He has served as sheriff of Lamoille county 
and was elected associate judge in i867-'68, 
county commissioner in 1867, and repre- 
sented the town of Elmore in i863-'64. He 
has also been county bailiff and justice of the 
peace. 

He has been a member of the M. E. 
Church for more than fifty years, and is the 



oldest living steward of that church in town. 
He has also been admitted to the Masonic 
fraternity and is a member of Mt. Vernon 
Lodge in Morrisville. 




CHARLES S. PARKER. 

Judge Parker was married, Oct. 17, 1842,. 
to Eliza A., daughter of Seth and Susan 
( Sherman ) Town. To them have been born 
five children : Carlos S., Natt S., Henry C, 
Candace A. (wife of Rev. D. B. McKenzie 
of Troy, N. Y.),and Ellen F. (widow of the 
late J. H. Batchelder of Barre). 

PARKER, Harry ELWOOD, of Bradford, 
son of Charles and .Amelia ( Bennett) Parker, 
was born in the town of Lvman, N. H., June 
11,1853. 

His education was received in the local 
schools of Lyman and at Lisbon Academy,, 
in which town his family took up their resi- 
dence in 1863. Possessing fine musical 
ability, he devoted himself to the study of 
this art for several years, and at the age of 
sixteen was the leader of a military band in 
Marion, Va. In 1869 he commenced to 
learn the trade of a printer, relinquished it 
for a time, but resumed this occupation in 
1S72. Five years later he commenced the 
publication of the Lisbon (ilobe, a small five- 
column sheet, and in 1881 he removed to 
Bradford, consolidated the rival papers of 
the place and established the L^nited Opinion. 
L'nder his able management the circulation 
of the paper has largely increased. Mr. 
Parker is also half owner of the Record, 



Plymouth, X. H., and the Northern Herald 
of Lisbon, N. H., in addition to which he 
does a large job printing business, the ar- 
rangements for which, including a spacious 
and convenient building, are said to be supe- 
rior to any country establishment of its kind 
in Xew England. He is president of the 
Opinion Mfg. Co. (newspaper folders), and 
president of the Bradford Loan and ]'>uilding 
Association. 




ARRY ELWOOD PARKER. 



In 1878 he was chosen engrossing clerk 
of the New Hampshire Legislature, a lucra- 
tive and responsible position, to which he 
was again elected in 1879 and 1880. His 
busy life has not given him much leisure for 
attention to public affairs, but he was ap- 
pointed postmaster for the town of Bradford 
in i8go. He is the president of the Ver- 
mont Editors and Publishers Association for 
1893, and he has been selected by Governor 
Fuller to serve as aid-de-camp upon his staff 
with the rank of colonel. 

Colonel Parker is very prominent in the 
circles of Odd Fellowship, being P. C. P. of 
Trotter Encampment of Bradford, and grand 
secretary of the Grand Lodge of Vermont, 
having held that position since 1S87. He 
is also a Free Mason, affiliating with Char- 
ity Lodge, No. 43 ; Mt. Lebanon Chapter, 
No. 1 1, R. A. M. ; Bradford Council, No. 11, 
of Bradford ; Palestine Commandery, No. 5, 
of St. Johnsbury, and Mt. Sinai 'Pemjile, 
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Mont])elier. 



P.ARKEK. 299 

He is deputy supreme regent of the Royal 
Arcanum. 

He was married at Nashua, N. H., Sept. 
24, 1873, to .Anna M., daughter of William 
S. and Sarah (JMiierson) \\eston. Five 
children have blessed their union : Leslie 
Weston (died in infancy), Katherine Louise, 
Sarah Knowles, Charles, and Levi. 

Colonel Parker is a spirited advocate of 
all village improvements, heartily devoted 
to the interests of his town and section, 
always on the alert to introduce new enter- 
prises, and a progressive and popular editor. 

PARKER, Henry J., of Andover, son 
of Benjamin and Betsey (Fullam) Parker, 
was born in Plainfield, N. H., May 2, 1836. 

.After attending the common schools, he 
continued his educational course at the 
\\'esleyan Seminary of Springfield, and the 
Kimball I'nion .Academy of Meriden, N. H. 
In the spring of 1855, he found employment 
in Boston, Mass., as a bookkeeper, but soon 
went to (Dttawa, 111., w^here he obtained his 
living by teaching and also served as a 
clerk in various establishments for four 
vears, when he returned to Springfield. 




\.^ 



He was united in marriage, Nov. 9, 1859, 
to .Adelaide E., daughter of Timothy and 
Emily Putnam of Sjiringfield. One child 
has blessed the marriage ; Edwin H. 

Mr. Parker in response to the call for 
volunteers to serve for nine months, enlisted 
Sept. I, 1 86 2, in Co. H, i6th Regt., from 



the town of Weston and was mustered out 
with that command. 

After his return from the scenes of the 
struggle, he purchased an estate in Andover 
and this has since been his residence. He 
has made many improvements in the 
property, since he understands both the 
theory and practice of farming, making a 
specialty of dairy produce and maple sugar. 
For a quarter of a century he has been the 
general state agent for the Clranite State 
Mowing Machine Co., of Hinsdale, N. H., 
and has traveled several years in the in- 
terests of A. P. Fuller & Co., dealers in 
granite and marble. He was one of the 
incorporators and a trustee of the Chester 
Savings Bank and since its formation direc- 
tor and treasurer of the Andover Dairy Asso- 
ciation. 

Through the confidence of his Republican 
associates, Mr. Parker has held nearly all 
the positions of trust and responsibility in 
the town, which he represented in 1874. 
Fourteen years later he was called to a seat 
in the Senate from Windsor county. Both 
these positions he filled with dignity and 
credit. 

PARKER, Luther Fletcher, of 

Peacham, son of Isaac and Arabella (Cobb) 
Parker, was born in Coventry, Sept. 22, 
1821. 

The early education of Mr. Luther Parker 
was obtained in the schools of Coventry and 
in Brownington and Peacham Academies, 
and while a student he taught in Coventry 
and the neighboring towns. In 1844 he 
entered the U. V. M., but after remaining 
two years was obliged to leave the university 
on account of ill-health, when he again 
taught for two years at Coventry Falls. He 
then commenced the study of medicine in 
the office of Dr. G. W. Cobb, of Peacham, 
and after the latter's death continued with 
his successor. Dr. Farr, attending a course 
of lectures at Dartmouth and \Voodstock. 
He was subsequently requested by Dr. 
Brewer, of Barnet, to assume his large prac- 
tice, which he retained till his removal to 
Peacham, when he purchased the profes- 
sional connection of Dr. Farr. In 1864 he 
received the diploma of M. D. from Llart- 
mouth College. For forty years he has had 
a large and extensive practice, has kept 
fully abreast with the great advance of 
medical science for the past half century, 
and has gained a high reputation as a con- 
sulting physician in all the surrounding 
country. Dr. Parker is the proprietor of a 
farm in Peacham, which he himself operates. 

Formerly a whig, but now a Republican, 
though often sought for political office, he 
has always refused to serve, except in 1886 
and 1888, when he represented Peacham in 



P.-iRTRUlGE. 

the Legislature, in both sessions being a 
member of the temperance and ways and 
means committees. He has always been 
active in securing and enforcing prohibitory 
laws. He was sent, after the battle of the 
Wilderness, in charge of a sum of money 
collected in Peacham for the sanitary com- 
mission. When he arrived at the front the 
exigency of the occasion was so great that 
he gave his professional services freely to 
the wounded in that great battle. 



.-CT*- 4^' 




LUTHER FLETCHER PARKER. 

He has been a member of several medical 
societies, of Peacham Congregational Church, 
the Vermont Home Missionary Society, and 
always a generous contributor to different 
religious organizations. 

Dr. Parker married, June 6, 1850, Louisa, 
daughter of Deacon Moses and Jane .Adel- 
aine ( Martin) Martin, of Peacham. ( )f this 
union are issue : Mrs. E. C. Hardy, of 
Framingham, Mass. ; Mrs. W. H. Bayley, of 
Peacham ; Mrs. G. B. M. Harvey, of New 
York ; H. M., of Minneapolis, Minn., and 
Lizzie A. 

PARTRIDGE, FRANK CHARLES, of 
Proctor, son of Charles F. and Sarah A. 
(Rice) Partridge, was born in East Middle- 
bury, May 7, 1 86 1. 

He graduated from the Middlebury high 
school with the class of '77, and followed 
this with one term at Middlebury College. 
Entering Amherst College in the fall of 1878, 
he graduated in 1882 at the head of his class, 
receiving the degree of A. B., and was pres- 



i'.\kirii)c;e. 

ident of his class. In the tall of 18S2 he 
entered C'oliniibia College Law School, and 
graduated in 1884 with the degree of L. L. H. 
Mr. Partridge was admitted to practice in 
the Supreme Court of \'ermont in 1885, and 
in the United States Supreme Court in 1891. 
He was assistant manager of the Producers 
Marble Co. of Rutland from 1884 to 1885, 
when he removed to Proctor, where he be- 
came treasurer of the Vermont Marble Co., 
serving in that ca]5acity until 1890, since 
which time he has been vice-president. He 
is also vice-president of the Clarendon & 
Pittsford Railroad Co., and a director of the 
Proctor Trust Co. 




FRANK CHARLES PARTRIDGE. 



Politically, Mr. Partridge has always been a 
Republican, and though young in years has 
been honored with elections to many posi- 
tions of trust. He was a page in the Senate 
of 1876, page to the Governor in 1878 ; 
town clerk of the town of Proctor, i887-'90, 
and town agent and school trustee. He was 
private secretary to Secretary of War Proc- 
tor from 1889 to 1890. June 10, 1890, he 
was appointed solicitor for the Department 
of State by the President to succeed ^\■alker 
Blaine. He served as law ofificer of that 
department during the last two years of Sec- 
retary Blaine's administration, and under the 
administration of Secretary Foster until Jan. 
25> 1 893. when he was appointed Envoy 
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 
of the United States to Venezuela, which 
position he still holds. 



P.-VRTKIIJCE. 301 

.-\ young man of great native ability and 
strong character, Mr. Partridge owes his 
success in life to his own energies. 

PARTRIDGE, HENRY v., of Norwich, son 
of Capt. Alden and Ann Elizabeth (Swazey) 
Partridge, was born in Norwich, Dec. 10, 
1839. His father, Capt. Alden Partridge, 
was born in Norwich, Jan. 12, 1785, and was 
the son of a Revolutionary soldier. Captain 
Partridge graduated from West Point in 
1806, having entered that institution in 1805, 
his junior year at Dartmouth College. The 
following year he was apjjointed ]jrofessor of 
mathematics at the military school of the 
United States and the Sejitember following 
was made professor of engineering. .After- 
ward he was promoted to the post of super- 
intendent of the school and discharged the 
duties of that position, with one or more in- 
termissions, until 1 8 18, when he resigned 
and went out in charge of a surveying party 
sent to the northeast frontier of the United 
States in order to determine the boundary 
line. In 1820 Captain Partridge foimded 
the American Literary, Scientific and Mili- 
tary .\cademy at Norwich, which he taught 
with much success until 1825 when he re- 
moved the school to Middletown, Conn. In 
1832 Captain Partridge returned to Nor- 
wich and reopened the school. Two years 
after a charter was obtained from the Legis- 
lature and the academy became a military 
college with Captain Partridge as its first 
president. Under his supervision the insti- 
tution ranked second only to the National 
."Academy. Captain Partridge died at Nor- 
wich, Jan. 17, 1854. 

The subject of this sketch received his 
education in the public schools of Norwich, 
from private instruction, and at Bristol Col- 
lege, Penn. In 1859 he went to Illinois 
where he entered an oflice for the purpose 
of making himself a member of the legal pro- 
fession, and a year after removed to Warren, 
Penn., to continue his studies. 

In .'\pril, 1861, he responded to President 
Lincoln's first call for troops and raised a 
company of the 39th Regt. Pa. Vols. (loth 
Reserves), McCall's Division. He partici- 
pated first in the battle of Gainesville and 
afterward in McClellan's Peninsular cam- 
])aign, but was discharged for physical dis- 
ability in August, 1862. In 1863 he was 
appointed to a position in the paymaster 
general's office at Washington and remained 
in that capacity about three years. Then 
he became an attorney for the Union Paper 
Collar Co. of New York, continuing in their 
service for five years. Since that time he 
has made his residence at ('olbrook. Conn., 
and Norwich, from which latter town he was 
elected to the Legislature in 1882. 



302 



PEARL, ISAAC L., of Johnson, son of 
Zimri A. and Kliza (Blake) Pearl was born 
in Milton, Nov. 17, 1S32. 

His father was a woolen manufacturer, 
and, after pursuing the customary educa- 
tional course at the public schools and the 
Milton Academy, the son concluded to 
follow the same business ; and in order to 
give himself a liiorough training in his 
chosen occupation, he commenced to work 
in the Winooski Woolen Mills. He then 
shifted the scene of his labors to the estab- 
lishment of Messrs. S. & 1). M. Dow in 
Johnson, and, on the death of the latter, 
"purchased a half interest in the factory, 
where, in partnership with Stephen Dow, he 
continued the business eight years. .Mr. 
Dow then withdrew, but after some changes 
in the firm again renewed his interest. In 
.April, 1S71, the mill was burned and imme- 
diately rebuilt and since then for twenty 
years the business has been successfully con- 
ducted by the firm of I. L. Pearl & C"o. Mr. 
Pearl commenced at the foot of the ladder, 
learning every detail of the .business and 
from the completeness of his early training, 
has been able successfully to mount to the 
top, and has seen the fruition of his hopes in 
the fine factory and increased business, that 
have crowned the efforts of his lifetime. 

He was married, March ti, 1858, to 
Hattie N., daughter of Sylvester N. and 
Caroline (Green) Tracey. Four children 
are issue of their alliance, three of whom are 
living : Jed. A., Flora .\., and Lizzie H. 

Mr. Pearl is a director of the Lamoille 
County National Bank of Hyde Park, and 
has been for a long time secretary of the 
board of trustees of the Johnson State Nor- 
mal School. Four times he has filled the 
chair of Worshipful Master of Waterman 
I-odge, No. 83, F. & .\. M., of Johnson, and 
he is also a member of the I. O. G. T. 

In his political preference a Republican, 
he was elected judge of probate of Lamoille 
county in 1870, was county commissioner 
for four years and for a quarter of century 
has been auditor. He was honored by be- 
ing the choice of his fellow-townsmen to 
represent them in the state Legislature of 
1888, and in that body was chairman of the 
manufacturing committee. 

PEASE, Allen Luther, of Hartford, 

son of Luther and Harriet (Cone) Pease, was 
born in Hartford, Sept. 8, 1843. His father 
was a successful and enterprising business 
man in Hartford, in whose pubhc affairs he 
was always prominent. 

Mr. A. L. Pease passed through the cus- 
tomary course of education in the common 
schools and then received a higher grade of 
instruction in Kimball Union Academy, of 
Meriden, N. H. 



Shordy after he arrived at man's estate, he 
emigrated to Kansas and there engaged in 
mercantile pursuits, being an active i>artici- 
pant in the stirring scenes of that period. 
.\fter remaining six years, he returned to 
Hartford and became a member of the firm 
of L. Pease & Son, dealers in hardware and 
agricultural implements. This business he 
has successfullv conducted for twentv-three 
years, during the last seventeen of which he 
has been sole proprietor. He has also been 
largely interested in real estate and has 
erected many buildings, notably the Pease 
Hotel. Mr. Pease has been a director of the 
White River Savings Bank, and was one of 
the incorporators of the Caintal Savings Bank 
and Trust Co., of Montpelier. 




LUTHER PEASF. 



An ardent adherent of the Republican 
party, he was sent to the Legislature in 1884, 
where he served on the committee on corpo- 
rations. In 1890, he was chosen senator 
from Windsor county, and in this branch of 
the Legislature was chairman of the state 
prison committee and member of that on 
claims. He held the appointment of post- 
master from 1 88 1 to 1884. 

Mr. Pease espoused, Jan. 28, 1869, Sophia 
M., daughter of Chandler and Roxanna 
(Huntting) Ward, of Lawrence, Kan. 

He is an eminent member of the Masonic 
fraternity in which he has taken a deep and 
abiding interest for thirty years. During this 
period he has passed through the va riou 
bodies of the craft, until he has attained 



the ji^d degree. At the present time 
he sits in the master's chair in Hartford 
Lodge No. 19, is a member of Windsor Chap- 
ter No. 6, R. A. M., Windsor Cotmcil No. <S, 
R. & S. ^^., and X'crmont C'ommandery No. 

4, K. r. 
PHCK, Cicero Goddard, of Hines- 

burgh, son of Nahum and T.ucinda (Wheeler) 
Peck, was born in the quiet village of Hines- 
bttrgh, Feb. 17, 1828. His father, Nahinn 
Peck, was a distinguished lawyer, and at the 
time of his death was the oldest practitioner 
in Chittenden county. Cicero G. Peck is a 
descendant in the eighth generation from 
Joseph Peck, who in 1638, with other Puri- 
tans of Belton, Yorkshire, I'^ngland, fled 
from the persecution of the Established 
church to this country to secure for them- 
selves freedom of thought, speech, and 
action. 




CICERO GODDARD PECK, 



Cicero G. was educated in the common 
schools and at the old Hinesburgh Academy, 
in which institution he prejiared, at the age 
of twenty, for a regular collegiate course, 
but his health failed and he was forced, 
though reluctantly, to abandon his cher- 
ished hope of a liberal education, and to 
seek outdoor employment. He therefore 
engaged in agricultural occupations, in which 
he has been quite successful, and has, 
therefore, remained on a farm all his life, 
though he has devoted a good deal of time 
to other affairs, having been called on fre- 



I'lXK. 303 

i|uently to act as executor or administrator 
in the settlement of important estates in the 
\icinity. 

He has enjoyed the entire confidence of 
his townsmen, as is evinced by the fact that 
he has been called to every office within 
their gift, and several of these he has filled 
many times. He has been chosen to fill the 
jjosition of selectman seven consecuti\e 
years. He has always taken an active 
interest in all jniblic institutions or in any 
movement to advance the welfare of the ag- 
ricultural portion of the community. fn 
1864 he took a leading part in organizing 
the \'alley Factory Cheese Co., which has 
been in successful operation imder his super- 
\ision, and has been a great financial benefit 
to the farmers of the town. 

In early life he identified himself with the 
Free Soil party, and was always a strong o]3- 
ponent of the aggressions of the slave power, 
and since the organization of the Republican 
party has been a firm adherent to its princi- 
ples. In 1878 the Republicans of Chitten- 
den county, recognizing his loyalty to the 
political principles which he professes, and 
his fitness for the position, elected him to 
represent the county in the state Senate, 
where he served on the committee on edu- 
cation, grand list, and chairman of the com- 
mittee under the fourth joint rule. In 1890 
he was chosen by his townsmen to represent 
his town in the Legislature, _ also being a 
member at the extra session of 1891. As 
a member of the House he served on the 
committee of joint rules, as chairman of the 
joint special committee on industrial mat- 
ters, and again on the committee on educa- 
tion, taking an acti\e part in urging the 
adoption of the town system of schools. 

He has always taken a lively and active 
part in all educational matters, has been a 
member of the school board for fifteen years, 
and town superintendent from 1877 to 1884, 
in(lusi\e, and again from i8gi to 1894. Un- 
der the school law of 188S he was chosen a 
member of the board of education, which of- 
fice he filled while this law remained in force. 
By this board he was chosen committee for 
the selection of text books for the county, 
having twice before serxed on a like com- 
mittee. .At the session of 1892 he was nom- 
inated by (Governor Fuller and confirmed by 
the Senate as trustee of the state reform 
school for six years, from Dec. 1, 1892. In 
June, 1893, he was honored by Governor 
Fuller as one of the appointees to the inter- 
national congress of charities, correction and 
philanthrojjv, held at Chicago, June 12-1 8, 
1893. 

He has been an outspoken and earnest 
advocate of temperance, always favoring all 
organizations having for their chief aim the 
su]ipression of the vice of intemperance, and 



304 



for several years when the order of Good 
Templars was active, was worthy chief of the 
lodge in his town. In early life he identi- 
fied himself with the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and has alwavs been an active and 
liberal supporter of all the interests of the 
church of his choice. 

He was married at Hinesburgh, March 29, 
1854, to Maria P., daughter of Selah and 
Phoebe (Russell) Coleman, of Hinesburgh. 
He has no children of his own, but has an 
adopted daughter, Lucv, now married to 
Rev. M. R. France, of Cobleskill, X. Y. 

PECK, Marcus, of Brookfleld, son of 
Reuben and Hannah G. (Edson) Peck, was 
born in Brookfleld, Jan. 26, 1834. Reuben 
Peck was a life-long resident and successful 
business man in the town of Brookfield, and 
inseparably connected with the agricultural, 
commercial and manufacturing interests of 
the place, living to the patriarchal age of 
eighty-five. 



%.- 



4^t 




MARCUS PECK. 

Marcus received his educational advan- 
tages in the common schools, and at the 
academies of Newbury and Barre. Soon 
after he arrived at years of discretion he 
commenced the sale of hay forks, and has 
pursued this occupation more or less ever 
since. He has had the general management 
of the manufacture and sale of this article 
since 1870, and is now sole proprietor of the 
business, which is conducted under the firm 
name of Peck, Clark i!i: Co. They also turn 
out garden rakes, hoes and cant hooks, for 



which they find a ready sale throughout 
New England and New York, and the merit 
of the product is too well known to require 
comment. Mr. Peck was formerly largely 
interested in cheese factories, and at the 
present time is extensively engaged in farm- 
ing in Brookfield and adjoining towns. 

He was. elected by the Republican vote, 
senator from Orange county in 1880, serv- 
ing on many important committees. He was 
a charter member of Mystic Lodge, No. 97, 
F. & A. M., the position of worshipful mas- 
ter of which he has filled nine terms. 

Mr. Peck married, June 26, 1859, Mary 
E., daughter of Erastus and Electa (Brown) 
Wilcox, who bore him four children : One 
who died at the age of eleven, Bessie Fran- 
ces (deceased), Mary Stella (Mrs. Arthur 
Lyman of Rutland), and Marcia L. His 
first wife died in 1872, and he contracted a 
second alliance in January, 1S73, with Mrs. 
.'\deline (.\bbott) Wheatley, daughter of 
Walter and Sarah Abbott. 

Mr. Peck has been active in church work 
for over forty years, and has been one of the 
officers of the .Second Congregational Church 
for the last fifteen years. 

PECK, Theodore SaFFORD, of Burl- 
ington, was born in Burlington, March 22, 
1843. He enlisted at the age of eighteen as 
private in Co. F, ist Yt. Cavalry, Sept. i, 

1861 ; mustered into the United States ser- 
vice, Nov. I, 1861 ; transferred to Co. K, 
and discharged for promotion, June 25, 

1862 ; appointed, by Col. George Jerrison 
Stannard, regimental quartermaster-sergeant, 
9th Regt., Yt. Infantry, June 25, 1862 ; pro- 
moted 2d lieutenant, Co. C, Jan. 7, 1863; 
promoted ist lieutenant, Co. H, June 10, 
1864; acting regimental quartermaster and 
adjutant, also acting assistant adjutant-gen- 
eral, aid-de-camp, and brigade quartermas- 
ter, 2d Brigade, 2d Division, i8th Army 
Corps ; promoted captain and assistant quar- 
termaster. Ignited States Yolunteers, March 
II, 1865 ; assigned to ist Brigade, 3d Divi- 
sion, 24th Army Corps. He served on the 
staffs of Brevet Maj. Gen. George J. Stan- 
nard, Brig. -Gen. Isaac J. Wistar at Suffolk, 
Va., Brig.-Gen. Joseph H. Potter, Brevet 
Brig.-Cien. Michael T. Donahue, and Brevet 
Brig.-Gen. Edward H. Ripley, in the trenches 
in front of Petersburg and Richmond, Ya. 
In the Yermont cavalry he was present in 
action at Middletown and Winchester, \'a.. 
May 24 and 25, 1862 ; in the 9th Regt., 
Winchester, August, and Harper's Ferry, 
Ya., Sept. 13, 14 and 15, 1862 (captured 
and paroled) : siege of Suffolk, Nansemond, 
Edenton Road, Blackwater, May, 1 863 ; 
Yorktown and raid to Gloucester Court 
House, Ya., July and August, 1863 ; action 
of Young's Cross Roads, December, 1863; 



Newport Barracks, Feb. 2, 1S64: raid to 
Swansborough and Jacksonville, N. C, May, 

1864 ; Fort Harrison, Sept. 29 and 30, 1864 ; 
Fair Oaks, \"a., Oct. 29, 1864 : was present 
in New York City commanding a battalion, 
9th Yt. Regt., in November, 1864, at the 
second election of President Lincoln. He 
was also present in the siege (winter, 1SC4, 
and spring, 1865) and capture of Richmond, 
\'a., and was with the first organized command 
of infantry (3d Brigade, 3d Division, 24th 
Army Corps) to enter the confederate capital 
at the surrender on the morning of April 3, 

1865 ; his brigade was also provost guard of the 
city for two weeks after its capture. He was 
wounded Sept. 29, 1864, in the assault of 
Fort Harrison, Ya. He received a medal of 



imm^ 




THEODORE SAFFORD PECK. 

honor inscribed as follows : "The Congress 
to ist Lieut. Theodore S. Peck, Co. H, 9th 
Yt. Yols., for gallantry in action at Newport 
Barracks, N. C, Feb. 2, 1864." 

Captain Peck was mustered out of the 
United States service on account of the close 
of the war, June 23, 1865, having served 
nearly four years as a private in the ranks, 
an officer in the line and on the staff, a mem- 
ber of the cavalry corps and also of the 
ist, 4th, 9th, iSth, and 24th army corps in 
the armies of the Potomac and the James. 
The government at the close of the war offered 
him two commissions in the regular army, 
which were declined. 

Upon his return to Vermont he was ap- 
pointed chief of staff, with rank of colonel, 



I'l'XKKIl'. 305 

by (lovernor John W. Stewart ; afterwards 
colonel of the first and only regiment of in- 
fantry of the state, which position he held 
for eight years. In 1869 appointed assist- 
ant adjutant-general of the (i. \. R. depart- 
ment of Yermont, and by his energy and tact 
saved the order from going to pieces ; in 
1 87 2, senior vice commander, and in 1876- 
'77 department commander. In 1881 he 
was appointed adjutant-general of \'ermont, 
with rank of brigadier-general, and is on 
duty in this office at the present time. He 
is a charter member of the Yermont Com- 
mandery Military Order of the Loyal Legion 
and was a vice president-general of the 
National Society, Sons of .American Revolu- 
tion. He had four ancestors in the Revolu- 
tionary war and one in the war of 1812. 
Oeneral Peck was appointed by President 
Harrison a member of the board of visitors 
at the L'nited States Military .-Vcademy at 
West Point in 1S91. 

He is a resident of Burlington, following 
the business of general insurance, and repre- 
senting fire, life, marine and accident com- 
panies, the aggregate capital of which 
amounts to about $300,000,000, the business 
extending throughout the United States and 
Canada. 

On the 29th of October, 1879, he married 
.Agnes Louise, daughter of the late William 
Leslie of Toronto, Ont. They have one 
child : Mary Agnes Leslie. 

General Peck is a man of public spirit and 
enterprise. In politics he is a loyal Repub- 
lican. He is a member of the Masonic and 
other fraternities, and was for ten years grand 
marshal of the Grand Lodge of Yermont. 

PECKETT, JOHN Barron, of Brad- 
ford, son of John Barron and Martha (Til- 
ton) Beckett, was born in Bradford, Dec. 
19, 1822, and has always resided there. 

His education was received at the jiublic 
schools of Bradford. His father was a dealer 
in lumber, a farmer, and a business man who 
was a prominent figure in the early history 
of the town, of active energy and robust, 
vigorous frame. The son, though not cast 
in the same iron mould, inherited many of 
the mental traits of his parent. 

At the age of fourteen years he entered 
the employment of Asa Low, Esq., a promi- 
nent merchant of the town. .\t his majority 
he formed a partnership with .Adams Preston, 
Esq., which continued three years. He then 
engaged with his former employer and re- 
mained with him until .April, 1854. He 
then purchased an interest in a large grist 
mill and saw mill in Bradford, and formed a 
partnership with Col. George W. Pritchard 
& Sons, and for thirty-seven years was the 
active manager of this establishment during 
the existence of four firms. .\n immense 



3o6 



business was carried on in wood, lumber and 
grain during the entire period. Mr. Peckett's 
masterly management caused the respective 
firms to stand high in financial circles, and 
the business among the leading enterprises 
of the state. 

He enlisted in 1861 in the Bradford 
Guards, ist Regt., and as ist Lieut, of that 
company was present at the battle of Big 
Bethel, being mustered out at the expiration 
of his term of service. He is a member of 
Washburn Post, No. 17, G. A. R. 




JOHN BARRON PECKETT. 



Mr. Peckett has held many town offices, 
but is perhaps best known as justice of the 
peace, the duties of which he has performed 
for twenty years. 

He was united in marriage, Sept. 9, 1S47, 
to Caroline H., daughter of /\sa and Lucinda 
(Brooks) Low of Bradford. Two sons and 
two daughters have been born to them : Asa 
Low (who at this writing is engaged in the 
claims department of the Boston & Maine 
R. R. at Boston, Mass.), John B., Jr. (who is 
an attorney at law at Bradford), Caroline 
Frances (deceased at twenty), and Martha 
L. (died in infancy). 

He has conducted his business in such a 
systematic manner as to conduce both to 
private and public prosperity. He has been 
thoroughly identified with the financial pros- 
perity of the town of Bradford, and has 
constructed more buildings than any other 
individual in the place. By his dilligence 
and energy he has acquired a handsome 
competency. 



He was very influential in opening a road 
on the west side of Lake Morey, in Fairlee, 
and from the head of said lake to Bradford 
line. He has built a fine summer residence 
upon a beautiful and commanding point of 
the shore of said lake, and is greatly interested 
in the dexelopment of the localitv. 

The family for three generations have been 
strong advocates of temperance and emphat- 
ically in fa\or of an impartial enforcement 
of the legal enactments to suppress the liquor 
traffic. 

PEMBER, Emmett R., of Wells, son of 
Russell and Emily (Bidwell) Pember, was 
born in Wells, Sept. 21, 1846. 

He enjoyed such educational facilities as 
were afforded by the public schools of Wells, 
supplemented by a course of study at the 
Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, and 
the Fort Edward Institute of Fort Edward, 
\. V. His ambition tempted him to follow 
a professional life, but filial duty induced 
him to remain with his parents on the home- 
stead, and here he has devoted the larger 
part of a useful life to agricultural pursuits. 

Mr. Pember was united in matrimony at 
Caroline, N. V., Oct. 3, 1872, to Carrie, 
daughter of ^^'illiam and Julia A. (Barton) 
\Mnchell. This union has been blessed 
with five daughters and one son : Grace E., 
Celesta M., Julia E., Ernest W., Ruth A., 
and Ruble Alice. 

Mr. Pember is an ardent Republican and 
has continuously been the incumbent of 
some town office since he was twenty-one 
years of age. He has served sixteen years 
as chairman of the Republican town com- 
mittee and also several years on the Repub- 
lican county committee. He was elected 
senator from Rutland county in 1880, serv- 
ing on the committees on agriculture and 
highways and bridges. He enjoyed the dis- 
tinction of being the youngest member of 
the Senate during that term, but notwith- 
standing his youth established a high reputa- 
tion as a careful, considerate and intelligent 
legislator. For two terms he has served 
acceptably on the State Board of Agriculture. 
He also has knelt at the altar of Freemasonry 
and is connected with Morning Star Lodge, 
No. 37, of Poultney. He has always*been 
actively identified with educational work 
both in our common schools and Sunday 
schools and several years of his earlier life 
were spent in teaching. Whatever tends to 
promote the moral, religious or material 
interests of the community in which he lives, 
or the state at large, ever finds in him a 
faithful and zealous advocate. 

PERKINS, Marsh OliN, of Windsor, 
son of Henry Olin and Mary Eloise (Gid- 
dings) Perkins, was born in Rutland, Feb. 
7, 1849. 



307 



His early education, including a college 
preparatory course, was obtained in the 
public schools of Rutland. He entered 
Middlebury College and graduated in the 
class of 1870. While still pursuing his 
studies he made his first essay as an in- 
structor, and taught at Bridport, Hydeville 
and Wallingford. He was made principal 
of the South Woodstock Academy in 1870. 
The following year he was elected to a simi- 
lar position in the Windsor high school, 
which he occupied until 1880, when he 
became editor of the Vermont Journal. 

Mr. Perkins has always acted with the 
Republican party and held many offices of 
trust and responsibility, among which may 
be mentioned that of school director con- 
tinuously from 1 88 1 of both the town and 
village of \\'indsor. He was elected a mem- 
ber of the Legislature to represent the town 
in 1882 and 1884, and four years after was 
chosen a senator for Windsor county. In 
1888 he was appointed by Governor Dilling- 
ham a member of his staff with the rank of 
colonel. 

In Masonic circles Colonel Perkins has 
been especially prominent, and at various 
times has been the presiding officer of all 
the bodies of the order in Windsor. He has 
also most creditably filled a similar position 
in the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter and 
Grand Commandery of the state, and in 
1884 was made honorary member of the 
Supreme Council Northern Masonic juris- 
diction, A:. A:. S:. R :., U. S. A. In "1891 
he was elected an active member of the 
same and deputy for Vermont. 

He was united in marriage, Dec. 31, 1878, 
to Clara Alice, daughter of Lyman J. and 
Abbie (Locke) Mclndoe. Five children 
have been born to them ; Locke Mclndoe, 
Gail Giddings, Margaret Florinda and Ma- 
rion Eloise (twins), and Herbert Marsh. 

PERRY, ELBRIDGE, of Pomfret, son of 
Asa and Martha Ann (Spooner) Perry, was 
born at Pomfret, Sept. 2, 1846. 

Educated in the public and private schools 
of Barnard, at the age of twenty he left the 
paternal roof and labored on various farms 
for a period of five years. In April, 1872, he 
purchased the estate on which he now resides 
and which he has cultivated till the present 
time. He is a substantial farmer and has 
enjoyed a contented, though perhaps a some- 
what uqeventful, career. Gn his farm he 
raises large numbers of cows and sheep. 

He belongs to the Republican party ; has 
been road commissioner, school director, and 
town representative to the Legislature of 
1892. He has also served the town as select- 
man. 

Mr. Perry was married Jan. 26, 1870, to 
Viola, daughter of Smith and Caroline M. 



(Hackett) Hodges, of Pomfret. Five chil- 
dren ha\e been born to them : Mima A., 
Hermon S., Arthur .\., Seth K., and Mildred 
H. 

PERRY, James M., of Barre, son of 
Daniel A. and Dulcina (Freeman) Perry, 
was born in Plainfield, Feb. 28, 1838. His 
father was a farmer of Flnglish descent, and 
during his whole life resided in Plainfield, 
where he was prominent in civil life, and 
was twice a member of the Legislature. The 
boyhood of James was passed on the old 
homestead, where he divided his time be- 
tween labor on the farm and an attendance 
at the common schools 01 Plainfield, and 
Barre Academv. 




JAMES M. PERRY 

At the age of twenty-one Mr. Perry com- 
menced his mercantile life as a clerk in the 
Lhiion store of Barre : this was a good 
school, for the establishment was a financial 
success. In 1864 he returned to his native 
town and engaged in trade for four years. 
He then, perceiving a fine business oppor- 
tunity in Barre, opened a large store in that 
village, where he still continues to reside, 
carrying on a large trade in dry goods and 
boots and shoes. He is recognized as a 
safe and successful financier and has been 
])rominently identified with the monetary in- 
terests of the \illage. He has been for 
twelve years and is still a director of the na- 
tional bank and also holds the office of 
president of the Barre Savings Bank and 
Trust Co. 



5o8 



Mr. Perry was married Feb. i6, 1869, to 
Alma H., daughter of Allen and Betsey 
(Nelson) Martin, of Barre. Four children 
are issue of this union : J. Frank, Carl M., 
Edna IX, and Dean H. 

The orders of Masonry and Odd Fellows 
claim Mr. Perry as a member. He belongs 
to Granite Lodge, No. 35, F. & A. M., of 
Barre, and to Royal Arch Chapter, No. 26, 
and was one of the founders of Hiawatha 
Lodge, No. 20, L O. O. F. 

He is a Republican, and has received sev- 
eral offices in the gift of that party, has been 
chairman of the board of village trustees and 
also an active member of the town committee. 
In 1S90 he was elected to the House of Rep- 
resentatives and did good service as a mem- 
ber of the committee on claims. 

PHELPS, BRIGHA.M Thomas, of West- 
minster, son of John and Judith H. (Brig- 
ham) Phelps, was born in Grafton, May 4, 
1 84 1. In 1849 hs removed with his parents 
to ^^'alpole, N. H., remaining there six years, 
and from there to Westminster where he 
now resides. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of Walpole, N. H., Westminster Academy 
and at the Bryant & Stratton Commercial 
College of San Francisco, Cal. He entered 
business life m the employment of Krigham 
& Balch, wholesale commission merchants of 
San Francisco, and there continued until 
failing health admonished him that an out- 
door life was a necessity, and upon delibera- 
tion he decided to remove to Westminster 
and engage in tobacco raising and general 
farming, which he did in T870. 

Mr. Phelps is a Republican and is in full 
sympathy with his party. In 18 71 he was 
appointed deputy sheriff of Windham county 
which office he held for ten years. He has 
been called to serve his town in many 
official capacities, as first constable, auditor, 
tax collector, and to represent it in the 
Legislature, being elected to that body in 
1888 and serving on the committee on 
agriculture. 

Mr. Phelps responded to the nation's call 
and in August, 1S62, enlisted in Co. I, of 
the 12th Vt. Vols., and was a corporal of his 
company. His regiment was ordered to the 
defenses at Washington and was there in 
Casey's Division and was afterwards attached 
to the first corps (General Reynolds) of the 
.Army of the Potomac, and honorably dis- 
charged July 14, 1863. In 1S64 recruited 
and was elected ist lieutenant Co. B, 12th 
Regt. Vt. State Militia. 

In social life Mr. Phelps takes a deep 
interest. He is a member of E. H. Stough- 
ton Post, G. A. R., No. 34, of Bellows Falls, 
and was its commander for two years, i8gi- 
'92, and of the Temple Lodge, F. cS; A. M., 



of Bellows Falls, also of the Chapter and of 
the Hugh De Payen's Commandery of 
Keene, N. H. 

He was married, July, 1874, to Annie O., 
daughter of Nodiali L. and F.liza A. ( Bur- 
roughs) Holton of Westminster. 




BRIGHAM THOMAS PHELPS. 

Mr. and Mrs. Phelps are the inventors of 
the Excelsior square system of cutting ladies' 
and children's garments, which is of such 
value that it has found its way into every 
state in the Union. In recent years Mr. 
Phelps has also conducted this business in 
connection with the management of his farm. 

PHELPS, Edward John, of Burling- 
ton, son of Hon. Samuel S. Phelps, was born 
in Middlebury, July 11, 1822. 

He received his education at Middlebury 
college, graduating in 1840, and studied law 
at the law school of Yale Llniversity, and in 
the office of Hon. Horatio Seymour in Mid- 
dlebury. He was admitted to the bar in 
.\ddison county in December, 1843, ^nd 
after something more than a year of prac- 
tice in Middlebury, established himself as a 
lawyer in Burlington. 

In 185 I the office of second copiptroller 
in the treasury was unexpectedly offered to 
Mr. Phelps by President Fillmore. .As its 
duties would not require a cessation of pro- 
fessional practice, he accepted the office, 
and held it through Mr. Fillmore's adminis- 
tration. He represented Burlington in the 
Constitutional Convention of 1870, and was 
made president of the American Bar Asso- 




V. 



.>^-^i^. 



3IO 



ciation in 1881. Mr. Phelps has been for 
more than twenty years a trustee of the 
Vermont State Library. He was appointed 
professor of law in Yale College in the same 
year, and gave a short course of lectures 
before the law school of Boston University 
upon constitutional law. Mr. Phelps was a 
whig while that party continued organized 
and active. Since that party ceased to be he 
has regarded himself as an independent in 
politics, not bound in fealty to any organized 
party. In the main, however, he has voted 
for Democratic nominees. In the year 1880 
he was the candidate of the Democratic 
party of Vermont for the office of Governor, 
and received the largest vote ever cast in 
Vermont for a Democratic aspirant to that 
office. 

Mr. Phelps was married in August, 1846, 
to Mary, daughter of Hon Stephen Haight 
of Burlington. Of this marriage there are 
surviving two sons and one daughter : Ed- 
ward, Mary (Mrs. Horatio Loomis of Bur- 
lington), and Charles Pierpoint. 

The faculties and qualities by which he is 
chiefly known and regarded have been mani- 
fested mainly in his vocation as a lawyer. 
Vet, not only his arguments to courts and 
juries, but also his occasional addresses and 
his professional lectures, show him exten- 
sively conversant, from scholarly study and 
extensive reading, with a wide range of 
learning outside of the law, and deeply im- 
bued with the text and spirit of the best 
classics of our language, and familiar with 
the current literature of the day. 

Outside of the court room the public ex- 
hibitions of Mr. Phelps mark him as one of 
the best furnished, best-judging, and most 
cultivated and accomplished of public speak- 
ers. There is but one expression in this 
respect by those who heard his address on 
Chief Justice Marshall at Saratoga before 
the .American Bar .Association in 1880, or his 
address two years after on American Legis- 
lation, or witnessed his presidency of the 
Bennington Battle Centennial in 1877, or 
heard him on Judge Prentiss before the Ver- 
mont Historical Society in 1SS2, or any 
other of his public addresses. 

Mr. Phelps has never cast his fortune or 
plumed his ambition in the line of politics. 
What has been before stated as to his politi- 
cal relations and action as a citizen and 
voter sufficiently explains him in this re- 
spect, however congenial and gratifying polit- 
ical life and political preferment might have 
been to him under other auspices and con- 
ditions. His chosen status in his relation 
to politics attests the ingenuousness of his 
views, discordant as they may be with the 
common conception and sentiments of the 
majority of his state. 



In 1885 he was appointed by President 
Cleveland L'nited States Minister to the 
Court of St. James, and no one could have 
more faithfully, ably and elegantly discharged 
the duties of that responsible office. He 
was leading counsel for the United States, 
before the Behring Sea Board of Arbitration, 
which held its sessions in Paris in 1893. 
.Although the public performance of this 
most high professional engagement was in 
the second Cleveland administration his em- 
ployment and preparatory work in this great 
international lawsuit was in the time of the 
Harrison administration. 

PHELPS, Frederic B., of irasburg, 

son of William and Maria { Forward ) Phelps, 
was born in Belchertown Mass., Feb. 8,, 
1829. 



1^ l^. 




FREDERIC B. PHELPS. 



While fitting for college at the academy 
at Belchertown he was allured by the golden 
promises of wealth offered in California in 
1849, and emigrated to that state, where he 
remained for eight years, during which time 
he acquired a thorough practical knowledge 
of Spanish and other European languages. 
On his return to the East he resumed his 
studies and graduated from the Hartford 
Theological .Seminarv in 1870. He was 
ordained and installed pastor of the Congre- 
gational church at Lowell, Oct. 18, 1870, 
where he continued his ministerial services 
for nine years, the latter portion of the time 
also preaching in Westfield. In both these 



PHILBRICK. 



places many members were added to the 
church through the energetic efforts of the 
pastor. In 1879 he was installed at St. 
johnsbury East, where he remained four 
years and finally, after six years of minister- 
ial labor in Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
shire was called to Irasburg, where he is now 
engaged in the labor of his profession. 
During the twenty-three years of his pastoral 
labors he has lost but three Sabbaths from 
sickness, and he has frequently aided in 
revival work in parishes other than his own. 

Rev. Mr. Phelps has twice entered the 
married state. His first wife was Damaris 
S., daughter of Jared and Julia (Storrs) 
Clark, to whom he was united at Belcher- 
town, Mass., Jan. 10, 1859. She died five 
years later having been the mother of two 
sons, both of whom died in infancy. He 
was again wedded at North Amherst, Mass., 
.•\pril 19, 1865, to Sarah T., daughter of 
Daniel and Tammy (Eastman) Dickinson. 
By her he has had seven children : Frederic 
William (deceased), Charles Dickinson, 
Edith Sophia (deceased), Myron Austin, Julia 
Eastman, Florence Dell, and Isabelle Maud. 

Mr. Phelps has been a Republican since 
the formation of the party and was a mem- 
ber of the state convention that nominated 
John A. .Andrew for Governor of Massachu- 
setts. For four years he was superintendent 
of schools in Lowell, and also served on 
school committes inErving, Mass., and Sulli- 
van, N. H. 

For some time he was chaplain of .Mt. 
Norris Lodge of G. T. at Lowell, and he 
held a similar position in the lodge at 
Erving, Mass. 

PHILBRICK, JONATHAN, of Guildhall, 
son of Thomas P. and Susan (Boston) Phil- 
brick, was born at Bartlett, N. H., Oct. 26, 
1836. His father was for many years a stage 
driver of the old school, an employment that 
has fallen into disuse under the aggressive 
and universal advance of the iron horse. He 
removed to Maidstone when Jonathan was 
six years old. 

The latter received his education in the 
schools of that place and also in those of 
Guildhall. Leaving the paternal roof when 
he had attained his eighteenth year, he was 
for a period employed on various farms in 
the vicinity. Later he removed to Holyoke, 
Mass., and labored in a paper mill for two 
years. He then made his residence in Bos- 
ton where he was engaged by the Boston and 
Providence R. R. Corporation to serve them, 
first as fireman and afterward as locomotive 
engineer, and in this responsible capacity 
he remained, careful and diligent in the per- 
formance of his duties for twenty-nine years. 
In 1858 he purchased the estate where he 
now lives and as a solace to the declining 



years of his father, settled his parent in this 
comfortable home and thirty years after took 
possession of the jiroperty himself and Irom 
that time has made it his abode. In every 
way he has improved the farm which, under 
his vigorous and successful management, has 
always furnished abundant and remunerative 
crops. 

Mr. Philbrick is a Democrat, but though 
belonging to the minority party, received 
the compliment of an election to represent 
Guildhall in the Legislature of 1892, and he 
has also filled the position of selectman in 
the town. He is a member of the Brother- 
hood of Locomotive Engineers. 

He was united to Amelia F., daughter of 
E. M. and Mary (Boston) Hayes of Boston, 
Oct 25, 1876. 

PHILLIPS, GEORGE HENRY, of Put- 
ney, son of .\aron Jones and Susan (Walker) 
Phillips, was born in Athol, Mass., May 3, 
1836. 





GEORGE HENRY 



He moved with his parents to Winhall at 
an early age, and it was here that he received 
his early educational training by attending 
school during the winter season and laboring 
during the summer on the farm, as was cus- 
tomarv in those days. 

On' the 28th day of August, 1862, Mr. 
Phillips enlisted as a private in Co. C, 14th 
Vt. Vols., and was jiromoted through suc- 
cessive grades to that of orderly sergeant, 
which rank he continued to hold until his 



discharge in 1865. He is a member of 
Greenwood Post, No. 90, G. A. R., of Put- 
ney, and iias always taken an active part in 
its work. 

In 1S64, after his return from the war, he 
bought a farm at Winhall and carried it on 
for one season, when the well-known Dr. 
Ranney farm in WestTownshend was thrown 
on the market, and he sold his \\'inhall inter- 
ests and purchased the latter place, which 
he successfully conducted until 1870, when 
he removed to Putney, where he has since 
resided and carried on farming, as well as 
real estate business and the shipping of 
cattle to Brighton. 

Mr. Phillips has served the town of Put- 
ney for three years as lister, for two years as 
selectman, and in 1S82 as a member of the 
Legislature. 

Mr. Phillips was married, Nov. 25, 1864, 
to Helen ^Iar, daughter of Holman and 
Lucretia (Whipple) Barrows. 

PHILLIPS, WlNFlELD Scott, of Arl- 
ington, son of Charles and Marietta (Bennett) 
Phillips, was born in Silver Creek, N. V., 
Dec. 9, 1841. 

\\'hen he was six years old his father re- 
mo\ed to Pawlet, where Mr. Phillips was 
educated in the pubKc schools. After a 
short experience as teacher, he studied 
medicine with Dr. Munroe of West Pawlet, 
remaining with him till the doctor's death ; 
he then put himself under the charge of I )r. 
Mosely of Arlington. He attended the 
Albany Medical College in 1866, and was 
graduated from the medical department of 
the U. V. M. in 1867. After a brief con- 
nection with Dr. Mosely, he took a special 
course in the Burlington Medical College, and 
soon after established himself at Arlington 
where he has built up a large and prosper- 
ous general practice. 

He has confined himself very closely to his 
professional duties, but in 1890 was sent as 
representative to the Legislature by the Re- 
publican vote, where he gave his attention 
to special committees on temperance, and 
was made chairman of the committee on the 
insane. Dr. Phillips was a charter member, 
and for three or four years censor, of the 
Union Medical Society, and now holds the 
office of president of the Bennington County 
Medical Society. He is also associated with 
the Medical Association of the state, and 
was for six years master of Red Mountain 
Lodge, No. 63, F. & A. M., member of 
Adoniram Chapter, Manchester, of Taft 
Commandery, No. 8, Bennington, and for 
one year ser\ed as deputy district grand 
master. He is a member of the Episcopal 
church. 

On Oct. 23, 1869, he was united in 
marriage to 1 one, daughter of Clark and 



Sarissa (White) Parsons of Arlington. Two 
children are issue of this union : Hallie Lone, 
and Charles Winfield. 

PHINNEV, Truman C, of Montpeher, 
son of Elisha and Priscilla (Wentworth) 
Phinney, was born in Middlesex, April 11, 
1827. 

At the age of .seventeen he left his father's 
farm and went to Brandon, where he learned 
the jeweler's trade. In 1849 he came to 
Montpelier and went into the jewelry busi- 
ness with Capt. A. A. iSIead, under the firm 
name of Phinney & Mead. This firm con- 
tinued in business until 1856, when Mr. 
Phinney sold his interest to his partner, and 
started alone in the same business. Here he 
continued in business until 1S63, when he 




sold out to Stephen Freeman. After spend- 
ing a year in California, he returned to 
Montpelier and engaged in business with 
Denison Dewev, under the firm name of D. 
Dewey & Co. In 1869 he sold his interest 
to Mr. Dewey, and immediately thereafter 
bought the Ballou bookstore. For the next 
sixteen years Mr. Phinney prosecuted a gen- 
eral book and stationery business, at what 
became known as the I^hinney bookstore, 
disposing of the business in 1885. 

Mr. Phinney was elected sergeant-at arms 
by the Legislature of 1870, and has held this 
office continually by successive elections un- 
til twenty-three years have been passed by 
him in this office. During this period, and 
in addition to his customary dutie.s, he has 



superintended the i)rei)aration of the grovnul 
for the new state library building, the intro- 
duction of a new system of heating and ven- 
tilating the Capitol building, and the several 
extensive repairs by which the utility and 
beauty of the chief public buildings in the 
state have been greatly enhanced. Since 
1885 Mr. Phinney has devoted his whole 
time to state service, merging with the duties 
of sergeant-at-arms those of deputy secretary 
of state, to which position he was appointed 
in 1 89 1. 

For the last twenty-three years Mr. Phin- 
ney has served the interests of local educa- 
tion upon the school board, and for several 
years has also served upon the board of ves- 
trymen of Christ Church. He has been 
prominently identified with local Masonry 
for nearly forty years, for seven years holding 
the position of master of Aurora Lodge, and 
for fourteen consecutive years that of T. I. 
Master of Montpelier Council, R. and S. M. 
He is a member of the Sons of the American 
Revolution. 

Mr. Phinney married Miss Sarah E. 
Barnes, daughter of \\'illiam S. and Adeline 
P. (Howe) Barnes, of Albany, 111., Sept. 11, 
1 85 5. Their family consists of three daugh- 
ters and one son : Mary A., Jennie P., Anna 
\\'., and Robert T. 

PIER, FREDERICK Baldwin, of Rawson- 

ville, son of Rev. Orvis and Kunice (Smith) 
Pier, was born in Westford, July 26, 1847. 

He received his early education at the 
common schools and graduated from the 
Black River Academy, at Ludlow, in 1864. 
He then learned the trade of a car])enter in 
Jamaica, which occupation he followed for 
eleven years. In 1875 he established himself 
as a merchant in Rawsonville, where he has 
since resided. In 1877, through the unre- 
mitting labor and work of Mr. Pier, the gov- 
ernment established a postoffice in the place, 
and he has since been postmaster. At the 
age of twenty-five he was elected justice of 
the peace, and has since continuously held 
the positiion, while his ability and energy have 
called him to various other posts of trust and 
responsibility. 

Mr. Pier married, Jan. 2. 1868, at Bond- 
ville, Helen A., daughter of Charles R. and 
Faustina (Barrus) Williams. There are two 
children living : Gladys M., and Frank W. 

PIERCE, Charles Alexander, of 

Bennington, son of James and Dorcas Bayard 
Pierce, was born in Chester, .August 22, 
1839. 

He was educated in the common schools, 
and at the age of sixteen entered the ofifice 
of the Brattleboro Phoenix, where he served 
his apprenticeship. In 1861 he established 
the Manchester ( Vt.) Journal, which he con- 



tinued to publish for nine years, but finally 
purchased the Bennington ISanner, which he 
now owns, and in connection with this is 
the proprietor of one of the largest job 
printing, bookbinding and publishing estab- 
lishments in the state. He was appointed 
postmaster at Bennington in 1S91 by Presi- 
dent Harrison. 

He enlisted in Co. C, 14th Regt. Vt. X'ols., 
of which company he was ist sergeant, and 
on account of an accidental injury received 
his discharge in May, 1863. 

Mr. Pierce wedded .\bby, daughter of 
Isaac \V. and Maria Cibson, of Londonderry. 
Their children are : Charles \V., Warren A., 
and Nettie M. 

PIERCE, George W., of Brattleboro, 
son of Nathan G. and Roxana (Reach) 
Pierce, was born in \\'estminster, Dec. 3, 1854. 




He received his education in the common 
and private schools of his native town and 
assisted his father on the farm until he was 
twenty-four years of age, when he entered 
the emiiloyment of the A'ermont Asylum for 
the Insane at Brattleboro. For eight years 
he served as supervisor of the male depart- 
ment, and at the expirati(m of that time he 
was selected for the management of the farm. 
For the past six years Mr. Pierce has been 
the manager of the asylum farm department, 
a position which he still holds. 

His name has been very prominent in the 
agricultural interests of the town and of the 



!'4 



PIERSON. 



PIERPOINT. 



State. In 1892 he received the appointment 
as a member of the State Board of Agricul- 
ture, which office he soon resigned, his busi- 
ness relations not allowing him to hold the 
same. In the same year he also refused the 
candidacy for town representative. At the 
present time he holds the office of secretary 
of the Vermont Dairyman's Association ; 
also is master of Protective (Irange, Brattle- 
boro. Mr. Pierce is an active member of the 
Universalist church, now being a member of 
the board of trustees of the First Universal- 
ist Society in Brattleboro. 

In 1884 Mr. Pierce married Ida M., daugh- 
ter of Alvah and Sylvia AVeed of Saratoga, N. 
v., by whom he has four children : jNIilton 
W., George E., Frederick \V., and Weed K. 

PIERSON, James Smith, of Burling- 
ton, son of Smith F. and Lydia R. (Tabor) 
Pierson, was born in Shelburne, Iiec. S. 1S40. 




it 



.After attending the public schools of Bur- 
lington until he was seventeen years of age 
he went to Janesville, Wis., where he found 
employment as a clerk in his brother's store 
for a few months ; then returned to Burling- 
ton where he was occupied with learning the 
trade of a machinist till 1862, when he 
enlisted as a private in Co. C, 12th Vt. Vols., 
but was discharged on account of sickness 
before his term of service expired. For 
nearly five years owing to disease contracted 
while in the army the state of his health pre- 
vented any active employment. He next 
removed to the city of New York and gave 



his attention to the development of Professor 
Lowe's invention of water gas, the success of 
which is due largely to the improvements he 
invented and perfected in the apparatus for 
manufacturing the gas, which is now univer- 
sally used in .America, and has reduced the 
cost of gas to the consumers in the United 
States, millions of dollars per year. He was 
for several years engaged in constructing gas 
works in most of the large cities in this 
country and for two years was general super- 
intendent of the United Gas Improvement 
Co. of Philadelphia, the largest gas cor- 
poration in the world. After accumula- 
ting a fortune he retired from active busi- 
ness in 1886 and returned to Burlington, 
where he purchased his father's old farm 
and has since occupied himself with the im- 
provement of the same. He is a director in 
the Burlington and Waterbury (Conn.) (las- 
light companies and president of the latter, 
also a director in the Burlington Electric 
Light Co., and has official connection with 
various other water gas companies. 

Mr. Pierson married, Dec. 7, 1872, Lu- 
cille, daughter of James and Lienor (Pellea- 
true) Blake of Brooklyn, N. V. They have 
an adopted daughter : Constance. 

He is an adherent of the Republican 
party but has never sought or held any 
office. He belongs to several social organ- 
izations in the city of Burlington and attends 
the Protestant Episcopal church. 

PIERPOINT, Evelyn, of Rutland, son 
of Hon. Pierpoint and Abigail (Raymond) 
Pierpoint, was born in Rutland, June 10, 
18 1 6. He is descended from the Rev. James 
Pierpoint, who was the second clergyman of 
New Haven, Conn. [For a sketch of his 
father. Judge Pierpoint, see Part I of this 
work.] 

The subject of this sketch received the 
customary education in the public schools 
in Rutland, followed by a short course of 
study in Bennington .Academy. AVhen twelve 
years of age he was employed as a clerk in 
Rutland post-office, and served a term of 
years as clerk in a general merchandise 
store in that place. In 1837 he took charge 
of the store of the Brandon Iron Co., and 
later formed a partnership with William Y. 
Ripley at Centre Rutland. He was for a 
number of years engaged with a dry goods 
jobbing and importing house in New York 
City, and was engaged in trade for four years 
in Lansingburgh, N. Y. He then returned 
to Rutland, and after engaging in business 
with his father-in-law for four years, erected 
in Mendon the first steam saw mill in Ver- 
mont, and during the buiUling and operation 
of the Rutland & Burlington R. R. was en- 
gaged in the lumber and bridge building 
business. In 1851 he engaged in the real 



estate business, and has been directly inter- 
ested in the purchase and sale of many of 
the prominent transfers in his growing city. 
He was a member of the Council of Censors 
in 1854 and 1855, and was one of five dele- 
gates to the national convention in Phila- 
delphia in June, 1855. 




Politically Mr. Pierpoint is a Republican, 
and was justice of the peace and for a num- 
ber of years town treasurer ; was inspector of 
finance under (Governors \\'ashburn, Hendee 
and Stewart : was one of the directors and 
cashier of the National Bank of Rutland ; 
was also one of the incorporators and direc- 
tors of the Merchants' Bank in that city. 

Mr. Pierpoint was one of the founders of 
Otter Creek Lodge of I. O. O. F., and is the 
only surviving charter member of that body. 
He also belongs to the Masonic Lodge of 
Rutland, and is a Congregationalist in his 
religious preference. 

June 4, 1 84 1, he was united in marriage 
to Sarah J., daughter of Limes and Miriam 
(Buttrick) Barrett, of Rutland, who departed 
this life May 7, 1893. Five children were 
the fruit of this union : Kate Frances (de- 
ceased), Alice J. (deceased), Charles E. 
(deceased), Mary K. (deceased), and Annie 
Evelyn, now at home with her father. 

PIKE, PaPHRO D., of Stowe, son of 
William and Nancy (Hitchcock) Pike, was 
born in Morristown, Dec. i, 1835. 

He passed the days of his youth in labor 
on the i)aternal acres, and gained his educa- 



tion in the common schools of Morristown, 
and later at Johnson .Vcademy. When he 
had arrived at man's estate, as he had a nat- 
ural taste for mechanical ijursuits, he pur- 
chased a saw mill, which furnished him with 
employment till i860, when he moved to 
Stowe and engaged in a similar enterprise, 
constructing a mill in that town. 

When President Lincoln issued his callfor 
volunteers he enlisted in Co. L), nth Regt. 
\'t. Infantry, and followed the fortunes of 
that organization during its entire service, 
including the last grand advance on Rich- 
mond. During this period he was constantly 
at his post, with the exception of two months 
spent in the hospital, and was honorably dis- 
charged in July, 1865. 

Mr. Pike wedded Abigail, daughter of 
Luke J. and Eunice (Camp) Towne, of 
Stowe, Nov. 7, i860. Three sons are the 
issue of this union : Arba A., Lewis A., and 
Fred M. 

After his release from the army he was 
variously employed as carpenter and mill- 
wright for several years, and in 1871 he 
commenced the manufacture of butter tubs. 
In this he continued for fourteen years, when 
he sold the business and went to Brooklyn, 
N. v., and was employed in the Hatters Fur 
Cutting Co., but after a time returned to 
Stowe and again purchased his old mill, 
where with improved machinery the firm of 
P. D. Pike & Sons are now engaged in the 
manufacture of butter tubs, making use of 
several improvements in the mechanical 
appliances of the trade which have been 
patented by himself, and from small begin- 
nings has derived an increasing and prosper- 
ous business. 

Though favoring the political principles of 
the Republican party, Mr. Pike has not 
found much time for 'official life, so urgent 
and various have been the demands of his 
private affairs, but he has faithfully discharged 
the duties of those town offices which have 
been conferred upon him. He was elected 
to a seat in the House in the Legislature of 
1880, and served on the committee on 
manufactures. 

PINGREH, Samuel E., of Hartford, 
son of Stephen and Judith (True) Pingree, 
was born in Salisbury, N. H., August 2, 
1832. Moses Pengre, his earliest .American 
ancestor, was the proprietor of salt works in 
Ipswich as early as 1652, was selectman of 
that town, deacon of the First Church, and 
deputy of the general court in 1665, and 
from this worthy, Samuel E. Pingree is the 
sixth in lineal descent. 

After the usual preliminary studies pur- 
sued in the academies at Andover (N. H.) 
and Mclndoes Falls, he entered Dartmouth 
College, from which he graduated in 1857. 



;i6 



Selecting the profession of law, he studied in 
the office of Hon. A. P. Hnnton of Bethel, 
and was admitted to the bar of Windsor 
county at the December term of 1859, after 
which admission he began to practice at 
Hartford with fair prospects of success. 

At this juncture the war for the preserva- 
tion of the Union commenced, and Mr. 
Pingree promptly responded to President 
Lincoln's call for troojjs by enlisting as 
private in Co. F, 3d Regt. Vt. \'oh., and was 
soon chosen TSt lieutenant of that organiza- 
tion. In August, 1 86 1, he w-as promoted to 
captain, commissioned major 27th of Sep- 
tember, 1862, for meritorious conduct, and 
finally received the grade of lieutenant- 
colonel on the 15th of January, 1863. In 
his first important engagement, that of Lee's 
Mills, ^'a., he was severely wounded and con- 
fined for ten weeks in hospital at Philadel- 




SAMUEL E. PINGREE. 



phia, but returned to his command imme- 
diately upon his recovery, and was present 
in most of the important battles in which 
the Army of the Potomac was engaged. In 
the second day's battle of the Wilderness, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Pingree was placed in 
command of the famous 2d Vt. Regt. (all the 
field officers of that regiment having been 
killed or wounded), and this honorable posi- 
tion he retained until that organization was 
mustered out of the U. S. service. After 
participating in the battles of Spottsylva- 
nia Court House, North Anna River, Cold 
Harbor, Petersburg, and in the sanguinary 



struggle for the possession of the Weldon R. 
R., in which last affair he narrowly escaped 
capture with a portion of his command, he 
concluded his military service by assisting 
in repulsing the movement of General Early 
on \Vashington, arriving with his comrades 
of the 6th Corps just in time to save the 
capital of the nation from destruction. He 
was honorably mustered out of service lulv 
27, 1864. 

After his return to civil life Colonel Pingree 
resumed the practice of his profession at 
Hartford. In 1S6S '69 he was state's attor- 
ney for Windsor county and during his term 
of office Hiram Miller was indicted and tried 
for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Gowan, and 
it was chiefly owing to the careful preparation 
and the efficiency with which Colonel Pingree 
conducted the prosecution that the accused 
criminal was duly convicted and suffered the 
extreme penalty of the law. 

Though not an office seeker Colonel Pingree 
has never shunned responsibilities of official 
position. He has been town clerk of Hart- 
ford for thirty-four years, less the time he was 
in the war, and in 1868 was chosen delegate- 
at-large to the national Republican conven- 
tion at Chicago. Two years subsequently he 
was made president of the Reunion Society 
of Vermont Officers, before the members of 
which association he delivered an excellent 
and scholarly address in 1872. In the fall 
election of 1882 Colonel Pingree was chosen 
Lieutenant-Governor of the state by the 
Republicans, his popularity being indicated 
by the fact that his vote was the largest of 
an}' cast for the state officials and two years 
later his merit was still farther recognized by 
his election to the office of Go\ernor. His 
administration was characterized by the same 
efficiency and zeal which he has ever dis- 
played as soldier, lawyer and citizen. LTpon 
the establishing of a state railway commission 
ex-Governor Pingree was appointed chairman 
of the board, in which position he is now 
serving. 

Governor I'ingree was married Sept. 15, 
1869, to Lydia M., daughter of Sanford and 
Mary (Hinman) Steele, of Stanstead, P. Q. 

PITKIN, PerlEY PEABODY, late of 
Montpelier, son of I'ruman and Rebecca 
(Da\is) Pitkin, was born in Marshfield, 
March 9, 1S26. It was his misfortune to 
early lose his mother, Rebecca (Davis) Pit- 
kin, but his subsequent good fortune to be 
guided in his future conduct and studies by 
his grandfather. Gen. Parley Davis of Mont- 
pelier Centre, who was the first general sur- 
veyor of ^^'ashington county, and with his 
cousin. Col. Jacob Davis, first permanently 
settled in Montpelier. The general's grand- 
father was Major Stephen Pitkin, one of the 
first settlers in Marshfield. Through these 



3i8 



ancestors General Pitkin inherited the com- 
mon attributes of great energy, a good judg- 
ment, and a strong mind, a kind and court- 
eous disposition. 

His education was secured at the district 
schools and completed in the Washington 
count\- grammar school. Until the war he 
resided at East Montpelier. When the gold 
fever struck the commu.nity Mr. Pitkin 
visited California and for three years was em- 
ployed in trading and mining. 

After his return to East Montpelier he 
represented that town in the General Assem- 
bly during 1859 and i860 and in the extra 
session, convened to take action on the war. 
Mr. Pitkin very soon made up his mind as 
to the action which he would personally take 
and so, on the 6th of June, t86i, he having 
meantime \'olunteered his service, he was 
commissioned quartermaster of the 2d Regt. 
Vt. Vols. In April, 1862, he was promoted to 
be assistant quartermaster of the volunteers 
with the rank of captain, and July 8, 1864, 
to the rank of colonel. In November, 1864, ■ 
obedient to the wishes of his Governor, Col- 
onel Pitkin resigned from the army to assume 
the ofifice of state quartermaster general, 
which office he retained for a period of six 
years. During that time he had charge of 
the state arsenal with its large quantity of 
military stores, the major part of which he 
afterward disposed of to foreign govern- 
ments, turning the proceeds into the treasury 
of the state. 

Upon his return from the South, he located 
at Montpelier in business with Dennis Lane 
and James \V. Brock, and from that time on 
exerted a large influence both in the affairs 
of that company and the town. In 1872 
General Pitkin represented Montpelier in 
the Legislature. He was first selectman dur- 
ing i868-'7o; i874-'77 ; i879-'8o ; a com- 
missioner of Green Mount cemetery from 
March 2, i88o ; a director of the First Na- 
tional Bank from Jan. 9, 1866; a director 
of the National Life Insurance Co. and 
member of its finance committee, from Jan- 
uary, 1878; a trustee of the Washington 
county grammar school from 1868 ; and for 
some years president of the Montpelier 
school board. 

His principal business was in the manage- 
ment of the Lane Manufacturing Co., of 
which corporation (which sends its saw- 
mills as far as Japan) General Pitkin was 
president, from the death of Dennis Lane in 
1888, to his death. 

Every movement in town or village mat- 
ters that contemplated a true and probable 
progress, received his encouragement, his 
service, and his support. He was a man of 
fine physique and commanding appearance, 
and his presence filled the eye. His own 
eye, dark and clear, beamed with kindness 



and glowed with power. His personal influ- 
ence, born of the general respect which was 
had for his judgment and his fairness, was 
very great — in a word, it was a commanding 
influence. 

His work in the war was such that to enter 
upon any account of it w'ould be idle, with 
the space at command. In the memorable 
campaign of 1S64 the wagon trains of the 
Army of the Potomac were under his direc- 
tion : the supply of food, clothing and am- 
munition was largely under his management. 
General Grant wrote his memorable "fight 
it out on this line if it takes all summer" dis- 
patch while Cleneral Pitkin waited to take it 
to Washington. In "Benedict's Vermont in 
the Civil War" will be found a clear sketch of 
General Pitkin's military service, while in L. 
E. Chittenden's "Personal Reminiscences" is 
a chapter devoted to him — a very readable 
chapter, too, though some of it will bear a 
little salting. 

Mr. Pitkin married, April 14, 1848, Caro- 
line M., daughter of James Templeton, of 
East Montpelier. Their four sons are : Clar- 
ence H., Carroll P., Fred E., and Frank I. 
Mrs. Pitkin died Dec. 11, 1883, and (ieneral 
Pitkin married, July 26, 1886, Mrs. Jennie 
(Dewey) Poland, daughter of Denison 
Dewey. 

PITKIN, John G., of Fair Haven, son 
of Joseph and Lucinda (Smith) Pitkin, was 
born in Poultney, Sept. 6, 1826. 

He received his education in the public 
schools of Poultney, and at the age of twen- 
ty-one removed to Fair Haven where he has 
since resided, with the exception of three 
years (from 1852 to 1855), which he spent 
in California. In 1855 he engaged in the 
grocery and provision business in which he 
continued for ten years, when he and his 
brother, W. W. Pitkin, formed a partner- 
ship, under the firm name of Pitkin & 
Brother, to do a general hardware trade, in 
which enterprise they have been successful 
to the present time. 

In politics, Mr. Pitkin has always been an 
ardent Republican. He has held nearly all 
of the town offices, and has always filled 
them with credit to himself and honor to the 
town. In 1872 he represented Fair Haven 
in the state Legislature, also in 1886 and in 
1892 was elected to the state Senate from 
Rutland county. 

Mr. Pitkin is a member of Eureka Lodge, 
No. 75, F. & A. M. of Fair Haven, and has 
been master of the lodge six years. He has 
served as D. D. G. M. of the Fourth Ma- 
sonic district three years. He is also a 
member of Poultney Chapter, No. 10; 
Morning Star Council, No. 10, of Poultney; 
and of Killington Commandery, No. 6, Rut- 
land. 



Mr. Pitkin was married in Fair Haven, 
Dec. 31, 1855, to Miss Susan [., daughter of 
Samuel and Marinda (ISrown) Uowaal. Of 



91^ 




this union only one child is issue, a daua;h- 
ter: Hattie M. (Mrs. \\. H. Childs of Xew 
York City). 

PLATT, Myron, of Larrabee's Point, 
son of Elmore and Betsy (Peck) Piatt, was 
born in Glens Falls, N. Y., on August 15, 
1830. 

Until eleven years of age he attended the 
district schools of his town and then entered 
Glens Falls Academy. In 1851 and ]852 
he took a special course at the Polytechnic 
Institute, Troy, N. Y. Shortly after he went 
into business in Glens Falls where he re- 
mained until 1858 when he moved to Shore- 
ham, purchasing a large farm on Lake 
Champlain at Larrabee's Point. Here he 
has remained since, devoting himself to farm- 
ing and stockraising. 

Mr. Piatt has held all town offices which 
he could be persuaded to accept. He was 
inspector of elections in Glens Falls, N. Y., 
in the presidential election in 1856, in 
which campaign he supported Fremont, the 
Republican candidate, and the principles of 
this party Mr. Piatt has steadfastly believed 
in. He has been a justice of the peace since 
1868, receiving his commission from each of 
the Governors since. For the last twelve 
years he has been the only trial justice in 
Shoreham. He was elected assistant judge 



i'll.mli:y. 310 

of the Addison county court in 1886 and 
while upon the bench established a reputa- 
tion for sound sense in the discharge of his 
duties. 

Judge Piatt married in Shoreham, August 
6, 1S56, Sarah i:iizabeth, daughter of L. D. 
and Mary Larrabee. From this union three 
children have been born: Mary L. (Mrs. 
Robert O. Kascom of Fort Edward, N. Y.), 
Fred Elmore, and Xellie. 




YRON PLATT. 



Judge Piatt is a member of no church or 
society but known throughout the county as 
an honorable man and true to his principles. 

PLUMLEY, Frank, of Northfield, was 
born in Eden, Dec. 17, 1844. 

Reared upon a farm and educated in the 
common schools of the town and the Peoijle's 
.Academy, of Morris\ille, he adopted for a 
time the profession of a teacher, but in 1866 
commenced the study of the law with Powers 
& (ileed, at Morrisville, and a year after 
entered the law department of the I'niversity 
of Michigan, .Ann .Arbor, where he also pur- 
sued a selected course of study in the literary 
department. .After three years of professional 
training he was admitted to the bar at the 
.May term of the Lamoille county court, 1S69, 
and afterwards came to Northfield, and 
entered the office of Hon. Heman Carpenter. 
The firm of Carpenter & Plumley, formed in 
1870, was disolved by mutual consent in 
1876. Mr. Plumley has attained a leading 
position at the bar. He was state's attorney 
from 1876 to 1880 inclusive, and anions: lii< 



important cases were the Carr and Meeker 
murder trials. He was appointed in 1889 by 
President Harrison, United State's attorney 
for Vermont. 

Mr. Plumley possesses the entire confi- 
dence of his townsmen in every walk of life. 
He is a member of the M. E. Church and for 
twelve years has been superintendent of the 
Sunday school. 



.^S"**"- 




FRANK PLUMLEY. 



He is now serving his fourth consecutive 
term of three years each, as a member of the 
board of directors of the Xorthfield graded 
and high schools, of which body he is chair- 
man, and for several years has filled the same 
position on the board of village trustees. He 
is also a trustee of Norwich University, and a 
trustee of the Northfield Savings Bank. 

He was married August 9, 187 1, to 
Lavinia L., daughter of Hiram and Mary 
(Smith) Fletcher of Eden. They have two 
children : Charles Albert, and Theodora May. 

Mr. Phmiley is a Republican, and an 
ardent temperance man. Elected repre- 
sentative from Northfield to the Legislature 
in 1882, he served with ability on the judi- 
ciary committee, and also on that on the 
insane. He was chairman of the Repub- 
lican state convention in 1886, and was ap- 
pointed one of the delegates from Vermont 
to the anti-saloon conference, held in New 
Vork in the spring of 1888, and was the 
fourth delegate-at-large to the Republican 
national convention of 1888, in which he 



was a member of the committee on the plat- 
form, and was the author of the resolution 
presented to that committee pledging the 
cordial sympathy and moral support of the 
national Republican party to all well-directed 
efforts to tem]jerance reform. It was pre- 
sented on the floor of the convention by Mr. 
Boutelle of Maine and adopted with 
slight verbal alterations. Mr. Plumley has 
a national reputation as an interesting and 
effecti\-e campaign orator, and in the strug- 
gle of 1884 he was sent to Michigan by the 
national committee, to which state he has 
been recalled at each successive state and 
national campaign since that time. Mr. 
Plumley has served four terms as the wor- 
shipful master of DeWitt Clinton Lodge, No. 
15, F. & A. M., and is also a member of 
Northfield Lodge, No. 19, I. O. O. F., and 
of Northfield Lodge, No. 175, L O. G. T., 
and was the first and the present \\. C. of 
Northfield Lodge, which contains two hun- 
dred and forty members. 

For five years he was grand secretary of 
the Grand Lodge L O. G. T., and represent- 
ative from that body to the Right Worthy 
Grand Lodge of the \\'orld at its New Vork 
and Topeka sessions. For three successive 
years he filled the office of grand chief 
templar in the state. He is a lecturer on 
constitutional law at Norwich L'ni\ersity, 
which institution conferred on him the de- 
gree of A. M. at its commencement in 1S92. 

PLUMLEY, Frank M., of Sherburne, 
son of Adolphus and Lucy (Dexter) Plum- 
ley, was born in Shrewsbury, March 27, 
1840. 

He received his early educational training 
in the common schools and later supple- 
mented this by a course of general reading. 
.A lover of books he has collected a small 
but well selected library. After the comple- 
tion of his schooling he followed the calling 
of a commercial traveler for a few years and 
then settled down upon a farm in his native 
town, to which vocation, after a short time, 
he added a lumber business which he 
carried on successfully for thirty years. In 
1885 he removed to Sherburne and engaged 
in the lumber trade in that town until 1893 
when he purchased an estate on the Wood- 
stock road on which he now resides. 

Mr. Plumley was married in Shrewsbury, 
Nov. 30, 1862, to Eliza N., daughter of 
Curtis and Eliza Hale. To them have been 
born three sons : Rush, Ralph, and Albert. 

He has always been an earnest Republi- 
can ; has held the offices of selectman, road 
commissioner, justice of the peace, as well 
as other positions of honor and trust, and 
was chosen to represent Sherburne in the 
state Legislature of 1892, where he ser\'ed 



with 

ures. 



credit on the committee on manufact- 
Being yet in the prime of life he will 



>$ 




M. PLUMLEY. 



probably become more prominent in county 
and state affairs within the next few years. 

POLAND, JOSEPH, of Montpelier, son 
of Luther and Nancy (Potter) Poland, was 
born in LTnderhill, March 14, 1818. His 
father, Luther Poland, was born in Brook- 
field, Mass., March 11, 1790, moved to 
Vermont in 1814, and died at Montpelier, 
June 16, 1880. 

The family moved from I'nderhill to \Va- 
terville (then Coit's (lore), in 1821, and till 
1835 Joseph worked on the farm, meanwhile 
attending the district school and Johnson 
Academy. In September, 1835, he came to 
Montpelier, and as an apprentice entered 
the office of the Vermont A\'atchman, where 
he remained until 1839. He was confirmed 
in anti-slavery opinions by witnessing the 
riotous conduct of those who, in October 
1835, disturbed the meetings at the State 
House and the "Old Brick Church," at 
which Rev. Samuel J. May lectured. 

January i, 1839, he began the publication 
at Montpelier of the Voice of Freedom, 
the first distinctly anti-slavery periodical of 
the state, but in less than a year was com- 
pelled to dispose of the property on account 
of broken health. 

In June, 1S40, he was able to resume 
his chosen profession, and established the 
Lamoille Whig at Johnson. \\'hile residing 
there he served as assistant clerk in the state 



Legislature. .After four years' connection 
with this pajier, Mr. Poland returned to 
Montpelier and established the Oreen 
Mountain Freeman as the organ of the new- 
ly-formed Liberty party. This publication 
he continued, with marked success, until the 
close of the presidential campaign of 1S48, 
during which period the vote of the party in 
the state increased to more than 15,000, 
and in the nation to 300,000. He served as 
chairman of the state committee, and large- 
ly as general organizer of the party, during 
a large portion of these years— a period 
made ever memorable as witnessing the 
birth of that wonderful moral and political 
revolution which, a few years later, elevated 
.\braham Lincoln to the presidency, and 
struck the fetters from every .American slave. 
About 1882, the late Hon. E. P. Walton 
jusdy wrote : "Mr. Poland may properly in- 
dulge in the double boast of him thatgirdeth 
on the harness and of him that putteth it off, 
having lived to see .American sla\erv, not 
only forever extinguished bv the organic law 




JOSEPH POLAND. 



of the land, but remembered only with such 
detestation that history blushes at the record." 
In 1S49 ^^^- Poland was chosen a director 
and secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Fire 
Insurance Co., positions which he held 
during the entire life of the company, more 
than thirty years. In i852-'53 he ser\-ed as 
judge of probate for Washington county ; in 
i858-'6o was a member of the state Senate, 
and in i87o-'7i represented the town of 



Montpelier in the Legislature. In 1861 he 
was commissioned by Governor Fairbanks 
(and afterwards by President Lincoln, in 
connection with Hon. John B. Page and 
Hon. John Howe, Jr., under an act of Con- 
gress providing for allotment commissioners) 
to visit the Vermont regiments in the field 
and procure from each soldier an allotment 
of such portion of his monthly pay as could 
be spared during his enlistment, to be trans- 
mitted to his family, or any depository he 
might select. In 1863, under a commission 
from Governor Smith, Mr. Poland purchased 
what was then denominated the "Fair 
Ground," but now "Seminary Hill," in Mont- 
pelier, and erected thereon the buildings 
constituting "Sloan Hospital," which was 
maintained for many years, first by the state 
and subsequently by the general government, 
as a rendezvous for invalid soldiers. He has 
been a trustee of the Vermont State Library 
since Nov. i, 1859. From 1861 to 1869 he 
held the position of collector of internal reve- 
nue for the First Congressional District of 
Vermont. In March, 1868, Judge Poland in 
connection with his son, J. Monroe, purchased 
the \'ermont Watchman, which he continued 
until 1882, when he permanendy retired from 
active business. He left the paper with far 
more than double the circulation it had when 
he assumed it. Mr. Poland was also favor- 
ably known to the Congregational churches 
of Vermont and New Hampshire as the pub- 
lisher and proprietor of both the Vermont 
Chronicle and the New Hampshire Journal. 
Of Mr. Poland's long service in the editorial 
field, space allows us only one or two brief 
expressions of his brethren on his retirement. 
The Rutland Herald said : "The Watchman 
and Journal, under his hands, has always 
hewed straight to the line on all great ([ues- 
tions of deep public concern in morals and 
politics. A man of excellent ability as a 
thinker and writer, of discreet action and 
sagacious judgment in politics, Mr. Poland 
has acted well his part in ^'ermont journal- 
ism. His influence has been large, and it has 
been uprightly exerted." The St. Albans 
Messenger said : "But it is not so much in 
relation to the public as an able and con- 
scientious journalist that we feel mo\ed to 
write, but rather in his relations to the editors 
and publishers of the state. In these rela- 
tions Mr. Poland has been most exception- 
ally free from the petty jealousies, the spirit 
of detraction and disparagement, the rancor 
and unwarranted personal abuse which have 
prevailed too generally among the editors of 
the state, and in this respect he leaves to his 
professional brethren a very worthy example." 
Mr. Poland became a communicant of 
Bethany Church in 1S39, and has been since 
the death of Hon. E. P. Walton its senior 
deacon ; also served as superintendent of its 



Sunday school, which relations he sustained 
to the Congregational church in Johnson, 
during his residence there. 

Judge Poland has been for half a century 
by \oice, pen and earnest work an untiring 
friend and advocate of the temperance cause. 

During his long residence in Montpelier 
Judge Poland's political and personal influ- 
ence has been far-reaching and effective, and 
has been freely sought and acknowledged in 
connection with most of the public men and 
measures of his time. Proverbially public- 
spirited, he has ever moved far in advance 
of men of much larger means in encourag- 
ing every business, benevolent, or social 
enterprise in his community ; the sick and 
the suffering have always found in him a 
friend and benefactor, and the worthy young 
men are by no means few whom he has en- 
couraged and assisted to enter upon a 
successful business career for themselves. 

July 7, 1840, Mr. Poland married Mary Ann, 
daughter of the late Joseph Rowell. Of their 
seven children, but one, Edward R., is 
living ; three died in infancy : Clara A., an 
accomplished daughter of twenty-one, died 
in 1865 : Charles F. died in 1875, in early 
manhood, and J. Monroe formerly adjutant 
of the 15th Vermont, died Sept. 16, 1891. 
Mrs. Poland died in 1862, and Feb. 8, 1873, 
Judge Poland married Julia M. Harvey, 
"daughter of James K. and Carohne (Coburn) 
Harvey, of Barnet. 

PORTER, Charles Walcott, son of 

Judge John and Jane Francis (Foster) Por- 
ter, was born in Hartford, July 11, 1849. 

His early education was received in the 
schools of Hartford and the Kimball Union 
Academy of Meriden, N. H. He then en- 
tered upon a course of study at Phillips 
Academy, .\ndover, Mass., graduating in 
1870. 'Two years afterwards he was settled 
in Montpelier and began the study of law in 
the ofificeof Hon. B. F. Fifield. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1S74, at which time he 
formed a partnership with C. H. Pitkin, Esq., 
and his former instructor, under the firm 
name of Fifield, Pitkin & Porter, and later a 
new firm was organized under the title of 
Pitkin and Porter, which arrangement re- 
mained unchanged until 1S80, when Mr. 
Porter withdrew from the concern and con- 
tinued to practice his profession without a 
partner until the time of his death, .-Xugust i, 
1891. 

He was always a Republican, and in 1872 
he received the appointment of deputy sec- 
retary of state and held that position for 
twelve years. He also was made deputy in- 
surance commissioner. In 1SS4 he was 
elected secretary of state and by successive 
re-elections was continued in that office for 
six years. Mr. Porter was president of the 



Berlin Granite Co. from its organization in 
1887 to the time of his death. 

He was married July 16, 1885, at Mont- 
pelier, to Florence, only daughter of Charles 
W. and Olive (Eaton) Bailey. 

POWERS, HEMAN a., of Braintree, .son 
of Heman and Isabel (Nash) Powers, was 
born in East Montpelier, June 22, 1827. 

Mr. Powers obtained his education in the 
schools and academy of Montpelier. .-\t the 
age of seventeen he went to Milford, Mass., 
entered a shoe manufactory, and soon be- 
came an expert in bottoming boots, which 
occupation he pursued in thirteen different 
states, traveling for his employer, Mr. Whit- 
ney, who challenged the country to produce 
his equal in skill or rapidity. .\t the age of 
twenty-five he returned to \'ermont and 
commenced farming in the town of Plain - 
field, but some quarter of a century since he 
purchased the "Judge Waite" estate in Brain- 
tree and has made it his residence from that 
period. Mr. Powers believes that Vermont 
is the best state in the Union for farmers and 
proves his faith by his works, for he most 





iEMAN A. POWERS. 



successfully cultivates one of the best farms 
in the state. He has a large herd of cows, 
mostly graded, but generally selected for in- 
dividual merit, and has sent about $4,000 
worth of butter to the Narragansett Hotel of 
R. I. annually for the last fifteen years, dur- 
ing which time he has not failed in making 
his regular four shipments a week. i'"or- 



POWERS. 323 

merly his farm was considered the most pro- 
ductive one in Orange county, but Mr. Pow- 
ers has doubled its capacity, obtaining enor- 
mous crops of hay, oats, corn, and potatoes. 

.Although a Democrat in a strongly Re- 
publican community, he has been entrusted 
with many local public offices of importance, 
and represented Braintree in 1884. He is 
a man of jovial disposition, keen insight, and 
remarkably sound judgment, who is highly 
respected and very po])uIar in the commun- 
ity. He was formerly much interested in 
checkers, of which game he was a champion 
player. 

He was united in marriage in 1850 to 
.Sarah J., daughter of Shubeal P. and Betsy 
(Sanborn) Short, of East Montpelier. Eight 
children have been issue of this marriage, 
five of whom survive: Bettie M. (.Mrs. C. 
B. Ford of Idaho), Laura (deceased), Sadie 
(Mrs. .\I. Bruce), .Alice, Elsie, and Herman 
Earl. 

POWERS, Horace Henry, of .Morris- 

ville, son of Horace and Love E. (Oilman ) 
Powers, was born on the 29th of May, 
1835, in Morristown,a descendant of Walter 
Powers, who emigrated to this country in 
the early part of the i 7th century. 

He prepared for his college course by 
study in the People's Academy at Morris- 
town, entered the University of A'ermont, 
and graduated therefrom in 1855. The two 
years immediately following his graduation 
were passed in teaching school at Hunting- 
don, Canada East, and in Hyde Park. 
During this period he began the study of 
law under the direction of Thomas (Jleed of 
Morristown, and subsequently continued it 
under that of Child & Ferrin of Hyde Park. 
.Admitted to the bar of Lamoille county in 
May, 1858, he settled in Hyde Park, and 
there practiced his profession until March, 
1862. He then formed a law partnership 
with P. K. Gleed at Morri-sville, and con- 
tinued with him until December, 1874, when 
he was elevated to the bench of the Supreme 
Court. Throughout the whole of these years 
his firm enjoyed a large and comparatively 
lucrative practice in the counties of Lamoille, 
Orleans, Caledonia, and Franklin. His pro- 
fessional standing was fully equal to that of 
the best in northern Vermont. 

Independently of his high judicial posi- 
tion, judge Powers has worthily and satis- 
factorily filled many other public offices. He 
represented Hyde Park in the \'ermont Leg- 
islature of 1858, and had the distinction of 
being the youngest member of the House. 
In the session of 1872 he represented I^- 
moille county in the Senate, served on the 
judiciary committee, and officiated as chair- 
man of the committee on railroads. In the 
vears 1861 and 1862 he was state's attorney 




H. HENRY POWERS. 



for Lamoille county. In 1S69 he was mem- 
ber of the last Council of Censors, and in 
1870 made his personal intluence powerfully 
felt in the state Constitutional Convention 
which effected the change from annual to 
biennial sessions of the Legislature. He 
acted as chairman in committee of the 
whole. His sole connection with financial 
institutions is that of director of the Lamoille 
County National ISank, an office he has held 
since 1865. 

In 1S74 he represented Morristown, was 
chosen speaker of the House and received 
his first election to the bench. In 1890 
Judge Powers was elected to the Fifty-second 
Congress from the first Vermont district, and 
in 1892 was chairman of the Vermont dele- 
gation to the Republican national conven- 
tion at Minneapolis, and was elected to the 
Fifty-third Congress. 

As lawyer, legislator, or jurist. Judge 
Powers has always commanded the admira- 
tion of his fellow-citizens. 

Judge Horace H. Powers was married 
Oct. II, 1858,10 Caroline E., daughter of V. 
W. and Adeline Waterman of Morristown. 
Two children are the issue : Carrie L., and 
George M. 



PRAi-r. 325 

dent that a radical change must ensue in the 
manner of conducting their business, as the 
trade demanded that the different lines of 
goods should be carried in greater variety 
and in separate stocks. His brother, O. J. 
Pratt, assimied the dry goods and millinery 
de]jartment, which he has carried on for 
nearly thirty-five years, while the firm of D. 
S. Pratt & Co. conducted a custom and 
ready made clothing business. In i860 
this partnership was dissolved, and that of 
Pratt, ^^"right & Co. was formed, which con- 
tinued in the general clothing trade till 
1873. In addition to the above lines of 
business Mr. Pratt has been extensively en- 
gaged in farming and the breeding of horses. 
Shorthorn cattle and Southdown sheep, and 
it is very doubtful if there is a man in the 
state who has received higher prices for his 
thoroughbred stock. The adjoining country 
has been much benefited by the large num- 
ber of fine animals which he has bred, and 
while his Shorthorn cattle have been largelv 



PRATT, Daniel Stewart, of Brattle- 

boro, son of Rufus and Maria (Estabrook) 
Pratt, was born in Pjrattleboro, August 3, 
1826. He is of Scotch and L^nglish de- 
scent. His namesake and maternal great- 
grandfather. Col. Daniel Stewart, was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary army in which 
he served as captain, and after his retire- 
ment to private life held many important 
positions. His grandfather, IVIaj. James 
Estabrook, was born at \\'arren, R. I., in 
1775, came to Brattleboro with his parents 
"when he was four years of age, and was 
both conspicuous and popular in the local 
militia, in which he obtained the rank of 
major. 

The early boyhood of Daniel Stewart 
Pratt was spent upon a farm, and his educa- 
tion was received in the public schools of 
Brattleboro. From the age of fifteen to the 
time he attained his majority, he was em- 
ployed in the market established by his 
father in the town. He then entered as a 
clerk the store of Wheeler & Pratt, who did 
a general dry goods and grocery business, 
and continued in their service till the firm 
was dissolved in 1850. He then became a 
member of the firm of Pratt, Wheeler & 
Co., of which his brother, Lucius G., was the 
senior partner. This concern continued to 
do business most successfully for four years, 
doing a general dry goods, millinery and 
grocery trade, their sales the last year 
amounting to Sioo.ooo. At the expiration 
of the lime of partnershi]!, it became evi- 




JiEL STEWART PRATT. 



sold to go South and West, he has even 
exported a few head to the mother country. 
He has the credit of selling to Robert Hal- 
loway of Illinois, the finest cow that ever 
stood in that state, while for one bull, which 
he owned in connection with the Messrs.Wins- 
low, he obtained the sum of S9000. Mr. Pratt 
was made chairman of the board of select- 
men in 1879, which was the year of the 
great freshet, when the bridges and roads in 
the town were nearlv all destroved, but under 



326 



his energetic and skillful management they 
were repaired and rebuilt in the most sub- 
stantial and satisfactory manner. He has 
been a director for the last thirty years in 
some bank in town, and at present is serv- 
ing as one of the board of investment of the 
Vermont Savings Bank, where his counsel 
and advice are influential from his knowledge 
of the value of property in the West, where 
he has had a wide experience in the hand- 
ling of real estate, both for himself and other 
people. He became interested with others 
in the Vermont Live Stock Co. in 1884, and 
has filled the office of vice-president and 
president of this organization. 

During the war Mr. Pratt rendered valua- 
ble service in recruiting Co. B, i6th Regt. 
Vt. Vols, several of the enlisted men receiv- 
ing substantial aid from him in obtaining 
their outfit, while he liberally contributed to 
the support of their families during their 
absence. He sent a paid substitute to the 
front, and after the close of the struggle was 
made quartermaster of the ist Vt. Regt. of 
the National Guard, in which capacity he 
creditably served until honorably discharged. 
He has always been a staunch Republican, 
though declining all offers of political pre- 
ferment, as his tastes do not run in this 
direction. 

Mr. Pratt was united in marriage Feb. 14, 
1850, to Caroline Pamelia, daughter of Ed- 
mund and Betsey (Wright) Hoar of Bedford, 
Mass. Six children have been born to them : 
Charles Stewart (deceased), Edmund Rufus, 
Mary .Alice, Carrie Maria (deceased), Jennie 
S. (deceased), and Walter Stewart. 

PRAY, RUFUS M., of South Woodbury, 
son of Thomas and Polly (King) Pray, was 
born in Calais, .\pril 8, 1S44. 

His father's calling was that of a carpen- 
ter and joiner, who was a long time resident 
of the town, in the schools of which Rufus 
received his education. The latter, a mere 
lad of seventeen, did not resist the patriotic 
impulse that moved him to enter the ranks 
of the Union army, and enlisted in the 2d 
N. H. Regiment, which for three months 
garrisoned at old P'ort Constitution on the 
seacoast of that state. On his journey home- 
wards, he stopped at St. Johnsbury, where 
Co. K, of Calais, 3d Regt. Vt. Vols, were 
engaged in their daily drill, and such was 
the enthusiasm of the young volunteer, that 
he at once re-enlisted without even bidding 
farewell to the loved ones at home or cross- 
ing the paternal threshold. Mr. Pray shared 
the fortunes of the gallant third in all its 
numerous engagements from Lewinsville 
and Lee's Mills, to the bloody battles of the 
Wilderness, where he was wounded in foot 
and forehead, and was sent to the S. A. 
Douglas hospital at Washington, from thence 



transferred to the U. S. General Hospital at 
Montpelier, from which he boldly returned 
to active duty before his wounds were wholly 
healed. He then experienced the vicissi- 
tudes of Sheridan's Shenandoah campaign, 
and at Cedar Creek, while on the skirmish 
line, received a dangerous wound in his hip, 
which was traversed by a minie-ball. He 
was carried twelve miles in an army wagon 
to Sheridan Hospital, then sent to Frederick, 
Md., and later to Montpelier, where he re- 
ceived an honorable discharge after a gal- 
lant service of four years, one month and 
twenty-six days, during which time he was. 
not excused from duty a single hour, except 
when wounded. 

Since his return from the army, though 
for more than a year a cripple, he has beerk 
able to labor a little at his trade of carpen- 
ter and joiner, and to cultivate with effort a 
small farm. 

Mr. Pray was married August 8, 1864, to 
Nellie A., daughter of David and Sabrina 
(Chase) Whitham of Woodbury. One child 
has been the fruit of this wedlock : Lillian 
^L (Mrs. Robert B. Tassie of Montpelier). 

Mr. Pray is still a member of that party 
for whose political principles he fought and 
bled. He was appointed postmaster at 
South Woodbury, July 12, 1889, under 
President Harrison, and held that position 
till his resignation on being elected to the 
Legislature of 1892 by an unusual majority. 
He was town treasurer in i89i-'92. 

PRIME, Merrill Foster, of Barton, 

son of Dr. Thomas M. and Amity (Paige) 
Prime, was born in Brome, P. < >., Sept. 26, 
1859. 

His earlier education was received in the 
schools and academy of Knowlton, Canada. 
.After matriculating at the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons in Toronto, he entered 
McGill Medical School, where he remained 
two years, till the spring of 1878. The fol- 
lowing fall he entered the L'niversity of the 
City of New York. From this institution he 
graduated in the spring of 1879. Returning 
to McGill he took his fourth year in special 
work, and the year following passed before 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 
Montreal, receiving the degree of L. C. P. S. 
Dr. Prime, while in New York, took private 
lessons in diseases of women and physical 
diagnosis. He began practice with his 
father in Knowlton, P. Q. Early in 1882 he 
settled in Barton, where he has since re- 
mained and built up a large and profitable 
practice. 

He is a Democrat in his political faith, a 
member of the Episcopal church and also 
of the State Medical Society. Has been, 
health officer for the town of Barton for 
three years. In August, 1893, he was ap- 



PRICHARD. 

pointed pension examining surgeon for the 
liureau at Newport. oo <- a 

He married, May 25, 1882, Cora A 
daughter of Elbridge G. and Amanda (Ball) 
Shaw, of Waterloo, P. Q. Their two chil- 
dren are : Lucile, and Hazel W inifred. 

PRICHARD, JOHN B. W., of Bradford, 
was the son of George XN". and Elizabeth 
(Pearson) Prichard, and was born in brad- 
ford, Sept. 26, 1839. 

His educational acquirements were limited 
to the town schools and a course of study at 
Bradford Academy. 

He commenced his active life as clerk for 
his father, who was a merchant, and also 
served his brothers in a similar capacity. 

When the slave-holding aristocracy at- 
tempted to secede from the Union Mr. 
Prichard was a member of the noted Brad- 
ford Guards, a company of the ist \ t Regt 
and accompanied them when hey left the 
state at the outset of the struggle. He vvas 
present at the battle of Big Bethel, and wa. 
mustered out with the regiment upon their 
return from the f^eld in August 186 1. 

He was married, Jan. 21. 1862, to Oris.a 
T., daughter of Sargent and Melissa (Green- 
ief ) George. Two children have been the 
St of thit union : Fred K., and Warren H 
When discharged from the service Mr. 
Prichard returned to Bradford and bought 
out his brother's stock and store, which he 
continued to carry on for three years- Jhen 
he went to Massachusetts and was engaged 
In trade until 1869, when he agam returned 
to his birthplace and formed a partnership 
^th Barron Hay to engaged m a genera 
mercantile business, and this arrangement 
has lasted till the present time 

The esteem in which he is held a a bu s - 
ness man may be inferred from the fact tha^ 
he was elected town clerk m 1870, and with 
Se exception of a single year he has been 
the incumbent of that oftice ever since He 
has thrice been honored by the position of 
selectman and was elected as a Republican 
to represent Bradford in the state Legisla- 

^"MJ^PrTchard has filled all the chairs of 
Charity Lodge, No. ,3, and t«- terms ha 
nresided in the east. He was a charter 
Inember and has been adjutant and com- 
mander of Washburn Post, ^o. 17, G. A. K. 

PROCTOR, REDFIELD, of Proctor, son 
of Jabez and Betsy (Parker) Proctor, was 
born in ProctorsviUe, June 1,1 831. 

The American branch of the P/o^tor 
fan'ify springs from an excellent Lnghsh 
stock! The first ancestor ^'^ ^^ ^ "I^ 
was Robert Proctor, who as early as 1045 
was living at Concord, Mass. 



PROCTOR. 



327 



Redfield Proctor received an excellent 
preparatory education, and was graduated 
from Dartmouth College in 1851. Ihree 
vears later he received the degree of .\. M. 
from the same venerable institution. Select- 
in'^ law as his profession, he pursued the pre- 
liminary studies at the Albany Law School in 
New York. After graduation in 1859 he was 
admitted to the New York bar at .Mbany, 
and also at Woodstock, Vermont. During 
a portion of the years i860 and 1861 he 
practiced his profession in the office of his 
cousin. Judge Isaac F. Redfield, the eminent 
iurist, at Boston, Mass. 

Upon the outbreak of the rebellion in 
1 86 1 he immediately returned to Vermont 
and enlisted in the 3d Vt. Regt., was com- 
missioned as lieutenant and quartermaster, 
and repaired to the front. In July of the 
same year he was appointed on the staff of 
Gen. William F. ("Baldy") Smith,and mOc- 
tober was promoted and transferred to the 
cth Vt Vols., of which he was commissioned 
maior. With this regiment he served nearly 
r;iar in the neighborhood of \N ashington 
and on the Peninsula. ^ October 1862 
Maior Proctor was promoted to the colonelcy 
of the isth Vt. Vols., and in the memor- 
able and decisive engagement at (.ettysburg 
this command was stationed on the famous 
Cemetery Ridge during a part of the second 
dav's struggle. , 

Redfield Proctor was married May 20 
X858, to Emily J., daughter of Hon. Salmon 
F. and Sarah J. Button of Cavendish Five 
children, four of whom ^^^ /tvmg, are U,e 
issue of their union : Arabella G., Fletcher 
n Fmilv D., and Redfield, Jr. 

Xfter his return to Vermont, Colonel Proc- 
tor established himself i".R"'|t^d, entering 
nto law partnership with )^ heelock G. 
Veazey, afterwards a judge of the Vermont 
Supreme Court, and now a member of the 
U^S Interstate Commerce Commission. 
Thrown into the conduct of business matter, 
in settling the affairs of a concern of whK:h 
he had been appointed receiver Colonel 
Proctor found that it was more to his taste 
to do things than to talk about them. 1 he 
amaction that business life has for a man of 
;"onounced executive ability -o.. withdrew 
Lm from active practice of law, and in 
^^869 he became manager for the Sutherland 
Falls Marble Co. In r88o the Sutherland 
Falls and Rutland Marble compames were 
consolidated under the name of Ihe \er 
mont Marble Co., with Governor Procto as 
; president, l-'^der his manageme. t th^ 
company enlarged and so mcreased its busi 
ness as to become the largest concern of the 
'^^■^^;;:^r'icial career of RedfieM 
Proctor began in 1866 as a selectman of he 
Town of Rutland. In 1867 he represented 




/ 




^ c^ H--^-^ 






his town in tlie state Legislature, serving as 
chairman of the committee on elections of 
the lower House. Again a member of the 
House in 1868, he served as a meniber ot 
the committee on ways and means. Elected 
to the state Senate in 1874, he was chosen 
president pro tempore of that body. In 1876 
he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the 
state and in 1878 was nominated by the 
Republicans and elected Governor of \ er- 
mont. He was delegate-at-large to the Re- 
publican national convention in 1884, and 
also in 1888, and in the latter year was 
chairman of the Vermont delegation. In 
18S8 the Legislature of Vermont unanimously 
recommended him for a cabinet position, 
and in March, 1889, President Harrison 
appointed him Secretary of ^^'ar. Senator 
Proctor won national reputation by his con- 
duct of the war portfolio, and his adminis- 
tration is considered one of the ablest m the 
history of the department. 

On the retirement of Senator George f . 
Edmunds from the United States Senate, 
Governor Page appointed Secretary Proctor 
to fill the unexpired term, and Oct. ib, 
1802, he was elected by the Vermont Legis- 
lature to fill both the unexpired and full 
terms, the latter ending March 4, 1899. 

Senator Proctor speaks well and always to 
the point, but is best known as a strong man 
who does things-a man of action, guided by 
wisdom. He has long had the full confidence 
of the people of Vermont, and his abihty and 
experience will enable him to digmfy the 
high office to which they have called him. 

PROCTOR, FLETCHER DUTTON, of 
Proctor, son of Hon. Redfield and Emily J. 
(Dutton) Proctor, was born m Cavendish, 
Nov. 7, i860. J , ■ 

His early education was followed by in- 
struction at the Rutland Military Institute 
and the Middlebury high school. He then 
entered Middlebury College, but soon alter 
matriculated at Amherst College, from which 
institution he graduated in 1882 After the 
completion of his educational course he 
entered the employment of the Vermont 
Marble Co., and commenced his busmess 
career by learning the trade of a machmist, 
and after this occupied various positions, 
until in 1885 he became the superin- 
tendent of the company. From that time 
he has been active in its management and 
in 1889 he was elected president, which po- 
sition he now holds. In September of he 
same year he was chosen to fill a similar 
office in the Clarendon & l^>"sford R. R-, 
which corporation operates some Af een or 
twentv miles between the towns of 1 ittstord. 
Proctor, Rutland, and West Rutland. I pon 
the organization of the Proctor Trust Co. in 
1891, he was made director and president. 



PROCTOR. 329 

Since he has had charge of the affairs of 
the \ermont Marble Co. that corporation 
has purchased the marble business of (lilson 
& Woodfin, Ripley & Sons, and made a 
thirty-year lease of the property of the 
Sheldon Marble Co., so that now the V er- 
mont Marble Co. has in its employ over 
eighteen hundred men, and is by far the 
largest producer of marble in the world. 

Mr. Proctor was a member of the \ ermont 
National Guard, enhsting in Co. A m 1884, 
and was promoted to the grades of 2d and 
ist Lieut. He resigned in 1886, and was 
appointed inspector of rifle practice on the 
staff of Colonel Greenleaf, which position he 
resigned in 1887. In 1S83 he waselecte.l the 
first permanent colonel of the Vermont divi- 
sion of Sons of Veterans and during his 
administration the division increased from 
three to twenty-seven camps. 




FLETCHER DUTTON HRu^- i ori. 

He was united in marriage May 26. 1886, 
to Minnie E., daughter of Hon. Asher C. 
and Erminnie Robinson of Westford. Iwo 
children have been born to them: Emii>, 
and Mortimer Robinson. 

Mr Proctor has ser^•ed numerous terms as 
selectman, both in Rutland and i;'-octor and 
has been a member of the school board for 
Jhelattervillage since 1883.. He was sec- 
retary of civil and mihtary affairs under Gov. 
oJmsbee, was elected to the I.eg>slature frcni^ 
the town of Proctor in 1890, and wa. chosen 
a senator from Rutland county in 1892. 



33° PUTNAM. 

PUTNAM, Christopher C, Jr., of 

Putnamsville, is the son of Christopher C. and 
Eliza (Stone) Putnam, and was born in Mid- 
dlesex, August 26, 1839. His grandfather emi- 
grated to Middlesex in 17S4, and here his 
father was born in 1810, and for fifty years 
has been an extensive lumber dealer and 
manufacturer. 




C. C. Putnam, Jr., obtained his education 
in the district schools of the town, at the 
Washington county grammar school and at 
Newbury Seminary. For several years he 
divided his time between teaching and assist- 
ing his father in the management of his affairs. 
The latter has invested very largely in the 
timber lands of Middlesex, ^Vorcester, Calais 
and Elmore, and from these a vast quantity 
of boards and other finished products are 
distributed through New York and the New- 
England states. The father and son are prob- 
ably the most extensive dealers in lumber in 
central Vermont, having formed a partner- 
ship after the latter's return from the army. 

In 1862, Mr. Putnam, Jr., joined Co. I, 
13th Regt. Vt. Vols., as a private, was promo- 
ted to sergeant, was present at the memorable 
charge of Gettysburg, and was discharged 
when the regiment was mustered out of the U. 
S. service. 

In connection with their business the Put- 
nams operate three saw mills, a planing mill, 
a store, and a farm. 

Mr. Putnam was united in marriage, Octo- 
ber, 1868, to Mary E., daughter of Abel and 



Mary Whitney, of Middlesex, who died four 
years after their union. P"or his second wife 
he wedded, Sept. 22, 1874, Jennie, daughter 
of Medad and Mary Jane (Mclntyre) ^^'right, 
of Montpelier. Two children have been 
born to them : Ralph W., and Eula W. 

He is a man of industry, energv, and good 
judgment and has often been called upon to 
act as referee and commissioner of important 
and weighty matters. Mr. Putnam has held 
many town offices. He has always been a 
Republican, and in 1886 r'epresented Middle- 
sex in the Legislature. 

PUTNEY, Charles Edward, of St. 

Johnsbury, son of David and Mary (Prown) 
Putnev, was born in Bow, N. H., Feb. 26, 
1S40. 

He recei\"ed his primary instruction in 
the public schools of Bow, fitted for college 
at New London, N. H., and was graduated 
from the classical department of Dartmouth 
in 1870, having attained high rank in his 
class. 




CHARLES EDWARD PUTNEY. 

With the exception of three years service 
in the army, Mr. Putney's life has been that 
of an educator of the highest type. He com- 
menced the practice of his profession while 
yet an undergraduate, teaching in various 
schools in the neighborhood of the college 
and also in Massachusetts. For three years 
after the completion of his college course he 
was the principal of the Boys' Boarding 



331 



School of Norwich, then came to St. Johns- 
bury as assistant in the academy at that 
place, and was finally chosen ]3rinci]ial of 
the institution, which position he still oc- 
cupies. He has been state examiner of the 
Randolph and Johnson Normal Schools and 
has served as president of the Caledonia 
county board of education. 

Mr. Putney was united in marriage, July 
26, 1876, to Abbie, daughter of Rev. Jonathan 
and Phebe Fo.xcroft (Phillips) Clement of 
Norwich. They have two daughters : Marv 
Phillips (Wood), and Ellen Clement. 

From purely patriotic motives and at great 
personal sacrifice he enlisted in Co. C, 13th 
Regt. N. H. Vols., in which he rose to the 



rank of sergeant. His regiment ser\ed with 
the armies of the Potomac and James, and 
he jiarticipated in eight regular engagements, 
ha\ing the good fortune never to be wounded 
or taken prisoner. 

He is a member of Chamberlin I'ost, No. 
I, G. A. R. of St. Johnsbury : has always 
taken much interest in the St. Johnsbury V. 
M. C. .A. ; is affiliatetl with the Congrega- 
tional church, and has always a class of 
students in the Sunday .school. 

Probably no man in \"ermont has exerted 
a greater or more beneficial influence u]Jon 
young people, for his aim has e\er been not 
only to train their intellects, but to broaden 
their whole lives. 



RAMSAY, George Lafayette, late of 

Lemington, was the second son of Robert 
and Jane (Morgan) Ramsay, being born in 
the town of Wheelock, Oct. 3, 1829. His 




GEORGE LACAYETTE RAMSAY. 

father, who was at that time one of the largest 
sheep owners in the state, came to the green 
hills of the new state from his native town of 
Londonderry, N. H., and settled in Wheel- 
ock, in the immediate vicinity of the place 
still known as "Ramsay Corners" about the 
beginning of the present century. 

George was educated in the district schools 
of Wheelock and firownington, and at the old 
stone academy of the latter town, under the 
discipline of Professor Twilight, received 



what was at that time a far better education 
than the average farmer thought necessary to 
bestow upon his son. 

About the year 1850, when the gold fields 
of California had become known, the young 
Vermonter had reached his majority and the 
next two years were spent amid the rocky 
hills Of the "Golden State ;" returning east 
he began work in the "Old Faneuil Hall 
Market" at Boston, afterwards entering the 
employment of Briggs, Guild & Co. With the 
exception of a short time spent on the road 
as traveling salesman for the firm, he remained 
till i860 with these same employers, during 
the last few years as confidential business 
clerk. About a year previous to the war of 
the rebellion, Mr. Ramsay's health, which 
had been gradually failing, gave way from 
overwork and confinement and he was com- 
pelled to leave the city and return to his 
native state, purchasing in the town of Lem- 
ington, five miles south of Colebrook, N. H., 
one of the finest meadow farms in Vermont. 
Here he settled and lived contentedly in the 
possession of a typical Vermont home, dis- 
l)ensing hospitality with a liberal hand to all 
who called upon him, until the date of his 
death in 1892. 

He was married Feb. 20, 1862, to .Vn- 
nette Eugenia, daughter of Col. George C. 
and Jane"(Royce) Dyer, of .Sutton, P. Q., 
and rarely has a man been more blessed in 
the choice of a life companion. His married 
life was blessed with six children : Eugene I )., 
lane IVL, Jeanette R., Gertrude, (leorge R., 
and Mary M., who with his widow survive 
him. 

During the latter years of his life he 
entered more extensively into the lumber 
business and for the five years preceding his 
death manufactured annually about S3,ooo 
worth of last blocks from the hard wood of 
his forest. 

In politics Judge Ramsay was a Repub- 
lican. Casting the onl\- vote for Abraham 



332 



Lincoln in his town in the fall of rS6o he 
was subjected to many disjjaraging remarks, 
and in reply to the taunt of a neighbor re- 
plied proudly, "My vote will shine like a 
golden eagle amid a lot of rusty coppers." 
He was a prominent figure at county conven- 
tions, and in 1883 and 1884 held the office 
of assistant judge of Essex county court. 

Through life he was a man of the finest 
principle, a strong temperance advocate, 
ever practicing what he preached. During 
his stay in Boston he joined St. Johns Lodge 
of Free and Accepted Masons, the oldest 
lodge in the Bay state, and was during his 
life a working member and a regular attend- 
ant at the meetings of the order. 

In personal appearance Judge Ramsay was 
a man who would attract attention among a 
gathering of men : fully six feet in height, 
erect and well proportioned, of fine personal 
appearance and great courtesy. Men whom 
he had antagonized by his outspoken adher- 
ence to what he believed was right, were 
forced to admire him and recognize at once 
his ability, and the superior manhood which 
characterized his life. 

His death, which occurred on Dec. 29, 
1S92, after only an hour's illness from valvu- 
lar disease of the heart, was a great loss both 
to his family, town and county. 

RANDALL, ElIAS ORLANDO, of 
Greensboro, son of Erastus and Caroline M. 
(Smith) Randall, was born in Greensboro, 
Sept. 16, 1833. 

.\fter an attendance at the public schools 
of Greensboro and Craftsbury Academy, and 
some experience in teaching in Craftsbury 
and Glover, from 1S50 to 1852 he labored 
on his father's farm, and at the expiration of 
the latter year purchased a saw mill in 
Glover. He continued in the lumber busi- 
ness in connection with carpentering and 
the construction of buildings till 1866, and 
then purchased a general merchandise store 
in West Glover, which he carried on in con- 
nection with an extensive produce business 
for twenty-three years. During this time he 
was also engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
owning and operating farms in Glover and 
Greensboro to the amount of three hundred 
and fifty acres. In 1890 he removed to 
Greensboro where he now remains, having 
entered into partnership with J. A. Crane to 
engage in general trade, and at the same 
time continuing his farming business. 

Mr. Randall married, Sept. 13, i860, 
Eleanor R., daughter of John and Eliza A. 
(Lyman) Clark of Glover. They have one 
adopted daughter : Lila A. Tucker. 

For over a score of years he filled the 
offices of postmaster and justice of the peace 
in Glover, and was the incumbent of many 
other positions of trust and responsibility. 



For two successive terms, 18S4 and 1886, he 
represented that town in the Legislature, 
giving his services to the committees of ag- 
riculture, state prison, Bennington battle 
monument, and joint rules. Mr. Randall is 
a strong Republican, and has always labored 
for the interests of that party. During the 
war he acted as recruiting officer and filled 
out the quota required from the town. For 
many years he served on the executive com- 
mittee of the Congregational church in 
Glover, of which church he was an active 
member and a liberal supporter. 

RANDALL, George W., of Waterbury, 
son of Oliver C. and Electa (Coffin) Ran- 
dall, was born in Waterbury, Sept. 18, 1825. 




GEORGE W. RANDAuL. 



He was bereft of paternal guidance when 
five years of age and by this sad loss was 
thrown on his own resources. Having re- 
ceived such instruction as was afforded by 
the common schools of Waterbury, at the age 
of sixteen he was apprenticed for three 
vears to learn the blacksmith's trade, during 
which engagement in the intervals of labor 
he still continued his educational course and 
later at Stowe and Bakersfield academies, 
paying his expenses as he advanced. After 
teaching successfully for a short period, he 
entered the law office of Hon. Paul Dilling- 
ham of Waterbury, but, attracted by the 
newlv discovered golden wealth of California, 
he departed in August, 1849, to seek his for- 
tune in that remote quarter of the I'nion, and 



after running the gauntlet of yellow fever in 
his passage across the Isthmus of Panama 
and meeting with lively adventures at Aca- 
pulco, he finally reached San Francisco, paid 
50 cents for sleeping on a pile of shavings, 
and next day received ^55 for striking five 
hours at a blacksmith's forge. He then 
went to the mines and seventeen months 
after returned to Waterbury with S6,ooo 
worth of gold-dust. Two years later he again 
returned to California, contracted yellow fe\er 
and was the only survivor of a company of 
thirty. Mr. Randall's health did not permit 
him to remain, and again returning to his 
native state he has since been engaged in 
farming and dealing in real estate and lum- 
ber. Besides being possessed of large tracts 
of timber land, he owns and operates saw- 
mills both in Bolton and Waterbury. 

Mr. Randall is a Republican and has been 
repeatedly called upon to serve the town in 
almost every official capacity. As a mem- 
ber of the Legislature in 1872 he was influ- 
ential in securing appropriations for the re- 
form school, and in 1S82, while again serv- 
ing in the House, he was a member of the 
committee on railroads. Washington county 
elected him in 1890 to the Senate and he 
did good service as a member of the com- 
mittee on claims and chairman of that of the 
insane. 

Mr. Randall was married June 21, 1S54, 
to Leefie, daughter of John White, who died 
in 1874. He then was united to Bell, daugh- 
ter of Henry and Betsey (Woodward) Glea- 
son, of which union there are two children : 
Pearl, and George W., jr. 



president of the associations of the Berkshire 
County (Mass.) Teachers, of the Alumni of 
Bates College, and of other bodies. He has 
always taken great interest and an active 
part in the educational meetings held in 
Vermont under the state superintendent and 
other officials, and in 1891 was president of 
the Vermont State Teachers' .Association. 

Mr. Ranger was united in marriage, Nov. 
25, 1S79, to Mary, daughter of Capt. William 
Snowman, of Portland, Me., of whom he was 
bereft in August, 1 885. She left two children, 
neither of whom survive. July 30, 1889, he 
married Mabel, daughter of' Ira W. and 
Laura (Day) Bemis, of Lyndonville. P>y 
her he has one son. 




RANGER, Walter Eugene, of Lyndon 

Centre, son of Peter and Eliza M. (Smith) 
Ranger, was born in Wilton, Me., Nov. 22, 

1855- 

He received his early instruction in the 
public schools and Wilton Academy, was 
graduated from Bates College in 1S79, ^nd 
four years after received the degree of A. M. 
from his alma mater. During his collegiate 
course he commenced the practice of the 
profession to which he has since devoted 
himself. Commencing his career by serving 
as principal of the Nichols Latin School at 
Lewiston and of the Lenox high school at 
Lenox, Mass., in 1883 he was appointed 
principal of the Lyndon Institute, which 
position he still retains. During his admin- 
istration the number of students has been 
trebled, the standard has been raised, and 
extensive additions have been made to the 
buildings of the institute. Mr. Ranger has 
devoted some attention to newspaper writ- 
ing, done a great deal of literary work, both 
in verse and in prose, chiefly in connection 
with educational matters, and has also de- 
livered many addresses before social, religious 
and political organizations. He has been 



WALTER EUGENE RANGER. 

Mr. Ranger is a strong Republican, and 
has been delegate to both district and state 
conventions of that party. 

He fills the chair of junior warden, Cres- 
cent Lodge, No. 66, F. cSf A. M., and is 
affiliated with Haswell Chapter and Palestine 
Commandery. He is the senior past sachem 
of Wannalancet Tribe, No. 11, I. O. of R. 
M., and is D. G. S. at present for the same. 
He is an active member of a number of 
other social, fraternal, scientific and educa- 
tional organizations, both state and national. 
He is a member of the Free Baptist Church, 
and has often preached in the churches of 
Lyndon and of many other towns. 

RAYMOND, Albert C, of Stowe, son 
of .\sa and Jane (Lovejoy) Raymond, was 
born in Stowe, Feb. 10, 1842. His father is 



334 RAYMOND. 

a prominent and lifelong resident of Stowe 
and has arrived at four-score years after a 
busy and successful career. 

.\lbert C. studied in the public schools and 
in Barre Academy, then under the charge of 
Professor Spaulding. Immediately after the 
completion of his educational career in 1862 
Mr. Raymond enlisted in Company E, 13th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., and July 3, 1863, helped to 
stem the tide of Pickett's charge at Gettys- 
burg. Never absent from duty a single day, 
at his discharge he re-enlisted in the 17th 
Regt. and was in every general engagement 
from the Wilderness to Appomato.\. On 
July 26, 1864, Lieutenant Raymond was 
wounded in the face and temporarily lost the 
use of his eyes, but he rejoined his com- 
mand in October. His company in the bat- 
tle of Petersburg Mine was reduced to a cor- 
poral and eight men, and it was as captain 
of this gallant little band that the subject of 
this sketch was mustered out at the expira- 
tion of his term of service. 

On his return from these e.xciting scenes 
he determined to push his fortune in the 
West, and for eight years made his residence 
in the state of Iowa, where he engaged in 
farming. Here his children were born and 
here he had the misfortune to lose their ex- 
cellent mother. Soon after this sad event he 
returned to his native town and engaged in 
various occupations including the care and 
labor involved in a small farm, while in addi- 
tion he has given his attention to the settle- 
ment of estates and has acted as guardian 
and trustee. 

He married, June 11, 1865, Priscilla, 
daughter of John and Louisa (Town) Moody 
of Stowe. Their union was blessed with three 
children : Louis H., Louise (Mrs. Fred Fogg 
of Enfield, N. H.), and Maud B. Mrs. Ray- 
mond died in 1872, and Mr. Raymond later 
espoused Martha, daughter of Hiram Smalley 
of Greensboro, who departed this life in 
April, 1882. Mr. Raymond's third alliance 
was contracted in 1883 with Alice, daughter 
of Medad and Patty (Miller) Hitchcock. Of 
this union three sons were issue, one of 
whom, Paul, alone survives. 

Mr. Raymond for many years has dis- 
charged the duties of selectman and town 
clerk, was made postmaster in 1889 and still 
holds that position. He was also a member 
of the General .Assembly in 1886 and served 
on the special committee on the division of 
the town of Rutland. 

He belongs to the order of the Loyal Le- 
gion and is past commander of H. H. Smith 
Post, G. A. R., of Stowe. Thirty years since, 
he became a Free Mason, and has repeat- 
edly filled the master's chair in Mystic 
Lodge, No. 56, which hokls its communica- 
tions in his native town. 



READ, Levant Murray, of Bellows 

Falls, son of Charles and Olive C. (Willard) 
Read, was born in Wardsboro, Dec. 26, 1842. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of his native town and in Leland and Gray 
Seminary, Townshend. He then studied law 
with Hon. H. H. Wheeler, then of Jamaica, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1869, at the 
.\pril term of Windham county court. He 
began practice at Jamaica, entering in part- 
nership with Hon. Hoyt H. Wheeler. In 
1872 Mr. Read removed to Bellows Falls, 
continuing to practice his profession, and 
was elected judge of probate for Westmin- 
ster district in 1876, which office he has con- 
tinuously held to the present time. Mr. 
Read was state's attorney of Windham 
county in 1880 and 1882. 

In politics Judge Read is a staunch Re- 
publican, and while closely identified with 
the interests of his party, has been too 
busily engaged in the practice of his profes- 
sion to admit his acceptance of political 
honors at the hands of his fellow-citizens. 
He was elected to the Legislature from the 
town of Rockingham in September, 1892. 

He enlisted in Co. H, 2d Vt. Vols., 
in 1863, was in the battles of Rappahanock 
Station and Mine Run, and the bloody 
struggle of the Wilderness, in which contest 
he was wounded, and was discharged August 
20, 1865. 

He was the first commander of E. H. 
Stoughton Post, No. 34, G. A. R., and was 
afterwards twice re-elected. Also a member 
of the Mount Lebanon Lodge, F. & .A. M., 
of Jamaica, of which he was master for four 
successive terms. He was elected to the 
chair of grand master of the Grand Lodge 
in 1878, and held that eminent position till 
1 88 1. He was first dictator of the subordi- 
nate lodge of K. of H., and also grand dic- 
tator of the Grand Lodge. 

He married, Dec. 13, 1876, Sarah A., 
daughter of Jared R. and Sarah A. Perkins 
of Bellows Falls. They have one daughter : 
Mary .\lice. 

Judge Read has served upon the commit- 
tee appointed by the Supreme Court upon 
admissions to the bar, and was, in 1892, 
elected president of the Vermont Bar Asso- 
ciation. 

READ, CaRLETON W., son of Orrin and 
Julia (Powell) Read, was born in Charlotte, 
Oct. 21, 1834. He is of EngHsh lineage 
and his earliest ancestors in this country 
date back to John Read, 1598, who settled 
in Rehoboth, near Boston. His family was 
afterwards scattered, emigrating to different 
parts of the country, John Read, ancestor 
of the subject of this sketch, was related by 
marriage to Governor John Winthrop. He 
possessed a large estate, and acted as referee 



and commissioner, and was high sheriff of 
his county for several years. 

Carleton \V. Read received a common 
school education at Charlotte, and supple- 
mented this by a course of study at Bakers- 
field Academy, Bakersfield, under the tutor- 
ship of J. S. Spaulding, principal. 

Mr. Read was married at Charlotte, Oct. 
31, 1855, to Vienna M., daughter of Deacon 
Homer and Alvirah Clark. Of this union 
there were two daughters: i-ldna I. (deceas- 
ed), and Carlotta C. 

Mr. Read is a Republican and has been 
unusually honored by his town and county, 
and yet he is of a retiring disposition. He 
has always taken an acti\e part in all matters 
pertaining to the best interest of the town, 
county, and state in which he resides. In 
1882, he had the honor of a seat in the state 
Senate and acted on the committees of rail- 
roads and agriculture. He was also a dele- 
gate to the Republican national convention, 
held in Chicago, in June, 1888, and cast his 
vote for Benjamin Harrison. He has been 
town treasurer since 1884. His social and 
business connection with prominent men, 
throughout the state, as well as his extensi\e 
dealings in wool, stock, etc., make him favor- 
ably and widely known. 

He was one of the first interested in the 
Farmers' National Bank at Vergennes, having 
been a director for ten years, and is at this 
time its president. 

Mr. Read is quite liberal in all his views, 
both religious and political, believing Ameri- 
can ])eople should have free thought and a 
free ballot, thus enabling them to act upon 
their own convictions of right and wrong. 
His father's advice to him when a boy was to 
be a farmer. Therefore, he moved to Addi- 
son in 1858, and shouldered a debt of $7,000, 
on two hundred acres of land, which has been 
paid, and more property added to the orig- 
inal purchase. i\Ir. Read belie\es that farm- 
ing will pay. 

REED, Marcus L., of West Concord, 
son of Samuel S. and Louisa ( Joslin) Reed, 
was born in Kirby, Feb. 5, 1839. 

Mr. Reed received an excellent common 
school education in Kirby and Concord, to 
which town his father removed when Marcus 
was seventeen years old. As soon as he 
arrived at his majority he went to Burlington, 
where his brother was extensively engaged in 
business pursuits. Here he remained a short 
period and then returned to engage in the 
shoe trade. 

Thinking that his country had need of all 
her sons, he enlisted, Feb. 24, 1864, in Co. 
Ci, 17th Regt. Vt. Vols., which suffered 
heavier losses for its time of service than 
any other organization that left the (ireen 
Mountain state, and in its ranks fought in the 



«EEU. 335 

fierce struggle of the Wilderness, and at 
.S])ottsylvania, where he was wounded. Sent 
to Washington, he soon returned to the 
front, only to be stricken down by sickness 
while in camp at the Weldon R. R. .Again 
he was transferred to Washington and de- 
tailed to take charge of the ordnance and 
knapsack room of Harwood Hospital, Wash- 
ington, D. C, which duty he performed till 
his discharge as acting orderly in July, 1865. 
Mr. Reed was married at Concord, Sept. 
13, 1866, to i'',mily C, daughter of Theophilus 
and Hannah Chick Crout. They have two 
children ; William Livingston, and George W. 




MARCUS L. REEO. 

When he returned from the South he 
moved to (Iranby, where he occupied himself 
in farming till 1878, when he remo\ed to 
West Concord and from thence in 1886 to 
the excellent farm he now occupies. 
^While residing in (Iranby Mr. Reed was 
elected to all local offices, and represented 
that town in 1869 and 1870. In 1892 he 
was a member of the Legislature from Con- 
cord. He is an excellent presiding officer, 
a man of dignified yet genial manners and of 
excellent judgment. 

For thirty years he has belonged to the 
Masonic brotherhood. Four terms he has 
served as worshipful master of Moose River 
Lodge of West Concord and he is a Sir 
Knight of Palestine Commandery. .After 
his return from the war he also became a 
member of \\oodburv Post, G. A. R. 



33(> 



ROBERTS, Daniel, of Burlington, the 
son of Daniel and Almira Roberts, was born 
at Wallingford, May 25, 181 1. Daniel Rob- 
erts, senior, was the son of a Revolutionary 
soldier, and after serving a seven years' 
apprenticeship to the cloth dresser's trade, 
became a wandering schoolmaster, and with 
his young wife came to Wallingford, where 
be pursued his regular vocation for thirty 
years or more and then removed to Man- 
chester. Here he purchased and cultivated 
a farm. 

Both parents of the subject of this sketch 
were more than usually intelligent and noted 
for their musical ability, a talent which their 
son naturally inherits. He entered Middle- 
bury College at the age of fourteen, gradu- 
ating in the class of 1829. He then studied 
law with Hon. Harvey Button, of Walling- 
ford, and was admitted to the bar of the 
Rutland county court at the September term, 
1832. 




DANIEL ROBERTS. 

In the following November he started out 
to seek his fortune, with ninety dollars in his 
pocket, and after various adventures in New 
York and Ohio finally reached Grand Gulf 
and Natchez, Miss., in which latter place he 
was admitted to the bar on public examina- 
tion in court. After a short sojourn in New 
Orleans the young traveler took passage up 
the Mississippi on the steamer Yellowstone, 
which made an annual trip in the Indian fur 
trade. He endeavored to secure a chance 
of employment in that trade during the 
spring voyage, but was unsuccessful. His 



disappointment was his good fortune, as was 
probably his departure from New Orleans, 
for the cholera prevailed there during the 
season of 1833 and made sad havoc on the 
steamer. He then sought out and visited 
his kinsfolk in \\'inchester, 111., where he 
spent the summer of 1833 in the woods 
shooting squirrels and wild turkeys and con- 
tracting the ague as compensation. He then 
went to Jacksonville, 111., and formed a busi- 
ness connection with Murray McConnell. 
In the summer of 1S35 Mr. Roberts returned 
to his native state, in which he has resided 
ever since. He took the office and suc- 
ceeded to the business of Milo L. Bennett, 
of Manchester, afterwards a judge of the 
Supreme Court, and remained in practice 
there for twenty years, when he removed to 
Burlington, where he formed a partnership 
with Lucius E. Chittenden, afterwards regis- 
ter of the treasury. It is now more than 
sixty-one years since Mr. Roberts was ad- 
mitted to the bar, fifty-eight years of which 
period he has been in active practice in this 
state. His name first appears in the state 
reports in the case of Kimpton vs. Walker, 
9th Yt. Reports, 191, February Term, 1S37, 
and can be found in every volume from the 
ninth up to the present time. 

His earliest politics were strongly anti- 
sla\ery, and as a Liberty-party man, free soiler 
and the like, in the then prevailing state of 
public opinion, offices did not seek him ; for 
two years, however, he was bank commis- 
sioner, and from the spring of 1865 to that 
of 1866 he was a special agent of the L'nited 
States Treasury Department. In 1868 he was 
elected state's attorney for Chittenden, 
county, and during the first term of Presi- 
dent Grant's administration he was offered 
the position of solicitor of the United States 
Treasury Department, but declined the honor. 
He has served the city of Burlington as city 
attorney for three terms. Although never in 
the Legislature, Mr. Roberts has had marked 
influence in guiding the legislation of the 
state. His hand is clearly seen throughout 
the general statutes by those familiar with 
their history and development. In particu- 
lar he has been instrumental in securing by 
the statute, simplification of the ancient rules 
of criminal pleading, and enlarging the prop- 
erty rights of married women. His views 
upon law reform he developed at length in 
an address before the Vermont Bar Associa- 
tion as president thereof in 1880. Two years 
previous, under a contract made with the 
judges of the Supreme Court by authority of 
the Legislature, he completed a digest of the 
decisions of that court down to, and includ- 
ing, volume 48 of the Vermont Reports, en- 
titled "Roberts' Vermont Digest." This 
work is accepted among the profession in 
Vermont as a model digest for its terseness 



accuracy of statement and for bringing out 
the very point of the decision. In 1889 he 
published a supplement to this digest, em- 
bracing volumes 49 to 60 inclusixe. 

At the Vermont centennial celebration at 
Bennington, August 16, 1877, he was the ap- 
pointed orator of the occasion. His dis- 
course is inserted among the ])ublished pro- 
ceedings of the day, is a \aluable historical 
document and a good s])ecimen of Mr. Rob- 
erts' impressive and scholarly style. In 1879 
at the semi-centennial gathering of his college 
class he received the degree of I.. I,. 1). from 
his alma mater. 

Mr. Roberts was united in marriage, July, 
1837, to Caroline, daughter of Rev. Stephen 
Martindale, of Wallingford. She died on 
the 14th of June, 1886. Four children are 
the issue of this union : Mary, Caroline M., 
Stephen M., and Robert. 

Besides his engagements in the U. S. Cir- 
cuit Court, the practice of Mr. Roberts has 
been mainly in the counties of Chittenden, 
Rutland, Addison and Bennington. Among 
the criminal cases in which he has appeared 
which possess some dramatic interest or 
involve some intricate principle of the law, 
may be named that of the State vs. .Archi- 
bald Bates, Bennington county. Mr. Rob- 
erts and Harmon Canfield were assigned by 
Chief Justice Williams to defend Bates for 
the crime of murdering his brother's wife. 
In spite of their strenuous efforts the jury 
brought in a verdict of guilty, and Bates was 
hung on Bennington Hill on the 8th of Feb- 
ruary, 1839. This was the last public execu- 
tion in S'ermont. Since that time all 
executions have been within the walls of 
the state prison. Mr. Roberts has said of 
this trial that, although he defended the pris- 
oner with all the earnestness possible, he 
never spoke to him before, during, or after 
the proceedings, nor even went to see him 
hung. State vs. McDonald, 3 2d Vt. Reports, 
491, is a leading case involving the law of 
homicide. Mr. Roberts' brief in the case is 
particularly pointed and, as well as the opin- 
ion of Chief Justice Redfield, is worth study. 
On a second trial McDonald was very prop- 
erly convicted of manslaughter and sentenced 
to state's prison for life, where during his 
confinement he died of consumption. Such 
of the ci\il causes in which Mr. Roberts has 
been engaged as have been sent to the 
Supreme Court are to be found scattered 
through nearly sixty volumes of the state 
reports. He still continues busily engaged 
in his professional labors. 

ROBERTS, Ellis G., of Fair Haven, 
son of Robert and Janette (Griffith) Roberts, 
was born in Bontnewydd near Carnar\on, 
North Wales, August 25, 1850. 



ROBERTS. ^^-j 

F.ducated in National and British schools 
of that country he came to America in 1873, 
settled in Scranton, I'a., being associated 
with a prominent physician in a drug store. 
Returning to Wales in 1878, he entered the 
Royal University, Belfast, Ireland, as an 
undergraduate, studying medicine and sur- 
gery during the years i878,-'79-'8o. Return- 
ing to .\merica in 1883, he entered the Uni- 
\ersity of Pennsylvania, graduating in the 
course of medicine and surgery, in May, 1 884. 

Engaging in the practice of his profession 




in Fair Haven, immediately after, he has ac- 
quired a large and successful practice and is 
well known as a genial associate and a phy- 
sician of sterling ability and character. He 
was appointed health officer in 1891, which 
position he now holds, and is the accredited 
medical examiner of all the leading life 
insurance associations. He has tra\eled 
extensively in this and foreign countries. 

In politics a staunch Republican, he is 
active in all that pertains to the welfare of the 
state and nation. 

He is a member of the Presbyterian church ; 
Eureka Lodge No. 75, F. & A. M. ; of 
Poultney Chapter, No. 10, R. A. M. : Killing- 
ton Commandry, No. 6, Rutland ; Noble of 
Mt. Sinai Temple .■\. .\. O. N. S., Montpelier, 
and various other organizations. 

He was married to Jennie, daughter of 
F\an D. and Winifred Humjjhrey, at Fair 
Haven, .April 18, 18S9. 



338 



ROBERTSON. 



ROBERTSON. 



ROBERTS, Elbert James, of jackson- 

sonville, son of Benjamin Franklin and Cor- 
sanda ( Brown ) Roberts, was born in Whit- 
ingham, May 9, 1866. He belongs to a 
family of purest New England stock, and one 
long and honorably connected with the town, 
being a great-grandson of the Hon. James 
Roberts, who was one of its original settlers. 

His education was acquired in the schools of 
Jacksonville, and from three years attendance 
at Arms Academy, Shelburne Falls, Mass. 
For a while after leaving this institution he 
taught school, but soon entered the employ- 
ment of \V. A. Brown as a clerk in his store 
at Jacksonville. In the fall of 1889 Mr. 
Roberts started for himself purchasing the 
Porter grist and saw mill, where he has done 
a prosperous and flourishing trade. To this 
occupation he has added a widely spread 
traffic in fertilizers, all kinds of farming im- 
plements and machinery, and also conducts 
a large business in vehicles and a livery 
stable. He is, besides, a speculator to a 
considerable extent in wool and all kinds of 
live stock. 

He was united in marriage, March 11, 
1891, to Clara, daughter of J. W. Sawyer of 
Sadawga. Mr. Roberts is an active Demo- 
crat and most loyal to his party. He takes 
a very active interest in all village, town and 
county affairs. For three years he has been 
the first constable of his town, and has acted 
as the treasurer of the North River Manu- 
facturing Co. 

He belongs to the Universalist church, 
and has also joined the Masonic fraternity, 
being an active member of Unity Lodge, 
No. 89, of Jacksonville. 

ROBERTSON, JOHN, of Bellows Falls, 
son of William and Christian (Ross) Rob- 
ertson, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 
Oct. 4, 1824. The parents of Mr. Robert- 
son came from Scotland and settled and for 
a time lived in Putney, but afterward re- 
moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they 
remained about three years. When he was 
about a year old his parents returned to Put- 
ney, where his father engaged in the manu- 
facture of paper. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of Putney and in the larger school of life, 
which so eminently qualifies men for its 
duties and responsibilities. He entered upon 
the paper maker's trade with his father at an 
early age, and by hard work and diligent 
study acquired a thorough knowledge of the 
methods and management of the business 
and was fully qualified for his after life. At 
the age of eighteen he was given his time, 
and, in connection with a brother, began the 
manufacture of paper on his own account in 
Putney. In 1872 he began business in Bel- 
lows Falls, under the firm name of Rob- 



ertson, Moore & Co. In 1882 this co- 
partnership was dissolved and the firm of 
John Robertson & Son was formed and con- 
tinues to the present time. In 18S2 their 
spacious factory which they now occupy was 
built. The same year he moved to Bellows 
F'alls, still continuing to hold a large interest 
in the Putney mills in addition to the Bel- 
lows Falls concern. 

Mr. Robertson is a consistent advocate of 
Republican principles, and was elected reji- 
resentative to the General Court from Putney 
in 1867 and 1868, serving on the committee 
of manufacturing and corporations. Upon 
his becoming eligible in 1884, he was chosen 
by his fellow-citizens of Rockingham to re]i- 
resent them in the Legislature. 



•1% 



^.gpKB** ^ 




JOHN ROBERTSON. 

Mr. Robertson is a member of the Golden 
Rule Lodge, F. & A. M., and has filled the 
offices of J. W., S. AV. and Master, and is a 
firm believer in the principles of the order. 

He was married, Oct. 5, 1846, to Nancy 
J., daughter of James and Mary (Smith) 
Black. Of this union were ; Mary C., Charles 
E., Helen C. (deceased), Jennie M., and 
Jennie C. (deceased). Mrs. Robertson died 
August 15, 1886. On Oct. 10, 1888, he was 
again married, to Stella M., daughter of 
Thomas and Mary (Chilson) Dana. One 
child, Marion D., was born to them. Mrs. 
Robertson died June 11, 1892. 

ROBERTSON, WILLIAM, of Putney, son 
of George and Margaret (Benson) Robertson, 
was born in Hartford, Conn., June 15, 1822. 



ROBERTSON. 

His jiarents moved to Putney in 1823, 
-where he received his early ethication. After 
locating in Putney his father formed a 
partnership with his brother for the manu- 
facture of writing paper, which continued 
until 1828, when he put u]) a mill in the vil- 
lage for the manufacture of the same by 
hand. No sooner was this completed than 
a freshet carried it away but he soon erected 
a new mill and operated it until 1837, when 
he commenced the manufacture of straw 




ROBINSON. 339 

He is a prominent Mason, belonging to 
the (lolden Rule Lodge, of Putney, and the 
Brattleboro Commandery and Chapter. 

ROBINSON, George Wardsworth, 

late of Bennington, son of Cajn. Heman 
and Betsey (Wardsworth) Robinson, was 
born in Bennington Centre, Jan. 14, 181 9. 
Grandson of Cen. David Robinson, w^ho took 
part in the battle of Bennington. He was 
educated in the public schools and academy 
of Bennington, and when he arrived at man's 
estate he took his departure for New York 
City, where he was emjiloyed as a clerk in a 
carpet store, but at the solicitation of his 
grandfather returned to Bennington in 1843, 
taking charge of the general's estate. Later 
he became proprietor of the Walloomsac 
House, and was also employed as an 
auctioneer. 

Politically Mr. Robinson was a Democrat 
and was formerly postmaster at Bennington 
Centre. He was a charter memlier and the 
first president of the Bennington Historical 
Society, to which he devoted much time and 




ROBERTSON. 



paper, young Robertson working with him 
until 1840 w^hen on account of serious re- 
verses hisfatherandhefailed. Young Robert- 
son without a dollar bought the mill and fol- 
lowed the business until 1865, when he began 
the manufacture of tissue paper with fresh 
machinery and a new mill and is now carry- 
ing on the business. 

At the time of the St. Albans raid the state 
militia was organized and Mr. Robertson was 
made captain of Co. B. This force was 
maintained for several years, but was never 
called on for service. 

Captain Robertson is a Republican and 
has represented his town in the Legislature, 
doing creditable service in that body. 

Captain Robertson was married in Mont- 
pelier, Oct. 2, 1834, to ,\bbie .\., daughter of 
Dr. Amore and .Abigail (Drown) Benson, of 
Landgrove. Of this union are three chil- 
■dren : Frederick E., Frank M., and Helen. 




GEORGE WARDSWORTH ROBINSON. 

labor. He was also much interested in tlie 
erection of the Bennington battle monument, 
and he is the fortunate possessor of a very 
fine collection of relics relating to the battle 
which are of much historical interest. 

Mr. Robinson was united in marriage, 
.Vjiril 8, 1840, to Jane L., daughter of Joseph 
X. Hinsdill, of Hinsdillville. To them nine 
children were born : David, Mrs. Fannie 



340 ROBINSON. 

Harrison of San Francisco, Chester H., 
Heman, Agnes J., Sarah Fay (Mrs. Samuel 
B. Hall), Carrie H., Jennie E., and George A. 

ROBINSON, John C, of Jamaica, son 
of John P. and Mary R. (Cheney) Robin- 
son, was born in Jamaica, Sept. 12, 1840. 

He pursued the usual educational course 
in the common schools of his native town, 
and supplemented this by study at the Ice- 
land and (iray Seminary at Townshend and 
the Methodist Seminary of Springfield. 

.\fter leaving school, at the age of twenty, 
he opened a photographer's establishment, 
in which he was employed for five years ; he 
then closed out his business and gave his 
services to the West River National Bank of 
Jamaica as teller, remaining there until 1875. 
He was elected treasurer of the Jamaica Sav- 
ings Bank in 1S73 and has since held that 







position. When the charter of the national 
bank expired in 1885 the savings bank 
bought its building and has since carried on 
a business which has greatly prospered under 
the able management of Mr. Robinson. 

Mr. Robinson was wedded June 10, 1878, 
to Ella J., daughter of John and Maria 
(Stowell) Cheney. Four children have been 
born to them : John S., Carroll C. (who was 
a messenger in the Legislature of T892 ), Roe 
E., and Mary, all of whom are living. 

He has been the incumbent of several 
official positions, was made collector of taxes 
in 18S2, and was superintendent of schools 



for several years ; also justice of the peace, 
town agent and town grand juror. 

Mr. Robinson is a Republican and was 
postmaster from 1877 to 1885, and in 1892 
he was elected to represent Jamaica in the 
General Assembly. 

ROGERS, Nathaniel Sewall, of New- 
port, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Smith) 
Rogers, was born in Moultonboro, N. H., 
June 7, 1840. When he was five years of 
age his father moved to Newport Centre, 
where he commenced to clear and cultivate 
a farm, in the labor of which his son assisted, 
while pursuing his studies at the public 
schools. The father, at the age of fifty- 
seven, entered the army Oct. i, 1862, in Co. 
H, 15th Regt. Vt. Vols., fighting in defence 
of the Union. On ^[arch g, 1S63, was taken 
prisoner by Mosby, at the time General 
Stoughton was taken, and confined in Libby 
Prison and finally exchanged, when he re- 
turned to his home completely broken in 
health. 

During this period the subject of this 
sketch took his father's place, supporting the 
family during his absence, .\fter his father's 
return, prompted by a conscientious desire 
to serve his country ( having been prevented 
up to this time by illness), he enlisted Sept. 
15, 1S63, as a private in Battery M, ist Vt. 
Heavy Artillery. Having been mustered 
into service in Brattleboro, Mr. Rogers first 
sen'ed in the defences of Washington, and 
subsequently, in the battle of Spottsylvania, 
was the first man wounded in his regiment, 
in consequence of which disaster he lost his 
right leg, and was discharged from the Mont- 
pelier Hospital Sept. 14, 1865. 

At the conclusion of the war he returned 
to Newport Centre, and, having previously 
purchased his father's farm, continued to 
carry it on till the death of his parents. In 
1880 he moved to his present village resi- 
dence. 

He was naturally a Republican, and as 
such has held many positions of trust. Was 
justice of the peace for fourteen years ; and 
in September, 1892, was elected assistant 
judge of Orleans county. 

judge Rogers was united in marriage 
Sept. 25, 1866, to Mary E., daughter of 
Rufus and Philinda (Oaks) Whipple of 
Newport Centre. Three children were the 
issue of this marriage : Elmer C, Ernest 
S., and Jennie G. 

judge Rogers has been adjutant, chaplain, 
and commander of T. B. .Alexander Post, 
No. 26, G. A. R., and for the past year held 
the office of assistant inspector department 
Vt. G. A. R. He has been connected with 
the executive committee, and teacher and 
member in the Sunday school of the Free 



Will Baptist .Church, with which he united 
at the age of nineteen years. 

ROONEY, Michael F., of Mendon, 

son of Thomas and Ellen (McLaughlin) 
Rooney, was born in West Rutland, Dec. 27, 
1863. 




payment bill, which measure became a law 
of the state. He was largely influential on 
the committees on highways and bridges. 
Two years afterward he again received the 
same compliment, though ojjposed by one 
of the strongest and ablest Republicans of 
the town. In this Legislature he also dis- 
played the same vigor as at first, doing duty 
again on the same committees as before. 

In his religious preferences Mr. Rooney 
is a Catholic, but he has always been a 
hearty and liberal supporter of all Christian 
institutions. 

ROOT, Henry Green, of Bennington, 
son of Klisha and Betsey (Moseley) Root, 
was born in flreenfield, Mass., Sept. nS, 
iSiS. 

His early education was received in the 
public schools of Greenfield, and this was 
supplemented by a course of study at Fellen- 
burg and Deerfield academies. 

At the age of seventeen he entered the 
employ of Boynton & Whitcomb, atTem])le- 
ton, Mass., to learn the manufacture of tin- 
ware. Four years later he formed a partner- 
shii.) with Luther R. Graves and soon after 



Receiving his early education in the pub- 
lic and private schools of West Rutland and 
Clarendon, he has later devoted much at- 
tention to study and reading, especially in 
matters relating to state legislation. In 
1888 he settled in the town of Mendon, 
■where he engaged in farming and lumber- 
ing. His business has steadily increased in 
magnitude and prosperity, and he is now 
running a steam saw mill, which employs a 
large force of hands. Though yet a young 
man and living in a rural community, he has 
met with unusual success financially and po- 
litically. 

A Democrat in political faith, and a resi- 
dent of a strongly Re]iublican town, he has 
been the recijiient of many responsible posi- 
tions at the hands of his fellow-citizens, and 
has always discharged these trusts with 
credit to himself and satisfaction to his con- 
stituents. In 1890 he was elected the rep- 
resentative from Mendon, an ample proof of 
his popularity and the high esteem in which 
he is held by all his friends and neighbors. 
In his first legislative experience he showed 
himself an active and conservative member 
of the House, securing an ap])ropriation for 
his town, also introducing the fortnightly 




thev established themselves in Bennington, 
imder the firm name of Graves & Root, which 
firm existed more than fifty years, and for 
many years they were the largest producers 
of tinware in Vermont. They established 
the second National bank in Vermont, of 
which Mr. Gra\es was president, and Mr. 



342 



Root \ ice-president, which offices they hold 
at the present time. 

He was a director of the board of the Ben- 
nington Battle Monument Association, and 
chairman of the executi\e committee at the 
centennial celebration at that place. 

He has been for more than thirty years a 
director of the Vermont State Agricultural 
Society, serving three years as its president. 

Formerly a whig he is now a staunch ad- 
herent of the Republican party, was for se\- 
eral years member and chairman of the state 
committee and represented Bennington in 
the Legislature in 1850 and 1857. In i860, 
as elector at large, he voted for Abraham 
Lincoln, and six years later he served two 
successive terms as senator from Bennington 
county. 

Since 1857 he has been a member of the 
Congregational church, of which for several 
years he has been a trustee. 

Mr. Root married, Dec. 23, 1846, Cath- 
erine L., daughter of Samuel H. and Sylvia 
(Squires) Blackmer, of Bennington, who 
died in September, 1887. Two children 
were the fruit of the union : Samuel H., and 
Catherine K. (Mrs. William A. Root). On 
Ian. 23, 1889, Mr. Root married Mary A., 
daughter of Dr. Nathan and Esther (Conkey ) 
(;ale, of Orwell. 

ROPES, Arthur, of Montpelier, son of 
George and Miriam (Johnson) Ropes, was 
born in Newbury May 5, 1837. 

He obtained his early educational train- 
ing in the common schools and St. Johns- 
bury Academy, and was for a time a member 
of the class of 1864 in Dartmouth College. 
He became a teacher in the common schools 
of Vermont, then was assistant in St. Johns- 
bury Academy and afterwards promoted to 
be the principal of the high school of that 
village. Impaired health induced him to 
spend a year in outdoor life in the Lake Su- 
perior region. He then gave his attention 
to business affairs and was employed as tel- 
ler in the Passumpsic National Bank, which 
he quitted to become the cashier of the 
Northfield National Bank of Northfield. He 
next engaged in manufacturing at Waterbury 
and Montpelier and in 1880 he entered the 
business office of, and soon became a writer 
upon the editorial staff of the Vermont 
Watchman. During Mr. Prescott's owner- 
ship of the Watchman Mr. Ropes was its ac- 
tive editor. In 18S6 he began the publica- 
tion of the Rural ^'ermonter at Montpelier, 
and in 1888 his enterprise and energy dis- 
played itself in the formation of an associa- 
tion of business men in Montpelier and 
Washington county, entitled the Watchman 
Publishing Co., for the purpose of purchas- 
ing the Watchman and uniting with it the 
A'ermonter. This was accomplished and 



Mr. Ropes has since filled the editorial chair 
of the Watchman and is the business mana- 
ger of the company, of which he is a direc- 
tor and the clerk. 

Though a Republican he holds no politi- 
cal office and his ambition does not run in 
that direction, but in that of conducting a 
newspaper influential in advancing the ma- 
terial and moral welfare of the people of the 
state. 




ARTHUR ROPES. 

Mr. Ropes was married June 28, 1864, tO' 
Mary J., daughter of George \\'. and Char- 
lotte (McNider) Hutchins. They have twO' 
daughters : Charlotte, and Laura L. 

ROSS, JONATHAN, son of Royal and 
Eliza (Mason) Ross, was born April 30,. 
1826, at Waterford. Jonathan Ross, the 
grandfather of the judge, moved from Massa- 
chusetts to Waterford in or about the year 
1795. There he cleared away the forest and 
cultivated a farm on which he supported 
himself, wife and family of six children, of 
whom Royal, the father of the subject of this 
sketch, was the second son. 

Jonathan Ross received the excellent ed- 
ucation ordinarily imparted in the common- 
schools of Vermont, and fitted for college in 
the academy at St. Johnsbury. Matriculating 
at Dartmouth College in 1847, he graduated 
from that institution in 1851. 

L'p to the close of his twenty-first year 
Mr. Ross had a practical acquaintance with 
agricultural labor on his father's farm. His 
summers were occupied in the cultivation 



343 



of its acres, and his winters, between the 
ages of eighteen and twenty-five, in teaching 
'n the pubHc schools of Vermont, New 
Hampshire, and Massachusetts. In this 
pursuit he achieved unusual and decided 
success. 

.After graduating from college he taught in 
Craftsbury, and was principal of the academy 
at Chelsea. While residing in the latter 
town he studied law in the office of Judge 
William Hebard, and was admitted to the 
bar of Orange county Jan. i8, 1856. 

In 1S56 Mr. Ross contracted a legal co- 
partnership with A. J. Willard, Ksq., of St. 
Johnsbury, which continued for nearly two 
years. After that he practiced by himself 
until 1865, when he was associated with G. 
.\. Burbank, Esq. This connection lasted 
for twehe months, and was succeeded in 
i86g by partnership with Mr. \\'. P. Smith. 
The latter relation existed until the follow- 
ing year, in which Mr. Ross was elected a 
judge of the Supreme Court. 

Judge Ross has taken an active and influ- 
ential part in the public affairs of Vermont. 
From 1858 to 1868 he was treasurer of 
the Passumpsic Savings Bank. Under his 
fiduciary management the corporation never 
lost a dollar. In i862-'63 he was state's 
attorney for Caledonia county. In 1S65, 
1866, and 1867 he was sent to the Legisla- 
ture as the representative of St. Johnsbury, 
and served effectively on the judiciary and 
other committees. He was for some years 
before 1870 an active and influential mem- 
ber of the state board of education. In 
1869 he was a member of the last Council 
of Censors held in the state. In 1870 he 
was returned by Caledonia county to the 
state Senate, and in the same year was 
elected sixth assistant judge of the Supreme 
Court. In 1890 he was elected chief judge 
of the Supreme Court, which position he 
now worthily fills. 

Mr. Ross was married on the 22d of No- 
vember, 1852, to Eliza Ann, daughter of 
Isaiah and Caroline (Bugbee) Carpenter. 
Eight children were born to them : Caroline 
C, I'>lizabeth, Helen (deceased), Julia (Mrs. 
Yh. Aldrich, of Somerville, Mass.), Martha, 
Edith, Edward Harlan, and John. Mrs'. Ross, 
who was a sister of Judge .-Monzo P. Carpenter 
of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, died 
some years since, and Judge Ross married 
for his second wife. Miss Helen Daggett. 

ROWELL, George Barker, of Bar- 
ton Landing, son of .Adoniram Judson and 
Lucy A. (Richardson) Rowell, was born in 
North Troy, March 30, 1846. 

After the usual course of instruction in the 
common schools, his educational training 
was pursued in the Missisquoi Valley and St. 
lohnsburv .Academies, and subsecpiently he 



graduated from the liurlington Medical Col- 
lege, June, 1872, as a practitioner of the 
homoeopathic school. For some time he 
was em])loyed as a teacher in the Richford 
graded and public schools, but soon after his 
graduation commenced the practice of his 
profession in his native town. He removed 
to Irasburg in 1873, where he continued in 
the same occupation till 1891, when he 
came to Barton's Landing. Here he be- 
came a general dealer in horses, cattle, wag- 
ons and other articles. In connection with 
a partner he purchased a large farm at Iras- 
burg. 

During the war Mr. Rowell served as a 
clerk in the quartermaster's department un- 
der Captain Dunton, at City I'oint, Va., in 
1864. For four years he discharged the 
duties of town superintendent of Irasburg. 

In his political creed he inclines to the 
principles of the Republican party and is a 
Congregationalist with respect to his relig- 
ious preferences. 

He is a master Mason in good standing 
and unites with Missisciuoi Lodge, No. 9, at 
Richford. 

He was united in wedlock Jan. i, 1873, to 
Isadore, daughter of Daniel and Susan (Per- 
kins) Darling of Masonville, P. <■)■, who died 
August 20, 1876. Mr. Rowell contracted a 
second alliance Sept. i, 1891, with Etta, 
daughter of Hugh and Jennie (Rowan) 
Grant of Pembroke, Ont., the fruit of which 
union is one son : Hugh Grant. 

ROWELL, JOHN W.,of Randolph, was 
born in Lebanon, X. H., June 9, 1835.; 

The early education of Judge Rowell was 
received in the common schools and at the 
West Randolph .Academy. There he was 
thoroughly prepared for admission to college 
a year in advance. Circumstances, however, 
conspired to prevent his graduation. Choos- 
ing the profession of law, he entered in 
i8'56 upon its study in the office of Jefferson 
P. Kidder, ex- Lieutenant Governor of Ver- 
mont, afterwards one of the judges of the 
Supreme Court of Dakota, and a delegate 
to Congress from that territory. From 1857 
to the winter of 1858 he studied in the office 
of judge Edmund Weston, and also attended 
a course of lectures in the law college es- 
tablished by Judge Hayden and other gen- 
tlemen at Poland'', Ohio. At the June term 
in 1858 he was admitted to the bar of 
Orange county. Mr. Rowell at once asso- 
ciated himself in partnership with Judge 
John B. Hutchinson. This connection con- 
tinued until the latter part of 1859, when 
Judge Hutchinson accepted the position of 
cashier of the Northfield Bank, which he 
held until 1861. He then returned to Ran- 
dolph and again entered into partnership 
with his old business associate. 'I'his new 



344 



relation lasted until iS66, when it was dis- 
solved by reason of the ill-health of Judge 
Hutchinson. Mr. Rowell removed to Chi- 
cago in February, 1870, and entered into 
business connection with John Hutchinson, 
formerly U. S. Consul at Nice. In Septem- 
ber, 1S71, he returned to Randolph, re- 
sumed legal practice in his old home, and 
has since made it his permanent residence. 

During the legislative sessions of 1861 and 
1862, Mr. Rowell represented Randolph in 
the General Assembly, and was distinguished 
as the youngest member, except one, of the 
House. He served both sessions upon the 
judiciary committee. He also rendered ex- 
cellent service on other committees. In 
1862 and 1863 he efficiently filled the office 
of state's attorney for Orange county. 

In 1874 he was elected a state senator 
from Orange county and served as chairman 
of the committee on the asylum for the insane 
and also on the committee on the judiciary. 
From 1872 he was for eight years reporter of 
the decisions of the Supreme Court. Mr. 
Rowell had by his learning in the law and 
his great skill in active practice become one 
of the leaders of the Vermont bar when Gov- 
ernor Farnham, fan. 11, 1882, appointed him 
sixth assistant judge of the Supreme Court. 
The appointment was to fill a \acancy on the 
bench occasioned by the promotions conse- 
quent on the death of Chief Judge Pierpoint. 
Judge Rowell now holds the position of 
second assistant judge of the Supreme Court. 

Judge Rowell was formerly a director of 
the Northfield Bank, and has been a director 
and vice-president of the Randolph National 
Bank since its'organization. 

He was married on the ist of August, 1858, 
to Mary L., daughter of Rev. Leonard and 
Hannah (Gilman) \\'heeler, of Randolph. 

ROYCE, George Edmund, of Rut- 
land, son of Alpheus and Harriet (Moore) 
Royce, was born in Orwell, Jan. t, 1829. He 
is the seventh in lineal descent from Deacon 
Edmund Rice, who emigrated to America 
from Birkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England, 
in 1638, and settled in Sudbury, Mass. His 
great-grandfather, .\donijah Rice, was the 
first white child born in Worcester, Mass., 
and here resided until the latter part of his 
life when he moved to Bridport. He served 
in several campaigns in the old French and 
Indian war, and was one of the celebrated 
band of scouts known as Rogers' Rangers. 
His grandfather, Jonas Rice, held a commis- 
sion as first lieutenant in the regular army 
under General Washington, was present at 
the crossing of the Delaware, the battles of 
Trenton and Princeton, and shared in the 
misery and privations of Valley Forge. At 
the close of the war he settled in Orwell and 
was united in marriage to Elizabeth Carver, 



a direct descendant of John Carver, first 
(Governor of Plymouth Colony. His father, 
Alpheus Royce, bore the name of his ances- 
tors until middle life, when he changed the 
orthography of the appellative to Royce, al- 
leging as his reason for the alteration that 
the family of Rice was becoming too numer- 
ous and would soon be likely to outnumber 
the Smiths. 

(ieorge Edmund Royce received his edu- 
cation in the public schools, followed by two 
terms at the Troy Conference Academy. .As- 
sisting his father in the labor of the farm 
until the age of nineteen, he was then em- 
ployed in the store of John Simonds as clerk 
at Watch Point, Shoreham, where he re- 
mained two years. From there he removed 
to New York in 1850 and labored for one 
year as salesman for Dibble, Frink & Co., 
wholesale dry goods dealers, then gave his 



■wW* T^'^V 




3EORGE EDMU 



services to Lathrop, Ludington & Co., who 
were in the same line of business, and with 
whom he remained about seven years. In 
1S59 he, with others, organized the firm of 
Robbins, Royce & Hard, wholesale dry 
goods dealers, and two years after the con- 
cern was changed to Robbins, Royce & 
Acker, which arrangement continued until 
Jan. I, 1S64, when, although the business 
was very successful and satisfactory, the 
partnership was dissolved on account of the 
failing health of Mr. Royce and he removed 
to Rutland, where he still resides. In 1865 
he became interested in the ^\■ardvvell stone 



345 



channelling machine, which resulted in the 
formation of the Steam Stone Cutter Co., of 
which corporation he became and has con- 
tinued one of the trustees and treasurer, also 
being its general manager. 

Mr. Royce was first married to Meriam 
E., daughter of Samuel and Eliza I\I. (Bot- 
tom) Brewer, of Orwell, Feb. 5, 1857 ; she 
died March 2, 1S66 ; he then wedded Mar- 
tha A. Brewer, sister of his first wife, Sept. 6, 
1866 ; he contracted a third alliance with 
Ellen C. White, of Orwell, Nov. 4, 1875. His 
children by his first wife were : Fannie E. 
(Mrs. Charles N. Drowne), George B., Julia 
M. (died in infancy), Kate M. (Mrs. C. H. 
Hyde, of Rutland). By his second wife he 
had : Jane M., Robert S. (died, in Naples, 
Italy, Jan. 27, 1890), Julia E. (Mrs. Freder- 
ick Forest Dowlin, of North Adams, Mass. ; 
died Oct. 13, 1893). From his last mar- 
riage there are issue : Edmund W., Thomas 
I., Pauline M., Albert A., Henry M., Richard 
H., and John C. 

Mr. Royce was one of the original incor- 
porators and directors of the True Blue 
Marble Co., and since 1887 has been its 
treasurer and manager. Since the organiza- 
tion of the Baxter National Bank he has also 
been a director of that institution. 

He is a Democrat in his political prefer- 
ences and a bi-nietalist, and has five times 
been elected to the position of selectman in 
the town of Rutland, besides holding many 
other local offices. He has large real estate 
interests in Rutland and the West. He is a 
Universalist in his religious creed, and 
one of the trustees of St. Paul's church, Rut- 
land, and a sustaining member of the Y. M. 
C.A. 

RUGG, David Fletcher, of Hartland, 

son of William \\'. and Rachel (Dodge) Rugg, 
was born in Londonderry, Dec. 15, 1852. 

He received his education at the West 
River, Chester and Black River Academies, 
and from the early age of fifteen was a 
teacher during the winter terms in the 
schools of Winhall, Shaftsbury, Ludlow and 
Weathersfield. While thus engaged he still 
found time to pursue the study of medicine, 
to which profession he had resolved to de- 
vote the labors of his life. Commencing his 
researches in the office of Dr. W. F. Eddy, 
of Londonderry, he became a student in the 
medical department of U. V. M., and after- 
wards entered the same department of Dart- 
mouth College, and finally graduated from 
the U. V. M., 1876, as valedictorian. He 
received the faculty prize for best thesis. 
In the same year he took up his abode in 
Hartland, and, occupied in practicing his 
profession, has continued to make this town 
his residence. 



Dr. Rugg was united in marriage, Dec. 
28, 1 88 1, to Julia A., daughter of Albert D. 
and Sarah (C.oddard) Hagar. One child 
has been born to them ; Harold Goddard. 

.•\n active Republican, Dr. Rugg has been 
for years a member of the town committee. 
He has been chairman of the State Board of 
Censors, town superintendent of schools, and 
also served on the County School Board. 
For manv vears he has been a member of 




the I. O. O. F., and he is enrolled in the 
Aermont Medical Society, of which he was 
vice-president in 1883, and in the American 
Medical Association, White River Valley and 
Connecticut River \'alley Societies. He was 
also a member of the Ninth International 
Congress of Physicians, held at Washington, 
D. C., in 1SS7.' 

RUSSELL, Chandler Miller, of Wil- 
mington, son of Jordan H. and Harriet L. 
(Partridge) Russell, was born in Wilming- 
ton, Dec. 7, 1842. 

His earlv education was received in the 
public schools and he fitted for college at 
Wesleyan Academy, graduating in 1865. 

In 1862, while pursuing his academic 
course, he returned to his native state and 
enlisted in Co. F, i6th Vt. \ols., and partici- 
pated with this regiment in the batde of 
Gettysburg, being mustered out of service 
August 10, 1863. 

Subsequently he creditably filled the posi- 
tion of principal of the \Vilmington high 
school, and in 1867 engaged in mercantile 



346 



business in that town, which pursuit he fol- 
lowed until 1878. Three years later Mr. 
Russell again resumed the profession of 
teaching, and in 1882 entered the National 
College of Elocution and Oratory at Phila- 
delphia, graduating in 18S4. In connection 
with Mrs. Russell he then traveled through 
New England and New York, giving public 
readings, which were received with marked 
favor. For the last six years Mr. Russell 
has traveled extensively, lecturing upon pop- 
ular subjects, in which enterprise he has 
been unusually successful. 




He was united in marriage in June, 1877, 
to Gertrude E., daughter of Lorenzo and 
Beulah (Blanchard) Bowen of Readsboro. 
Of this union one child was born : Blanche 
Leone. 

Mr. Russell was one of the incorporators 
of the Mount Vernon Institute of Elocution 
and Languages of Philadelphia, and at pres- 
ent holds the position of director. He has 
held many important local offices, always 
discharging faithfully and conscientiously 
the trusts reposed in him. In 1891 he was 
elected a councillor of the American Insti- 
tute of Civics, New York City. He is a 
frequent contributor to the columns of vari- 
ous newspapers and periodicals, and is now 
collecting material for a history of the 1 6th 
Vermont Regiment, and, with the aid of an 
excellent private library and his own per- 
sonal endeavor, keeps well informed with 
rearard to all matters of current interest. 



For nearly thirty years Mr. Russell has 
been a Free Mason, holding various honora- 
ble positions in the order, and he is promi- 
nent in the G. A. R. 

He is the manager of an extensive insur- 
ance business, but still devotes some time to 
filling engagements on the platform. 

RUSSELL, George Kendal, of Bel- 
lows Falls, son of \\'illard and Abigail E. 
( Ward) Russell, was born in Cabot, .April 1 1, 
1841. 

Having received his early education at the 
common schools and the Franklin (N. H.) 
Academy, he moved with his parents to Law- 
rence, Mass., and from thence to Exeter, N. 
H., where he engaged in the manufacture of 
paper with his father, commencing his busi- 
ness career at the early age of seventeen. 

Like so many of our youth, he felt the 
martial ardor of the time and in 1862 enlisted 
in Co. E, 15th N. H. Regt., and served till 
that organization was mustered out of service. 
In 1870, he purchased the interest of his 
father in the Exeter mill and continued by 
himself till 1873, when he disposed of the prop- 
erty and removed to Bellows Falls, where he 
again entered into a business connection with 
his father, buying a paper mill which the firm 
operated till 1879, when, the father selling 
his interest to the son, the latter erected a 
pulp mill. Twelve years afterwards he sold 
this to the Fall Mountain Paper Co., and, 
after disposing of his other manufacturing 
property to the Robertson & Coy Paper Co., 
retired from active business life. 

Always a Republican he held many official 
positions in the towns of Brentwood, N. H., 
and Exeter, and has also devoted much time 
to Free Masonry, being a member of King 
Solomon's Lodge, No. 45, of Bellows Falls, 
Abenaqui Chapter, and Beauseant Com- 
mandery, of Brattleboro, while his name is on 
the roll of Mt. Kilborn Lodge, K. of H., and 
E. H. Stoughton Post, No. 34, G. A. R. 

Mr. Russell, Nov. 9, 1863, espoused Annie 
A., daughter of Mark and Elizabeth ( Flagg) 
Colbath. Of this union there are three living 
children : WillardT., Lizzie \\'., and Grace L. 

RUSSELL, Julius W., of Burhngton, 
son of William P. and Lydia (Miner) Rus- 
sell, was born in Moira, N. Y., Sept. i, 1846. 

Receiving his early instruction at the 
academies of Williston and Shelburne, he 
entered Wesleyan LTniversity, Middletown, 
Conn., September 1864, where he remained 
two vears, then changed to Yale College, 
where he graduated in 1S68. He was then 
principal of Hinesburg Academy until De- 
cember, i86g,when he entered the law office 
of Judge William G. Shaw of Burlington, 
continuing with him till 1870, when he went 
to New York City, where he attended the 



RrTHERFclRII 



kriHEKKOKI) 



Columbia I-aw School. During the summer 
of 187 1 he was in the office of L. K. Mngles- 
by, Esq., of Burlington, and was admitted 
to the bar of Chittenden county at the Sep- 
tember term of the same year. He has made 
Burlington his home since that time, and 
has made a specialty of commercial law. 

Mr. Russell married, Dec. 31, 1872, Kate, 
daughter of Dr. Elmer and luneline (Dud- 
ley) Beecher of Hinesburg. Their children 
are : Flora E., William J., and Elmer B. 

For two years he was state's attorney and 
was city attorney of Burlington from 1SS9 to 
1891. He has served as grand juror and 
also school commissioner, and for twelve 
years has been a justice of the peace. 

He is a member of Washington Eodge, F. 
& A. M., of FJurlington. His religious pro- 
fession is Congregational, and he is a 
member of the V. M. C. A. 

RUTHERFORD, JOSEPH C, of New- 
port, son of Alexander and Sally (Clifford) 
Rutherford, was born at Schenectady, N. Y., 
Oct. I, 1818. His parents came to Vermont 
in 1826, and settled at Burlington in 1830. 
It was in the high schools at Burlington he 
received the principal share of his education. 
At the age of twenty years he started out in 
the world for himself. He early expressed 
the desire to study medicine, but his cir- 
cumstances were such that he was unable to 
do so until 1S42, when he entered the office 
of Dr. Newell, then of Lyndon and after- 
wards of St. Johnsbury. 

In May, 1843, he located at Derby, and 
in December of that year was married to 
Hannah W., daughter of Hon. Jacob Chase. 
( )f this union were five children, three of 
whom are still living : Dr. Jacob C. of 
Providence, R. I., Mrs. John S. Colby of 
Chicago, and Mrs. George S. Woodward of 
Chicago. 

In 1844 he resumed the study of medi- 
cine in the office of Dr. Moses F. Colby, 
Stanstead, P. (J., and graduated at Woodstock 
in 1849. In 1 85 1 he went to Blackstone, 
Mass. In 1857 he returned to Derby, from 
where he removed to Newport in i860, 
which place has been his home since that 
time. 

At the breaking out of the war of the re- 
bellion in 1 86 1, he was commissioned sur- 
geon by Governor Fairbanks, and examined 
recruits for enlistment. He held this posi- 
tion until commissioned by (lovernor Hol- 
brook as assistant surgeon of the loth Vt. 
Vols. Mustered into the U. S. service, he 
immediately started for the front, where the 
regiment was assigned to duty in the defences 
of Washington, D. C, and was stationed 
near Edwards Ferry, Md. The regiment 
remained here and in this vicinity about nine 
months. When the armv of the Potomac 



was ordered to Gettysburg, Pa., the loth 
Vt. was sent to Monocacy Station, Md., to 
guard the rear of the army and the supplies. 
After the battle of Gettysburg, the loth Vt., 
joined the army of the Potomac, and was 
enrolled in the 3d division 3d army corps. 
His first experience on the battlefield was 
Nov. 26, 1863, at Locust Grove, Ya., where 
he received an injury that nearly cost him 
his life, and which resulted in a broken con- 
stitution and a crippled frame. Notwith- 
standing its serious character, he remained 
at the post of duty, and was in every battle 
in which his regiment participated, until 
near the close of the war. In March, 1865, 
he was promoted to be surgeon of the 17th 
Vt. Vols., which regiment had but one battle 
after he joined it, that of Petersburg, .April 
2, 1865. He was mustered out of the L. S. 
service with the 17th Vt. Vols, in July, 1865, 
after having served within a few days of 
three years. His relations with the two 
regiments were, and with their survivors 
have been to the present time, of a very 
pleasant character. He won the respect 
and esteem of both officers and men, and 
the ties of friendship that were there ce- 
mented with blood and hardship, have be- 
come stronger and stronger as time has sil- 
vered the locks of the surviving comrades. 
And today, nearly thirty years after the war, 
his comrades speak of Surgeon Rutherford 
with deep feelings of gratitude and respect. 

Directly after being mustered out of the 
service he returned to his home in New- 
port, where he has since resided, and re- 
sumed the practice of medicine in civil life. 
In 1866 he was commissioned examining 
surgeon for pensions, which place he has 
held to the present time, 1S93. 

He joined the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows in 1844, was made a Free Mason in 
1866, and has taken all the degrees up to 
and including that of the Knight Templar. 

At an early day the doctor took a deep 
interest in the anti-slavery cause, and was a 
delegate to the first convention held by that 
faction in Vermont. His first vote for pres- 
ident was cast for William Henry Harrison, 
and when the Republican party was organ- 
ized he joined it, and has voted with it ever 
since. In 1S80 he was chosen by the Legis- 
lature a supervisor of the insane, which office 
he held for two years. 

.After a busy life of hardship and toil for 
the relief of the sulTerings of others, he has 
retired from the active practice of his pro- 
fession, and is now living in his quiet and 
pleasant home in the peaceful enjoyment of 
the fruits of his labors. His kindness to the 
poor and destitute is limited only by his 
means, and he is ever ready by kindly words 
and deeds to cheer and solace the woes he 
cannot altogether heal. 



348 



RYTHER, Fred E., of Dover, son of 
Eaton and Mary A. (Morse) Ryther, was 
born in Dover, August 26, i860. 

He was educated in the schools of Dover 
and has followed the vocation of farming 
since early manhood, with the exception of 
some time spent in teaching. 

An ardent Democrat in political faith, he 
has been honored by his townsmen with 
many positions of honor and represented 
Doxer in the (leneral Assembly of i8go. 



He enjoys the distinction of being the first 
Democrat to represent the town since the 
organization of the Republican party. He 
has also served the town as selectman for 
two terms and as superintendent of schools. 
Mr. Ryther is an energetic and popular 
young man, who has a life of much useful- 
ness before him, and that he is meeting the 
expectations of his friends is evidenced by 
his career. 



SANBORN, ISAAC Wheeler, of l.yn- 

donville, son of Deacon Benjamin and Abi- 
gail B. (Stanton) Sanborn, was born in Lyn- 
don, Feb. 16, 1833. His grandfather came 




ISAAC WHEELER SANBORN. 



to Wheelock from Sanbornton, N. H., which 
was named in honor of the Sanborn family. 

Isaac W. Sanborn received his education 
in the schools of Lyndon, the Lyndon and 
St. Johnsbury academies and Newbury Sem- 
inary, finishing his school studies in 1855. 
He has ahvays been an extensive farmer, 
owning originally, with his father, the land 
on which the village of Lyndonviile stands, 
and has large interests in real estate and 
banks. He isl^resident of the I^yndon Sav- 
ings Bank, of the Caledonia County Publish- 
ing Co., and of the board of school direc- 
tors of the town of Lyndon. He has been 
a justice of the peace for twenty years. 



Politically, Mr. Sanborn is a Republican 
and cast his first presidential vote for John 
C. Fremont in 1856. For thirty-five years 
he has discharged the duties of the town 
clerk and treasurer. For a quarter of a cen- 
tury he acted as secretary of the Caledonia 
County Agricultural Society and served the 
Young Men's Temperance Society of that 
county in the same capacity. 

He has always been identified with the 
cause of education : was one of the incorpor- 
ators and is at present secretary and treas- 
urer of the Lyndon Institute and Commer- 
cial College, to which he has been a liberal 
contributor, so much so that the Sanborn 
Student's Home, a fine boarding house 
erected in 1891, was named in his honor. 
To his financial ability have been entrusted 
the funds of the village of Lyndonviile since 
its organization, and for several years he 
acted as town superintendent of schools. In 
1870 and 1872 he represented Lyndon in 
the Legislature, serving on the committees on 
education, the standing joint committee and 
on the House committee on rules. He was 
assistant clerk of the House for two sessions, 
and in 1870 delegate to the Constitutional 
Convention. 

Mr. Sanborn has decided literary tastes, is 
a regular correspondent of the St. Johnsbury 
Republican, and in his earlier days was a 
frequent contributor to several leading New 
York and Boston periodicals. At the cen- 
tennial celebration of the organization of the 
town of Lyndon, July 4, 1891, Mr. Sanborn 
was chairman of the executive committee. 
In his religious belief he adheres to the Bap- 
tist denomination, and is a liberal contrib- 
utor to all benevolent enterprises. 

SARGENT, Caleb Gushing, of Cor- 
inth, son of Jonathan and Sarah (Marston) 
Sargent, was born in Candia, N. H., Dec. 
24, 1835. His ancestors in each family 
branch were of English extraction. His pa- 
ternal ancestor, WilHam Sargent, son of Rich- 
ard Sargent of the Royal Na\y, was born in 
England, in 1602, and came to America, it is 
said, on the Mayflower and landed at Ipswich, 



349 



Mass., about 1630. He was one of the 
twelve men who commenced the settlement 
of Ipswich, in 1633, and afterwards heljjed to 
form settlements in Newbury and Hampton, 
and in 1640 was one of the eighteen original 
proprietors, or commoners, who settled New 
Salisbury, now known as Amesbury, Mass. 
His great-grandfather, Moses Sargent, of 
Candia, N. H., was a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion and one of the original proprietors and 
leading men of the early days of that town. 

The early life of the subject of this sketch 
was spent on his father's farm until he was 
about eighteen years of age, when, under the 
inspiration of his mother's counsels, he re- 
solved upon the attainment of a liberal edu- 
cation ; but the accomplishment of his pur- 
pose lay along the way of hardships and amid 
difficulties whose solution seemed at times 
uncertain and disappointing to his youthful 
aspirations. However, by the dint of unmit- 
igated industry and perseverance, and by 
resources deri^'ed from his intiividual effort, 
mainly directed in the line of school teaching, 
he was enabled to attain the purpose of his 
early ambition. He pursued his preparatory 
studies at Blanchard .Academy, Pembroke, N. 
H., and entered Dartmouth College in 1856, 
from which he graduated in class of i860. 

Immediately after completing his college 
course he commenced the study of law in the 
office of Clark & Smith, of Manchester, N. 
H., and in 1861 came to Corinth, and for 
the completion of his legal studies entered his 
name in the law office of Robert Ormsby, of 
Bradford. In 1857, Mr. Sargent was as- 
sistant at Blanchard .\cademy, and for four 
years next previous to 1864, was principal of 
the Corinth .\cademy, at Corinth ; and a 
trustee and prudential officer of that institu- 
tion until its union with the Cookville graded 
school in 1876. 

In 1863, being compelled by inauspicious 
circumstances to defer for a time his life 
purpose of the legal profession, he devoted 
himself to trade, and since then has been 
engaged chiefly in mercantile and general 
business pursuits, with agriculture as a col- 
lateral avocation, and under different business 
associations, but mainly in Corinth. 

In i878-'79 Mr. Sargent discharged the 
duties of assignee of the Union Mining Co. 
of Corinth, and later was paymaster, clerk 
and treasurer of the Vermont Copper Mining 
Co. ; also of the Vermont Copper Co., in 
their several business operations at Pike Hill 
and Vershire, until their suspension in 1883. 
The noted Ely riot of July 2, 1883, which 
necessitated the calling out the state militia 
to accomplish its suppression, was conse- 
quent upon this suspension. At its early 
inception it appeared to involve the destruc- 
tion of all the company's valuable works, if 
not the life of some of its officers, so intense 



and uncontrollable was the maddened furor 
of the men on the morning of its first out- 
break. While much of truth antl considera- 
ble of conjecture has been written relative 
to the causes, scenes, and affairs of that 
disastrous occasion, yet one fact remains — 
on the afternoon of that ominous Monday, 
when the infuriated mob had taken the 
control of affairs into their own hands, and 
had surrounded the residence of the sick 
president, left unprotected by police or 
sheriff, and were howling threats of violence 
and devastation in every window and door- 
way, and the lives of the inmates seemed to 
hang on the doubtful mercy of the frantic 
assailants, that it was very largely due to the 
heroically cool, frank, and conservative 
action of the treasurer, in his conciliatory 
efforts with the men on that occasion, and 
unaided, that peace and order were tempo- 
rarily restored and the backbone of the riot 
partially broken, which doubtless saved the 
great property from destruction that in the 
councils of the frenzied rioters was to have 
been destroyed in early morning. 

For five years subsequent to 1863 Mr. 
Sargent held the position of captain in the 
state militia and became early in life a mem- 
ber of the Masonic order, officiating as mas- 
ter of Minerva Lodge for twel\-e years. 

In the cause of temperance reform he has 
taken an active interest, both in town and 
state, having filled the offices of counselor 
and treasurer in the Grand Lodge of Cood 
Templars and represented that grand body 
in the Right Cirand Lodge at Madison, \\"is., 
in 1872, and has since been a grand officer 
in the order of the Sons of Temperance. 

Judge Sargent is a Republican in his po- 
litical proclivities and was a member of the 
first state Republican convention, at Con- 
cord, N. H., in 1855, and has served as 
member and chairman of the Orange county 
republican committee for several years. In 
matters of town he has occupied responsible 
and conspicuous positions ; was superin- 
tendent of schools, justice of the peace, town 
agent and selectman for several years in suc- 
cession. For nineteen years he discharged 
the duties of postmaster, was delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention of 1870, and was 
representative from Corinth in the Legis- 
lature of 1878, where he was an influential 
member of the House, serving as chairman 
of one of its larger committees. In 1886 he 
was elected assistant judge at the county 
court and re-elected in 188S, and in 1S90 
and 1891 discharged the duties of county 
auditor. 

In his religious preferences Judge Sargent 
is a Congregationalist and has been an ac- 
tive member and officer of that society in 
Corinth for more than a quarter of a century. 



350 



He married, May 28, 1861, Cordelia Viva, 
daughter of Theodore and Ruth Allen 
(Tenny) Cooke of Corinth. Four children 
were born of this union : Carl Theodore, 
Edward Hou£;hton, Carrie Delia, and Jennie 
I!ell. 

SAWYER, Edward Bertrand, of 

Hyde Park, son of Joshua and Mary ( Keeler) 
Sawyer, was born in Hyde Park, April 16, 
1S28. 




EDWARD BI^rRiND SAV 



His education was obtained in public and 
private schools, to some extent under the 
care of a tutor, and during one term at the 
People's Academy. His father was his first 
instructor in the law, the study of which he 
commenced at eighteen years of age, reading 
also in the office of Hon. \V. W. White, then 
of Johnson. Appreciating the defects of his 
early schooling, he adopted a system of self- 
education, taking Fowler's " Self F>ducation, 
Complete " for a guide and Benjamin Frank- 
lin for his model. 

'I'hree years of his early life he spent with 
a brother who was engaged in trade in the 
Province of Quebec, and while with him he 
received a somewhat varied business train- 
ing, but he had a fixed inclination to the 
practice of the law, and after the preparatory 
study above referred to, was admitted to the 
bar of Lamoille county, at the June term of 
1849, ^rxi immediately commenced to prac- 
tice with his father. The same year he was 
appointed clerk of the court, which office he 



held, with the exception of two years, until 
September, 1861, when he resigned to enlist 
for the war. He again held this appointment 
from 1868 to 1875, when he a second time 
resigned, and since then has continued in 
the practice of his profession. 

In 1865 he interested himself in the arti- 
ficial breeding of trout, and was probably the 
first man in the state to engage in this enter- 
prise. Two years after he abandoned this 
undertaking, to purchase the Lamoille 
Newsdealer, a paper which he revivified 
and edited for three years, devoting a large 
share of its columns to the advocacy of the 
Portland & Ogdensburg R. R. In 1870 
he sold this journal and varied his experi- 
ence by becoming the proprietor of the 
American Hotel, and after seven years' man- 
agement of this concern, retired to resume 
his professional labors, and since 1877 has 
given these his exclusive attention. 

Mr. Sawyer devoted all his time from the 
beginning to the end of the war to the 
service of his country. He enlisted Sept. 
14, 1 86 1, having first raised and organized 
Co. D, 5th Vt. Regt., and raised Co. I, ist 
Vt. Cavalry. Upon the organization of this 
body he was unanimously elected captain, 
and in the retreat of General Banks down 
the Shenandoah Valley received a severe 
injury by a fall off his horse. Having been 
previously promoted to major, though dis- 
abled, he did not suffer his energy to remain 
idle, but recruited two hundred men for the 
regiment at large, and in addition organized 
Co. L and Co. M, forming the sixth squad- 
ron of the regiment, of which he was 
colonel, when not in charge of a brigade or 
detached on special service, until he resigned. 
He was placed in the command of the 2d 
brigade of Kilpatrick's division when that 
general made his raid upon Richmond, and 
upon that occasion and many others was 
complimented for his efficient services by his 
superior officers, though no record can be 
found of his asking for promotion. In Sep- 
tember, 1863, he was wounded in the cheek 
by a rebel sharpshooter, and though in no 
great battles during the war was more than 
forty times under fire. Colonel Sawyer or- 
ganized and was the first commander of 
Aaron Keeler Post, G. A. R., which was 
named in honor of his maternal grandfather, 
a veteran of the American Re\olution. 

Colonel Sawyer was married in June, 1849, 
to Susan Almira, daughter of Hon. Isaac 
and Dorcas (Titus) Pennock. Of this mar- 
riage four children were issue : Mvra Ellen 
(M^rs. F. N. Keeler), Edward B.', Mattie 
Helen, and Bertha Mary (deceased). In 
August, 1866, he wedded Helen M. Pennock, 
the sister of his first wife, by whom he had : 
.■\lma Dorcas, Clarence Parsons, and Lucy 
Etta. 



Colonel Sawyer came from old Federal 
and whig stock, and sang Harrison songs in 
the political campaign of 1840. He was in 
the convention which instituted the Repub- 
lican party in Vermont, and in that of iiS56, 
which nominated Ryland Fletcher forCiov- 
ernor of the state. He advocated Fremont's 
election, and spoke in his favor in every 
town in the county. An incident which 
fell under his observation during his resi- 
dence in Canada, attracted his attention to 
the subject of .American slavery, and he be- 
came a most bitter opponent of that institu- 
tion. He was privileged to hear some of 
the joint debates of Douglas and Lincoln, 
and ever after remained an enthusiastic ad- 
mirer of the latter. He was the junior 
member and secretary of the Vermont dele- 
gation to the national convention of i860, 
and an uncompromising advocate of Mr. 
Lincoln's nomination. He represented Hyde 
Park in the Constitutional Convention of 
1870, and favored the change to the bien- 
nial session. He is now a firm believer in 
the theory that law, and law only, makes 
money, and that the government can make 
a dollar out of any material. 

SCARFF, Charles WaYLAND, of Bur- 
lington, son of Emanuel H., and Mary 
(Bowen) Scarff, was born in Pella, Iowa, 
June 3, 1858. 




His early education was received in the 
public schools of that town, and he gradu- 
ated from the Iowa Central L'niversity in 



1878, four years afterward receiving from 
his alma mater the degree of A. M. 

Commencing his active life as a teacher 
in the Marion county public schools, he 
soon after located on a tract of government 
land near (Irand Island, Xeb., where he was 
employed as a book-keeper in a wholesale 
hardware firm till 1885, when he went into 
the real estate business. .As secretary of the 
Crand Island Koard of Trade he was largely 
iniluential in securing the location of the 
Baptist L'niversity for that place, and for this 
institution he raised nearly thirty thousand 
dollars while on a visit to the East, which 
he made for that purpose. He was also en- 
gaged in the erection of a business block 
and a fine hotel of his own in Grand Island, 
and in 1887 organized its Street Railway Co. 
He has been a liberal benefactor to the 
Baptist L'niversity, having contributed ten 
acres of land for the building site, as well as 
a large amount of time and money to supply 
its various needs. 

Mr. Scarff was married, June 3, 1882, to 
Lestina, daughter of Daniel and Emily Shep- 
ard Lebatt, of Grand Island, Neb. They 
have had four children: Emanuel (de- 
ceased), Eleanor May, Lestina Meda, and 
Walter Tahnage. 

In the spring of 1S91 Mr. Scarff came to 
Burlington, where he has extensively engaged 
in real estate and manufacturing operations, 
mainly in developing and building up the 
Scarff addition to Burlington. He is a Re- 
publican in his political views, but has never 
accepted any office. 

SCOTT, OLIN, of Bennington, son of 
Martin Billings and Mary Ann (Olin) .Scott, 
was born in Bennington, Feb. 27, 1832. He 
derives his lineage on his father's side from 
Landlord Fay, of the historic Catamount Tav- 
ern, General Safford, Major Samuel Billings, 
and Jonathan Scott, while among his moth- 
er's ancestors were Capt. Moses Sage and 
Giles Olin, all of whom were pioneers in the 
early settlement in the southern part of the 
state and identified with the disputes concern- 
ing the New Hampshire Grants as well as 
taking an active part in the war of the Revo- 
lution. 

The early educational ad\antages of Mr. 
Scott were limited to the district school, and 
at the age of eleven he found employment as 
clerk in Troy and Albany, N. V. In 1846- 
'47, he attended the L'nion Academy, at 
Bennington, supporting himself by his own 
exertions. He then served an api>rentice- 
ship of three years to learn the trade of mill- 
wright, at the same time pursuing a systematic 
course of study in engineering, and to increase 
hisjiroficiency in this science lie attended the 
North Bennington .Academy for a year, then 
worked at mill building until he became lore- 



man of the Eagle Foundry and Machine 
Shops in Bennington. Here he remained 
till 1S58, when he entered into a partnership 
with Hon. S. H. Brown, of that i)lace, to 
operate the Bennington Machine Works. 
This arrangement continued until 1863, when 
he purchased the interest of his partner and 
in 1864 purchased the business and plant of 
the Kagle Foundry and Machine Shops. In 
1865 after purchasing a property suitable for 
that purpose, he erected thereon new build- 
ings, to which he transferred the plant of the 
Eagle Foundry and also that of his own es- 
tablishment thus consolidating the business 
of both, carrying on the concern from that 
time in his own name. A large part of the 
machinery used in the manufacture of gun 
powder during the war of the rebellion and 
since, was built by Mr. Scott, who has also 
exported machines for this purpose to various 
parts of the world. In 1869 he built the 




agent for the Lafiin &: Rand Powder Co., of 
New York, and the DuPont Powder Co., of 
Wilmington, Del. ; which jjosition he still 
holds, at the same time operating the Ben- 
nington Machine Works. His next venture 
was the establishment of a company for mak- 
ing machinery for the manufacture of wood 
pulp into paper stock and his improved New- 
England pulp grinder has acquired great 
popularity in all parts of the United States 
and Canada. In 1892, he was chosen to and 
still holds the presidency of the Lasher Stock- 
ing Co., organized at Bennington, for the 
manufacture of men's half hose. In addi- 
tion to the other business operations named, 
he has continuously operated the Benning- 
ton Machine Works, to the management of 
which he still gives his personal attention. 

Mr. Scott was united in marriage in 1856 
to Celeste E., daughter of Samuel and Lydia 
Gilbert of Salem, N . Y. 'I'wo daughters and 
one son were the fruit of this union, none of 
w-hom survive. 

He has been for many years a member 
and trustee of the Second Congregational 
Church, and a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, in which latter he has taken the de- 
gree of Kt. Templar. He was one of the 
originators of the plan for building the Ben- 
nington battle monument, is a director and 
recording secretary of the Monument .Asso- 
ciation and has ever taken an active part in 
carrying out their designs. In this, as in 
many other enterprises, Mr. Scott has well 
served the interests of the community in 
which he dwells. 

For many years he was town auditor and 
has also served the village graded schools 
and savings bank in the same capacity and 
has acted as a trustee of the graded school, 
being for two years chairman of the board. 

Mr. Scott for four years held the commis- 
sion of captain of Co. K., ist Regt., N. G. 
v., and served two years on the staff of Gov- 
ernor Farnham with the rank of colonel. 



OLIN SCOTT. 

Lake Superior powder mills, at Marquette, 
Mich., and became a stockholder in the same 
and four years later became general superin- 
tendent of the Laflin & Rand Powder Co., of 
New York. In 1882 Mr. Scott formed the 
Ohio Powder Co., at Youngstown, Ohio, of 
which company he was for several years vice 
president and director. In 1884 he organ- 
ized the Pennsylvania Powder Co., Limited, 
at Scranton, Pa., of which company he was 
president and director. In 1887, he sold his 
interests in the above named powder com- 
panies and became consulting engineer and 



SENTER, JOHN Henry, of Montpelier, 
son of Dearborn Bean and Susan C. (Ly- 
ford) Senter, was born in Cabot, Nov. 11, 
1848. 

Having received his education in the com- 
mon schools and the high school of Concord, 
N. H., he for many years was a school 
teacher, having taught forty-three terms. He 
studied law with Clarence H. Pitkin, Esq., 
and was admitted to the bar in Montpelier 
at the March term of 1879. Subsequently 
he practiced his profession in Warren, but 
in 1885 moved to Montpelier and formed a 
partnership with Harlan W. Kemp, the firm 
doing both an insurance and law business, 
which arrangement continued until 1891. In 
1 88s he was elected a director and secretary 



SHATILCK. 



of the Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co. at 
Montpelier, which position he still retains. 

For some years Mr. Senter has been the 
attorney for Montpelier village and he is now 
secretary of the Montpelier Board of Trade. 
In 1888 he was admitted to the bar of the 
United States circuit and district courts in 
Vermont. 

Mr. Senter was married at Plattsburgh, N. 
Y., Nov. 30, 1876, to Addie (;., daughter of 
Carlos and Mary (Ainsworth) Martin. They 
have five children : Frank (iinevra, Clarence 
Hiram, Mabel Addie, John Henry, and Clara 
May. 




JOHN HENRY SENTER. 



He is a Democrat and for twenty-one 
years has been secretary and assistant sec- 
retary of the Vermont Democratic state com- 
mittee, has held the office of justice of the 
peace, superintendent of schools and other 
minor positions. Mr. Senter was appointed 
national bank examiner under the first ad- 
ministration of President Cleveland. August 
24, 1 886, he was made United States cir- 
cuit court commissioner for the district of 
Vermont, being appointed thereto by Judge 
H. H. Wheeler. In January, 1894, Mr. Sen- 
ter was appointed by President Cleveland 
and confirmed by the Senate United States 
district attorney for the district of \'ermont. 

He is a member of I. O. O. F., affiliating 
with Vermont Lodge, Thomas Wildey En- 
campment and Canton Montpelier. 

While in Warren he was an untiring and 
persistent advocate of the town system of 
schools and after vears of effort saw its 



adoption in that town many years before it 
l)ecame in 1S92, by general law, the svsteni 
for the state. 

SHATTUCK, Martin, of Eden, son of 
Randall and Mary Ann (Thomas) Shattuck, 
was born in Belvidere, Feb. 5, 1S42. 

Mr. Shattuck received his intellectual 
training at the common schools of Belvidere, 
but his practical education was derived from 
hard labor upon his father's farm where he 
remained till he was twenty-two years of 
age, when he entered his cousin's store at 
\\'aterville as clerk. .After two years at 
Waterville he married and went home to 
reside. 

Having decided to engage permanently in 
trade he returned to Waterville, first enter- 
ing business with his father-in-law, but soon 
buying him out. .After continuing alone for 
more than a year, in May, 1871, he moved to 




MARTIN SHATTUCK. 

Eden and with a very limited capital to start 
with for twenty-two years has conducted a 
general country store with a constantly in- 
creasing volume of business. He is also 
engaged in farming and the production of 
maple sugar. He is recognized where 
ever known, as a safe and successful finan- 
cier and a liberal donor to ])ublic and re- 
ligious enterprises. 

Mr. Shattuck married, Jan. 31, 1S66, 
Meribah Esther Hyde, daughter of William 
and Betsey (Fuller) Wilbur of Waterville. 



354 



They have two sons : Merton Carroll, and 
Harlan William. 

He has always favored the Republican 
party in his political inclinations and while 
at Waterville was made assistant postmaster, 
and after his removal to the town of Eden 
he was appointed postmaster which position 
he continued to fill for a period of about 
twenty-two years. He has been made select- 
man, auditor and trustee of public money 
and in 1880 was sent to the Legislature, 
being ajipointed a member of the committee 
on ways and means. 

He has also knelt at the altar of Free 
Masonry, being a member of Mt. Norris 
Lodge of Eden, No. 69, and of Tucker 
Chapter R. A. M. 

SHAW, ALBERT J., of St. Johnsbury, 
son of John and Elizabeth (Harriman) Shaw, 
was born in Barnet, March 2, 1830. 

His educational advantages were confined 
to the district and high school of Stephens- 
ville, followed by a course of study in 
Peacham Academy. 

He naturally turned to those business pur- 
suits in which his earlv life had been passed, 
and has devoted his attention to agriculture 
and the manufacture of lumber. He re- 
sided in Victory from 1859 to 1890, when he 
moved to St. Johnsbury. 

His political record commenced in 1868, 
when he was made justice of the peace. 
Two years later he was a delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention from Victory, and 
was the Republican representative of that 
town in 1876 and 1884. For twenty years 
he filled the position of town clerk and 
treasurer, and then declined re-election, 
while he manifested his interest in the cause 
of education by acting for nine successive 
terms as the town superintendent of schools. 

Mr. Shaw, actuated by patriotic zeal, en- 
listed in Co. 1, 3d Regt., and was mustered 
in at Burlington and immediately afterwards 
dispatched to New Haven, Conn., where he 
contracted a severe cold while on guard 
duty, which was followed by hemorrhage of 
the lungs, which trouble necessitated his 
discharge Nov. 24, 1864, and from which he 
has never fully recovered 

For three years he held the office of chap- 
lain in ^Voodbury Post, G. .A. R., of West 
Concord, but on his removal to St. Johnsbury, 
he transferred his membershijj to Chamberlin 
Post of the latter place. 

He was married, June 16, 1S59, to Francis 
J. M., daughter of N. S. and Sarah M. (Story) 
Damon, of Kirby. Four sons have been 
issue of this alliance : Albert H., F^dward C, 
William O., and Herbert J. 

SHAW, HENR^' HaTRIC, of West Brat- 
tleboro, son of John and Elizabeth (Harri- 



man) Shaw, was born in Barnet, Dec. 21, 
1842. 

His education was obtained at the Cale- 
donia grammar school and Middlebury 
College, and he afterward pursued a course 
in theology under the private instruction of 
President Lord. For nearly three years he 
also gave his attention to the study and 
practice of the law in the office of Mr. Hale, 
of Barnet. Resolving to devote his life to 
the profession of teaching, he prepared him- 
self for his occupation by mastering the 
Oswego Normal course. He had some ex- 
perience in his profession while preparing 
for and during his college course, and acted 
as principal for the New Haven Academy 
for a year before his graduation. During a 




period extending from 1S65 to 18S1 he was 
successively principal of the Chester Acad- 
emy, the Springfield high school, the Burr 
and Burton Seminary of Manchester, and of 
the Northfield graded school. In T88r he 
was called to the charge of the Glenwood 
Classical Seminary, in West Brattleboro, 
where he still remains. 

Mr. Shaw was united in marriage, August 
20, 1867, to Lucy F., daughter of John (i. 
and Frances Whiting, of Saxtons River. 
This union has been blessed with three 
children : Harry \Vhiting, Anne \\'hiting 
(died in infancy), and Minnie \\'hiting. 

In 1870 Mr. Shaw was licensed to preach 
by the Springfield and the Claremont Asso- 
ciation for the term of four vears, and two 



years subsequently received the same pri\i- 
lege for life from the Rutland and Benning- 
ton County Association of Congregational 
Ministers and Churches. 



SHAW, Wilfred C, of Granville, N. 
Y., son of James M. and Helen (Carver) 
Shaw, was born in Pawlet, Oct. 25, 1852. 

His education was acquired in the com- 
mon schools of Pawlet and also at the acad- 
emy of that jilace. After the completion of 
his studies he engaged in the occupation of 
farming on the place where he was born, and 
to this he devoted the efforts of his life. 
From the careful, methodical manner in 
which he has pursued his vocation he has 
met with merited success. His ]3erce])tive 
powers and sound judgment backed by un- 
questioned integrity and indomitable energy 
have placed him in the ranks of the leading 
men in his community and have secured to 
him many offices of lionor and trust at the 
hands of his fellow-townsmen, including that 
of selectman and justice of the peace. 

He was married at Middle Granville, N. Y., 
Jan. 14, 1874, to Mary, daughter of Benja- 
min and Margaret (Parry) Williams. Two 
children have been born to them, one of 
whom, Helen, is living. 

SHEDD, WILLIAM R., of Wells River, 
son of Timothy and Susan (Reed) Shedd, 
was born in Newbury, August 23, 1816. 

His educational acquirements were ob- 
tained in the public schools of Newbury and 
at Kimball Union Academy. His father, 
who was a tanner, came from Rindge, N. H., 
to \Vells River early in the present century, 
"bought an estate in that village, erected a 
tannery and followed his trade for more than 
twenty-five years He was a man of marked 
sagacity and unusual business ability, and 
his ambition increased with his opportuni- 
ties. He soon became engaged in farming, 
lumbering, and general trade. 

William R. Shedd was the fourth of a fam- 
ily of seven, and has always lived in Wells 
River with the exception of twenty years' 
residence in the adjacent village of Newbury 
prior to 1892. He remained with his father 
till the time of the death of the latter in 
1857, assisting him in the varied details of 
his business, and after his decease was for 
some time employed in the administration 
of the estate. About this time Mr. Shedd 
transferred the tannery into a grist mill, and 
after running this for a few years, sold it, as 
well as the mercantile establishment, about 
i860. 

He was united in marriage, May 28, 1850, 
to Charlotte, daughter of Peter Buder, of 
Oxford, Mass. She died .\pril 12, 1885, 
leaving one daughter : Ruth Annie. 



SHEi.nnx. 355 

Mr. Shedd has been for forty years offi- 
cially connected with the National Bank of 
Newbury as director and president. For 
five years he was a director of the state 
prison, and under his management and that 
of his colleagues the institution was made 
remunerative. 




.■V loyal Republican from the outset, he 
has been called to fill various positions of 
public trust Serving as lister repeatedly, he 
was selectman for many years and chairman 
of the board during the trying period of the 
civil war. His good judgment, faithfulness, 
and ability in public afilairs are evidenced by 
his representing his town in the Legislatures 
of 1863 and 1864 and his election to the 
Senate from Orange county in 1S72. 

SHELDON, Charles, late of Rudand, 
son of Medad and Mary (Bass) Sheldon, 
was born in Rutland, July i, 18 14. 

His early education was limited to the 
district schools of the period, and at the 
completion of his studies he labored for two 
years upon his father's farm at Waddington, 
N. Y. He then entered a cabinet shop and 
learned the trade, but finding this occupa- 
tion uncongenial to his tastes, sought and 
obtained employment as a clerk in a coun- 
try store, but afterwards went to Montreal, 
where at the age of eighteen he became 
captain of a steam craft, and was afterwards 
the master of a fine vessel plying on the St. 
Lawrence and Ottawa rivers. He next en- 




CHARLES SHELDON. 



357 



gaged in the lumber trade with varied suc- 
cess in Troy and New York ("ity.but in 1850 
returned to his birthplace where he com- 
menced the marble business, forming a 
partnership with David Morgan, Jr., and 
Lorenzo Sheldon. After sundry changes in 
the concern, in 1865 he associated with 
himself his sons, Charles and John .\. Shel- 
don. Subsequently a third son, William K., 
was admitted as a partner, and in 1889 the 
firm was incorporated as the Sheldon Marble 
Co. Their business has been uniformly 
successful, and though tw'ice temporarily 
suspended by fire, on each occasion the 
works were rebuilt on a more extensive plan 
than before, and upon the death of Mr. 
Sheldon they consisted of three large mills 
fully equipped, constituting one of the 
largest marble producing concerns in extist- 
ence, which is well known throughout the 
world. Mr. Sheldon has ever been the 
practical head of this immense business, 
and to his able management is chiefly ow- 
ing the prosperity which it has enjoyed. 

He was united in marriage June 13, 183S, 
to Janet, daughter of John and Janet (Som- 
erville) Reid. To them were born seven 
sons and one daughter : John A., Charles 
H., James S. (died in mfancy), George P., 
Richard K., Janet S.(died in infancy), Archie 
L., and William K. Mrs. Sheldon departed 
this life in February, 1859, and on Jan. i, 
1862, he was united to Harriet D. Pierce, 
daughter of Hon. George Redington of 
Waddington, N. Y., who survives him. 

While Mr. Sheldon was a resident of the 
state of New York he was an active partici- 
pant in political affairs, being a staunch 
whig, and at one time an influential mem- 
ber of the whig state committee. He was 
the political associate and friend of Horace 
Greeley and Thurlow Weed, and was later 
identified with the Free Soil party. He was 
a warm admirer of James G. Blaine, and 
his admiration for the brilliant statesman 
was intensified by a somewhat intimate per- 
sonal acquaintance. After his return to Rut- 
land, though frequently urged, he would 
never accept public office, devoting himself 
•exclusively to his extensive business inter- 
ests. He died of pneumonia Nov. 3, 1889, 
and was buried in the family vault in Fver- 
green cemetery. He was a pleasant and 
kindly master, and as thorough a workman 
as any of his subordinates. That he always 
commanded their esteem and respect is a 
fact amply demonstrated by the presence of 
the five hundred men who came to partici- 
pate in the closing scenes of the drama of 
their employer's life, and the loss which the 
community sustained by his death w-as em- 
phasized by the closing of all places of busi- 
ness during the hours of the funeral, out of 
.respect for the deceased. 



SHHPARL), John Franklin, of South 

Royalton, son of Isaac Stevens and Lucy 
(Wheat) Shepard, was born in Sharon, Sept. 
4, 1835. His great-grandfather was Moses 
Shepard who was of Scotch descent, came 
from Connecticut and was one of the first 
settlers of Sharon. On his mother's side his 
ancestors were English. 

He received his education at the public 
schools and at Royalton .\cademy. His 
father moved from Sharon to Royalton in 
1848 and this town has been his home since, 
with the exception of the years 1S58 and 
1859 when he went West, but returned to 
Royalton before the breaking out of the 
rebellion. 




He enlisted in September, 1861, in the 
2d Regt. Co. E, of Berdan's U. S. Sharp- 
shooters from Vermont, and was one of the 
few men of that company who carried his 
own rifle. In the winter of 1862 he con-, 
tracted rheumatism and for that reason was 
discharged from Judiciary Square Hospital, 
\Vashington, D. C", April 19, 1S62. Return- 
ing to Royalton he ]iartially regained his 
health, and in .April, 1863, bought of his 
father a part interest in the home farm (Mill 
Brook Farm) and mill property, and in 1866 
bought out the entire property of his father 
and engaged in farming and manufacturing 
lumber. 

Mr. Shepard is a staunch Republican and 
represented Royalton in the Legislature of 
1886. He has taken an active part in town 
affairs, has held various official nositions and 



358 



SHEPARDSON. 



at present is chairman of the board of school 
directors. He was a charter member of 
Orville Bixby Post, Xo. 93, G. A. R., and has 
taken an active part in that order. He is 
also an energetic Patron of Husbandry and 
in 1891 and 1892 was Master of White River 
Valley Pomona Grange. 

November 25, 1863, he married Mary 
Flynn, daughter of Jesse and Ann (Havens) 
Button. They have five children : Charles 
F., Lucy A. (Mrs. A. B. Fowler), George S., 
John C, and Fred J. 

SHEPARDSON, SAMUEL C, of West 
Fletcher, son of Joel and Huldah (Good- 
rich) Shepardson, was born in Fairfax, Dec. 
20, 1824. His father, Joel Shepardson, was 
a man of excellent business ability, but his 
principal vocation was farming. 

Samuel was brought up at home, receiving 
his education in the schools of Fairfax and 
Fletcher, and when he was fourteen years 
old moved with his family to the farm which 
he now occupies. Possessed of a powerful 
frame, quick perceptions and unusual en- 
ergy, he soon developed a great capacity for 
shrewd and skillful farm management. He 
has also been a successful financier, and 
ranks among the most wealthy citizens of 
the town. Dairying and the production of 
maple sugar are his chief resources. He 
has an orchard of 1400 trees, and manufact- 
ures a most excellent and remunerative 
grade of sugar. He has solved the vexed 
labor question by rearing two sons, who with 
his assistance are fully capable of carrying 
on the farm. 

Mr. Shepardson was united in marriage, 
Oct. 3, 1850, to Emily, daughter of Joseph 
and Junia (Montague) Robinson of Fletcher. 
Of their four children, Joel A. died at 
twenty-three, Mary in infancy, and Willie S. 
and Herbert D. survive, being associated 
with their father. Willie is quite promi- 
nently connected in town affairs, having 
been lister, and is at present a selectman 
and one of the school directors. 

Mr. Shepardson is a Republican, and was 
elected to the House in 1884, where he 
served efficiently on the committee on agri- 
culture and federal relations. 

His widely-known reputation for impartial 
judgment and strict integrity has often called 
him to the settlement of estates, but he has 
not accepted town offices though many times 
urged to discharge their duties. 

SHERMAN, Oscar L., of Williamsville, 
son of Nathan and Mary (Howard) Sher- 
man, was born in Dover, Nov. 20, 183 1. 
The common schools furnished him with 
his education. Leaving school at the age 
of eighteen he labored for some time upon 
his father's farm, and then mo\ed to Will- 



iamsville, where he was employed for two- 
years as clerk in a general store. .Attracted 
by the reports of the golden wealth" of Cali- 
fornia, he emigrated to that state and was a 
successful miner. Returning to ^^'illiams- 
ville in 1855, he entered into partnership 
with G. L. Howe to do a general country 
trade, and after the death of Mr. Howe, in 
1865, Mr. Sherman continued the business 
alone. 

In i860 and 1861 he was elected to the 
Legislature as the candidate of the Demo- 
cratic party. In this body he served cred- 
itably during that important and critical 
period. For four years he was postmaster 
under the administration of President Buch- 




OSCAR L. SHERMAN. 



anan, which office he resigned at the end of 
his term. He is now vice-president and 
director of the People's Bank of Brattleboro, 
and the latter position he has held ever since 
the organization of that institution. He 
was also a trustee of the \\indham County 
Savings Bank for six years. Mr. Sherman 
has been in his present store for thirty-seven 
years, and is well known and respected as 
an upright business man, and a generous 
and kind-hearted neighbor. 

He was married Sept. 10, 1856, to Betsy 
C, daughter of Captain .Aaron C. and Betsy 
(Crosby) Robinson of Newfane. Three 
children have been born to them, of whom 
two now survive : Robinson M., and Al- 
bert N. 



SHERMAN, Sidney Harvey, of Brattie- 

boro, son of Joseph and Chloe (Howard) 
Sherman, was born in Dover, May ii, 1828. 
His ancestors, originally from Germany, 
emigrated to the neighborhood of London, 
whence thev came to Connecticut, at length 
removing to Shrewsbury, Mass. His great- 
grandfather, Joseph Sherman, served in the 
Revolutionary war, and his grandfather, 
Nathan Sherman, after participating in Shay's 
rebellion, emigrated to Vermont and settled 
in the eastern part of what is now the town 
of Dover about 1790. 




ARVEY SHERMA 



Mr. Sherman enjoyed the common advan- 
tages of the district schools, and only three 
short terms in the village academies, and 
commenced his business career as a clerk in 
the store of P. F. Perry, in Dover Center, in 
1847, but being dissatisfied with his limited 
opportunities went to the city of New York, 
where he engaged as book-keeper for the 
New York Wire Mills. A year later he went 
to .Amherst, Mass., where he was employed 
as a clerk for the next six years. .After this 
he engaged in trade on his own account at 
Williamsville, but sold out to his cousin, O. 
L. Sherman, and went to Illinois, locating 
on Fox river, in the town of Geneva, where 
he remained about two years. He then re- 
turned to Dover and erected a store in the 
village of Rock River, and was instrumental 
in establishing the postoffice at that place, 
called East Dover, where for many years he 
held the office of postmaster. At the com- 



SHKRMAN. 359 

mencement of the war he was elected first 
selectman of the town, and became actively 
interested in filling the required quota of 
soldiers and in raising the requisite share of 
the war ex])enses, in which he was so suc- 
cessful that no debt was left against this 
small township, which raised no less than 
Si 6,000 in a single year, although the popu- 
lation was but little more than 600 individ- 
uals. In the spring of 1869 he associated 
with himself in business Mr. \.. H. (lould, 
under the firm name of Sherman & (iould, 
and in 1870 was chosen a delegate from the 
town to the Constitutional Convention at 
Montpelier. He was for several years town 
clerk of the town, and for eight years justice 
of the peace, and at one time or another has 
filled all the prominent offices in the gift of 
his town. He was elected to represent 
Dover in the Legislature of the state for the 
biennial term of i872-'74. 

Mr. Sherman was always actively interested 
in the growth of the village of East Dover, 
erecting new houses, a parsonage, remodel- 
ling the Baptist church and purchasing the 
mills in that place, investing therein several 
thousand dollars and running the first circu- 
lar board saw ever used in the town, where 
he carried on a very successful business in 
the manufacture of lumber, chair stock, sap 
buckets and pails, giving employment to a 
nimiber of men. He also put in the first 
portable grist mill in town. 

In 1875 he sold most of his real estate in 
1 )over and moved to Bratdeboro. He was 
engaged in the hardware store of C. F. 
Thompson &: Co. for one year, when he 
bought uut the insurance business of B. R. 
Jenne, taking into partnership Clarence F. 
R. Jenne, who became his son-in-law. 

He was one of the original incorporators 
of the Brattleboro Savings Bank and at one 
time its vice-president, and has held for sev- 
eral terms the office of justice of the peace, 
which he holds at the present time. He has 
always been identified with the social, relig- 
ious, and business interests of the town. 

Mr. Sherman is by faith a Baptist and was 
largely instrumental in raising the funds with 
which to liquidate the debt incurred by the 
erection of the present Baptist church struct- 
ure in Brattleboro, and served as one of the 
building committee when that edifice was 
remodeled in 1889. He is now and has been 
for se\eral years the clerk and treasurer of 
the Windham County Baptist .Association. 

Mr. Sherman was chosen treasurer of the 
Connecticut River Muttial Fire Insurance 
Co. at a time when it had become financially 
embarrassed, and by his arduous and judicious 
labors the affairs of the company were set- 
tled upon a satisfactory basis and its debts 
liipiidated. 



;Co 



In addition to his own numerous business 
interests, his services have been frequently 
sought after in the settlement of estates and 
other business relations. 

Mr. Sherman was first married at Dover, 
July 20, 1854, to Artie H., daughter of Aaron 
P. and Hannah Perry. Of this union there 
was one child, which died in infancy at 
Geneva, 111. Mrs. Sherman died at Dover, 
Feb. 16, 1858. Mr. Sherman again married 
at North Leverett, Mass., Jan. 2, 1859, Mary 
E., daughter of Joseph and Anna (Nichols) 
Farnsworth, of Halifax. Of this union were 
three children : Ida May ( Mrs. Clarence F. 
R. Jenne), Delia M., and Clifton L. (editor 
of the Hartford, Conn., Courant). 

SHIPMAN, Elliot Wardsworth, of 

^'ergennes, son of William W. and Elizabeth 
(Reed) Shipman, was born in Brooklyn, N. 
v., July 12, 1862. Both his paternal and 
maternal descent are from old and well- 
known families who early settled in the val- 
ley of the Connecticut, and he is directly 
decended from the daring Wardsworth who 
concealed the charter of the province in the 
old oak to preserve it from the clutches of 
the tyrannical Governor, Sir Edmund An- 
dres. 

Mr. Shipman received a most thorough 
and exhaustive education and after the usual 
preliminary training entered the University 
ol New \'ork from which he graduated in 
18S3 having devoted his attention to a classi- 
cal course. He then entered the college of 
Physicians and Surgeons of New York and 
received a special diploma from the Univer- 
sity of Vermont, where he graduated in 1SS5, 
being honored with second prize as a reward 
for an essay upon a subject connected with 
his profession. He then served a year of 
active apprenticeship in the Charity and 
other hospitals of New York City,' after 
which he practiced in New York City for a 
year and then took up his residence in Ver- 
gennes, where he has been a practicing 
physician up to the present time, making a 
special study and practice of diseases of the 
eye and ear. In this specialty he is the only 
practitioner between Rutland and Burling- 
ton. In order to increase his skill and keep 
up with all modern improvements in the 
manner of dealing with these diseases he 
spends a portion of the winter in New York, 
where he has established a connection with 
a New York specialist in eye, ear, nose and 
throat work. 

Dr. Shipman though taking a deep interest 
in all matters pertaining to the public wel- 
fare, is so entirely devoted to his professional 
life that he cannot give much of his valuable 
time to discharging the duties of any public 
office, but he is nevertheless health officer of 
the city and secretary of the board of trade. 



is a member of Vermont State ^Medical 
Society and Burlington Clinical Society. He 
has been prominently connected with the 
Lake Champlain \'acht Club and is one of 
the executive committee of that institution. 
He is a vestryman of St. Paul's Episcopal 
church of ^'ergennes. 

He married, Nov. 15, 1889, Martha T., 
daughter of Charles O. and Mary E. (Par- 
ker) Stevens. 

Dr. Shipman ranks high among the pro- 
fession of \'ermont, as well as in his own 
community. 

SHORES, Ethan PRESCOTT, of Granby, 
son of Levi P. and Sarah (Prescott) Shores, 
was born in Victory, Feb. 7, 1842. His 
father who still survives was one of the early 
settlers of the town and t^than was from boy- 
hood inured to hardship and privation, 
but this severe training developed Hercu- 
lean frame and iron constitution. 

He remained at home till the age of nine- 
teen, dividing his attention between labor and 
such schooling as in rare intervals he could ob- 
tain, but when the Rebellion came he resolved 
to devote that strength and manhood to the 
service of his country. He enlisted in Co. 
K, 8th Regt. Vt. \'ols., and remained with it 
during the entire time of service, except thirty 
days which he spent in the hospital recover- 
ing from a wound, which he had received in 
action. 

At the battle of Cedar Creek, the colors 
of the regiment were nearly captured, for 
the standard bearer had been shot and the 
regiment was in full retreat. Shores seized 
them, but too late, and with one comrade was 
cut off and surrounded by the enemy, who de- 
manded the immediate surrender of the flag. 
He shot one and bayonetted another of the 
rebels, while his comrade likewise stretched 
still another on the field, then breaking 
through the ranks around them, they rejoined 
their regiment which had formed in battle 
line a short distance in the rear. Here Ser- 
geant Shores delivered the colors to the proper 
officer, who in five minutes was shot dead, 
and then their former brave defender bore 
them throughout the remainder of that bloody 
fight. 

At another time, though severely wounded 
and made prisoner, he contrived to break 
from his guards and after two nights and 
three days of weary travel and perilous ad- 
venture, reached the L-nion lines. After 
more than three years of brave and con- 
stant service he received an honorable dis- 
charge. 

Mr. Shores settled upon the farm which he 
now occupies, then but an uncleared lot, and 
has devoted that energy and courage so sig- 
nally displayed upon the tented field to the 
subjugation of the \-irgin soil. 



SHURTI.KFK. 



^,6l 



He was wedded, Feb. 7, 1867, to Susan 
Maria, daughter of Charles and Harriet 
(Silsby) (Ileason. Their union has Ijcen 
blessed with four children ; i-ltta I';., I-lhvin 
P., ^^'inifred J., and Maud K. 

Mr. Shores has been a]ipointcd to many 
posts of honor and influence, and was se- 
lected to represent the town of (iranby in 
the Legislatures of 1876 and 1878. He is a 
])roniinent member and has been W. C. T. in 
the (Iranby Lodge of L (). G. T. 

He is blunt and outspoken, of strong 
convictions and prejudices, but with his 
heart in the right place, he is always to be 
found on the side of temperance and right 
living. 

SHUMWAY, John QUINCY, of Jamaica, 
son of Lewis and Sally (Mason) Shumway, 
was born in lamaica, ^[ay 19, 1835. 





He was educated at the public schools of 
his native town. At nineteen years of age 
Mr. Shumway began his business career, and 
established a factory for the manufacture of 
butter tubs. He continued this business 
until 1870, when he sold out and took the 
position of foreman in a boot and shoe man- 
ufactory, the first and only establishment of 
the kind in Windham county. 

In 1878 he received the appointment of 
deputy sheriff and resigned his position to 
accept it. He also took the agency of 
several leading insurance companies and 
devoted his entire attention to his official 



duties as deputy sheriff and his insurance 
business. He continued in this line until 
the fall of 1888, when he recei\ed the nomi- 
nation of sheriff of Windham county at the 
hands of the Republican party, and has since 
that time held the position, being twice re- 
elected. .Mr. Shumway has been justly 
popular in his own town, and has been 
chosen to perform many of the important 
public duties. He was first constable and 
collector of the taxes from 1881 to 1889. In 
i89i-'92-'93 he was elected first selectman, 
has served as auditor, and represented his 
town in the Legislature of 1886, refusing a 
renomination in 1888, preferring to serve 
his county as sheriff. Since 1886 Mr. Shum- 
way has been a trustee of the Jamaica Sav- 
ings Bank, one of the successful financial 
institutions of the state. 

He is also very prominent in social 
circles, and has twice been elected worship- 
ful master of Mt. Lebanon Lodge, No. 46, F. 
& A. M., of which he was for ten years sec- 
retary. 

Mr. Shumway was married .August 13, 1858, 
to Miss Olive Ann, daughter of Chandler 
and Polly J. Waterman. ()( this union there 
were three children : M. .Agnes, Arthur Iv, 
and Olive K. 

SHURTLEFF, JOHN Taylor, of Pen- 
nington, son of Jonas and Illizabeth (I'ay- 
lorTshurtleff, was born in Williamsport, N. 
v., Dec. 31, 1834. Mr. Shurtleff's great- 
grandfather, having a plantation near Tren- 
ton, N. J., furnished cattle for the Revolu- 
tionary army in camp near Philadelphia, 
and General Washington was godfather to 
the planter's son. h'is grandfather, Benoni, 
served in both land and naval battles of the 
Revolution. 

'Phe subject of this sketch received his 
early education in the public schools of 
Pridgewater and Phillipsbury, Penn., and 
afterward pursued a course of studies in the 
Waterville Institute in the state of Maine, 
and in St. Mary's Academy, P. Q. In 1851 
he came to Woodstock, where he entered 
the medical college. In 1857 he found em- 
plovment as prescription clerk in the store 
of kageman, Clark & Co., New York City, 
and later took a medical course in the Ann 
.Arbor Medical College. 

For two years he was employed in drug 
stores at Ottumwa, la., and Springfield, 111., 
and in 1859 established himself in the drug 
business in Bennington, where he has built 
up one of the largest trades in this line and 
has patented several \aluable remedies of 
his own. 

He has filled many minor public positions 
and in 1886 was sent as representative from 
Bennington to the Legislature, serving on 
the general committee and that on banks. 



362 



SHURTLEFF. 



He is a director of the Bennington Count}' 
National Bank since first organized, trustee 
and formerly treasurer of the Bennington 
County Savings Bank, and a member of the 
Bennington Monument Association, which 
organization he has served as director and 
one of the finance committee. 

Mr. Shurtleff has been actively associated 
with the Masonic fraternity, for twelve years 
presided over Mount Anthony I.odge, No. 
13, for many successive terms has filled the 
positions of High Priest of Temple Chap- 
ter, No. 8, and past Grand King of the 
Grand Chapter of Vermont. He is also past 
commander of Taft Commandery, No. 8, and 
for many years has acted as senior warden 
and treasurer of St. Peter's Episcopal Church 
of Bennington. 

June 26, 1862, Mr. Shurtleff was united in 
marriage to Maria E., daughter of Samuel and 
Julia Mower, of Woodstock. She departed 
this life in September, 1S81, leading two sur- 
viving children : George Henry, and Mary 
Elizabeth. 

SHURTLEFF, STEPHEN CURRIER, of 
Montpelier, son of Abial and Rebecca (Cur- 
rier) Shurtleff, was born in Walden, Jan. 13, 
1838. He is descended from W'illiam Shurt- 
leff, the first of the name in the United 
States, who was killed by lightning at Marsh- 
field, Mass., June 23, ifi'Se. 





STEPHEN CURRIER SHURTLEFF. 

He received his early educational training 
in the common schools of AValden, and 
farther pursued his studies at the academies 



of Glover, Newbury and Morrisville. Re- 
solving to follow the profession of the law, 
he studied at Plainfield with C. H. Heath, 
Esq., and was admitted to the bar of Wash- 
ington county at the March term, T863. In 
the following May he commenced to practice 
at East Hardwick, but in September of the 
same year removed to Plainfield, where he 
practiced until 1876. In this year he estab- 
lished himself at Montpelier, where he has 
since resided. 

He was united in marriage April 28, 1868, 
to Elizabeth M., daughter of John .Augus- 
tine and .Arminda M. Pratt, of Marshfield. 
By her he has had two children : Harry C, 
and Maud L. 

Mr. Shurtleff has always been a Democrat, 
and in 1874 he represented Plainfield in the 
Legislature, and in 1886 and 1888 was the 
Democratic candidate for Governor. 

Self-reliant and strong, Mr. Shurtleff, from 
the first, has steadily advanced to his present 
enviable position at the bar. He has been 
for many years the counsel of the Montpe- 
lier & Wells River R. R., and his practice 
extends well over the state. He also has a 
good practice in the L'nited States courts, 
especially as a patent lawyer. In i8go, in a 
Legislature strongly adverse politically, he 
received an almost successful support for a 
seat on the supreme bench of the state. 

SILSBY, Wendell, of West Burke, son 
of Harvey and Celia (Bloss) Silsby, was born 
in Lunenburg, March 28, 1846. 

After attending some of the public schools 
of Westmore until the age of sixteen, he 
enlisted as private in Co. E, nth Regt. \t. 
Vols., in which command he was one of the 
youngest soldiers. Though a mere youth he 
did his duty manfully in the batdes of Spott- 
sylvania and Cold Harbor, and having been 
seriously wounded he was transported to the 
hospitals at Annapolis and Montpelier, 
where he remained until he was honorably 
mustered out of the U. S. service, May 22, 
1865. After his recovery, for some time he 
united with his brother in the manufacture 
of lumber, and he has been engaged in this 
occupation more or less since that time. In 
1872 he purchased an estabhshment of his 
own in \\'estmore, which he operated until 
1890. In 1884 he added to his possessions 
a shingle mill of large capacity, and two 
years later a saw-mill, finally constructing a 
dressing mill in 1892. Mr. Silsby has acted 
as lister in Westmore and Burke, and for 
six years has discharged the duties of justice 
of the peace in the latter place. He has 
represented both towns in the Legislature, 
serving on the committee of manufactures in 
both sessions. For two years he was the 
commander of D. Rattray Post, No. 9, G. A. 
R., is an Odd Fellow, and has no marked 



religious preference, yet attends and sn])- 
ports the Methodist church. 

April II, 1873, Mr- Silsby married Ada, 
daughter of Elbridge and Sarah (Marshall) 
(laskell. Three children have been born of 
this marriage : Charles E., Harvey W., and 
Mabel. 

SILVER, William Rillv, of uioomfield, 

son of Arad and Sophie (Nichols) Silver, was 
born in Bloomfield, March 27, 1820. 

Arad Silver came to Bloomfield (then 
called Mine Head) in 1805, and William R. 
remained with him on his large farm until 
his majority. The latter was one of a family 
of ten children and enjoyed only the most 
limited educational advantages, walking to 
school . two and one-half miles, journeying 
over the state line to Columbia, N. H., but 
he carefully improved the limited opportun- 
ities afforded him. His first essay in active 
life was a passage down the river to Middle- 
town, Conn., on a lumber drive and raft, and 
for five years he labored in the woods near 
the banks of the Connecticut river. When 
he returned to ESloomfield he purchased a 
fine estate on the Connecticut river, which 
ever since he has made his place of resi- 
dence. He has been successfully engaged 
in general farming and for fourteen consecu- 
tive years has won the first premium for seed 
corn at Upper Coos and Essex county fairs. 
He has made sheep husbandry a specialty. 
He is remarkably vigorous and well pre- 
served for his years, and can read without 
glasses. He signed the temperance pledge 
at the age of ten years and has never drank 
a glass of liquor in his life. 

His political record has been that of a 
Republican, for which party he with two 
others deposited the first ballot in town. 
Representing Bloomfield four terms in the 
Legislature, he always served on the com- 
mittee on agriculture. In 1876 he received 
the appointment of associate judge of Essex 
county court. Judge Silver is recognized in 
the community as a man of benevolent im- 
pulses, keen judgment and prudent foresight, 
possessing the respect and good-will of all 
his acquaintances and friends. 

In 1849 he was married at Bloomfield, 
to Relief, daughter of .Adin and Nancy 
(Clough) Bartlett. By her he has had issue 
eight children: George, Louisa (deceased), 
Elvira, William R., Henry, Fayette, Bernice, 
and Alice (Mrs. F'dson Holden). 

SIMON DS, David Kendall, of Man- 
chester, son of David and Anna (Byam) 
Simonds, was born in Peru, .April 5, 1839. 

His education was received in the public 
schools of Peru, Burr and Burton Seminary, 
Manchester, and was graduated from Middle- 
bury College in July, 1S62, ranking fourth in 



SKIN.NKK. 363 

his class. In order to defray his ex])enses 
during his collegiate career he taught in the 
Westfield grammar school, in North Troy 
village and for two years was principal of 
Champlain .Academy, N. V., at the same 
time keeping up his studies with his college 
class. In June, 1863, he visted Tennessee 
and Mississippi as correspondent of the Chi- 
cago Tribune, Missouri Republican, and the 
New York World. Later he studied law with 
("rane and Bisbee, at New])ort, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar of Orleans county in 1865. 
Here he practiced his profession for four 
years during which time, in connection with 
Royal Cummings, he organized the Newport 
F^xpress, which he edited for some time, and 
then he removed to St. Johnsbury. There 
he founded and took charge of the St. Johns- 
bury Times, and soon after accepted a simi- 
lar position from C. A. Pierce, proprietor of 
the Bennington Banner. In 187 1, he trans- 
ferred his labors to Manchester, where he 
bought the Journal of that place, which he 
still owns and edits. Mr. Simonds has been 
the author of several books and pamphlets. 

He was united in marriage, .August 7, 
1873, to Ellen M., daughter of Rev. .Asa and 
Mary (Simonds) Clark, formerly of Peru. 
Two children are the fruit of this union : 
Louise, and Clark. 

For three months during the war Mr. 
Simonds served in the 3d Tennessee Regi- 
ment, and as correspondent he followed 
Grant and Sherman to .Atlanta. 

Republican in his political views, he has 
held many offices in the gift of the people in 
both Newport and Manchester and represen- 
ted the latter towruin the Legislature in 1886, 
giving his services in that body as chairman 
of the educational committee. Two years 
later he was chosen senator from Bennington 
county, where he was chairman of the commit- 
tee on federal relations and a member of the 
committees on education and military affairs. 

Mr. Simonds has taken the Masonic vows 
in .Adoniram Lodge, .Adoniram Chapter, and 
Taft Commandery. In 18S8 he was Grand 
Patron of Vermont for the order of the ICast- 
ern Star, and he has taken much interest in 
the Vermont Press Association, belongs to 
the Manchester Congregational Church, and 
is one of the executive committee of the 
^\'estern \'ermont Congregational Club. He 
is also a trustee of Middlebury College, and 
of Burr and liurton Seminary. 

SKINNLR, ELIAB Reed, of Montpelier, 
son of Simeon and .Abigail (Reed) Skinner, 
was born in Brookfield, Dec. 25, 18 19. 

He received a common school education 
in Brookfield and Chelsea, to which latter 
place his parents had removed in 1826, and 
he also attended a private school under the 
tuition of Rev. Mr. Dow, a noted divine of 



364 



the period. When he arrived at man's estate 
he commenced active business as a butcher, 
in which occupation he remained until 1852, 
when he commenced at Chelsea a wholesale 
traffic in staple and fancy goods, moving to 
Montpelier in 1858, then extending his trade 
through the entire northern part of the state. 
In this he continued till 1875, ^ver increas- 
ing the business, and employing many four- 
horse teams to travel, not only in this state, 
but also through northern New York. At 
this time he resigned the personal superin- 
tendence of the business, which, however, 
he still continues to transact by means of 
traveling agents. In 1880 he purchased a 
controlling interest in the Montpelier Gas- 




light Co., to which he devoted his principal 
attention till 1892, when the plant was pur- 
chased by the Standard Light and Power Co. 

Mr. Skinner was married, March 27, 1848, 
to Laura A. Bean, daughter of William and 
Mary Wilson of C'helsea. 

He is a good type of the old-time mer- 
chant, one who always minded his own busi- 
ness and minded it well, and who enjoys 
with the ample competence it has given 
him the good-will and respect of his towns- 
men. 

SKINNER, Richard Baxter, of Bar- 
ton, son of Dr. Jonathan Fitch and Sophia 
(Stevens) Skinner, was born in Barnet, May 

I, 1834- 

His education was obtained in the schools 
of Barnet, Brownington Academv and the 



Lyndon and Peacham .Academies. After his 
graduation from these institutions he at- 
tended a course of lectures in Castleton 
Medical College and in the medical depart- 
ment of Harvard University, from which 
latter he graduated in 1858 with the highest 
honors in his class. The following summer 
he began in Barton the practice of his pro- 
fession with his father, with whom he re- 
mained till 1 87 1, since which time he has 
been by himself. Dr. Skinner has an ex- 
tensive practice all over Orleans county and 
is in great demand as a consulting surgeon 
in doubtful and critical cases. For the sake 
of recreation he has purchased a small farm 
and was one of the earliest breeders of 
Jersey cattle in the county. 

In i860 he received a commission as 
surgeon of the Third Militia Regiment of 
Vermont from Governor Hall. 

He has been a staunch Republican since 
the formation of that party, and in 1880 
represented Barton in the Legislature. He 
was chairman of House committee on the 
house of correction rendering efficient ser- 
vice on that committee. 

For several years he was one of the trus- 
tees of Barton Academy and town superin- 
tendent of schools. He was one of the 
early members of the C)rleans County Medi- 




RICHARD BAXTER SKINNER 



cal Association and also a member of the 
Vermont State and White Mountain Medical 
Associations. He was a member of the 
Newport board of examining surgeons for 



pensions at Newport for the four years of 
President Harrison's administration. 

From his early manhood he has been an 
active member of the Congregational church. 

Dr. Skinner was married, Feb. 24, 1864, 
to Marcia A., daughter of Amos C. and 
Eliza E. Robinson of Barton, who died Nov. 
27, 1882. 

SMALLEY, Bradley Barlow, of Bur- 
lington, son of Judge David A. Smalley, was 
born in fericho, Nov. 26, 1836. 




BRADLEY BARLOW SMA 



His father, David A. Smalley, was one of 
the most eminent citizens of Vermont, and 
when Bradley was four years of age he re- 
moved to Burlington. There the son dili- 
gently availed himself of the excellent op- 
portunities afforded him to obtain a good 
common school and academical education. 
This completed, he decided to adopt the 
legal profession, beginning the requisite 
studies in the office of his father, where he 
also finished his professional education under 
the super\ision of that admirable expositor 
of the law, and was admitted to the bar of 
Chittenden county in 1863. Two years prior 
to the latter event he received the appoint- 
ment of clerk of the United States courts in 
Vermont, which position he held till 1885 
when he was appointed collector of customs 
by President Cleveland. He was collector 
till 1889 and was again appointed to the 
same office in 1883 and is the present in- 
cumbent. 



SMILIE. 365 

Mr. Smalley's political affiliations are with 
the national Democratic party. That or- 
ganization seems to be in the permanent 
minority in \'ermont, but notwithstanding 
this Mr. .Smalley wields much influence and 
has made his mark on the legislative history 
of the state. In 1874 and again in 1878 he 
represented Burlington in the Legislature, 
and established his reputation as a practical 
working member. He has also held muni- 
cipal offices in the city of Burlington. In the 
councils of the Democratic \>a.ny, both na- 
tional and state, Mr. Smalley has been and is 
an influential participant. He has been a 
member of the national Democratic commit- 
tee since 1873, and since 1876 has been a 
member of the national executive commit- 
tee. As such he has devoted nearly the 
whole of his time to the service of his party, 
during the later presidential campaigns hav- 
ing charge of one of the departments. He 
has been a delegate from the state of Ver- 
mont to nearly, if not all, the national Demo- 
cratic conventions for twenty years. He is 
in possession of the fullest confidence of his 
fellow-Democratic leaders, and exhibits al- 
most unlimited power for active political 
work. 

Mr. Smalley was one of the \\'orld's Fair 
Commissioners from Vermont. 

Mr. Smalley has manifested much and 
most intelligent interest in the railroad 
affairs of the state, and was a director of the 
Central Vermont R. R. up to the time of its 
reorganization. He is now one of the direc- 
tors of the Southeastern system of railroads, 
and is also a director of the Burlington 
Trust Co. 

Thorough and diligent in business, excel- 
lent in civil life, and efficient in all things by 
him undertaken, he is respected equally by 
political friends and political opponents. 

Bradley B. Smalley was married on the 4th 
of June, i860, to Caroline M., daughter of 
Hon. Carlos Baxter, late of Burlington. 
Five children have been the fruit of their 



SMILIE, Melville Earl, of MontpeL 

ier, son of Flarl and Matilda B. (Thurston) 
Smilie, was born in Canbridge, August 21, 
1844. His father moved to Madison, Wis., 
in 1852, where he died in 1855, and Mel- 
ville returned to Vermont in September, 
1856. 

He received his preparatory education at 
the common schools and L^nderhill Acad- 
emy, and in i86r entered the L^niversity of 
Vermont, but left that institution at the end 
of his sophomore vear on account of failing 
health. After leaving college he was em- 
ployed as a clerk in a store until he began the 
study of law. Shortly afterward he mo\ed to 
Montpelier, where he continued to read law 



366 



and was appointed deputy county clerk. He 
was admitted to the barof \\'ashington county 
March 15, 1866, and acted as the reporter of 
the Senate during the session of that year. 
\V'hen that body adjourned he engaged in 
the practice of his profession at ^^■aterbury, 
where he remained se\en years, during two 
of which he was employed as principal of 
the high school of that place. 

Mr. Smilie was elected state's attorney for 
Washington county in 1868, and served for 




LE EARL SMII 



two successive terms. He was also superin- 
tendent of schools in ^^'aterbury. In 1874 
he made his residence at Detroit, but the 
following year returned to Montpelier, taking 
charge of the county clerk's oflfice during 
the last year of Clerk Newcomb's life. He 
was appointed county clerk the 27th of Jan- 
uary, 1876, and has discharged excellently 
the duties of the position to the present 
time. He was made president of the village 
corporation of Montpelier in 1890, and for 
the last eight years has served as justice of 
the peace. For many years Mr. Smilie has 
been a member of the Montpelier school 
board. He is a director and a member of 
the executive board of Vermont Mutual Fire 
Insurance Co. 

He has entered the Masonic fraternity, 
af^liating with Winooski Lodge, No. 49, of 
Waterbury, in which he has filled the mas- 
ter's chair ; he also unites with the chapter 
and council. 

Mr. Smilie was married in Waterbury, May 
26, 1870, to Ellen, daughter of Heman and 
Beulah (Demmon) Pinneo. They have one 
son : Melville E. 



SMITH, Charles Carroll, was born 

in Sharon, Conn., June 11, 1830, the sixth 
in a family of eight children of Ransom and 
Lydia (Burtch) Smith. 

His boyhood was spent on a farm under 
circumstances adverse to acquiring a liberal 
education, though he had longings in that 
direction. From the age of eight to eighteen 
years, a three-months' winter school in his 
native district was his annual allowance, but 
he so improved his meagre opportunities 
that he taught successfully the remaining 
winters till he reached his majority. 

He then, for a short time, attended the 
State Normal School at New Britain, Conn., 
the better to fit himself for limited teaching 
in the common schools, but his early long- 
ings for an academic education so followed 
him, that he finally took a preparatory course 
at the Green Mountain Liberal Institute of 
South Woodstock, and the full course at 
Middlebury College, from which he was 
graduated in August, 1862. 

His patriotic impulses at once led him to 
enter the Union army, as secession was 
then elated with victories won. He accord- 
ingly enlisted, August 30, in Co. E, 14th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., and with a creditable record 
ser\ed out his time, and was honorably dis- 
charged when his regiment was mustered out 
of the service of the United States. 

Deciding to devote his life to the healing 
art, he began its study with Prof. Walter 
Carpenter of Burlington, and received his 
diploma from the medical department of the 
L'niversity of Vermont, in June, 1865 : but 
wishing for further opportunity to study dis- 
eases before starting in private practice, he 
obtained a position on the staff of physicians 
attached to the Citizens' Hospital of Flat- 
bush, L. I., where he remained about a year. 
He then settled in the village of Gaysville, 
in Stockbridge, and has been favorably re- 
ceived as an intelligent and faithful medical 
practitioner in that community. He is a 
ntember of the \\'hite River Medical Associa- 
tion, and the choice for its presidency has 
more than once fallen to him, which shows 
his standing in the profession. He is also a 
member of the Vermont Medical Society. 
He has always taken an active interest in 
public affairs, and has served faithfully and 
acceptably in various ofifices in the town 
where he resides. 

In politics he is a firm Republican, and as 
such represented his town in the state Leg- 
islature in 1872 and 1884. In 1890 he was 
a senator from Windsor county, and as a 
member of the committee on education and 
of several other committees, rendered im- 
portant service. 

Dr. Smith belongs to the G. .\. R. ; he 
was a member of Daniel Lillie Post, No. 61, 
located at Bethel, at its organization ; was 



its first commander, and had several re-elec- 
tions to that position. But the veterans of 
his town desiring to meet nearer home, in 
1891, Gen. H. H. Baxter Post, No. iii, was 
organized at Gaysville, of which he was a 
charter member. 

October 17, 1862, he married Mary L., 
daughter of I5ela R. Perry of Hancock. To 
them three children have been born : Ran- 
som Perry (deceased), Mabel Gertrude, and 
Leda Florian. 

SMITH, Clement F., of Morrisviiie, 

son of Daniel and Betsey (Pike) Smith, was 
born in Morristown, July 29, 1856. 

Mr. Smith is one of the best known and 
energetic young farmers in this vicinity. He 
was brought up on the farm where he now 
resides. After having availed himself of 
such educational advantages as were offered 
by the common schools and People's Acad- 
emy of Morrisviiie, he purchased his father's 
farm and stock, paying $10,500 with only 
$500 to pay down. Besides having his pay- 
ments to meet, he has greatly improved the 
farm and buildings, and has now one of the 
best Jersey dairies in Vermont. He keeps 
about forty cows, mostly pure bred, which 
average to produce nearly four hundred 
pounds of butter each per annum. He keeps 
abreast of the times in using all modern 
machinery, usually being the first one in his 
vicinity to try the merits of a new machine 
or device that comes upon the market. He 
has been agent for and sold a large amount 
of farm and dairy machinery in his county. 
His was the third silo that was built in Ver- 
mont. He was the first master of Lamoille 
Grange and has held several town offices. 
Laport Dairy, as he calls his farm, is pleas- 
antly situated about three miles from Mor- 
risviiie on the road to Stowe. 

Since he was twenty years of age he has 
been continuously a steward of the M. E. 
Church. In politics he is a temperance 
Republican. 

Mr. Smith married, Sept. 25, 18 78, Mary 
A., daughter of Mark P. and Rhuhamah A. 
(Stevens) Burnham of Enfield, N. H. They 
have been blessed with six children : Mabel 
C., Lily A., Grace B., Ramy M., Alice B., 
and Mark B., all of whom are living. 

SMITH, Charles F., of Topsham, son 
of Edmund H.and Huldah (Kidder) Smith, 
was born in Topsham, Dec. 11, 1854. 

He was early made acquainted with agri- 
cultural labor, being bred upon his father's 
farm, and thus gaining an amount of experi- 
ence that proved largely of benefit in his 
after life. He gleaned such education as he 
could in the schools of Topsham, and before 
he had attained his majority he found his 
way to Boston. There he went to work first 



567 



in a shoe store, then as a butcher, after which 
he carried on the business of a sale stable 
for about six years. He then returned to 
Topsham and his original occupation, devot- 
ing much attention to the raising of poultry, 
and also entered to some extent into the 
butter trade. Soon he purchased a stock of 



' ^ «? ' 




groceries and general merchandise, and 
never omitting a favorable chance to 
buy or sell a horse when opportunity offered, 
carried on the business of a country mer- 
chant, and in addition ran the village saw- 
mill. In the fall of 1892, seeing a better 
opportunity to realize a competency, he 
purchased the good-will and stock of the 
preparation styled the " Green Mountain 
Liniment and Cough Elixir," and to this he 
added the well-known Green Mountain Sar- 
saparilla, with a wholesale drug line. His 
expectations appear to have been realized, 
and he is laying the foundation of a widely- 
extended, reputable and lucrative trade. 

.A man of so much energy could scarcely 
escape the responsibilities of public oflfice, 
and as the natural consequence of his exec- 
utive ability he has been chosen to discharge 
the duties of constable, collector and deputy 
sheriff. He is a Republican, and was for 
five years assistant in the post-office, and 
postmaster, and was in 1890 elected repre- 
sentative from Toj^sham to the (General .As- 
sembly. He is now sheriff of Orange county. 

Mr. Smith was married, June 17, 1877, to 
R. Augusta, daughter of James and Rachel 



(Anderson) Perkins, of Boston, Mass. Their 
union has been blessed with a son and 
daughter : Bessie May, and Bradley P. 

Sheriff Smith is a member of Hiawatha 
Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Barre. 

SMITH, Cyrus H., of Townline, son of 
Elisha and Ellen (Whitford) Smith, was born 
in Addison, March 5, 1855. His education 
was obtained at the common schools of Ad- 
dison, at Ft. Edward Institute, Fort Edward, 
N. Y., and at the Vermont Methodist Sem- 
inary at Montpelier. But more important 
than this school training was that of kindly 
discipline, regularity and self-culture, which 
he received in the home circle. Always 
taught to regard the interests of business 
rather than the pursuits of idle pleasure, the 
result of the inculcation of these principles 
has rendered Mr. Smith one of the leading 
farmers and most energetic business men in 
his native town. He is both intelligent and 
conservative and strictly attends to his own 
private affairs. He has especially devoted 
himself to the breeding of Merino sheep and 
now owns an excellent flock. He is some- 
what interested in horses and advocates the 
raising of the Black Hawk-Morgan breed as 
best suited to the wants of the community. 

He was wedtledin Bridport, Jan. 31, 1877, 
to Alma E., daughter of John O. and Char- 
lotte (Sanford) Hamilton. Their marriage 
has been blessed with four children : Mary 
H., Carroll C, Mabel E., and Herman E. 

Mr. Smith is a strong Republican, and, 
although a comparati\ely young man, has 
been called upon to fill many of the town 
offices, including selectman, auditor, lister, 
and justice of the peace, and at present is 
serving as one of the school directors of the 
town. He is a progressive and substantial 
citizen. 

SMITH, Elisha, of Townline, son of 
Hiram and Anna (Starkweather) Smith, was 
born in Bridport, Dec. i, 182S. His grand- 
father, Nathan Smith, was one of the earliest 
settlers of Bridport. He was twice taken 
prisoner in the war and carried to Canada, 
but made his escape each time, and after 
many perilous adventures and great priva- 
tions, finally succeeded in reaching the town 
of Pittsford. 

Elisha Smith received his primary educa- 
tion at the common schools of Bridport, 
followed by a course of study at the acade- 
mies of Williston and Bakersfield, obtaining 
what was considered at that time a liberal 
education. 

He was married in Panton, Dec. 18, 1851, 
to Ellen Whitford ; four children have been 
issue of this union : Anna L. (Mrs. Edward 
T. Gough, of Addison), Cyrus H., Benjamin 
\\'., and Cora E. 



After his marriage he moved from Brid- 
port, and settled on one of the lake farms 
in Addison county, and, in 1864, he pur- 
chased and made his home upon the estate 
which he now possesses in the valley of 
Lake Champlain, where he devotes his at- 
tention to general farming, stock raising and 
wool growing. 

Mr. Smith is one of the sturdy representa- 
tive yeomen of the state, never seeking 
office or personal distinction, but a strict 
man of business and true worth, one hon- 
ored and respected, who despises the profes- 
sional politician. He originally belonged to 
the old whig party, but joined the ranks of 
the Republicans in 1856. He was select- 
man during the crisis of the civil war and 
represented Addison in the state Legislature 
in 1872, serving as chairman of the com- 
mittee on mileage and debentures. For 
many years he has been a believer in the 
efficacy of the law of prohibition. He be- 
longs to no secret societies, and though he has 
not lived for the sake of show or distinction, 
is very influential in his town and county. 

SMITH, Emery L., of Barre, son of 
Alvin and Susan (Lewis) Smith, was born in 
Northfield, Oct. 11, 1842. 

His mother died in his early boyhood and 
the family was broken up in consequence of 
this sad loss, but Emery was fortunate enough 
to find a comfortable home in the household 
of Mr. Joseph ( lold, of Roxbury. He ap- 
plied himself diligently to labor on the farm, 
receiving in the intervals of toil such instruc- 
tion as the common schools afforded, and 
after his return from his military service he 
managed to attend two terms at the Orange 
county grammar school at Randolph. 

Before he had arrived at his majority he list- 
ened to the call of patriotic duty and enrolled 
himself a member of Co. G, 6th Vt. Vols., 
and before his first year of active service had 
expired, was taken prisoner and sent to Rich- 
mond where he languished in captivity some 
months, was then paroled and immediately re- 
joined his comrades. With this exception and 
a brief service as recruiting officer, on which 
he was detached as a mark of appreciation of 
his meritorious conduct, he was constantly at 
the front during his term of service of three 
years. 

Mr. Smith was married, Oct. 11, 1866, to 
Mary, daughter of Eliphalet and Lucy (Par- 
ker) Hewitt, who bore him four children: 
Alice L., and Corrie A., then twins who died 
in early infancy. Mrs. Smith died Nov. 22, 
1875. He married Martha, daughter of 
Clark and Emily (Carter) Day, April 12, 
1887, by whom he has had one child : Harry 
D. (deceased). 

When Mr. Smith removed to Barre, for 
more than a year he worked for his father- 



in-law, I'.liphalet Hewitt, who was the pion- 
eer stone cutter of the place, but in the 
spring of 1868 he began business on his own 
account, and has continued till the present 
time a stone cutter and granite dealer, ha\- 
ing during that period been a jiartner in 
several firms. He was the first to quarry 
granite in the winter season, also to use a 
permanent derrick, for which he invented a 
special capstone to increase the power. He 
was first to see the advantages of the steam 
drill and the electric battery, and introduced 
their use. His present ])artners are John K. 
and Donald Smith, and the firm possesses 
one of the best plants in New England, 
employing a large number of men. 

Mr. Smith is a man of independent polit- 
ical convictions and has the courage to live 
up to them. Of late he has acted with the 
Democratic ])arty. He has been village 
bailiff, is a public-spirited citizen who has 
always predicted a prosperous future for the 
town of Barre, and does his utmost to real- 
ize his anticipations, ^^'hen he came here 
there were about a dozen men engaged in 
quarrying and stone-cutting, but now in its 
various branches there are a hundred firms, 
employing a working force of over eighteen 
hundred laborers. 

For nearly thirty years Mr. Smith has 
been a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
and he is also a member of R. B. Crandall 
Post, No. 56, G. A. R., of Barre. He joined 
many years ago the Knights of Honor, and 
still continues to affiliate with that society. 

SMITH, Frederic Elijah, of Mont- 

pelier, son of Elijah and Anna (Robertson) 
Smith, was born in Northfield, June 11, 
1830. His grandfather served in Thomas 
Barney's Co., in Col. Ira Allen's regiment 
during the Revolutionary war. 

Mr. Frederic Smith pursued his studies 
in the common schools until sixteen years 
of age, then entering Newbury Seminary, 
graduated from that institution, and in 1848 
became a clerk in Loomis & Camp's dry 
goods store in Montpelier. In 1853 he 
established himself in Montpelier as a drug- 
gist, which occupation he was pursuing with 
great success when the civil war broke out. 
Leaving the concern in charge of his clerks 
he entered the service of his country, to 
which he had been summoned by Gov. 
Erastus Fairbanks to take charge of the 
arming, equipping and subsistence of the 
6th Regt. Vt. Vols. With this regiment he 
was sent by the Governor to the front in 
order to settle with several quartermasters 
who had left the state with their accounts un- 
adjusted. While in discharge of this duty he 
was, Nov. 23, 1 86 1, appointed quartermaster 
of the 8th Vt. Vols., and immediately re- 
turned to commence his new duties, assist- 



SMITH. 369 

ing Col. Stephen Thomas in enlisting men, 
and afterwards taking charge of them while 
rendezvoused at Brattleboro. He accom- 
])anied the regiment which had been ordered 
to join the command of Major-General But- 
ler to Ship Island, and later to New Orleans. 
Soon afterwards he was stationed at .Algiers, 
on the west side of the .Mississippi, where he 
was post quartermaster, and made provost 
judge by appointment of the department 
commander. He next served as commissary 
of subsistence on the staff of Cien. Godfrey 
Weitzel in the department of the Gulf, till 
December, 1863. [jrovidingfor thearmy in the 
field during all of its marches till they finally 
arrived at Port Hudson. 

After the war he returned to Montpelier 
where he engaged in mercantile ]nirsuits till 
1869, when he moved to New York, where 
he remained for three years. In 1872 he 
returned to Montpelier, where he became 




FREDERIC ELIJAH SMITH. 



engaged in manufacturing, establishing fac- 
tories in different towns, and having stores 
in several places in the United States. 

Mr. Smith was married, Oct. 12, 1852, to 
Abba Morrill, daughter of Nathan and Bet- 
sey (Dole) Hale of Danville. Three sons 
were the issue of this union : two died in 
infancy, the third, Walter Joseph, was born 
May 9, 1862, and died May 9, 1S81, one 
whose bright and lovely youth had given 
promise of a noble manhood. 

Colonel Smith is now president of the 
Watchman Publishing Co. ; of the Mont- 



pelier Public Library (from its foundation) : 
the Colby ^^'ringer Co., of Montpelier ; the 
Maplewood Improvement Co., of Tennesee ; 
and of the board of trustees of the Diocese 
of Vermont : he is vice-president of the First 
National Bank of Montpelier ; of the Ver- 
mont Mutual Fire Insurance Co. ; and the 
Bowers (Iranite Co. ; a director in the Na- 
tional Life Insurance Co., and a member of 
its finance committee ; in the Vermont 
Quarry Co., and in the Wetmore & Morse 
Granite Co. Colonel Smith was for four 
years prior to 1891, president of the Vermont 
Mutual Fire Insurance Co., an office which 
the pressure and importance of private inter- 
ests compelled him to resign. Since the war 
Colonel Smith has maintained in the Grand 
Army of the Republic and Loyal Legion his 
military associations, and for many years 
has been secretary of the Vermont Officers 
Reunion Society. He is also a member of 
the Sons of the American Revolution. 

He has always taken a deep interest in the 
educational interests of the state, and is a 
trustee of the Norwich L'ni^ersity and ^^■ash- 
ington county grammar school, and was for 
some years president of the Montpelier 
school board. He has long been junior 
warden of Christ Episcopal Church in Mont- 
pelier, a trustee of the Vermont Episcopal 
Institute, Bishop Hopkins' Hall, a member 
of the board of investment of the aged and 
infirm clergy fund, and has been a delegate 
to the triennial conventions of his church in 
New Vork and Baltimore. 

In 1876 he was appointed aid to Gov- 
ernor Fairbanks with the rank of colonel, 
and in 1S86 and 1888 served two terms as a 
senator for ^^'ashington county. In 1892 he 
was made delegate-at-large to the Republi- 
can National Con\-ention at Minneapolis. 

SMITH, Myron W., of Fairlee, son of 
Grant and Rebecca (Swift) Smith, was born 
in Fairlee, July 26, 1834. 

His educational advantages were limited 
to the common schools of Fairlee and Thet- 
ford, but he has always been a most diligent 
and judicious reader of books, and may fairly 
lay claim to the title of a self educated man. 
The cares of the family devohed upon him 
at nineteen years of age on account of the 
death of his father, compelling him to forego 
his cherished desire to obtain a liberal edu- 
cation. From 1850 to 1868 he lived in 
Thetford, but since the last date he has 
passed his time upon his farm in Fairlee, de- 
voting himself to the congenial employment 
of an agriculturist, to reading and to the dis- 
charge of the many official duties which his 
appreciative fellow-townsmen have intrusted 
to his charge. 

Mr. Smith has acted with the Republican 
party from the time of Fremont to the ad- 



ministration of Benjamin Harrison. He has, 
at various times, held many of the offices in 
his town, acting for nine consecutive years 
as superintendent of schools. He was elected 
to the lower branch of the Legislature in 
1S80 and again in 1890 ; in both these 
bodies earnestly advocating reform in the in- 
terest of equal taxation. 

Mr. Smith was united in marriage, Dec. 
28, 1859, to Anna A., daughter of Johona- 
than and Mary (Colcord) Bryant. The 
grandfather, Daniel Bryant, served for three 
years in the Revolutionary war. Their union 
has been blessed with two children : Irving 
G. and Carrie M. 

The great-grandfather (Swift) on the 
mother's side, was also a soldier of the Revo- 
lution for several years and a United States 
pensioner. 

Several generations of this family have 
made their name a synonym for bravery and 
patriotism. David Smith, in the eighth gen- 
eration, emigrated from the north of Ireland 
and settled in New Boston, N. H., where he 
was taken prisoner by the Indians, but set a 
neighbor and himself free from two Indian 
guards the first night by a sudden act of des- 
perately determined bravery. The grand- 
father of Mr. Smith was commissioned cap- 
tain of the Fairlee militia in 1778, and served 
as a minute man, also as scout in the Cham- 
plain Valley. Grant Smith, though exempt 
from military serxice by reason of his offi- 
cial position, went with the Fairlee company 
at the time of the battle of Plattsburg. New- 
ton W., a younger brother, died in the LTnited 
States service Feb. 5, 1864, a member of the 
3d Vt. Battery, Light Artillery. Myron W. 
enlisted in Company A, 15 th Regt., Col. 
Redfield Proctor, in 1862, served his time, 
and was mustered out with his regiment. 
He is a charter member of the original and 
also of the reorganized Washburn Post, No. 
17, G. A. R., and was also a member of Val- 
ley Grange P. of H. of Fairlee. He has been 
an active member of the Congregational So- 
ciety and church for many years. 

SMITH, Walter PeRRIN, of .St. Johns- 
bury, son of John S. and Sophronia M. 
(Perrin) Smith, was born in Hardwick, Nov. 
4, 1841. 

ludge Smith prepared for college at the 
Hardwick and Morrisville academies and 
graduated from the L^niversity of Vermont 
in 1867. He studied law at the L^niversity of 
Michigan and with Powers & Gleed at Mor- 
risville, and was admitted to the Lamoille 
county bar at the May term, 1869. The fol- 
lowing autumn he removed to St. Johnsbury 
and formed a partnership with Hon. Jona- 
than Ross. He continued the practice of 
his profession until elected to the office of 
judge of probate for the district of Cale- 



donia in 1882, which position he now holds. 
He was state's attorney for Caledonia county 
from 1874 to 1876 : represented the town of 
St. Johnsbury in the Legislature of r88o, 
and has been superintendent of schools! 
He was for several years a director in the 
Merchants National Bank of St. Johnsbury ; 
is at present a director in the First Xatioriai 
Bank, and a trustee and one of the board of 
investors in the Passunipsic Savings Bank, 
and president of Carrick Bros. Granite Co! 




WALTER PERRIN SMITH. 

August 15, 1S76, he was married to Miss 
Susan A. Holbrook of Lyndon, daughter of 
Dr. Perley R. and Louise I\L (Lawrence) 
Holbrook, and they have one son : Robert H. 

In politics he has always been a Republi- 
can, and in religious faith aCongregationalist. 

SPAFFORD, Henry W., of Rutland, 
son of William H. and Eliza (Rumrill) Spaf- 
ford, was born in Weathersfield, Nov. 2, 
1840. 

He received his education in the district 
schools of his native town and Cavendish, 
and in Springfield Seminary and Chester 
Academy. .\t the outset of his active life he 
was employed as station agent at Danby, 
and North Iknnington. 

Enlisting in Co. A, 4th Regt. Vt. \ols., 
Sept. 4, 1861, he was promoted to commis- 
sary sergeant, and after being confined in a 
rebel prison in Richmond for seven months 
he was mustered out of service, at the expira- 
tion of his three-vears' enlistment, at Brattle- 



boro. He again sought service in the same 
regiment, was promoted to ist Lieut, and 
quartermaster, and appointed a member of 
the staff of (Jen. (Jeorge P. Foster, and (ien. 
Lewis A. {'.rant. He was acting quarter- 
master of the Vermont Brigade during the 
last part of its service, and when the com- 
mand left the field for \'ermont, he was 
again mustered out with his regiment at 
Burlington. 

Soon after the close of the war he was 
employed as bookkeeper in the large hide 
and leather house of Lapham & Clarendon 
in New York City, but impaired eyesight 
caused by exposure in the army compelled 
him to give up his position. On Jan. 16, 
1 86 7, he again entered the service of the 
Bennington and Rutland Railway Co. as sta- 
tion agent at North Bennington. He was 
successively promoted to general freight 
agent and to general passenger agent, both 
of which offices he holds at the present time. 



I 



4gi^. ?*H,' 



^- m- 




HENRY W. SPAFFORD. 



Mr. Spafford was married, Oct. 5, 1864, to 
Mattie E., daughter of William and Fanny 
(Spring) Kingsbury, of Chester. Mrs. Spaf- 
ford died June 3, 1877, leaving four children. 
He was again married, Dec. 5, 1879,10 Lydia 
Ella, daughter of Jared and .Xlmira (Eaton) 
Marsh, of Chester, of which union there are 
fi\e children. 

Mr. Spafford lived in North Bennington 
from January, 1867, until .April, 1882, when 
he removed to Rutland, where he now 
resides. 



372 



SPEAR, Victor 1., of Braimree, son of 
Jacob A. and Caroline (Flint) Spear, was 
born in Braintree, Sept. 20, 1852. 

His preparatory education was received 
in the schools of Braintree and at the West 
Randolph Academy. He then entered Dart- 
mouth College, where he pursued the usual 
course of study, and was graduated with the 
degree of B. S. from that institution in 1S74. 




He is a strong Republican, and as such 
represented Braintree in 1880, and was 
chosen a senator from Orange county in 
1886. Four years later he was appointed 
by Governor Page a member of the board 
of agriculture, and discharged his duties 
with great devotion and efficiency, acting as 
secretary in the laborious task of collecting 
statistics of the unemployed resources of 
the state. He was reappointed to the board 
in 1892, chosen statistical secretary, and 
prepared the illustrated booklet on Vermont, 
of which 40,000 copies were distributed 
from the ^'ermont building at the Colum- 
bian Exposition, Chicago. He secured re- 
turns of dairying, sheep husbandry and 
maple sugar products in the state for 1892, 
and has in charge the general matter of col- 
lecting statistics and publishing lists of un- 
occupied real estate that is on the market. 

Mr. Spear is well and favorably known 
throughout the state, and was a prominent 
candidate for Governor before the Republi- 
can state convention in 1892. He is a gen- 
tleman of unassuming manners, undoubted 
integrity and excellent judgment, combined 
with genuine public spirit and quite exten- 
sive experience of men and affairs. 

STANLEY, Albert E., of Leicester, 
son of Silas W. and Electa (Eastman) Stan- 
lev, was born in Leicester, June 4, 1833. 



Having a strong natural aptitude for 
mathematics, he ardently desired to adopt 
the profession of a civil engineer, but yield- 
ing to the wishes of his parents, after some 
time spent in the profession of teaching, he 
returned to the paternal farm. Here, in 
connection with his father, he has combined 
various branches of business with farming and 
stock raising, their specialty being registered 
Merino sheep, of which they usually keep 
about two hundred. In 1884 he began the 
business of shipping sheep to Montana, and 
the venture proving successful, he has sent 
one or more carloads of sheep annually to 
that locality. He usually purchases on com- 
mission from fifty to one hundred thousand 
pounds of wool every year, and is quite an 
extensive land owner. He is also engaged 
in the manufacture and sale of orchard pro- 
ducts. 

He was united in marriage Dec. 29, 18S6, 
to Mrs. Abbie M. Davis, daughter of Lieut. 
James and Maria E. (Slack) Welch, of 
Randolph. 




His education commenced in the common 
schools in Leicester. At an early age he 



373 



went to Haverliill, Mass., where he lived 
durhig his minority, enjoying the benefits of 
the grammar and high schools of that noted 
town. He contemplated a collegiate career, 
and entered Kimball Union Academy, at 
Meriden, N. H., to complete his preparatory 
course. Failing health not permitting him 
to carry out his intention, he returned to 
Leicester, where he has since resided. For 
thirty-six years he has been clerk and treas- 
urer of the town, and for twelve years was 
postmaster. For thirty-five years he has 
been an active and efficient agent of the 
Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and 
for ten years secretary and treasurer of the 
Queen City Park .Association, while he is 
constantly acting as administrator in the 
settlement of important estates. 

.\s a Republican he represented Leicester 
in the Legislature of 1872, and was the only 
member of the county who received the 
compliment of a re-election in 1874. He 
was again elected to the Legislature in 1882, 
and was chosen a member of the Senate 
from .\ddison county in 1886, and served 
on the special committee on the division of 
Rutland. He was also chairman of the 
committee on the insane as well as a mem- 
ber of the general committee and the joint 
committee on the library. 

In his doctrinal belief Mr. .Stanley is a 
Spiritualist in the proper sense of that word, 
though holding no less the essential tenets of 
the Unitarian faith. He has widely lectured 
upon religious themes and performs accept- 
able service on funeral occasions throughout 
the state. 

June 3, i860, he was united in marriage 
to Ada, daughter of Simeon and Amanda 
McCanon, of Bennington, N. V. Two sons 
have been the offspring of this union : Ned 
A., and Fred D., both located in New Bed- 
ford, Mass. — one a dentist, the other an 
attorney-at-law. 

STANTON, Zed S., of Roxbury, son 
of George B. and Lucretia (Sulloway) Stan- 
ton, was born in Roxbury, May i, 184S. 

.After attending the district schools of the 
vicinity he pursued a course of study in the 
Northfield graded school. He afterwards 
worked on the railroad, then taught school 
and while teaching resolved to adopt the law 
as his profession and enrolled himself as a 
student in the offices of A. R. Savage and 
Frank Plumley of Northfield, and subse- 
quently in the office of L. L. Durant of 
Montpelier. He was admitted to the bar of 
the Washington county court, March 15, 
■1880. In 18S2 he was admitted to practice 
in the Supreme Court, and in the U. S. Cir- 
cuit Court in 1892. 

Since 1873 with the exception of one year 
Judge Stanton has continuously held town 



office, and has occupied the ])ositions of 
selectman, lister, agent, constable, moder- 
ator, superintendent of schools and school 
director and trustee. He represented Rox- 
bury in the General .Assembly during the 
sessions of 1884 and 1886 and in legislative 
work and debate became a leading member. 




ZED S. STANTON. 

In 1884 and 18S6 he was elected an assist- 
ant judge of Washington county court and 
has since 1890 served most efficiently as 
state's attorney for Washington county, 
which office he still holds. 

Judge Stanton was married, May 31, 1880, 
to 'Mrs. Jennie S. (Smith) Walbridge of Rox- 
bury. They have one child : Jessie Lu- 
cretia. 

START, HENR>- R., of Bakersfield, son 
of Simeon Gould and Mary Sophia (Barnes) 
Start, was born in Bakersfield, Dec. 28, 1S45. 

He was educated in the common schools 
and in Bakersfield and Barre academies, and 
served in the army as a member of Co. .A, 
3d Regt. Vt. Vols. 

.After the close of the war he studied law, 
and was admitted to the Franklin county 
bar in .April, 1867, and began practice the 
same year in Bakersfield. From 1876 to 
187S Mr. Start was state's attorney for 
I'ranklin county. Forming a partnership 
with .A. P. Cross, of St. Albans, he retained 
his residence in Bakersfield, and the firm of 
Cross & Start had a large ])ractice. The 
active conduct of the trial of cases largely 



374 



fell on Mr. Start, and when he was elevated 
to the bench it was at once noted that his 
wide experience as a trial lawyer had given 
him good preparation for the right conduct 
of trials as presiding judge in the county 
courts. 

In iSSo Mr. Start was elected a senator 
from Franklin county, and served on the 
judiciary committee and as chairman of the 
joint standing committee on the reform 
school. From 1880 to 1888 he was one of 
the trustees of the Vermont reform school, 
and was, the last-named vear, one of the pres- 
idential electors who cast the vote of Ver- 
mont for Harrison and Morton. 

In 1890 he was elected representative 
from Bakersfield, and at the beginning of 
the session of that year was chosen speaker 
of the House of Representatives, and at its 
close was without opposition elected fifth 
assistant judge of the Supreme Court. His 
service on the bench, which he continues by 
unanimous re-election in 1892, has com- 
mended itself to the entire bar of the state 
as excellent judicial work. 

Mr. Start married, June 10, 1869, Ellen S. 
Houghton, daughter of Stillman S. and Sarah 
E. Houghton. Their children are : S. (lould, 
Guy H., Mabel S., and Bennett H. Mrs. 
Start deceased July 12, 1S90. 

START, Simeon Gould, of Bakers- 
field, son of Moses and Margaret (Gould) 
Start, was born in Bakersfield, July 28, 1805. 
Capt. Moses Start emigrated to the state in 
the latter part of the last century, and was 
an active and prominent figure in the town. 

Simeon G. was one of a large family, and 
spent his youth in the labors of the farm. 
His education was obtained in the district 
schools, but to this he added a wide fund of 
general information in his maturer years. 
His early life was devoted to agricultural 
labor, and a clerkship in a country store, 
but he soon invested his modest savings in 
a farm in BakeVsfield, where he remained 
till 1865, when he moved into the village, 
and until the last few years has been chiefly 
engaged in the public affairs of the town. 

Mr. Start was formerly a Democrat, but 
acted with the Republican party during the 
war, and since 1872 has been an inde- 
pendent in his political views. Honorably 
discharging the duties of manv town offices, 
he has been the principal trial justice of the 
place for more than a quarter of a century. 
He represented his town in the Legislature 
of 1872, and was ever considered a man of 
marked and original personality. 

He married, Oct. 2, 1833, Mary Sophia, 
daughter of Comfort and Sophia (Corse) 
Barnes. Of this marriage there were born : 
Rolla N., Ozro G. (assistant judge of Frank- 
lin county court), Charles N. (formerly at- 



torney-general of Minnesota, and now judge 
of district court at Rochester, Minn.), 
Lorenzo B., Merritt L., Henry R. (judge of 
the Supreme Court of Vt.), and Ella S. (de- 



js^ r- 




ceased). Mrs. Start died April 22, 1862,, 
and he married Mrs. Betsey Perkins, April 
10, 1865. 

STEARNS, Charles H., of Johnson, son 
of Otis \V. and Mary S. (Carpenter) Stearns, 
was born in Johnson, Feb. 7, 1S54. 

After preliminary instruction at the com- 
mon schools he received the balance of his 
education at the Normal School at Johnson 
and the \'ermont M. E. Seminary at Mont- 
pelier. His father was a manufacturer of 
butter tubs and an inventor, and the son 
spent much of his boyhood and youth in his 
father's shop, where he became acquainted 
with every detail of the business and had en- 
tire charge of the establishment before he 
arrived at man's estate. In 1875 O. W. 
Stearns & Son built the mill now owned by 
the latter at Johnson. The senior partner 
in the firm possessed considerable inventive 
genius and has devised and applied nearly 
all of the machinery now used by them, 
especially a contrivance for smoothing the 
outside surface of the staves lengthwise with 
the grain, thereby avoiding the use of sand- 
paper and giving a finer and more delicate 
finish, also a labor-saving device for splitting 
and rossing blocks. Since 18SS Mr. C. H. 
Stearns has been sole proprietor of the con- 



STEARN'S. 



375 



cern, and nmv runs a large hniiber business 
in connection with the factory, getting out 
about 1,000,000 feet of liHiiber annually. The 
company manufactured 7,000 tubs during 
their first year's experience and in 1892 had 
the satisfaciton of turning out the enormous 
total of 320,000. Five-pound butter boxes 
and packing crates are extensively manu- 
factured and sold. In 1890 Mr. Stearns, in 
company with his cousin, Mr. M. L. Stearns, 
erected an extensive plant at Lyndonville for 
the manufacture of butter tubs and lumber, 
shipping the stock for this factory from their 
mill in Canada. In addition to these different 




CHARLES H, STEARNS. 

branches of the Itnnber trade Mr. Stearns is 
also extensively interested in granite, owning 
and operating a quarry and cutting sheds at 
Hardwick, employing in all these different 
lines of business from seventy-five to one 
hundred men. 

He was married Dec. 28, 1876, to Viola 
.■\., daughter of fessie A. and Rebecca (Mc- 
Laren) Hall of lohnson. Thev have one 
child: C. Arthur." 

Mr. Stearns has been chairman of the Re- 
publican Lamoille county committee for the 
last four years and has also served on that of 
the town. He was seven years town treas- 
urer and was in 1886 elected to the Legisla- 
ture in which he was a valuable member of 
the general committee. He is a director of 
the Union Savings Bank and Trust Co. of 
Morrisville, and, for a man of his age, is 
widely known in business and political 
circles. 



He has ibeen a member of the Masonic 
fraternity since he was twenty-one years old, 
has filled all the chairs of the lodge, and in 
1892 was elected G. J. D. of the (Irand 
Lodge of \'ermont. He also claims member- 
ship in the I. O. (). F. 

STEARNS, JOHN C, of Bradford, son 
of John and Elizabeth (Chandler) Stearns, 
was born in Chelsea, Feb. 11, 1831. 

His education was received in the com- 
mon schools and Bradford .'\cademy, and he 
commenced his business career as a clerk in 
a general store in Bradford. For six vears 
he was a member of the firm of Brooks"& 
Stearns, which was engaged in trade in Wor- 
cester, Mass., in which place he became a 
member of the Massachusetts militia, and on 
his return to Vermont enlisted in the Brad- 
ford Guards, in which latter organization he 
was promoted to the position of lieutenant. 
At the breaking out of the civil war he en- 
listed as a private in Co. D, was promoted 




JOHN C. STEARNS. 



to the rank of sergeant-major of the 1st Vt. 
Vols., and at the expiration of their term of 
service was appointed ist Lieut, and adjutant 
in the 9th Regt., but was compelled to re- 
sign, June 30, 1863, on account of disability. 
During his active service he was a member 
of the staff of General Trimble of Ohio, 
and participated in engagements at Cloud 
Mills, Winchester, .Suffolk, and Harper's 
Ferry, at which last ])lace he became a ])ris- 
oner upon the surrender of his regiment 



3/6 



with others under General Miles, and after 
being ]jaroled was sent to Chicago, 111., where 
he did guard duty till May, 1863. 

After his return from the war he employed 
himself in the general insurance business 
and farming, in which occupation he has 
continued to the present time. 

Mr. Stearns was a whig, and has been a 
Republican since the formation of the latter 
party. He was appointed U. S. Assessor 
of Internal Revenue of the Second District 
of Vermont by President Grant, and U. S. 
Collector of Internal Revenue for the state 
by President Garfield, June, 1S81, in which 
office he continued till July, 1885. Six years 
subsequently he was selected by Hon. Red- 
field Proctor, Secretary of War, as a commis- 
sioner to mark the lines of battle of the Army 
of the Potomac, the Confederate .Army of 
Northern Virginia, and the position of the U. 
S. Regulars at the battle of Antietam, in con- 
nection with the Confederate General Harry 
Heth of Virginia, and he is now engaged in 
that work. In 1867 he was appointed colo- 
nel and aid-de-camp on the staff of Gov. 
John B. Page, and he also held the position 
of I St Lieut, and adjutant of the ist Regt. 
V. N. G. Colonel Stearns represented Brad- 
ford in the House of Representatives in 
1886, and served in 1878 as a senator from 
Orange county. He was appointed delegate 
to the national Republican conventions held 
at Chicago that nominated U. S. Grant and 
Benjamin Harrison. He was one of the 
original trustees of the Vermont Soldier's 
Home, and in 1890 was elected its treasurer. 

He is a member of the Vermont Com- 
manderv of the Loyal Legion, of Washburn 
Post, G.' A. R., and Charitf Lodge, F. & A. M. 

Colonel Stearns married, Sept. 12, 1863, 
Martha F., daughter of John Barron and 
Martha (Tilton) Pecket, of Bradford. 

STEVENS, ALONZO JACKSON, of 
Winooski, son of Alonzo and Susan (Sin- 
clair) Stevens, was born in lissex, April i, 
1828. 

He was educated in the schools of Flssex, 
and after reaching his majority engaged in 
the occupation of carpenter and joiner. In 
1855 he came to Winooski, and there was 
employed as a millwright by the firm of 
Edwards & White. Soon after the death of 
the junior partner, Mr. White, the shops 
were destroyed by fire, and in 185 8 the land 
on which they had been erected was pur- 
chased by A. B. Edwards in conjunction with 
Mr. Stevens, and under the designation of Ed- 
wards & Stevens, these two gentlemen built 
up an extensive business. The firm remained 
unchanged until 186S, when Mr. Frank 
Jubell was admitted to the concern. Under 
the title of Edwards, Stevens *& Co., they 
largely manufacture mill-gearing and shaft- 



ing, iron and brass castings and wood-work- 
ing machinery. 

In 1858, ^Ir. Stevens was married to Mary 
J., daughter of Hiram and Mary (Shelden) 
Rood of Colchester. Of this union there 
are issue : Mary Ella, Charles H., and 
Hattie M. 

He was a charter member of the Winooski 
Savings Bank, and has been a director of 
the institution since its organization. 

In his political views Mr. Stevens is 
thoroughly Republican, and has several 
times been elected one of the selectmen of 
Colchester. He represented that town in 
the Legislature in 1869 and 1870, and was 
elected a senator from Chittenden county in 
1886. The esteem and confidence in which 
he is held by his fellow- townsmen has been 
manifested by the many ])ositions of trust 
and confidence to which he has been called. 

STEVENS, Charles, of Maidstone, son 
of Charles and Kmiline (Batchelder) Stevens, 
was born in Maidstone, Jan. iS, 1842. 




LES STEVENS. 



His father a farmer and stock raiser. At 
the age of twenty-one he left his home, 
arriving in Boston, Mass., with two dollars. 
He first found employment as foreman on a 
farm at Chestnut Hill, then was engaged as 
foreman on the water works there for four 
years. After this he started for the West 
where he visited Omaha and Kansas City ; 
from thence he made his way to Memphis 
on a flat boat and then on foot to Jefferson 



in Texas. Here he was employed as sub- 
contractor on a railroad, but his health fail- 
ing he removed to Duvals HlulT where he 
was occupied in bridge building until he was 
compelled to return to his native town by 
a severe attack of malaria. After his re- 
covery he made New York the scene of his 
labors, building a section of the Harlem 
railroad. He next took up his abode in 
Boston where he was engaged in the con- 
struction of sewers. In 1879 he went to 
Colorado and giving his attention to milling 
and mining operations he purchased prop- 
erty of the latter description and also con- 
structed a large mill. For two years he 
continued and then departed to explore the 
country three hundred miles west of Roseita 
in Gunnison county where he discovered 
and started nine mines. In 1884 he re- 
turned to the farm which he had purchased 
in Maidstone, and has been occupied since 
in improving this property. 

1 )emocratic in political faith, he has been 
selectman several times, is now justice of the 
peace, and represented the town in iSpo-'gi. 

He was wedded, March 30, 1876, to 
Sarah A., daughter of \\'illiam M. and Ruth 
M. (Jordan) Perkins. 

STEVENS, Charles Phelps, of Troy, 

son of Charles Deming and Murilla (Cob) 
Stevens, was born at Huntington, (ulv 9, 
1836. 

The history of his life is a record of one of 
the most successful self-made business men 
in Vermont. Receiving only the scant edu- 
cation to be obtained in the district schools 
of Duxbury, yet possessing abundant health 
and indomitable courage, this boy, w-ho was 
brought up in a saw mill, has now become 
one of the largest manufacturers of lumber 
in the state. Brought up to the carpen- 
ter's trade, in his early youth he secured his 
first financial start in the construction of 
dwelling houses by contract. From the 
profits which he saved he purchased a lot of 
timber land and in 1862, by the advice of 
the late Leander Hutchins, president of the 
Waterbury Bank, who furnished the neces- 
sary capital, he invested largely in property 
of the same nature in Duxbury. This ven- 
ture was very successful, so much so that 
in 1862 he became proprietor of a lumber 
mill in Duxbury, which he operated till 1866, 
at which time he built another in Bolton, 
Can., still retaining the management of the 
first for two years. This property he 
sold in 1868, substituting another in Jay 
devoted to the same business. He now 
made Troy his place of residence, and from 
their first erection operated all his mills night 
and day till 1870, when he parted with those 
in Jay and Bolton, entering into ]jartnership 
with D. H. Ruck of Troy, with whom he 



STEVENS. 377 

commenced a general merchandise business 
and in connection with this constructed a 
cla])board mill at Phelps Falls in Troy, Mr. 
Buck retaining the management of the store, 
and Mr. Stexens of the mill. C. P. Stevens 
and D. H. Buck then formed a copartner- 
ship under the name of C. P. Stevens & Co. 
They afterwards erected at the Falls a 
large saw mill and the first factory for the 
manufacture of veneer in Orleans county, if 
not in Vermont, which, however, was soon 
transformed into a large feed and fiour 
mill. In 1876 they constructed extensive 
mills in Richford, around which a village 
has grown up, known as Stevens' .Mills. 
He is a partner in very many enterprises 
of this descrijation, and a very extensive 




owner of timber-bearing real estate in Bolton 
and Jay, beside having a financial interest 
in several manufacturing concerns. He 
also possesses three farms in Troy con- 
taining as fine tillage land as can be found 
in the Missisquoi valley, which under his 
scientific management clearly proved that 
farming can be made to pay in the C.reen 
Mountain state. It may be easily imagined 
that Mr. Stevens has not had much time to 
devote to public affairs, although soon after 
he arrived at man's estate he was appointed 
justice of the ])eace, his commission being 
signed by the late Gov. Paul Dillingham. In 
1882 he represented Troy in the Legislature, 
serving on the committees of railways and 
manufactures. Six years later he was chosen 



•^,78 



to the Senate from Orleans county, giving 
valuable aid to the committees on rules, 
manufactures and railways, also the joint 
standing committee on game and fisheries, 
while he was actively influential in passing 
the $25,000 appropriation for the Soldiers' 
Home. In the Senate as in private life his 
unusual capacity for affairs was recognized. 

In his polilical preferences he has always 
been an ardent and loyal Republican. 

Mr. Stevens has been twice married. He 
first wedded, February, 1862, Francis M., 
daughter of Truman Morse, who departed 
this life after their union had lasted ten years, 
and in 1873 he married Annette C, daughter 
of Eli Sherman, by whom he has two chil- 
dren : Lena, and Charles Sherman. 

Mr. Stevens is liberal in his religious 
creed, but has always attended and supported 
the Congregational church in Troy, of which 
society for twenty years he has been the 
trustee. 

STEVENS, JONAS T., of Hyde Park, 
son of Amasa and Martha (Smith) Stevens, 
was born in Eden, June 3, 1S42. 

His father, Amasa, was a long-time resi- 
dent of Eden, was prominently connected 
with public affairs, and for a considerable 
period was associate judge of the county 
court. 

Jonas T. Stevens obtained his education 
in the common school, and for a time gave 
his services to neighboring farmers, being 
also employed in mills in the vicinity of his 
birthplace. Acquiring a small but well- 
earned capital, he invested it in a saw mill, 
when his business plans were suddenly in- 
terrupted by the breaking out of the civil 
war. He was too good a patriot to remain 
behind, when so many of his countrymen 
were thronging to the field, and abandoning 
his mill he enlisted in Co. I, ist Vt. Cavalry 
and participated in nearly seventy engage- 
ments, in which that gallant corps were 
engaged. He had three horses shot under 
him, but escaped unhurt and was only pre- 
vented by a four weeks' sickness, when he 
was sent to the hospital, from being always 
present for duty. He recovered, however, 
in time to be present in the Winchester 
fight, where he had the satisfaction of seeing 
the rebel C.eneral Early sent "whirling 
down" the .Shenandoah Valley, and April i, 
1863, he had the misfortune to be taken 
prisoner at the engagement at Broad Run, 
and sent to Libby Prison, but was fortunately 
paroled and rejoined his regiment within 
less than six months, eager and ready for the 
fray. He was discharged after almost three 
years service, having been promoted through 
every grade to i st Lieut, of his company. 

After his gallant service in the army, he 
returned to the vocation he had deserted at 



the commencement of the war, and for 
twenty-three years was engaged in the man- 
ufacture of lumber at Eden Mills. Since 
that period he has occupied himself with 
farming to some extent, but a large share of 
his time has been devoted to public affairs. 

For eight years he was deputy sheriff and 
held that office till 1878, when he w-as 
elected sheriff of the county, serving two 
years, and again he discharged the duties of 
a deputy, till he was re-elected to sheriff in 
1892. He has been entrusted with various 
offices, and was elected representative in 
1872 and 1874 by Republican votes, doing 
good service as a member of the committees 
on general claims and corporations. 

Mr. Stevens was united, in 1867, to Emma, 
daughter of Charles A. and Eunice White of 
Eden. One son has been born to them : 
Edson M. 

Mr. Stevens is a member and past com- 
mander of Aaron Keeler Post, No. 91,0. .\. 
R., and has received seven degrees in Free 
Masonry, affiliating with Mt. Morris Lodge, 
No. 69, of Eden, and Tucker Chapter, R. A. 
M., of Morrisville. 

STEVENS, James v., of Waterville, son 
of \'alorous and Rebecca K. (Morse) Stevens, 
was born in Waterville, Jan. 12, 1850. 

Commencing his education at the common 
schools, in his twelfth year he served a short 
time as clerk with William Wilbur, of \\'ater- 
ville, then returned to his studies and con- 
tinued them till he was seventeen. .\t that 
age he entered the employment of Mr. E. H. 
Shattuck, with whom he remained seven 
years, when he was admitted as partner having 
an equal interest in the business. He re- 
mained in the concern five years, until 1880, 
when he left Waterxille and engaged in busi- 
ness in Boston, but soon returned to his 
native place, which since has been his resi- 
dence. 

Mr. Stevens is attached to the principles 
of the Republican party ; has held all the 
town offices in the gift of his fellow-citizens 
and is now town clerk and treasurer as well 
as trustee of U. S. surplus money. 

He is a member of \Varner Lodge, No. 50, 
F. & A. M., and Sterling Lodge, No. 44, I. 
O. O. F. 

He was united in marriage, August 20, 
1874, to Ann, daughter of Clark and Mary 
Jane Wilbur. 

STEVENS, Thomas B., of East Mont- 
pelier, son of Stephen F. and Rachel (Byrd) 
Stevens, was born in the town of Monkton, 
Nov. 28, 1S33. In 1790 Clark Stevens, a 
member of the Society of Friends, came to 
Vermont from the town of Rochester, Mass. 
He finally settled on a farm in Montpelier 
upon which his grandson, Thomas B., now 



resides. Clark Stevens became a (Quaker 
preacher, and to him belongs the honor of 
organizing the first religious society and 
erecting the first structure for public worship 
in Washington county. He was in his youth 
a soldier in the Revolutionary army and 
afterwards a sailor. D. P. Thompson wrote 
of him as "a prince in appearance, but a 
child in humility," and the memory of no 
man is more revered. He died Nov. 20, 
1853, having lived to the patriarchal age of 
eighty-nine years, and departed after having 
reared a family of eight children, of whom 
one, Stephen F., after pursuing his trade of a 




STEVENS. 3-9 

generations for their industry, frugality, 
energy and sterling worth. 

Such a man must have naturally been 
selected by his fellows for every official posi- 
tion he would accept ; and besides holding 
the usual town offices he was elected by the 
Republicans to represent the town of East 
Montpelier in the Legislature of 1872. 

Mr. Stevens was married in December, 
1862, to Jane, daughter of .Vllen and I.ydia 
(Edgerton) Bliss of Calais, who bore him 
one daughter : I.enora Rachel. 

STEVENS, William Blanding, late of 

Bradford, was born in Newbury, .April 9, 
1822. He was the second son of Caleb and 
Mary (Matthews) Stevens, and received his 
education from the common schools and 
academies of the vicinity. 

The independent and self-reliant spirit that 
governed his whole career manifested itself 
at the early age of ten, when he worked for 
the neighbors at a shilling a day, or its 
einiixalent. 




cabinet maker at Monkton for a few years, 
returned to the old homestead in Montpelier 
and there cared for his parents till their 
decease. This faithful son was honored and 
respected by all the community. 

Thomas B. Stevens purchased the paternal 
estate, four miles from the state capitol, and 
has devoted a useful and contented life to 
agricultural pursuits, improving the property 
and adding to it till he now is the fortunate 
possessor of many of the most fertile acres 
in Washington county or indeed in the state. 
Constructing a commodious dwelling house 
with ample outbuildings, which are models in 
their appearance and convenience upon a 
site commanding an extensive view, he has 
devoted his efforts mainly to dairy farming. 
He is no unworthy scion of a family which 
has been known and honored durini; three 



WILLIAV. BLANDING STEVENS. 

M fifteen he commenced his business life 
as a clerk at .South Newbury, with James 
Chadwick, and afterward entered the store 
of F. & H. Keyes, at Newbury Street, where 
he continued until he formed a partnership 
with his brother, at I'iermont Crossing, in 
185 1. Here they developed a profitable 
trade, and a few years later they removed to 
the village of Bradford, where the firm has 
remained, with several changes in the part- 



58o 



STEVENSON. 



nership, until the day of Mr. Stevens' death, 
March 2, 1S93. His business career was 
upright and honorable, receiving the hearty 
and frank approval of his patrons and com- 
petitors. A Boston merchant says : " Mr. 
Stevens I have known for over forty years ; 
and in all that time I have the pleasantest 
recollection of his manly and genial presence 
and strict honor, estimating him as one of 
the noblest gentlemen and merchants that 
Vermont has had the honor to produce." 

In the many improvements and enterprises 
of IJradford, Mr. Stevens was always one of 
the first to be consulted, as he was looked 
upon as a ready and safe adviser. In the 
day of Bradford's calamity, when its business 
centre was swept away by fire, in the spring 
of 18S3, Mr. Stevens proved his faith in the 
town by the erection of a brick block that 
still stands as a memento of his confidence 
and energy. He did much to increase busi- 
ness in Bradford these later years. The new 
hotel, the creamery, the grist mill, all owe 
their success largely to the influence of his 
liberal spirit and financial support. Every- 
thing that tended to the prosperity of the 
town had from Mr. Stevens hearty and sub- 
stantial aid. 

In politics Mr. Stevens was a Republican, 
and held many town offices. He was a 
loyal supporter of the North during the war 
and of the loyal veterans since the struggle. 

In religion he was aCongregationalist, and 
though not a member of the church, he gave 
its business interests the same practical at- 
tention that he did his own. He had much 
to do with thebuildingof the present church 
structure, and his religious belief was a 
potent factor in his life. 

He married, in 1856, Miss Harriet E., 
daughter of Austin and Miriam Ladd, 
of Haverhill, N. H. They had four children, 
one of whom, Helen Luella, died in infancy. 
The others are : Carrie ( Mrs. Albert \V. 
Porter of New York), and May (Mrs. O. R. 
Baker of Bradford). 

The home of Mr. Stevens was one of the 
happiest in the village, with all that love and 
care could give it. 

As a citizen Mr. Stevens sought to live 
peacefully with all men. He was naturally 
kind of heart. Those that worked with him 
as partners, and for him as assistants, always 
found him pleasant, agreeable and indulgent. 

Mr. Stevens departed this life March 2, 
1893. An old citizen writes of him that he 
" took an active interest in the prosperity of 
the village, being liberal in his support of 
both churches and schools, and rendering it 
one of the most thriving communities of the 
state. His sterling virtues and enterprising 
business habits endeared him to a large 
circle of friends, and made him one of the 
foremost citizens of the town." 



STEVENSON, IRVIN, of Lowell, son 01 
Irvin and Eliza ( Fletcher) Stevenson, was 
born in Lowell, April 5, 1885, and is one of 
the reliable, substantial young business men 
in the town. Mr. Stevenson was educated 
in the Lowell and Westfield public schools 
and at the Kimball L^nion Academy, Meri- 
den, N. H. He is also a graduate of the 
National Business College, New Haven, 
Conn., and taught several terms in the 
public schools. 

Not choosing to be a practical farmer like 
his father, in the fall of 1885 he went into 
the mercantile business in Lowell in com- 
pany with A. A. .Aseltine, of Enosburgh 
Falls. A year and a half later he became 
sole proprietor of his present large store, and 
carries a fine stock of general merchandise. 

Politically he is a strong Democrat with 
conservative tendencies, and was postmaster 
during Cleveland's first administration. Mr. 
Stevenson is and has been for many years 
town superintendent of schools, and in 1892 
was elected town treasurer. He is also quite 
actively interested in town affairs. 

He has been for eighteen years an exem- 
plary member of the Congregational church, 
and is an energetic promoter of the welfare 
of that denomination in Lowell. 

November 13, 1879, he was united in 
marriage to Mary L., daughter of Henry 
Smith, of Chatham, N. Y., and has by her 
one daughter : Louise. 

STEWART, JOHN WOLCOrr, of Mid- 
dlebury, son of Ira and Elizabeth (Hubbell) 
Stewart, was born in Middlebury, Nov. 24, 
1825. The first ancestor of Governor Stew- 
art's family on the paternal side, whose 
record has been preserved, was Robert 
Stuart, of Edinburgh, Scotland. Samuel, 
his son, emigrated first to Londonderry, 
Ireland, and secondly, from thence with the 
historical Scotch-Irish colony which crossed 
the Atlantic and settled in Londonderry, 
N. H., in the early part of the eighteenth 
century. John Stewart, grandfather of John 
Wolcott, familiarly known as Captain John, 
was born in Londonderry, N. H. He was 
a man of marked characteristics, full of 
martial energy, and took an active part in 
the French and Revolutionary wars. At 
the early age of fifteen he first killed an 
Indian in a notable fight in the forest. 
Subsequently he became a member of a 
courageous band of frontiersmen known as 
Rogers' Rangers. He accompanied the ill- 
fated expedition of General Montgomery 
against Quebec, and was in the immediate 
neighborhood of that gallant officer at the 
time of his death. He happened to be in 
Bennington, paying his addresses to the 
lady who afterward became his wife, when 
Burgoyne's invasion took place, and he at 



382 



once volunteered and led a company of 
[jatriot soldiers in the decisive conflict that 
followed. 

John W. Stewart prepared for matricula- 
tion in the Middlebury Academy, entered 
Middlebury College and graduated from 
that institution in 1846. Adopting the legal 
profession, he began to qualify himself for 
practice by reading law in the office of 
Horatio Seymour, in Middlebury, and re- 
mained there until January, 1S50, when he 
was admitted to the bar of Addison county. 
Commencing practice at Middlebury, he 
conducted it alone until 1854, when he con- 
tracted a copartnership with ex-U. .S. Sena- 
tor Phelps, and maintained the connection 
until the death of the latter in .April, 1S55. 
His association with Senator Phelps proved 
to be very valuable in many respects. 

Early in his professional career Mr. Stew- 
art identified himself with the political affairs 
of his native state. In the years 1852, 1S53 
and 1854 he held the office of state's attor- 
ney for Addison county. In 1S56 he was 
elected to the Legislature as representative 
of Middlebury, and served therein as chair- 
man of the committee on railroads. His 
services proved to be so acceptable to his 
constituents that he was again elected in the 
following year, and was also re-appointed to 
his former position on the railroad commit- 
tee. In January, 1857, the State House at 
Montpelier was destroyed by fire, and a 
strong movement was set on foot to make 
Burlington the capital of the state. This 
movement Mr. Stewart resisted. Although 
one of the members from the west side of 
Vermont, he was influentially active in the 
legislative debates on the question of re- 
moval, and favored the retention of Mont- 
pelier as the capital. His logic was weighty 
and powerful, and was largely instrumental 
in carrying the point in favor of the old 
location. In 1861 Mr. Stewart was returned 
to the state Senate from Addison county, 
and served on the judiciary committee. 
Elected for a second term to the Senate of 
1S62, Mr. Stewart again served on the judi- 
ciary committee and as chairman of the 
committee on rules. In 1864 he was re- 
turned to the House from Middlebury, and 
served on the committees on joint rules and 
judiciary. In 1865, 1866 and 1867 he was 
a member of the House, and at each session 
was elected speaker. One of the changes 
in the organic law of the state, effected by 
the Constitutional Convention of 1870, was 
that bv which the biennial system was 
adopted. Mr. Stewart was the first Gover- 
nor of Vermont elected under the new order 
of things, and was chief magistrate of the 
state, to his and its honor, from 1S70 to 
1872. He was in 1876 again a member of 
the House, and was again its model speaker. 



He has not given his whole time to the 
practice of his profession, but has devoted a 
portion of it to the management of financial 
institutions. He was chosen a director of 
the Middlebury Bank in 1S58, and for several 
years prior to 1881 he served as president 
with great acceptability and gave strong 
evidence of entire fitness for the position. 
In 1 88 1 the pressure of other engagements 
upon his time forced him to decline a 
further re-election. 

In 1882 Governor Stewart was elected by 
the Republicans of the new First Con- 
gressional District to the Forty-eighth Con- 
gress. His long service in both branches of 
the Vermont Legislature and his excellent 
gubernatorial administration gave promise 
that was amply fulfilled of good and influen- 
tial service in national legislation. He was 
re-elected to Congress in 1884, 1886 and 1888. 
Since the expiration of his eight years in Con- 
gress Governor Stewart has returned to the 
active practice of law — to the work of a pro- 
fession which he adorns and whose members 
are all his admirers and friends. 

John Wolcott Stewart was married, Nov. 
21, i860, to Emma, daughter of Philip and 
Emma Hart Battell of Middlebury, a grand- 
daughter of the late Hon. Horatio Seymour 
of Middlebury. Five children were the fruit 
of their union. Three of these, two daugh- 
ters and one son, are still liviing. 

STICKNEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
of Andover, son of Joseph and Ann (Hos- 
nier) Stickney, was born in New Ipswich, N. 
H., Oct. 25, 1804. Joseph Stickney, Sr.,his 
grandfather, was a \eteran ranger in the old 
French war, and Joseph, Jr., his father, 
served with credit in the Revolutionary strug- 
gle. George's mother, Ann Hosmer, had 
often gazed upon Paul Revere, and her father, 
\\illiam Hosmer, rallied with his comrades 
upon the green at Lexington. 

George \V. Stickney was of the third of 
four generations, three of which have acted 
an honorable part in three famous wars, for 
his son Cassias was a brave soldier of the 
L'nion and died in Libby Prison of woimds 
received in battle. George W. received only 
the limited educational advantages of the dis- 
trict school, but is a man of remarkable in- 
telligence and force of character. .At the 
age of eighty-nine his mind is clear, his 
memory retentive, and he still labors in the 
field. His uncle, Moody Stickney, cleared 
the farm in 1790 where he now resides, and 
this property for more than a century has 
been in possession of some member of the 
family, where to-day four generations are 
sheltered under the roof tree of the old 
homestead and gather around its hospitable 
board. Five soldiers of the Revolution set- 
tled in this school district in Andover, and 



fifteen sons of these worthy sires served in 
the bloody struggle to preserve the Union, 
six of whom never returned. 

Mr. Stickney was united in marriage Nov. 
22, 1832, to Roxillana, daughter of Amos and 
Roxillana (Utley) Burton. To them have 
been born eight children : Nancy (Mrs. 
Alonzo C. Gutterson, deceased), Warren (de- 
ceased), Byron, Jane (deceased), Cassius 
M. (killed in the war), Eliza (Mrs. Warren 
Beard of Chester), Preston L., and Eva J. 
tIsMr. Stickney was from the outset a pro- 
nounced abolitionist, casting his first presi- 
dential vote for John Quincy Adams and his 
last for Benjamin Harrison, and deposited 
his ballot at every intervening election. He 
has been called upon to serve in all town 
offices, has acted as justice of the peace for 
over half a century and for six terms repre- 
sented Andover in the Legislature, while dur- 
ing the civil war he discharged the duties of 
deputy United States marshal and enrolling 
officer. 

STICKNEY, JOSEPH TREADWAV, son 
of Tyler and Laura (Treadway) Stickney, 
was born in Shoreham, on the 28th of July, 
183:;. 



STILES. 383 

voted great attention to raising Spanish 
Merino sheep, and was honored with the 
first prize for the best flock at the inter- 
national exhibition in Philadelphia, in 1876. 
Like all Vermonters, he is much interested 
in the breeding of horses, preferring those of 
the Morgan variety, while in cattle his preju- 
dices are in favor of the Durham stock. 

Mr. Stickney adheres to the principles of 
the Republican party, and very deservedly 
represented his town in the Legislature of 
1886, where he was a useful member of the 
general comnnttee. He has been the choice 
of his fellow-townsmen for many positions of 
trust, including that of selectman and over- 
seer. For three years he served on the 
committee on pedigree in the Vermont 
Sheep Breeders' Association. He has a 
large acquaintance, and is a man of exceed- 
ing popularity, but does not avail himself of 
this advantage in office-seeking, nor does he 
desire promotion in the management of 
public affairs, but quietly works for the good 
of his party, enjoying the esteem and confi- 
dence of all his friends and acquaintances. 

Mr. Stickney has never entered the mar- 
ried state, and has also avoided membership 
in clubs and societies, and is not officially 
connected with anv church organization. 






SI 



^ 



JOSEPH TREADWAY STICKNEY. 

His primary educational training was ob- 
tained at the common schools of his native 
town, and he afterwards graduated at New- 
ton Academy, in Shoreham. He has always 
devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and 
to the breeding of blooded stock, in which 
he has met with great success. He has de- 



STILES, FRANK W., of Springfield, son 
of William L. and Betsey A. (Sargent) Stiles, 
was born in ^Vindsor, Dec. 27, 1849. 

His education was somewhat limited, being 
confined to the public schools of Windsor, 
but during his youth and early manhood, 
under many disad\antages, he pursued quite 
an extended course of reading and study. 

His father being subject at times to mental 
derangement, the support of the family de- 
\ol\-ed largely upon the son, and from 
necessity he early acquired habits of indus- 
try and self denial. In 1864 the family 
removed to Springfield, and Frank entered 
the employment of the Novelty Works Co. 
and other business houses. .After ten years 
experience in this vocation, he established a 
job printing business, and, Jan. 4, 1878, 
issued the first number of the Springfield 
Reporter, a four column folio devoted to the 
promotion of local interests. The prospect 
of success was not very encouraging, as seven 
difTerent attempts in journalism had pre- 
viously failed in that locality, but Mr. Stiles 
persevered and through his energy and un- 
ceasing effort, soon saw the circulation and 
influence of his news]iaper rapidly increase 
till it reached its present en\iable position, 
resting on a firm financial basis, entirely due 
to the business and editorial ability of its 
founder and promoter. From this success 
other good fortune has been derived, and 
Mr. Stiles is now the owner of valuable real 
estate in the town and its vicinit)'. 



384 



He has always been an outspoken and 
staunch supporter of the RepubHcan party, 
but has never sought or held public office. 

He has received the first three degrees of 
Masonry in St. John's Lodge, No. 41, of 
Springfield. 

Mr. Stiles was united in marriage June 5, 
1879, to Ann S., daughter of Daniel and 
Mary (Boyle) Hayes of Plymouth. To 
them have been born : George Hayes, Louise 
May (deceased in infancy), Bessie Ann 
(deceased in infancy), Harold F. W., and 
Russell William. 

STILLSON, Henry Leonard, of Ben- 
nington, son of Eli Bennett, and Eliza Ann 
(Leonard) Stillson, was born in Granville, 
N. Y., Sept. 19, 1842. 

He received an academic education, sup- 
plementing that of the common schools, and 
has de\'oted his life chiefly to journalism and 
literary pursuits. He commenced his career 
by lending his services during the war to the 
Rutland Herald. After four years thus em- 
ployed he embarked in the insurance busi- 
ness, but soon resumed his original vocation, 
and since 1871 has resided in Bennington, 
where for twenty years he has been con- 
nected with the Bennington Banner. 




HENRY LEONARD STILLSON. 

This is a very brief abstract of the life of 
a man whose reputation as a historian is 
widely extended on both sides of the At- 
lantic. He was the editor-in-chief of the 
"History of Freemasonry and Concordant 



(_)rder," a standard work which has gone 
through several editions, and had the un- 
precedented sale of 33,000 copies during the 
first year, thus making his name a familiar 
one among Masons, both here, in Canada 
and in Europe. He is connected with a 
number of journals devoted to interests of 
Freemasonry, and the L O. O. F., and is a 
frequent contributor to "Frank Leslie" and 
other periodicals of that description. In 
1892 he had the signal honor to be made a 
member of the correspondence circle of the 
"Lodge Quatuor Coronati" of London, Eng., 
a select circle of antiquaries, and is also a 
member of the American Historical Associa- 
tion. His ability as a writer in his chosen 
class of subjects has been heartily endorsed 
by leading journals of America, England, 
and those upon the continent. 

Mr. Stillson has consecrated some of his 
best literary efforts to the Masonic fraternity 
in which he holds an eminent position, and 
for whose welfare he has exer labored with 
enthusiasm and energy. He is affiliated with 
Mt. Anthony Lodge, No. 13, of which he is 
past master ; Plattsburg Chapter, No. 39, R. 
A. AL ; Taft Commandery, K. T., No. 8 ; 
Cyrene Preceptory and Priory, K. T., No. 29, 
of Toronto, Canada, and Mt. Anthony Chap- 
ter No. I, O. E. S. He has been called 
upon to discharge the duties of grand patron 
of the last named body, is an honorary Pre- 
ceptor of the Sovereign Great Priory of 
Canada. He is past grand master and past 
grand representative of the L O. O. F., and 
has also written the history of that order in 
the state of Vermont. The biography of Mr. 
Stillson's works occupies two pages in the 
annual report of the American Historical 
Association for 1893, among the latest of 
which was the "Vermont Centennial History," 
issued last year. 

Mr. Stillson was united in marriage, August 
5, 1868, to Josephine Sophia, daughter of 
Benjamin and Maria (Buckman) Woodruff, 
of Plattsburg, N. V. Mrs. Stillson died Feb. 
18, 1880, leaving one daughter, Frances 
Emily Stillson, now living, and a son, Benja- 
min Leonard Edward, since deceased. Sep- 
tember 6, 1 88 1, he was wedded to Helen 
Kenyon, of Manchester, Vt., and to them 
four children have been born : Bessie, Ruth 
Katherine, Adah Caroline, and Lee Hascall, 
none of whom survive. 

Mr. Stillson has always acted with the 
Republican party and has represented Ben- 
nington in state and county conventions but 
has never sought for or held any other politi- 
cal preferment. He is the present health 
officer for the village and town of Bennington 
and North Bennington graded school district 
— the executive for three boards of health. 



STONE. 



385 



STONE, Charles Marshall, son of 

Charles and Sarah (Wells) Stone, was born 
in Lyndon, April 18, 1833. 

He left his father's farm in 1849, when six- 
teen years of age, and entered the office of 
the St. Johnsbury Caledonian in which he 
acquired a thorough knowledge of the print- 
ing and publishing business, having received 
his education in the public schools and the 
Lyndon and St. Johnsbury academ es. In 
1855 he purchased a half interest in the 
paper, two years later became sole editor 
and proprietor and so remained to the last 
year of his life when his eldest son entered 
the concern as assistant editor. 

Mr. Stone was married in 1858 to Sarah, 
daughter of Gov. Erastus and Lois| (Cross- 
man) Fairbanks. Four children were born 
to them, three of whom survive. After a 
short illness, Mr. Stone died, Mfrch 12, 
1890, at Jacksonville, Fla. He was a veteran 
in Vermont journalism, having conducted the 
Caledonian for thirty-six years. Kver de- 
voted to his caUing, possessed of brijadth of 
thought, courage of utterance, sincerity and 
strength of conviction, which qualities 
marked his entire life, he wielded an influ- 
ence that was felt and acknowledged not 
only in his own state, but also far beyond its 
borders. 

STONE, Arthur Fairbanks, of St. 

Johnsbury, son of Charles M. and Sarc\h 
(Fairbanks) Stone, was born in St. Johnsi 
bury, Feb. 18, 1863. 

His preparatory education was the usual 
one received in the public schools and he 
fitted for college in the St. Johnsbury .Acad- 
emy, where he was graduated in 1881. He 
then matriculated at Amherst College, Mass., 
from which he received his diploma as a 
bachelor of arts, in 1885. 

After his graduation, he resolved to de- 
vote himself to the profession of journalism 
and as his first essay, was employed as a 
reporter on the staff of the Northampton 
(Mass.) Daily Herald for two years. He 
then changed the scene of his labors and 
served in the same capacity for a year in 
connection with the F"all River 1 )aily News. 
In 18S9 he purchased a half interest of the 
Caledonian at St. Johnsbury and after the 
death of his father, in 1890, continued its 
publication, discharging the duties of the 
editor-in-chief of that newspaper. 

Mr. Stone was united in marriage, Jan. i, 
1890, to Helen, daughter of A. J. and 
Harriet E. Lincoln of Northampton, Mass. 
They have one daughter : Edith L. 

He is attached to the Republican party, 
but though advocating its principles has 
never sought official preferment. Mr. Stone 
is president of the local Natural History 
Society, is the present clerk of the village of 



St. Johnsbury and has efficiently served as 
the secretary of the Vermont Press .Asso- 
ciation. 

STONE, Mason SERENO, of Mont- 
peher, son of Orson N. and Candace (Mason) 
Stone, was born at Waterbury Center, Dec. 
14, 1859. 

His early education was received in the 
public .schools and seminary of that place, 
and he afterwards attended the People's 
.Academy of Morrisville. He was graduated 
from the classical department in the Uni- 
versity of Vermont in 1883. 




MASON SERENO STONE. 

Having had some experience as an in- 
structor during his college course, he resolved 
to devote his life to the cause of education, 
and during the next six years filled the 
office of principal of the W'illiston .Academy, 
Bristol high school, and People's .Academy, 
Morrisville. In 1889 he was elected sujier- 
visor of schools in Orleans county, and in 
the next year organized the first summer 
school in Vermont. In 1891 he was ap- 
pointed tutor in mathematics in the Uni- 
versity of Vermont to fill the position left 
vacant by the absence of the regular in- 
structor. While at the university he was 
apyjointed chief of the educational division 
of the Indian Bureau at Washington, but 
declined the position, jireferring to accept 
the office of superintendent of schools for 
the district of Easthampton, Mass., which 
post he resigned a year later, when he was 
elected superintendent of education for the 



-,86 



STRANAHAN. 



State of ^'ermont, the duties of which ofifice 
he continues to discharge. 

Mr. Stone is independent in his politics. 
For several years he has been a member of 
the Congregational church in Morrisville, 
and has always manifested a lively interest 
in the religious work of the young people's 
societies. Mr. Stone is a self-reliant and 
energetic man, possessing the happy faculty 
of arousing the enthusiasm and interest of 
those with whom he comes in contact in the 
professional work to which he has hitherto 
devoted his life. 

STOWELL, JOHN WESLEY, of Put- 
ney, son of Asa and Mary (Colby) Stowell, 
was born in Putney, Sept. 29, 1835. 



chairs, continuing until 1S83, when Mr. 
Stowell bought the interest of his partner 
and continued the business until 1885. 

Mr. Stowell has given much of his spare 
time to inventions, the most successful of 
which was the Gem folding table, on which 
he received letters of patent in 1885, and for 
the manufacture of which he organized the 
Stowell Manufacturing Co., of which organi- 
zation he was elected president and general 
manager. 

Mr. Stowell was married at AMnchendon, 
Mass., May 6, 1856, to Helen M., daughter 
of James and Lydia Hosley, of Marlow, N. 
H. Of this union there were three children. 
Mrs. Stowell died .April 24, 1870. Mr. Stowell 
was again united in marriage, Oct. 29, 
1873, to Miss Olive J. Farley, of Coleraine, 
Mass. 

Mr. Stowell is prominent in Masonic 
circles, and has held all the ofifices of his 
lodge, as well as that of deputy grand master 
of the 8th Masonic district of Vermont for 
two years. He is also prominent as a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Honor. 



^ 1^ 



STRANAHAN, Farrand Stewart, of 

St. Albans, son of Farrand Stewart and Mary 
Caroline (Curtis) Stranahan, was born in 
New \"ork Citv, Feb. 3, 1^42. 




JOHN WESLEY STOV.ELL. 

He receixed his early education in the 
public schools of Putney, and at eleven years 
of age began life for himself. His first em- 
ployment was in a chair stock factory at 
Royalston, Mass., where he remained for 
three years, removing thence to Ashburn- 
ham, Mass., where he was fortunate enough 
to meet Professor Burrage of Amherst Col- 
lege, who took an interest in young Stowell 
and instructed him privately. 

In April, 1861, Mr. Stowell returned to 
Putney and began the business life which has 
led him to success. His first venture was in 
the manufacture of chair stock with J. N. 
Underwood,which business he continued" until 
1873, when he formed a partnership with R. 
C. Hitchcock for the manufacture of toy 




FARRAND STEWART STRA^ 



He was educated in the public schools 01 
the metropolis, and in 1859 came to Ver- 
mont. H e was made paymaster on the Ver- 
mont Central R. R. in 1865. From 1867 to 



STURTEVAN'l'. 

187 I he was engaged in business in Si. Al- 
bans. At the close of this period he was ap- 
pointed treasurer of the National Car Co., 
which position he still retains. In 1886 he 
became cashier of the Welden National Hank 
of St. Albans, of which institution he was 
made vice president in 1892. Mr. Strana- 
han is also a director in the Central Vermont 
and the Ogdensburg and I,. C. R. R. Cos., 
and is vice-president of the Missisquoi road. 

Republican in political i)reference, he has 
served as trustee of the village of St. Albans, 
and represented the town in 1884. Four 
years afterward he was elected to the state 
Senate, was a trustee of the state reform 
school from 1888 to 1892, and was made 
Lieutenant-Governor in 1892. 

He was united in marriage, August 26, 
1862, to Miranda Aldis, daughter of Hon. 
Lawrence and Fidelia (Gadcomb) Brainerd, 
from which alliance two children were born : 
iSLibel Fidelia (deceased), and Farrand 
Stewart. 

Mr. Stranahan enlisted in the L'nited States 
service in August, 1862, and was succes- 
sively promoted from the grade of ist ser- 
geant to the rank of 2d and ist lieutenant 
of Co. L., ist Vt. Cavalry and shared in all 
the battles in which that regiment partici- 
pated till the winter of 1864, when he was 
appointed aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. 
George A. Custer, serving in every engage- 
ment in which that brilliant general took 
part till September, 1864, at which time 
Lieutenant Stranahan received an honorable 
discharge and returned to his ado])ted home. 
He is a member of A. R. Hurlbut Post G. 
.A. R., of which he has been commander, 
and he also is enrolled in the military order 
of the Loyal Legion. 

STURTEVANT, WiLBER R., of Hart- 
land, son of Cullen F. and Harriet ( Morey ) 
Sturtevant, was born in Hartland, Nov. 22, 
1844. He comes of Puritan lineage, being 
the grandson of Friend Sturtevant, who was 
born in Halifax, Mass., and settled in Hart- 
land in 1804, where he was a medical prac- 
titioner. His mother was a near relative of 
Capt. Samuel Morey, of Fairlee, whose 
claims as the original inventor of the steam- 
boat have been lately urged with so much 
authority and force. 

Mr. Sturtevant received the customary 
course of school instruction in the town of 
Hartland, and then served an apprentice- 
ship in his father's mill to learn the art of 
woolen manufacturing. His father was 
widely known as the maker of the Sturte- 
vant Sheep's Grey, an article noted for its 
extreme durability. At the age of twenty- 
three Mr. Sturtevant commenced his busi- 
ness career as a merchant in the town of 
Hartland, where he has continued till the 



SULLO\VA\-. 387 

present time, conducting a successful and 
remunerative trade, and winning the respect 
of all by the honorable and straightforward 
manner in which he has dealt with the 
community. 

He was appointed postmaster in 1880, 
and has held the office since that time, 
except under President Cleveland's admin- 
istrations. He has creditably filled the 
position of town clerk for many years and 
been called to various other offices of public 
trust, in which he has never disappointed 
the expectations formed of his ability and 
integrity. In 1886 he represented Hartland 
in the Legislature. 




Mr. Sturtevant has knelt at the altar of 
Free Masonry and is united with Vermont 
Lodge, No. 18, of Hartland. 

He was wedded, Oct. t8, i 871, to Lenora, 
daughter of Cornelius and Mary (Pike) 
Robinson. Their children are : Florence H., 
Alice R., and Helen R. 

SULLOWAY, LORENZO, of St. Johns- 
bury, son of Lorenzo and Sabra (Campbell) 
SuUowav, was born in Wheelock, July 17, 
i8;,9. 

His education was received in the schools 
of Wheelock, and he commenced his busi- 
ness career as a commercial tra\eler for a 
sugar e\aporator company. Afterwards he 
formed a partnership for general trade with 
1'.. F. Taylor in his native town, where he re- 
mained till 1873. In 1867 he was appointed 



3SS 



deputy sheriff, which office he held till 1878, 
when he was elected sheriff of Caledonia 
county, and removed to St. Johnsbury. This 
office he now holds, having been elected in 
1878, 1880, 1882, 1884, 1886, 18S8, 1890, 
and 1892, by large majorities. In 1890, he 
was the regular nominee of both the contend- 
ing parties. During his term of office he has 
ably taken charge of a great many notorious 
criminals. In 1876, he was considered a 
fitting person to represent Wheelock in the 
Legislature where he served on the general 
committee. 

He married, Nov. 2, 1870, Lizzie, daughter 
of John and Jane (Herron) Ranney, of 
Wheelock. One son has been born to them ; 
Ralph C. 




DRENZO SULLOV 



Mr. SuUoway is a member of many secret 
and social organizations, among which may 
be named : Crescent Lodge, No. 56, F. & 
A. M., of Lyndon, in which he has filled all 
official positions save that of master ; Has- 
well Chapter, Palestine Commandery, No. 
5, Mizpah Lodge of Perfection, Caledonia 
Lodge of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, 
Olive Branch of Daughters of Rebekah, the 
Order of the Eastern Star, and the JMystic 
Club. He is a Methodist in his religious 
belief. 

SUMNER, HlRAM S., of Bristol, son of 
Thomas and Dorcas (Fuller) Sumner, was 
born in Potsdam, N. Y., May 24, 1834. 

He was an only son, and at the age of 
eighteen accompanied his parents, who 



settled upon a farm in Addison. His early 
education was chiefly derived from the 
schools of Middlebury, where his parents 
were residing in 1843. In 1S60 he pur- 
chased a large farm in Bristol Flats, where 
he has since made his residence. In ad- 
dition to his successful farming operations 
he has been actively engaged as agent for 
the sale of farming implements and ma- 
chinery. 

He was united in marriage at Addison in 
the summer of 1855 to Olive A., daughter of 
Erasmus and Lucy (Carpenter) Gulley. 
Four children were born to them : Charles 
E., Bertha M., Henry G., and Maude M., 
the last of whom died after a short illness, 
Feb. 18, 1891. 

Mr. Sumner is a Republican in his politi- 
cal preferences, and has always taken an 
active interest in the welfare of his party. 
He has held the office of selectman, and was 
on the board of listers at the quadrennial 
appraisal at two different times, and has held 
other positions of honor and trust. 







He is a member of the Congregational 
church at Bristol. He is prominently con- 
nected with the Masonic faternity, and for 
nearly thirty years has affiliated with Libanus 
Lodge No.' 47, at Bristol. He has united 
with Munsell Council, and Gifford Chapter 
No. 25, at Bristol, and is a Knight Templar 
of the Mt. Calvary Commandery at Middle- 
bury. 



SWAIN, Albert Nathaniel, of Bel- 
lows Falls, son of Nathaniel and Lucia 
(Stow) Swain, was born in Reading, July 12, 
1828. 

He received his literary instruction in the 
common schools, but his practical education 
was derived from the printing office. In 
this latter he served an apprenticeship of 
three years, commencing in 1847 in the 
office of the Vermont Journal at Windsor, 
during which he gave some attention to the 
study of Latin. After this he continued for 
a similar period as journeyman with the 
same employer, when seized with an am- 
bition to become a journalist he removed to 
Krattleboro and there found a position as 
printer and assistant editor of the \'ermont 



3> 




ALBERT NATH 



Republican then published by O. H. I'latt. 
In 1856 he came to Bellows Falls, where he 
became editor and soon after proprietor of 
the Bellows Falls Times, which he continued 
to publish, in connection with conducting a 
job printing establishment, for more than 
thirty-two years, when he retired from active 
life still making that town his place of resi- 
dence. 

Mr. Swain was married, Nov. i;,, 1856, to 
Susan W., daughter of John L. and Phebe 
(Town) Putnam of Brattleboro. 

He was an early member of the anti- 
slavery party and cast his first ballot for the 
candidates of the old Liberal party, when it 
could poll but six votes in his town. In 
1852 he voted for John P. Hale, and after 



TArr. 389 

the organization of the Republican party 
gave to it a steady and loyal adherence. 

In 1870 Mr. Swain was elected a member 
of the Constitutional Convention by the 
unanimous vote of his fellow-townsmen. 
This assembly he regards as the strongest in 
ability of any legislative body with which he 
has been connected, being composed of the 
strongest men in the state, among them ex- 
(lovernors, congressmen, judges, and that 
eminent lawyer, Hon. ]■;. J. Phelps. The 
most prominent question debated and de- 
cided in that con\ention was that of the bi- 
ennial sessions of the Legislature, the adop- 
tion of which measure received the earnest 
support of Mr. Swain. He was also a rep- 
resentative in the .Assemblies of 1872 and 
1876, and was chosen senator from his 
county in 1886. He was assigned to various 
committees, including those on education, 
printing, joint rules, railroads, and federal 
relations. ( )n the first three he served as 
chairman. 

Mr. Swain was one of the originators as 
well as earliest members of the Vermont 
Press Association, and for four years acted 
as president of that body. He served as 
])Ostmaster of Bellows Falls under the ad- 
ministrations of Lincoln, Johnson and (irant, 
giving general and marked satisfaction in 
this position during a period of twelve years. 
He has been a trustee of the Bellows Falls 
Savings Bank since 1882, president of the 
Rockingham Free Library since its organiza- 
tion, and has held many other positions of 
trust and responsibility, in all of which he 
has never disappointed the expectations of 
those who have committed these duties to 
his care. 

TAFT, ELIHU Barber, of liurlington, 
son of Eleazer and Ellen (Barber) Taft, was 
born in Williston, March 25, 1847. 

After the advantages of a good home edu- 
cation and one in the common schools and 
\Villiston .Academy, he entered the Univer- 
sity of Vermont in 1867, graduating in 1871. 
Four years after he received the degree of 
A. m! from his alma mater. He entered 
his name as a law student in 1870 with the 
well-known attorneys, Messrs. Wales and 
I'aft at Burlington, and ]iursued his legal 
studies with them during his last year in the 
uni\ersity. Being admitted to practice at the 
bar of Chittenden county court in 1873, he 
took u]) his residence in Burlington and was 
admitted some time after to practice in the 
Supreme Court in the same county. On the 
motion of Hon. K. J. Phelps, at the Febru- 
ary term, 1879, he was admitted as an attor- 
nev in the United States district and circuit 
courts. He was apjiointed United States 
(leputv collector of internal revenue of the 
third district of \'ermont in 1874 and served 




|^/^^<?o^ 



until he resigned in 1881. Mr. Taft has 
been a successful lawyer for o\er twenty 
years in Burlington and his professional in- 
tegrity and ability have never been (|ues- 
tioned. 

He was married, April t, 1875, to l.ucia 
A., daughter of Anson S. and Agnes (Stuart) 
Johnson, who died Dec. 15, 1S75. 

Mr. Taft is a Republican in his political 
faith and has been honorably recognized by 
his party and the people. He has served 
several terms as school commissioner and as 
one of the board of aldermen, being presi- 
dent of the board for three terras. In 1888 
he received the honor of an election as a 
senator from Chittenden county, and during 
the session of that year was made chairman 
of the general committee, one of the most 
important in the Legislature. He is a life 
member of the American Society for the Ad- 
vancement of Science. His life-long study 
of natural history entitles him to rank among 
the foremost of amateur naturalists, to which 
fact his large private cabinet of birds, fos- 
sils, shells and minerals will bear ample tes- 
timony. 

He has been a most extensive traveler, 
not only in the New but also in the Old 
A\'orld. He visited the Centennial at Phila- 
delphia, the region of the great lakes and 
copper mines of Michigan, is familiar with 
the scenery on the western side of the 
Rocky Mountains, the Yosemite Valley, the 
Yellowstone National Park and the Pacific 
coast from San Francisco to Puget Sound. 
Nor has he neglected places of interest 
nearer his native state but has made exten- 
sive tours through Canada, sailing down the 
St. Lawrence, and up the gloomy Saguenay. 
The winter and spring of 1887 he spent in 
the South and Southwest, seeing New 
Orleans, Galveston and the City of Mexico, 
also making a trip to the top of the volcano 
Popocatepetl, to the petrified forest of 
Arizona and the Grand Canon of the Col- 
orado. 

His last and most extended journey was 
in 1889, to the most important cities and 
countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, in- 
cluding Paris, Rome, Bombay, Calcutta, 
Benares, Cairo, Jerusalem, Smyrna, Athens, 
Constantinople, Vienna, Venice, Cologne 
and cities of Denmark, Russia, Sweden and 
Norway, Scotland, England and Ireland and 
Holland, concluding with a visit to Paris 
where ten days were occupied at the great 
exposition before he turned his steps home- 
ward. 

He has ever been a zealous Free Mason 
and as soon as he had arrived at man's 
estate received the obligations of .\ncient 
Craft Masonry in Webster Lodge, No. 61, of 
\\'inooski. He was a charter member of 
Pkirlington Lodge, No. 100, at Burlington, 



'^91 



of which he is a past master. He i:, past 
grand recorder and jiast grand treasurer 
of the Cirand Commandery of Vermont ; a 
member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine 
and has attained the 3 2d degree in the 
.\ncient and Accepted Scottish Rite. In 
most of the different bodies of this last 
order he has worthily presided. 

Mr. Taft has ever maintained the char- 
acter of an upright man, an honest and able 
lawyer and a good ditizen. 

TAFT, Russell S., of Burlington, was 
born in Williston, Jan. 28, 1835, and went 
to Burlington in 1853, where he resided until 
May, 1 88 1, when he returned to Williston, 
but is now living again in Burlington. He 
was educated at the common schools and 
academies ; read law, and was admitted to 
the bar of Chittenden county in November, 
1856 ; was selectman of the town of Burling- 
ton from 1 86 1 to 1864, and alderman of the 
city of Burlington from 1865 to 1S69 ; was 
state's attorney for Chittenden county from 

1862 to 1865 ; a senator for that county in 
1865 and 1866 ; city attorney for the city 
of Burlington in 1871 and 1872 ; register of 
probate in the district of Chittenden from 

1863 to 1S80, and Lieutenant-Governor of 
the state in i872-'74. In 1880 he repre- 
sented the city of Burlington in the Legisla- 
ture ; was elected sixth assistant judge of 
the Supreme Court. He has since been bi- 
ennially re-elected to the bench, and has 
been since 1890 first assistant judge of the 
Supreme Court. 

Judge Taft is especially conversant with 
Vermont decisions, and in disposing of cases 
is much more inclined to apply to them the 
law as it is in Vermont than the law as jt 
may be in other jurisdictions. 

T A P L I N , Merrick Mansfield, of 

Barton Landing, son of Richard and Susan 
(Ordway) Taplin, was born in Irasburgh, 
June 8, 1851. 

.After attendance at the public schools of 
Irasburgh and (Orleans Liberal Institute he 
decided to devote himself to a business ca- 
reer and in 1868 commenced to deal in 
cattle and horses. In 1884 he added to his 
former occupation a trade in wagons, sleighs 
and agricultural implements. At the same 
time forming a copartnership with Dr. Geo. 
1!. Rowell under the firm name of Taplin & 
Rowell, and they own and operate a large 
dairy farm in Irasburgh. He is largely inter- 
ested in real estate. He with his partner have 
recently taken a half interest in the St. Johns- 
bury Carriage Co. 

Mr. Taplin is a strong Republican ; was 
for ten years lister in Irasburgh, and served as 
selectman and lister after removing to Barton 
Landing. 



392 



His religious preferences are Congrega- 
tionalist and he is a musician of ability. He 
has been an ardent supporter and president 
of the Orleans County ^lusical Association. 

Mr. Taplin married, March 23, 1887, Susie 
E., daughter of Hon. Charles and Mary 
(Mehin) Rogers. 

TAYLOR, Giles GalUSHA, of Fletcher, 
son of Giles and Cynthia (Leach) Taylor, 
was born in Fletcher, Feb. 11, 1813. His 
father was the first blacksmith of the town 
in which he was one of the earliest settlers, 
and was a veteran soldier of the war of 1812. 

The son received a scanty education in 
the district schools, and at the early age of 
eighteen married, and then settled upon a 
section of land near Metcalf pond, a lonely 
sheet of water among the hills, where with a 
woodman's axe he cleared a farm from the 
native wilderness. By dint of unceasing toil 
he slowly increased his resources, gradually 
purchasing more land, until he is now the pos- 
sessor of an estate of three hundred acres and 
resides upon a farm adjoining his original 
homestead, which has been in the posses- 
sion of the family for three-quarters of a 
century. The dairy and the sugar orchard 
are the principal sources from which he 
derives his income. In his manufacture of 
maple sugar he uses the best of modern ap- 
pliances with successful and remunerative 
results. Mr. Taylor has also a fine apiary. 

He is a true-blue Democrat of the Jack- 
sonian school, and cast his first presidential 
vote for Martin Van Buren. For more than 
forty years he has been moderator in town 
meetings, and has always presided with 
dignity and impartiality. Such is the con- 
fidence reposed in him that though a mem- 
ber of the minority party, he has been 
elected to fill various town oflices, and was 
called upon to represent Fletcher in the 
J^egislature of 1890, in which body he was 
the oldest member. 

Four score years have left their traces 
upon his form, yet his mental faculties are 
nearly as active as in his youthful days, and 
he still enjoys a joke and hearty laugh as 
well as any man in Franklin county. 

Mr. Taylor married, Feb. 15, 1831, Lydia, 
daughter of James and Abigail (Aldrich) 
Chase. Five children were issue of this 
wedlock: Lorinda (Mrs. William Leach, 
deceased), James B. (deceased), Eliza (Mrs. 
A. B. Case of Cambridge), Florilla (de- 
ceased), and Abbie P. (Mrs. W. J. Spauld- 
ing). 

TAYLOR, Herbert Edward, of Brat- 

tleboro, son of Jeremiah and Mary ( Edwards) 

Taylor, was born in Cuillord, <_)ct. 13, 1837. 

He was educated at the common schools 

of Guilford, at the Westminster Seminary, 



and Powers Institute of Bernardston, Mass., 
spending his vacations on the home farm, 
where he also passed the early vears of his 
life. 

In 1861 he enlisted with Co. F, 4th Regt. 
Vt. Vols., and served three years, receiving 
his discharge in September, 1864. He 
was severely wounded in the battle-., of 
the U'ilderness, May 5, 1864, and was 
disabled for manual labor, and has since 
constantly suffered from the effects of his 
wounds. Returning from the battlefield he 
located on the home farm, where he re- 
mained until the early spring of 1865, when 
he removed to Brattleboro and engaged in 
the clothing and furnishing business, which 
he continued until 1875. 




ERBERT EDWARD TAYLOR. 



In 1879 he was appointed deputy-collector 
of internal revenue of the District of Ver- 
mont, in which capacity he served the 
government until 1885. In 188 j Mr. Taylor 
was elected a deputy-sheriff and also tax 
collector for the town of Brattleboro, to 
which position he was re-elected successively 
for four terms. He was also door-keeper of 
the House of Representatives in 18SS. 

Mr. Taylor served in the Vermont National 
Guard, from 1886 to 1888, as captain and 
provost-marshal of the ist Regiment ; and 
also, from iSSS to 1S90, as colonel and aid- 
de-camp on the staff of Gov. William P. 
Dillingham. Colonel Taylor has been ac- 
tively and prominently identified with the 



G. A. R., and in 1888 was elected com- 
mander of the Department of Vermont. 

In social matters Colonel Taylor has also 
taken a ])rominent part. He is a member 
of Columbian Lodge, No. 36, V. & A. M., 
and a member of Beauseant Commandery 
of Knights Templar, as well as a member of 
the Sons of .American Revolution. • 

Col. H. E. Taylor was married, Oct. 7, 
1867, to Emeline, daughter of Stephen and 
Electa (Sargent) Button, of Dummerston. 
Of this union is one son : Linn Button Tay- 
lor, of Brattleboro. Mrs. Taylor died in 
1877. 

Colonel laylor was appointed, Nov. 23, 
1S89, by Secretary of the Treasury Windom, 
to the position of special inspector of cus- 
toms, with official station at St. .Albans, a 
position which he held till Nov. i, 1893, 
operating upon the northern frontier and in 
Canada, and was instrumental in preventing 
and detecting smuggling and other frauds 
upon the Treasury Department. .After the 
termination of his service for the govern- 
ment, he returned to his home in Brattleboro 
and engaged in the insurance business with 
his son. 

T.4YLOR, Harvey Edson, of West 

Cornwall, son of Samuel and Brusilla 
(Briggs) Taylor, was born in Salisbury, Jan. 

3i> 1839- 

He commenced his education in the dis- 
trict schools, and finished by pursuing a 
course of study at the grammar school in 
Middlebury and at Fort Edward Institute. 
In early life he commenced the study of the 
law, but forsaking this, became interested in 
breeding and selling sheep in the West. For 
five years he was engaged in trade in \\'est 
Cornwall, but is now a farmer and sheep 
breeder. He has devoted himself particu- 
larly to the RambouUett strain, having im- 
ported from the flock of Victor Gilbert, of 
France, in 1884. Mr. Taylor has a large 
trade throughout the country. 

He was united in marriage, at Troy, X. 
v., .Sept. I, 1864, to Kathleen Liola, eldest 
daughter of William and Martha (Murray) 
Hanks, of .Addison. 

He is an adherent of the Republican party 
and received the compliment of an election 
to represent Cornwall in the Legislature of 
1890. He served with credit on the com- 
mittee on claims, and introduced the bill to 
abolish the commissioner of emigration, in 
which attempt he was successful. He urged 
this measure because he was firmly con- 
vinced that it was poor state policy to pa)- 
salaries to agents to decry the agricultural 
advantages of ^'ermont. Mr. Taylor has 
ever led an active and useful life, in the firm 
belief that it is better to wear out than to 
rust out. He has never become a member 



TEMI'LE. 393 

of any secret society or organization, since 
he sees no benefit resulting from such con- 
nection. 

TEMPLE, George G., of Lunenburg, 
son of Frank G. and Lucy (Stockwell) Tem- 
ple, was born in Concord, .April 14, 1851. 

His educational advantages were restricted 
to the public schools of Concord and when 
he was twenty-two years of age he removed 
to Lunenburg, where he jjurchased the prop- 
erty known as the John W. Hartshorn farm 
and since that time he has been successfully 
engaged in agricultural pursuits, to which he 
has added stock raising. He has also been 
busily occupied in buying and selling cattle. 
Mr. Temple is a man of strong physique and 
tireless energy. 

f^He has always been successful in his va- 
rious enterprises, is strongly Republican in 
his political preferences and has sened 
several terms as selectman and road com- 
missioner. So strong is the confidence re- 
posed in him by his fellow-townsmen that he 
was sent to represent them in the lower 
branch of the General .Assembly of 1886. 

TEMPLETON, Horatio, of Worcester, 
son of Joel H. and .Abigail (.Austin) Temple- 
ton, was born in Montpelier, May 29, 1819. 



I 




HORATIO TEMPLETON. 



He is one of a family of nine children and 
came to \\orcester with his parents when he 
was six years old, and received his education 
in the i:ommon schools of the town. His 



394 



father was not in affluent circumstances and, 
after his schooHng was completed, Horatio 
worked under his father's supervision at the 
trade of a carpenter and joiner. As soon as 
his resources enabled him to do so, he rented 
a saw-mill, which he carried on for several 
years with such success that in 1849 he was 
able to build one for himself and soon after 
to purchase an adjacent farm which he still 
possesses. Until i860 he was busily engaged 
in the manufacture of staves, barrel heads and 
lumber, but just before the war he rented his 
property, purchased the hotel in Worcester 
and as proprietor conducted it for about 
eight years. During the war he was actively 
engaged as a recruiting officer under state 
authority. For a considerable period subse- 
quently he was occupied in trade with his 
son-in-law at Worcester, the firm being Tem- 
pleton & Vail, but sold his interest, and since 
that time has been principally employed in 
the affairs of the town, in settling estates and 
as agent for the Vermont Mutual Fire Insur- 
ance Co. 

He was married, Sept. i, 1839, to Rhoda 
S., daughter of Mathias and Elizabeth (Stev- 
ens) Fulsom. Seven children are the issue 
of the union : Horatio M., Amanda R. (Mrs. 
E. L. Wright, deceased), John S.,Abbie Ann 
(Mrs. H. D. Vail, of Worcester), Emma J. 
(Mrs. H. W. Lilly), Charles F., and Eillian 
M. (Mrs. J. L. Stone). 

Mr. 'I'empleton was formerly attached to 
the Republican party, but since 1872 has 
affihated with the Democrats. - For nearly 
thirty years he has discharged the duties of 
justice of the peace, and has also served as 
treasurer and constable. He represented the 
town with credit and fidelity in 1858 and 
1859 and, in spite of his political views, was 
again representative from Worcester in 1882 
and 1890. He has long been a member of 
Aurora Dodge, No. 32, F. & .-X. ^L 

TENNEY, JOHN ALLEN, late of Corinth, 
son of Dr. Joshua and Susanna (Allen) I'en- 
ney, was born, Feb. 21, 1815, in Corinth. 

He received his education in the schools 
of Corinth and at Bradford Academy. Mr. 
Tenney embarked on his business career as a 
salesman of paper for Mr. Low of Bradford, 
and afterward formed a partnership for the 
sale of general merchandise with Theodore 
Cooke of Corinth. At the same time he 
also engaged in farming. In 1859 he re- 
moved to Indian \'illage, Tama Co., Iowa, 
and while there engaged in trade and also 
dealt largely in real estate, .\fter four years 
experience of western life, he returned to 
Corinth and again pursued the business of a 
merchant combined with that of a farmer. 
Here he made his abode until the time of 
his death. 



He was a Republican, and represented 
Corinth in the Legislature in 1848 and 1849. 
He was town clerk and register of probate 
for many years. For nine years he dis- 
charged the duties of judge of the probate 
for Bradford district, and held the position of 
assistant judge of Orange county court for 
two yeats by election, and one year by ap- 
pointment to fill the place of a former 
incumbent who had resigned. While in Iowa 
he was made county supervisor. 

Judge Tenney belonged to the Masonic 
fraternity, and occupied a high position in 
the brotherhood. 

He was married at Corinth, Jan. i, 1844, 
to Mary, daughter of Henry and Jennie 
(McKeen) Doe of Corinth, who died May 
7, 1847. His second wife was Lydia Doe, 
who died Jan. 29, 1889, by whom he had 
one child : Mary I. He contracted a third 
alliance with Mary Raymond, June 23, 1892. 
Judge Tenney died, regretted by a large 
circle of friends and acquaintances, Oct. i, 
1892. 

TERRILL, George EdrICK, of Under- 
bill, son of Londus F. and Susan (Fernald) 
Terrill, was born in Underbill, (uly 30, 1861. 





GEORGE EDRICK TERRILL. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of his native town and the Green Mountain 
Academy at Underbill Centre. After leav- 
ing school in 1876 he was engaged as a clerk 
in the mercantile establishment of his father 
where he continued until 18S4, when he pur- 
chased a half interest and remained a iiart- 



ner until 1889. He then bought out his 
father and has since successfully continued 
the business. 

He was married in Plattsburg, N. Y., June 
II, 1878, to Ida J., daughter of Cyrus and 
Lucy (Mead) Prior. Of this union are two 
children : Efifie A., and Scott E. 

He is a member of McDonough J.odge, 
No. 26, F. & A. M., and has been its secre- 
tary for six years and also its junior warden. 
He joined Burlington Chapter in 1882 and 
also Burlington Council and later the Com- 
mandery of which he was standard bearer. 
He joined Burlington Chapter, No. 3, R. A. 
M., and Burlington Council, No. 5, R. eS; 
S. M., in 1883; Burlington Commandery, 
No. 2, K. T., in 1884 ; Mount Sinai 'I'eniple, 
Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine, Nov. 16, 1892 ; Vermont Consistory, 
A. A. S. R., 3 2d, March 31, 1893. He also 
belongs to Green Mountain Lodge (Odd 
Fellows), No. 4. He is a member of Cen. 
George A. Custer Camp, No. 7, S. of V., was 
its first captain in 1884. He was success- 
ively promoted in this organization to the 
rank of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel 
of the Division of ^'ermont, and was a dele- 
gate to the national encampments at Min- 
neapolis, Minn., Helena, Mont., and Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. 

As a Republican he represented his town 
in the tSeneral Assembly of 1892, was a mem- 
ber of the committee on railroads, and has 
been town treasurer since 18S5, and for six 
years past has been chairman of the Repub- 
lican town committee. 

TEWKSBURY, AMOS BRADFORD, of 
West Randolph, son of Amos W., and Annis 
(Campbell) 'I'ewksbury, was born in New 
Boston, N. H., April 11, 1832. His father 
removed to West Randolph from New Bos- 
ton in 1854. He was widely known as a re- 
liable business man and acted in the official 
capacity of town clerk and treasurer. He 
engaged in general trade and soon possessed 
the deserved confidence and patronage of a 
wide circle in his neighborhood. During 
the twenty-eight years which he passed in 
^^'est Randolph as a merchant and manu- 
facturer the town progressed in development 
with great rapidity, and Mr. Tewksbury con- 
tributed his full share to its welfare. He died 
at \\'est Randolph, August 16, 1883, with a 
high reputation for liberality and strict in- 
tegrity. 

The son inherited his father's practical 
and sterling ([ualities, and after receiving his 
education in the common schools of New 
Boston and the Merrimac Normal School he 
entered the firm with which his father had 
been connected, and his business experience 
has developed a keen insight, a judgment 
both ready and reliable, and an ability to at- 



THAVER. 395 

tend to all petty and various details in his 
transactions which is rarely equalled among 
business men. 

The trade of A. ^V. Tewksbury & Sons is 
one of the most extensive in the state. They 
ha\e extensive sawmills and manufacture 
large ([uantitiesof lumber. In addition they 
have a door, sash and blind factory, besides 
an establishment for making adjustable win- 
dow screens. 

Mr. Tewksbury has deservedly been in- 
trustetl with many official positions, and in 
1882 he was chosen representative of the 
town of Randolph ; but he has best served 
the interests of the place by therein con- 
ducting a large and jirofitable business on 
liberal principles. 

He was united in marriage, July 19, 1S64, 
to Anna M., daughter of Abner and Hannah 
Dodge. Of this marriage there are two chil- 
dren : George D. ( deceased ) , and Kdward W. 

THAYER, LEWIS PaIGE, of West 
Randolph, son of W. H. H. and Sarah A. 
(Lewis) Thayer, was born in Barnard, Oct. 

23,1851. 

In his earlier years he pursued his studies 
at the academy at West Randolph, and the 
Randolph Normal School. Resolving to 
devote his life to journalism, he commenced 
to study the practical part of his profession 
in the office of the Green Mountain Herald, 
then owned by the Re\-. E. Gerry. Having 
mastered the printer's trade and obtained 
some knowledge of editorial duties, he 
purchased the paper, and from a list of 275 
subscribers w-orked up a circulation of 4000. 
In 1879 he moved to Montpelier where he 
commenced the publication of the Vermont 
Farmer, and after about two years sold the 
journal to Mr. George H. Richmond, ha\ing 
made the paper a success. He then returned 
to the Herald, but has not confined his at- 
tention to this sheet alone, having been 
associated with the Northfield New.s, Bur- 
lington Clipper, and other papers. 

Mr. Thayer is at present the chairman of 
the executive committee of Vt. Press .Associa- 
tion. He has never desired, sought for, or 
held political office. 

He was united in marriage, August 29, 
1879, at Yankton, Dakota, to Alice M., 
daughter of A. A. and Betsey .\. Smith. Two 
children have been born to them : Maurine, 
and Harrison Smith. 

THOMAS, HORACE, of Salisbury, son of 
Isaac and Matilda (Hubbard) Thomas, was 
born in Salisbury, .August 15, 1809. Mr. 
Thomas is a member of a family of old New 
England stock, which was one of the first to 
find its way into Vermont. 

He took advantage of the scanty course 
of instruction afforded by the neighboring 



396 



schools, and when he came of age, acceded 
to his father's wish that he remain at home 
and assist him in the labors of the farm. At 
his father's death, he purchased the interest 
of the other heirs, and still remains on the 
old Thomas homestead. 

He married, Dec. 3, 1835, Anna B., 
daughter of William and Eunice VVainwright, 
of Salisbury. Of this union there were five 
sons and one daughter: William W. (who 
died at Middlebury in 1879), ^Villard H. 
(who died at Salisbury in 1887), Walter J. 
(a veteran of the wa_r), Robert B., Delia A. 
( Mrs. Frederick Emerson, of Adamsville, 
Mich.), and Edson H. 

Mr. Thomas has always been identified 
with the Republican party, and is an active 
promoter of the interests of his native town, 
where he is universally honored and respect- 
ed. For thirty-four years he has been town 
treasurer, and has enjoyed many successive 
terms as selectman. He was chosen as rep- 
resentative to the Legislature at its first 
biennial session in 1S70. He has been for 
many years an active and influential mem- 
ber of the Congregational church at Salis- 
bury village, and has long served as a trus- 
tee of that society. 

THOMAS, Stephen, of Montpelier, .son 
of John and Rebecca (Batchellor) Thomas, 
and grandson of Joseph and Hannah (Vick- 
ery) Thomas, was born in Bethel, Dec. 6, 
1809. His grandfather Joseph served in, the 
Revolutionary war, and was a lieutenant in a 
New Hampshire regiment in the Saratoga 
campaign, and his father John was a soldier 
in the 31st Regt., U. S. Inft., in the war of 
181 2, and died from exposure in service at 
Pittsburgh. 

Stephen was but four when his father died, 
and his widowed mother's circumstances 
were such that he had to go to work when a 
mere boy. He went to district school in 
Thetford, and at eighteen was apprenticed 
to a woolen manufacturer, and followed his 
trade in Thetford, Strafford and West Fair- 
lee. He started manufacturing for himself 
at Hartland, but was burned out and went to 
work in Thetford, and finally settled in West 
Fairlee. Here he did a good deal of sheriff 
business, and also pension business, and was 
soon the leading man of affairs in town. 

He represented West Fairlee in the House 
in 1838, 1839, 1845, 1846, i860 and 1861, 
and was a state senator from Orange county 
in 1848 and 1849. He was a delegate to 
the Constitutional Conventions of 1843 and 
1850; register of probate for the district of 
Bradford from 1842 to 1846, and judge of 
probate for that district from 1847 'o 1849. 
Judge Thomas was active in politics, and an 
earnest Democrat till the rebellion began. 
He was an alternate to the Democratic na- 



tional convention of 1848, and a delegate to 
the next three conventions, those of 1852, 
1856, and i860. At the sessions of the 
convention of i860, at Charleston, S. C, and 
Baltimore, he became convinced of the set 
design of southern Democrats to break the 
Union if they could not control it. He was 
the rjemocratic candidate for Lieutenant- 
Covernor in i860, and earnesdy advocated 
the election of Douglas. 

.At the special session called by (Governor 
Fairbanks at the outbreak of the rebellion 
in .April, 1861, the greatest sum proposed to 
be raised for war purposes was half a million 
dollars, but Judge Thomas urged with energy 
that it be a million — and his fiery zeal carried 
the appropriation which he well knew would 
be needed. 




STEPHEN THOMAS. 

November 12, 1 86 1, he was made colonel of 
the 8th Vermont, which regiment he raised and 
led to the South, remaining its colonel till 
Jan. 12, 1865. Feb. i, 1865, he was com- 
missioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 
and served as such till .August 24, 1865. He 
was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1867 
and 1 868, and under commission from Pres- 
ident Orant was pension agent for Vermont, 
with headquarters at Montpelier, from 1870 to 
1877. He is now president of the U.S. Clothes 
Pin Co. of Montpelier, which does a large 
jobbing business in lumber and house find- 
ings, and not only extends its clothes-pin 
trade over the whole country, but does a 
large export business. The corporation now 



THOMPSON. 

employs fifteen hands. He is also iiresident 
of the North Haverhill (iranite C'o. 

(General Thomas ser\ed with distinction 
in the department of the ( lulf till t CS64, when 
his regiment was ordered North, and in the 
summer of that year put imder Sheridan in 
the Shenandoah Valley. His services at the 
battles of \\'inchester, Fisher's Hill, and 
Cedar Creek were of the highest order. He 
was commended in general orders for ser- 
vices at \\'inchester, Sept. 19, 1864, when he 
charged with the Sth Vermont and 12th 
Connecticut, under his command on his 
own responsibility. It is not unjust to other 
brave oflficers to tell the truth, that at all 
soldiers' reunions the applause always gets 
to its highest when General Thomas appears. 
He was the idol of the common soldier, and 
the veterans seem to add year by year to 
their enthusiasm for the bluff — sometimes 
gruff and always brave — old general. 

General Thomas married Ann Peabody of 
Reading, who died at West Fairlee, Jan. 
8, 1877. They had two children : Hartopp 
of Junction City, Wis., and Amanda T., 
widow of Luther Newcomb, who was many 
years county clerk at Montpelier. 

General Thomas has, since the death of 
his wife, made his home at Montpelier with 
his daughter, 'Mrs. Newcomb. He has held 
the highest places of honor in the gift of the 
various veteran associations in the state, the 
camp of the Sons of Veterans at the capital 
is "Stephen Thomas Camp," and so the 
sons, like the fathers, regard him as the type 
of. the American citizen soldier — exemplar 
by descent of those who in battle founded 
and defended, and in person of those who in 
battle preserved, the great Republic. 

THOMPSON, Laforrest Holman, of 
Irasburgh, son of Levi S. and Irene (Hodg- 
kins) Thompson, was born in Bakersfield, 
Jan. 6, 1848. 

His father moved from Bakersfield to 
Cambridge about 1855, remained there one 
year and then moved to Potton, Canada, 
where Laforrest's mother died. The boy 
worked on the farm until 1865, having 
scant schooling but reading and studying 
much for himself. From 1S65 he studied at 
the grammar school (now the Normal school) 
at Johnson, and at Kimball Union .-Academy 
at Meriden, N. H.,and taught school himself. 
In 1869, he was fitted for college but his 
health was not such as to permit him to 
enter. He taught instead at Craftsbury and 
Irasburgh, and studied law mostly by him- 
self. 

In March, 1871, he was admitted to the 
Orleans county bar and at once began prac- 
tice at Irasburgh. He has always been an 
indefatigable worker and he soon fought his 
way to the front rank of his profession. In 



THO.MPSON. 397 

1S74, he was elected state's attorney and 
from 1S76 to 1 88 1, when his law practice 
demanded his whole time and caused him to 
resign, he was judge of probate. 

In 1880 and 1882, Judge Thompson rep- 
resented Irasburgh and was, the latter year, 
chairman of the judiciary committee of the 
House. In 1884 he was a senator from 
Orleans county and president />/v tetnpore of 
the Senate. 

in 1890 Judge Thompson again rejjre- 
sented Irasburgh in the House, and was 
again chairman of its judiciary committee. 
.At the session of 1890 he was elected sixth 
assistant judge of the Supreme Court, which 
office he now fills. 

His election brought to judicial ser\ice at 
once the ardent student, and the man of 
affairs giving the right reason for the right 
decision. 

Mr. Thompson married, August 24, 1S69, 
Mary Eliza, daughter of Hon. .\. P. Dutton 
of Craftsbury, who bore him four children. 
Mrs. Thompson died March 29, 18S1, and 
Judge Thompson afterwards married Harriet 
C. Kinney, by whom he also has children. 

THOMPSON, Sumner Shaw, late of 

Lyndonville, son of Jacob and Esther (Shaw) 
Thompson, was born in Halifax, Mass., .April 
T2, 1823. He was a descendant of Lieut. 
John Thompson, who married a daughter of 
Francis Cooke, one of the Mayflower pil- 
grims. 

His education was obtained in the public 
schools at Plympton, Mass., and at the age 
of nineteen he received a contract from his 
brother to build a part of the New Bedford 
& Taunton railway, and for forty-seven years 
until his death he devoted himself to rail- 
road construction. He was concerned in 
building the Vermont & Canada, Central 
Vermont, New Hampshire Northern, Atlantic 
& St. Lawrence, New London Northern, 
Boston, Concord & Montreal, Newport & 
Southeastern, Passumpsic, Frankfort (.Mich.) 
& Southeastern, Montreal, Portland & Bos- 
ton, Woodstock, Somerset, Saratoga & Sack- 
ett's Harbor, and several railways now incor- 
porated with the Old Colony & Southeastern 
system. 

,\t the time of his death he was iiresident 
of the Frankfort & Southeastern R. R. in 
Michigan, a director of the ("onnecticut & 
Passumpsic, and vice-president of the Mont- 
pelier & \\'ells River R. R., of which latter 
he was appointed receiver, managing the 
property so ably that it increased in \alue 
while in his hands. He was also a director 
in the Lyndonville Savings Bank, and the 
First National Bank of St. Johnsbury, of 
which latter corporation he was also vice- 
president. He was director of the Vermont 
Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and one of the 



398 



founders of the St. Johnsbury Republican. 
He also presided over the board of trustees 
of the Lyndon Classical Institute, to which 
he was a most generous contributor. 

He was staunchly Republican in his polit- 
ical views, representing Lyndon in 1866 and 
1867 in the House, in which he did efficient 
service on several important committees. In 
1S76, and again in 1878, he was chosen a 
senator from Caledonia county, and in 1880 
was made a presidential elector. 

While residing in Massachusetts he became 
a member of the Mayflower Lodge, I. O. O. 
F., and was afifiliated with the Christian Bap- 
tist church. 

Mr. Thompson was united in marriage, 
April 10, 1847, to Harriet Stark, daughter of 
America and Mary (Chandler) Wiley of 
Frveburg, Me. Two children were born to 




SUMNER SHAW THOMPSON. 

them: Ella E. (wife of Hon. Samuel W. 
McCall of Winchester, Mass.), and Hattie 
W. (Mrs. Charles S. LeBourveau, Jr., of 
Lyndonville). 

Mr. Thompson died at Frankfort, Mich., 
Oct. 24, 1889. 

He was an excellent example of a self- 
made man, and though deprived of a colleg- 
iate education, he early learned its value 
and took great pleasure in aiding young men 
without means in the pursuit of their studies, 
and also in donating large sums of money to 
institutions of learning. L'nlike many men 
who have been forced to make their own way 
in the world, he was very generous and char- 



itable, never neglecting any appeal for 
assistance which came from a worthy per- 
son. His benefactions were ever unobtrus- 
ively offered and quietly bestowed without 
ostentatious display. 

TIFFANY, Eli, of Bennington, son of 
John and Elizabeth (Marsden) Tiftany, was 
born in Horbury, in the West Riding of 
Yorkshire, England, Nov. 9, 1830. 

He attended such schools as were provided 
at that time for factory operatives till he was 
fourteen years old. He then worked in 
woolen mills till the spring of 1851, when he 
emigrated to this country, making his abode 
at Waterbury, Conn., to operate new machin- 
ery for the Waterbury Knitting Co. In 
1856 he remo\ed to Meriden, Conn., where 
he remained two years employed in a similar 
capacity by the firm of Powell & Parker. He 
next visited Glastonbury, Conn., where he 
invented an automatic rib knitting machine 
for which he received a patent May i, i860. 
In 185S, pre\ious to the issuing of the above 
patents, he moved to Thompsonville, Conn., 
and there connected himself with George 
Cooper in the manufacturing of the above 
mentioned machinery, then in i865 he re- 
moved to Cohoes, N. Y., and formed a co- 
partnership under the tide of William Wood 
& Co., for the purpose of producing knit cuff 
and drawer bottoms for the knitting mills in 
general. Finally in 1870 he removed to 
Bennington, where the firm of Tiffany & 
Cooper was formed for the purpose of 
building rib knitting machinery, and an ex- 
tensive business in this line was built up. 
In 1874 his original patents were extended 
and in 1880 he started a new industry 
with his brothers, which was independent 
irom the firm of Tiffany & Cooper, the arti- 
' les produced by the concern of Tiffany 
I'.ros. being knit underwear, the quality of 
\\ hich has built them up a very flourishing 
.111(1 prosperous business. During the early 
|iart of 1886 the firm of Tiffany & Cooper 
was dissolved. Mr. Tiffany purchasing the 
interest of his partner for whom he substi- 
tuted his son Frank M., and continued the bus- 
iness under the firm of E. Tiffany & Son 
until 1890, when Louis L. was admitted to 
the firm making it E. Tiffany & Sons, which 
are now conducting a very large and pros- 
perous business in the line of rib knitting 
machinery, and have not only thoroughly in- 
troduced these machines in the LInited States 
and Canada, but have also sent several to 
South America within the past few months. 

Mr. Tiffany possesses a special talent for 
the invention of knitting machines, no less 
than fifteen different patents having been 
issued to him for different devices in this 
article. During the last year he has made 
some of the most valuable and important im- 



provements, especially in circular machines, 
for which aiijilications for patents are now- 
pending. 

In 1 888 he jnirchased an interest in the 
Columbian Navigation and Commercial Co., 
of which he is vice-president, and which is 
conducting a very successful business in 
trading, carrying freight and passengers 
along the coast and up the rivers of "the 
United States of Colombia, S. .A. 

He is a public-spirited man, always giv- 
ing liberally to any cause which he con- 
siders worthy, and which will tend to help 
his fellowmen ; this has secured for him the 
respect of the community in which he lives. 




Some twenty years ago Mr. Tiiianj visited 
his old home in England, spending se\ eral 
months roaming about the country in which 
he spent his boyhood days, visiting his old 
friends and enjoying himself in general. 
Then during the summer of 1893 he made 
quite an extended trip, visiting his old 
home once more, then sailing via the West 
India Islands, visiting Carthagena of the 
United States of Colombia, where his busi- 
ness called him, and returning once more to 
his adopted and beloved home in .-Vmerica. 

He was united in marriage, .August, 1863, 
to Phoebe E., daughter of James and .Ann 
(Glover) Cooper, of Thompsonville, Conn., 
who died April 29, 1893, leaving three chil- 
dren : Frank M., Louis L., and William J. 

Though holding to the principles of the 
Republican partv, Mr. Tiffany has ne\er 



1 IN'KliR. 399 

sought political preferment. For the past 
ten years he has been a trustee of the Ben- 
nington graded school. 

TIN KHR , Charles Francis Orsamus, 

of St. |ohnsl)ury, son of Francis and R. 
Elizabeth (Hutchinson) Tinker, was born 
in .Ashby, Mass., June 23, 1849. 

The days of his schooling were spent in 
Leominister, Mass., and at the age of seven- 
teen he removed with his parents to South 
Dedham, now Norwood, in that state. He 
entered the drug store of his father where he 
remained until 1870 when he became a stu- 
dent in the medical department of Harvard 
University, completing the course in 1873. 
Intending to engage in the ])ractice of dent- 
istry, he was employed in the office of E. I). 
Gaylord, Boston, for two years, then after a 
short interval in Norwood, he took up his 
residence in Johnstown, N. Y., where he 
practiced his profession for four years, ^^■hile 
in that place he became a member of the 
Fourth District Dental Society of New York. 
Returning to his nati\e state Jie still pursued 



V 



CHARLES FRANCIS ORSAWUS TINKER. 

the practice of his profession in Boston and 
Norwood, but in 1885 came to \'ermont and 
setded in St. Johnsbury where he still re- 
mains. During his residence in this state he 
has been made a member of the \'erniont 
State Dental .Society. 

In political faith he is a Republican. He 
joined .Apollo Lodge, No. 2, Knights of 
Pythias, as a charter member. In this or- 
ganization he has been actively interested 



4O0 



and exceedingly prominent, ha\ing been 
elected to the positions of Prelate, Chancel- 
lor, Commander, and Sir Knight Captain. 
This last office he resigned in order to accept 
the position of colonel and aid-de-camp on 
the personal staff of Cen. James R. Caran- 
hani, who commands the uniformed ranks of 
the Knights of Pythias of the world. When 
the ( Irand Lodge of K. of P. was embodied, 
in 18S9, he served two successive terms as 
Grand Chancellor of the state, at the expir- 
ation of which he was chosen Supreme Rep- 
resentative to the Supreme Lodge for four 
years. 

Mr. Tinker is affiliated with the North 
Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury, 
and a member of the Mystic Club of that 
place. 

He was united in marriage, July 14, 1870, 
to Ann Eliza, daughter of Albert and Martha 
W. (Swain) Wellington, of Ashby, Mass. 
This union has been blessed with three chil- 
dren : Orra Certrude {deceased at the age 
of seven), A\'ellington Hutchinson, and 
Earnest Francis. 

TITUS, Edward, of Wilmington, son of 
Alonzo and Mary (Miller) Titus, was born 
in Wilmington, Oct. 25, 1833, and he has 
alwavs resided in his native town. 




yi^W^ 



He received his early education in the 
public schools and completed a regular 
course of study at the \\'ilmington high 
school. He taught a number of terms with 
marked success. 



Mr. Titus married Carrie Bills, adopted 
daughter of David and Harriet (Palmeter) 
Bills, May i, 1859. Of this union there was 
one child : Frank Edward, born Sept. 4, 
1864, who for a number of years has carried 
on a successful business in Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Soon after marriage Mr. Titus engaged in 
the manufacture of various articles of wooden 
ware, which occupation he successfully fol- 
lowed for over twenty-five years. Since 1869 
he has been justice of the peace and for the 
greater part of this time the principal trial 
justice. Many important and difficult cases 
have been heard before him, but his decis- 
ions have invariably been fair and correct, 
being rendered in strict accord with the law 
as understood and with the facts of the case. 
In addition he has held nearly every town 
office in the gift of his townsmen, discharg- 
ing the duties thereof with scrupulous fidel- 
ity. In December, 1891, he was elected 
member of the board of trustees of the Wil- 
mington Savings Bank and constitutes a 
member of the finance committee. Recog- 
nizing his competency and superior ability 
in the consideration of legal questions and 
his integrity of character as a man, he was 
elected assistant judge of the Windham 
county court in 1S92, the duties of which 
honorable position he discharges with credit 
to himself and to the perfect satisfaction of 
the public. 

Mr. Titus is a true and loyal ^'ermonter, 
a self-made man, an upright, active and en- 
terprising citizen. He has ever been iden- 
tified with public improvements and enter- 
prises and deservedly enjoys the respect and 
esteem of all who know him. 

TOLMAN, Henry Stanley, of Greens- 
boro, son of Enoch and Abigail (Cook) 
Tolman, was born at Greensboro, Sept. i, 
1825. His grandfather (Thomas Tolman), 
an officer in the Revolutionary army, was 
one of the early settlers of that town, and 
was appointed first town clerk and assistant 
secretary of state. 

Mr. Henry Tolman was a pupil of the 
public schools of Greensboro and Peacham 
Academy. At his father's death, which oc- 
curred just before the son arrived at major- 
ity, he took charge of the homestead, to the 
care of which in addition to several other 
farms he has devoted the efforts of his life, 
making a specialty of dairy products and 
raising horses and sheep. He has a half in- 
terest in the lumber firm of Tolman, Simp- 
son & Co., has been a director and stock- 
holder in the St. Johnsbury & Lake Cham- 
plain R. R., and president of the Caledonia 
National Bank at Danville. 

He has served on the town and county 
Republican committee, was for twenty years 
selectman, and held numerous other official 



position in the town which he represented 
for three terms in the state Legislature in 
1866, 1867 and 188S ; he was elected senator 
from Orleans county in 1874, and during the 
war discharged the duties of recruiting offi- 
cer, also drawing the money due to soldiers' 
wives. 

For forty years he has been a consistent 
member of the Congregational church, serv- 
ing on the executive committee. 

Mr. Tolman married Martha A., daughter 
of f. C. and Clara (Livermore) Jackson of 
Greensboro, who died May 11, 1862, leav- 
ing one son : .\lpha E. He was married a 
second time to Fannie P. Waterman Eaton, 
daughter of Arunah and Mehittible (Dodge) 
Waterman, who departed this life March 5, 
1890. By his second wife Mr. Tolman hacl 
one daughter : Martha A. 

TOWLE, Edwin RuTHVEN, of Franklin, 
son of Jonathan and Lorena (Daines) Towie, 
was born in Franklin, August i, 1833. His 
grandfather, Reuben, after honorable service 
in the war of the Revolution, came to this 
part of the state, accompanied by his son, 
from New Hampshire, when Franklin county 
was as yet comparatively a wilderness, and 
here engaged in the occupation of a farmer. 




EDWIN RUTHVEN TOWLE. 

The education of Edwin R. was obtained 
in the district schools, and he was a student 
at the Franklin Academy when that institu- 
tion was under the charge of Hon. Roswell 
Farnham, afterwards Governor of the state. 
Although anxious for greater educational 



TRL'AX. 401 

atlvantages, as an only son Mr. TowIe felt it 
his duty to remain at home and follow the 
occui)ation of his father. He did not, never- 
theless, neglect any opportunity for self- 
improvement, but devoted all his leisure 
time to profitable reading and also gave 
much attention to the art of composition. 
This probably caused him in early life to 
resolve to become a journalist. In 1S70 he 
found opportunity to exercise his talents as 
the agricultural editor of the St. Albans 
Messenger. This he still remains, laboring 
to the best of his ability to render his efforts 
successful in the occupation to which he has 
devoted so large a portion of his life. 

February 14, 1856, he was wedded to 
Caroline E., daughter of Jacob and Mary 
( Kirby) Truax. From this union have been 
born two sons : Herman E., and Edwin J. 

In 1 88 1 he received the honor of an ap- 
pointment to the State Board of .Agriculture 
at the hands of Governor Farnham, the 
duties of which position he discharged most 
satisfactorily for a period of five years. In 
addition to the usual work of a memlier of 
this body he prepared reports of the meet- 
ings for the use of the press and of the 
board. Many years ago he wrote a histori- 
cal sketch of the town of Franklin for Miss 
Hemenway's Gazetteer of \'ermont, and a 
similar paper for the History of Franklin 
County, published in 1891. In 1892 he was 
the editor of a genealogy of his family, a 
work which required much time and labor. 
While in no sense a politician, he has always 
been a thorough believer in the principles of 
the Republican party. He has held several 
positions of trust in the town and also in the 
Methodist church, of which he has been a 
faithful and acti\e member for nearly half a 
century. 

TRUAX, ALBERT B., of Montpelier, son 
of George and Elizabeth (Briggs) Truax, 
was born in Swanton, Feb. 28, 1835. 

His education was limited to the district 
school, followed by a course of study at 
Swanton Academy, but by industrious appli- 
cation he has taken ample advantage of his 
opportunities and has arrived at a high 
degree of scholarship. 

His father was a blacksmith and he was 
early initiated into this trade. Albert B., at 
seventeen, became a member of the M. E. 
Church under the ministrations of the Rev. 
Orrin Gregg, of the Troy Conference. For 
a year he labored as the leader of a young 
people's class, and soon after was called to 
preach. He was first licensed to exhort and 
then permitted to act as a local preacher, 
which privilege was granted until he entered 
the travelling connection. He served under 
Presiding Elder Morris as junior preacher 
in the Cambridge circuit. He joined the 



402 



Troy Conference in the spring of 185 8, and 
two years later was ordained deacon by 
Bishop Osmon C. Baker, when by a change 
of boundaries he became a member of the 
Vermont Conference, in which he was or- 
dained elder by Bishop Baker in 1S62. He 
looks back with grateful remembrance upon 
thirty-five years of effective service in the 
church, having never enjoyed a vacation of 
more than two weeks at any time, and losing 
only fi\e Sabbaths from illness. Serving his 
fifth year as presiding elder, he has not failed 
thus far to meet every appointment. The 
following charges have been entrusted to his 
care : those of Winooski, Johnson, Under- 
bill, Bakersfield, Alburgh, \Vest Berkshire, 




^ 0^ 



A., Ada E. (deceased), Josephine E., Car- 
lotta May, and .\lbert W." 

TRULL, Daniel N.,late of Lyndon, son 
of Joel and Cynthia X. Trull, was born in 
Burke, June 12, 1835. 

In 1 84 7 the family removed to Lyndon, 
where he was educated at the academy of 
that place till 1 85 2, when he commenced the 
study of medicine with Dr. Selim Newell. 
After the usual course of lectures in \\'ood- 
stock and Hanover, he graduated at the 
Dartmouth Medical College in 1855. He 
then commenced the practice of medicine in 
company with Doctor Xewell in St. Johns- 
bury, but owing to too close application to 
business his health failed, and he was com- 
pelled to discontinue his chosen profession 
after two years. 

On the 1 6th of December, 1S60, he was 
married to Cornelia C , daughter of Hon. 
S. B. Mattocks, and they spent the winter in 
Virginia for the benefit of the doctor's 
health. In the spring of 1861 they returned 
to Lyndon, where the doctor accepted the 
position of recruiting officer, in raising men 
for the army. 




ALBERT B. TRU 



W'aterbury, Northfield, Bradford, Brattleboro 
and Bellows Falls. Having completed a 
successful six years' term as presiding elder 
of Montpelier district, he was, in the spring of 
1893, appointed pastor at Enosburg Falls. 

While stationed at Bradford he served as 
town superintendent of schools. He has 
lectured in the state for the past twenty 
years, particularly on the subject of temper- 
ance, and has delivered many memorial 
addresses on Decoration Day. Mr. Truax 
was formerly a member of the Grand Lodge 
of Good Templars of the state, in which 
body he served two years as grand chaplain. 

He w^as married, Feb. 6, i S60, at Winooski, 
to Sarah D., daughter of Theron and Joseph- 
ine R. (Kingsbury) Winslow. Their union 
has been blessed with five children : Wilbur 




'1 



From 1864 to 1869 he was engaged in the 
carriage business. L^pon leaving this busi- 
ness he made several changes of residence, 
spending another winter in the South hoping 
to regain his health. 

Becoming interested in banking, he was a 
director of the Lyndon Bank for eight years. 



and served several terms as its president. In 
1890 he removed to St. Johnsbury, where he 
resided till a few months before his death, 
which occured Dec. 31, 1892. 

Doctor Trull was a well-read physician, 
and had health permitted, would have be- 
come eminent in his profession. As a busi- 
ness man he was sagacious, far-seeing, cau- 
tious, and prudent ; as a counselor, no man 
was more frequently consulted by neighbors, 
to whom he ever gave intelligent considera- 
tion, helpful suggestions, and useful advice. 
He was quick to respond to appeals for 
charity, and always ready to assist the de- 
serving poor. 

TRUSSELL, Jacob, of East Peacham, 
son of Joshua and Electa (Curtis) Trussell, 
was born in Sutton, Sept. 20, 1833. 

His education was obtained in the schools 
of Danville, supplemented by instruction at 
Phillips and Caledonia County academies. 
After some experience in the profession of 
teaching, he studied law with Mordecai Hale 
and Edward Har\ey of Mclndoes, and for a 
short time was under the care of Judge 
Jonathan Ross. In i860 he was admitted 
to the \'ermont bar and immediately began 
to practice at Peacham. 

\Vhen the civil war commenced Mr. Trus- 
sell patriotically enlisted in Co. D, ist Vt. 
Ca\alry and ser\ed mostly with the Army of 
the Potomac, participating in many battles, 
raids and skirmishes. He was severly wounded 
in Wilson's raids, June 23, 1864, and was soon 
after discharged as ist lieutenant. \\'hen the 
I St Regt. was completely routed at Broad 
Run, JNIosby, the guerrilla, pursued Trussell 
eight miles to the picket lines and nearly 
succeeded in capturing him, being very de- 
sirous to obtain possession of the particularly 
fine horse which Mr. Trussell bestrode. After 
the close of the war he made an expedition 
to Virginia City, Mont., driving fifteen hun- 
dred miles across the plains. He then turned 
his steps to Sioux City, Iowa, taking charge 
of a gang of men who were completing the 
railroad to Omaha ; he then engaged as con- 
tractor on the Union Pacific R. R. till it was 
completed to Ogden, Utah, when he returned 
to Peacham and bought a large farm on 
which he remained fourteen years. In 18S2 
he returned to the practice of law at Dan- 
ville and ten years later became engaged in 
trade at South Peacham. 

A Democrat imtil the breaking out of the 
war he is now a strong Republican. Re]jre- 
sented his tow-n in the Legislature of 1S84 
where he served on the military committee. 

He attends and supports the Congrega- 
tional church, and is a member of Passum])- 
sic Lodge, F. & .A. M., of St. Johnsbury, and 
Stevens Post, G. A. R. 



lUCKER. 403 

Mr. Trussell was united in wedlock Oct. 4, 
1871, to Flora M. Blanchard of Peacham, 
who died August 16, 1886, leaving two sons : 
Nathaniel H., and William. He married for 
his second wife, Nov. 9, 1888, Mrs. Marietta 
C. Walbridge, widow of Augustus J . Wall)ridge. 

TUCKER, MELVIN Ellis, of Hardwick, 
son of .Amasa and Diancy (Ellis) Tucker, 
was born in Calais, April 27, 1849. 

He availed himself of the educational ad- 
vantages offered by the schools of Calais and 
Hardwick, followed by one term at the Ver- 
mont Methodist Seminary at Montpelier. 
.As his mother died when he was a mere lad, 
he was entrusted to the care of Stephen M. 
Richardson of Hardwick, w-ith whom he re- 
mained till he was eighteen and after this 
period he was wholly dependent on his own 



'« 

»*'^i 



\ 



4r- 



resources. He first served an apprentice- 
ship at the trade of a carpenter and mill- 
wright, but in 1873 commenced as a dealer 
in lumber at Eden Mills. Two years later 
he removed to Hardwick, where he operated 
a saw mill in connection with a farm. Mr. 
I'ucker has been interested in seven mills 
devoted to the manufacture of lumber and 
has a financial interest in several others. 
He is now busily engaged in the manufact- 
ure of lumber from lands he owns in Eden 
and Lowell. His remarkable success is due 
to his untiring industry and energetic spirit, 
for he has had to rely on his own unaided 



efforts without the assistance of friends or 
capital. 

He was married, Nov. 12, i<S7o, to Lizzie 
L., daughter of Marvin and Sally Smith of 
Calais. They have had six children : Mary 
D. (Mrs. W. S. Bunker of Hardwick), Alice 
B., lona R., Vena E., Florence S. (died in 
infancy), and Earl Bartlett. 

Mr. Tucker has been too busy a man to 
take much active interest in political move- 
ments, but has been called to the offices of 
selectman and assistant judge of Caledonia 
county, the duties of which he carefully and 
conscientiously discharged. In 1890 he 
represented the town of Hardwick in the 
Legislature, where the course he pursued 
was satisfactory to his Republican constit- 
uents. 

judge Tucker has taken the obligations 
both of Odd Fellowship and Free Masonry, 
is treasurer of Caspian Lake Lodge, No. 
87, of the latter body, and a member of 
Lamoille Lodge, No. 21, L O. O. F. He is 
a Methodist in his religious preferences. 

TURNER, Edwin R., of North Con- 
cord, son of Henry and Charity (Washburn) 
Turner, was born in Concord, July 22, 1826. 
His father came to Concord in 1810 and 
settled on the farm where his son was born. 
Here he remained for sixty years, dying at 
the age of eighty-nine. 

Edwin received his education in the pub- 
lic schools of his native place and then set- 
tled on the homestead, where he remained 
till he was forty-two, caring for his aged 
parents till their death. He then removed to 
Waterford, where he resided for two years, 
but at the end of that time returned to 
North Concord, where he purchased a fine 
meadow farm, which he has operated with 
great success, carrying an excellent stock of 
cattle, and enjoying the reputation of being 
one of the best farm managers in his county. 
By his intelligent assiduity he has amassed a 
handsome competence, and is a fine speci- 
men of the sturdy New England yeoman. 

A Republican in his political creed, he 
has held many important town offices, and 
has served two terms, from 1884 to 1888, as 
assistant judge of Essex county court, and 
has been county road commissioner four 
years, from 1888 to 1892. 

Judge Turner is regarded as a prudent, 
careful and judicious adviser in all matters 
relating to finance and the affairs of the 
town. 

E. R. Turner was united in marriage at 
Concord, Dec. 3, 1852, to Jane, daughter of 
Farewell and Mary (Nichols) Hutchinson 
of Waterford. Three children have blessed 
their union : Frank H., Irvin, and Ina D. 



TUTTLE, Albert Henry, of Rutland, 

son of George A. and Susan J. (Cutter) 
Tutde, was born in Granville, N. Y., May 
25, 1838. 

He is a direct descendant of William 
Tuttle, who came from England to Boston 
in 1635, soon after becoming a prominent 
settler of New Haven, Conn. 

The education of Mr. Tuttle was received 
in the public and high schools of Rutland, 
and in 1854 he began the business of life as 
a clerk in the service of his father, who was 
the owner and proprietor of the Rutland 
Herald. Here he remained till he received 




^^ 15^ 





ALBERT HENRY TUTTLE. 

an appointment from President Abraham 
Lincoln in the New York naval office in 
1 86 1, where he filled various responsible 
positions until he resigned in 1864 on ac- 
count of his father's ill-health. 

( )n his return to Rutland he became one 
of the proprietors of the Herald, taking 
active control of the paper, in connection 
with which were operated a book store, and 
a book-publishing, binding and job printing 
establishment for the next ten years. In 
1S73 he abandoned these employments and 
took sole charge of the daily and weekly 
Herald. 

He was appointed postmaster by Presi- 
dent Grant in 1874, and reappointed 1878, 
and was continued in office by President 
Arthur, but was suspended in 1885, one 
year before his commission expired, by Presi- 
dent Cleveland to make way for a Demo- 



crat, having been the longest incumbent of 
any postmaster in Rutland. 

Mr. Tuttle possesses an unusual degree 
of executive ability, and always familiarizes 
himself thoroughly with every detail of any 
business which he undertakes. In 1887 he 
sold the Herald to Mr. P. \V. Clement, but 
for several years remained its business man- 
ager. Subsequently, in company with his 
son, he purchased the Bates House, a prom- 
inent hotel in the city, which he still retains. 
He was largely influential in the construc- 
tion of the Rutland Street Railway, and for 
several years was its treasurer. He has been 
president of the village of Rutland, was 
a member of the board of village trustees 
at the time of his appointment as post- 
master, compelling his resignation as trustee : 
has been a director of the Clement Bank, 
and a member and clerk of the village 
school board. 

He was married in October, 1858, to 
Emma M., daughter of David G. and Eme- 
line S. (Cluff) McClure, of Rutland. 'I'wo 
children ha\e blessed their union : Cora A. 
(iSIrs. Frank A. Barnaby of Brooklyn, de- 
ceased Feb. I, 1889), and Ceorge 1). (de- 
ceased). 

Mr. Tuttle belongs to all the Masonic 
orders, having taken every degree from 
entered-apprentice to the thirty-second inclu- 
sive ; is treasurer of the Rutland Royal 
Arcanum Council ; treasurer of Protection 
Lodge, Knights of Honor : treasurer of the 
Royal Society of Good Fellows, and a mem- 
ber of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the 
Rutland Congregational Church. He has 
been much interested in the Vermont Press 
Association, having served as president and 
■chairman of the executive committee. He 
has e\er been an enthusiastic worker in the 
Republican party, giving his services to the 
town or county committee ever since his re- 
turn from New York to the present time. 
For fifteen years he has been a member of 
the First district Republican committee in 
which he has filled the office of secretary, 
treasurer and chairman. 

TYLER, ERASTUS, of Vernon, son of 
Erastus and Harriet (Johnson) Tyler, was 
born in \\'indham, July 4, 1832- 

Afr. Tyler's educational advantages were 
limited to the public schools, and he has 
always followed the occupation of a farmer 
in his native town. 

He is a strong Republican in his political 
preference and has held several important 
official positions, having been elected chair- 
man of the board of selectmen for the years 
1880, 1 88 1, and 1882. In 1886 he was 
called upon to represent the town in the 
Legislature, and for the last lour years has 



TVLER. 405 

discharged the duties of a member of the 
board of listers. 

He was united in marriage at Brattleboro, 
Nov. lo, 1S58, to Martha .\., daughter of 
Edward A. and Julia (Hutterfield) Gra\es. 
Their union has been blessed with nine 
children : Anna R., George E., Charles H., 
Julia H., Edward A. (now proprietor of the 
Brooks Hou.se at Brattleboro), Bert I,., Will- 
iam J., F. Leslie, and John C. 

TYLER, James M., of Brattleboro, son 
of Ephraim and Mary (Bissell) Tyler, was 
born in U'ilmington, .April 27, 1835. 

He received his education in the district 
schools of Guilford, to which town his 
parents moved in 1840, and at Brattleboro 
Academy : studied law, and was admitted to 
the Windham county bar at the September 
term, i860. He then returned to \Vilming- 
ton and began the practice of his jirofession 
in partnership with Gen. S. P. Flagg, which 
connection continued until December, 1864, 
when he removed to Brattleboro, forming a 
partnership with the late Hon. C. K. Field, 
which terminated with the latter's death in 
1 880. 

In i863-'64 and at the special session of 
1865 Mr. Tyler represented the town of 
Wilmington in the General .Assembly and in 
iS67-'68 was state's attorney for Windham 
county. He represented the Secon<l District 
of Vermont in the sessions of the Fort)'- 
sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses, where 
he served on several important committees. 
His most notable speeches were delivered 
upon bills relative to the apportionment of 
representatives in Congress, internal reve- 
nue, the tariff, education in the South, and 
Chinese immigration. 

In 1887 he was chosen chairman of the 
board of commissioners to revise the school 
laws of the state, but resigned to accept 
from Governor Ormsbee the appointment of 
judge of the Supreme Court, which ])osition 
he still holds by successive elections by the 
I .egislature. 

judge Tyler has been promoted from time 
to time until he is now third assistant judge. 
His work upon the bench has fully demon- 
strated his excellent ([ualifications for this 
high and honorable position. 

He was married Dec. 11, 1861, to Ellen 
E., daughter of ^Villiam F. and Sophia 
(Plummer) Richardson, who died Jan. i, 
1871. He was again married, Sept. i, 1875, 
to fane P., daughter of Solomon P. and 
Sarah E. (.Apjileton) Miles, of which union 
there was one son : Ajipleton, who died in 
infancy. 

judge Tyler was for many years vice-i)resi- 
dent and trustee of the N'ermont Savings 
Bank of lirattleboro, but resigned when he 
received his appointment to the bench. He 



406 TYLER. 

has been a trustee of the Vermont Retreat 
for the Insane since 1875, and for several 
years a member of the board of trustees of 
the Brooks Library. 

In politics he has always been a Rei)ubli- 
can ; in religion he is a Congregationalist. 

TYLER, RO^ALL, of Brattleboro, son of 
Chief-Justice Royall and Mary (Palmer) 
Tvler, was born in Brattleboro, April 19, 
1812. 




He was fitted for college at Phillips 
.\cademy, Exeter, and entered Harvard as 
a sophomore in 1831. He graduated in 



VALENTINE. 

1834, and immediately began the study of 
law in the ofifice of Charles C. Loring, a very 
prominent lawyer on Court street, Boston. 
Mr. Tyler was admitted to the bar in 1S37, 
and in the following spring returned to Brat- 
tleboro. He was admitted to the bar of 
Windham county on a certificate from the 
Massachusetts courts in 1840. Within a 
year afterwards he entered the office of Asa 
Keyes, the firm being known as Keyes & 
Tyler. Shortly after this, Mr. Tyler went to 
Newfane to attend to the business of Charles 
K. Field during his absence in the West. 
tJn the latter's return a year later, Mr. Tyler 
resumed his practice in Brattleboro. In the 
meantime he had been elected state's attor- 
ney, a position which he ably filled for two 
years, though he still devoted himself to his 
private practice. In 1846, having then 
served as register for the two previous years, 
he was appointed judge of the probate 
court for the district of Marlboro. He was 
elected county clerk in 185 1, when he dis- 
continued his practice of the law. The 
office of county clerk since 1851, and that 
of judge of probate since 1846, Judge Tyler 
has conscientiously and ably filled to the 
present time. He has also represented his 
town in the Legislature. He has, while 
clerk, regularly attended every session of the 
county and supreme courts in Windham 
county since 1851. 

In 1 84 1 he married Laura B., daughter of 
Asa and Sarah B. Keyes, and they have had 
three children, one of whom died in infancy. 
The elder daughter (Mrs. Allan D. Brown) 
died 1S77, while the younger is Mrs. (i. W. 
Piatt, of (Ireat Barrington, Mass. 

Judge Tyler is a gentleman of the old 
school, and if there are any gentlemen of a 
school better than the old school, he is one 
of them. 

Judge Tyler is a prominent member of 
St. Michael's F^piscopal Church. 



VALENTINE, A. B., of Bennington, 
son of Joel and Judith (Wells) Valentine, 
was born in Bennington, April i, 1830. He 
is descended from Richard Valentine, who 
was one of the original proprietors of Hemp- 
stead, L. I., where he settled in 1647. 

The educational training of Mr. Valentine 
was received in the Bennington common 
schools. Union .Academy and at Sufifield, 
Conn. \\'hen he had arrived at man's estate 
he commenced business with his father 
under the firm name of Joel Valentine & 
Son, but later attracted by the gold fields of 
California, he emigrated, in 1S52, to the 
Pacific coast where for two years he was 
engaged in mining and trade. Then he re- 



turned to Bennington where he established 
a grist-mill in the building formerly occupied 
by his father. 

In 1856 he was united to Alma L., daugh- 
ter of Luther W. and Cynthia (Pratt) Park. 
Five children are issue of this marriage : 
May ( Mrs. A. B. Perkins of Bennington, 
deceased). Park (deceased), Jennie A., 
Wells v., and Lilian. 

July 31, 1862, Mr. Valentine received a 
commission as lieutenant and quartermas- 
ter of the loth Regt. Vt. Vols., and two 
years later he was promoted to the rank of 
captain and commissary of subsistence and 
was assigned to duty in the old ist Vermont 
Brigade. He also received a commission. 



4o8 



VALENTINE. 



as brevet-major given for meritorious ser- 
vices. 

On leaving tlie service of his country 
Major Valentine returned to his native town 
where he purchased his father's property 
and converted it into a knitting mill. 'I'his 
enterprise met with success and though the 
mill was destroyed by fire, it was soon re- 
built, and the business reorganized and in- 
corporated under the name of the \'alentine 
Knitting Co. 

He was actively engaged in the establish- 
ment of the graded schools in Bennington 
village and in the erection of the fine school 
building of which Bennington is so justly 
proud. He took a prominent part in the 
celebration of the centennial anniversary of 
the battle of Bennington, being chief mar- 
shal on that occasion, and was actively in- 
terested in the Bennington Battle Monu- 
ment .-\ssociation and in the construction of 
the monument itself. It was largely through 
his efforts that the Soldiers' Home was 
established in Bennington, and in G. A. R. 
circles he is well known, having been depart- 
ment commander of that organization for 
two years (in 1882 and 18S3). 

Though politics as such possessed no great 
temptation for Major Valentine, in 18S6 he 
was prevailed upon to represent his county 
as one its state senators. In the session of 
that year he was identified with many im- 
portant measures in connection with the 
Soldiers' Home and the amendment of the 
laws relating to the National Guard of Yer- 
mont, which latter legislation resulted in 
great benefit to that body. As he had been 
especially active in educational legislation, 
he was appointed by Go\ernor Ormsbee one 
of the committee of three to select text 
books to be used in the schools of the state 
and to contract for the purchase of the same. 
Subsequently he was selected by Governor 
Dillingham to fill the position of commis- 
sioner of agriculture and manufacturing in- 
terests of the state. Major Valentine was a 
member of the Republican national conven- 
tion in 1884, was one of the original incor- 
porators and directors of the Bennington 
County .Savings Bank and is now president 
of that institution. He was for many years 
president of the board of trustees of the 
Bennington graded schools, and was a char- 
ter member of the Vermont Commandery of 
the Loyal Legion. He is now (1894) presi- 
dent of the Vermont Officers Reunion So- 
ciety. His knit goods manufactory is the 
largest in the state, and its reputation is 
second to none in the country. 

In his religious belief he is an agnostic, 
though he attends and supports the Congre- 
gational church, contributing liberallv to 
religious and charitable enterprises. Major 
Valentine has tra\eled much, is liberal in his 



ideas, proud of his \illage, and above all 
things desirous of its prosperity, being ever 
ready to unite with his neighbors in adding 
his influence to any scheme which tends to 
the improvement of his native town. 

VEAZEY, WHEELOCK Graves, of Rut- 
land, son of Jonathan and .Annie (Stevens) 
^'eazey, was born in Brentwood, N. H., Dec. 
5, 1835. Brentwood was the home of his 
ancestors back through many generations. 

He received his early scholastic education 
at Phillips (Exeter) .Academy, matriculated 
at L)artmouth College and graduated there- 
from in the class of 1859. Having selected 
the practice of law for the future labor of his 
life he studied in law offices and in the 
law school at .Albany, N. Y., and graduated 
there in i860. He began practice in Spring- 
field in November, i860, and was admitted 
to the Vermont bar at the next December 
term of the Windsor county court. 

Mr. Veazey was actuated by clear convic- 
tion of duty and animated by patriotic en- 
thusiasm when he enlisted as a pri\ate in 
Co. A of the 3d Regt. Vt. Vols. When the 
company was organized in the month of 
May, 1 86 1, he was elected to the captaincy, 
and in the following August received promo- 
tion to the ranks of major and lieutenant- 
colonel, and continued to hold the latter 
rank until sent home to bring out a new 
regiment in the fall of 1S62. On the 27th 
of September, 1862, he was elected colonel 
of the 1 6th Regt. Vt. Vols. With this gal- 
lant body of men he continued to serve until 
.August 10, 1863, when, with his regiment at 
the expiration of its term, he was mustered 
out of the service of the L'nited States. 
General Hancock then assured him a briga- 
diership if he returned to the service, but his 
health would not permit. During his mili- 
tary experience Colonel Veazey took part in 
many of the battles of the .Army of the 
Potomac. For some time he was a member 
of the staff of Gen. A\'. F. (Baldy) Smith, and 
on several occasions was placed in command 
of other regiments besides his own. In the 
seven days' battles before Richmond, in 
1862, he was a participant, commanding 
either his own regiment or some other to 
which he was temporarily detailed. .At Get- 
tysburg the 1 6th A't. formed a part of the 
third division of the First .Army Corps under 
General Doubleday, and actively shared in 
the sanguinary encounters of the three days 
of the greatest battle of the war. In the 
battle of the second day, near its close, his 
regiment was in the fight between the corps 
of General Sickles and the rebel forces un- 
der General Longstreet. 

'I'hat evening Colonel Veazey was ordered 
to take his regiment and others and establish 
a picket line along that portion of the field 



where the battle of the second day had been 
fought. The position of the Sixteenth in 
that line was along that part where Long- 
street's corps made the famous charge of the 
third day. This is popularly known as Pick- 
ett's charge. Veazey's regiment was, there- 
fore, in the pathway of Pickett's division, 
and not having been relieved on the morn- 
ing of the third, on account of the difficulty 
of doing it, owing to the severity of the skir- 
mishing on the picket line during the morn- 
ing, was the first to be struck by the charg- 
ing column. Under Veazey's order the men 
resisted the rebel skirmishers, but when their 
main lines approached, Veazey, instead of 
falling back through the Union lines, moved 
his men to the left just far enough to uncover 
the rebel front, and thereby had them in 
position to attack their fiank as the column 
passed him. About that time General Han- 
cock, then commanding all that portion of 
the Union lines, dashed down to the danger 
point where Pickett's charge was aimed, and 
was there wounded and bleeding on the 
field as Veazey moved his regiment back 
and to right to take position on the left of 
the Thirteenth Vermont in the deadly as- 
sault made by these regiments, which crushed 
Pickett's right flank. In this movement 
^'eazey passed where Hancock was bleeding 
and refusing to be taken from the field. The 
latter watching and appreciating the move- 
ment, said to Veazey : "That's right. Colo- 
nel, go in and give 'em hell on the flank." 
Veazey's next move was to get his men into 
line, as they were scattered over the field 
gathering in prisoners, and again change 
front to the left and charge the flank of 
Perry's and 'Wilcox's approaching brigades, 
which he crushed, capturing many hundred 
prisoners and two stands of colors. This 
was the substantial close of the battle of 
Gettysburg. This young officer's feats in 
the battle gave him a national reputation, 
and secured him a medal of honor, under a 
resolution of Congress, having upon it an 
inscription as follows : "The Congress to 
Col. Wheelock G. Veazey, i6th Vt. Vols. 
For Distinguished Gallantry at the Battle of 
Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863." 

Colonel Veazey returned to Vermont in 
1863, and, as soon as health badly shattered 
in the service would permit, resumed the 
practice of his profession at Rutland, and 
continued in practice until October, 1879. 

From 1864 to 1S73, by virtue of eight con- 
secutive elections, he served as reporter of 
the Supreme Court, and in this capacity pre- 
pared nine volumes of the Vermont Reports. 

In 1872 and 1873, he represented the citi- 
zens of Rutland county in the state Senate, 
and officiated in that body as chairman of 
the commitee on military affairs and also in 
the committee on the judiciary. In 1874 he 



recei\ed the appointment of register in bank- 
ruptcy, and retained it until the repeal of 
the bankrupt law. In 1878, he and Hon. 
C. W. Willard were appointed commission- 
ers by Governor Proctor to revise the laws of 
the state. The revision was duly made, re- 
ported, adopted by the Legislature in 1880, 
and is now in force as the revised laws of 
\'ermont. In the same connection Judge 
^'eazey also made a searching investigation 
and report to the Legislature upon the sub- 
ject of court expenses, which resulted in a 
reduction of the same to a very large amount. 
The elevation of a lawyer so competent 
and judicious to the bench was simply a 
iiuestion of time. It came in 1879 by his 
appointment as judge of the Supreme Court 
to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation 
of Judge Dunton. Beginning with 1880, 
and including 1888, Judge Veazey was at 
each biennial session elected a judge of the 
Supreme Court. This position he resigned 
in 1889 to accept an appointment as a 
member of the interstate commerce commis- 
sion, the duties of which important place he 
continues to perform. 

In the educational, financial and cor- 
porate institutions of the state. Judge Veazey 
was naturally deeply interested. He was 
one of the trustees of Dartmouth college 
from 1S79 and until his resignation in 1891 ; 
he has also been trustee or director of other 
educational as well as industrial institutions 
in and out of the state. Before going upon 
the bench. Colonel Veazey was active in 
public and political affairs. He was a 
delegate-at-large to the national Republican 
convention at Cincinnati, which nominated 
Rutherford P). Hayes for President. He has 
always taken the greatest interest in his 
comrades of the war, and been connected 
with them in their organizations, state and 
national. Colonel Veazey was one of the 
early department commanders of the Grand 
Army of the Republic in Vermont, and has 
been president of the Reunion Society of 
\ermont Officers. In 1890 he was elected 
commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of 
the Republic, a position than which there is 
none more honorable in the Union. In all 
the high places held by him — in military and 
civil life — he has kept the respect, won the 
admiration and had the affection of his old 
comrades, and of his fellow-citizens. He 
received the honorable degree of LL. 13. from 
Dartmouth college in 1887. 

He was married on the 22d of June, 186 1, 
to Julia A., daughter of Hon. Albin and 
Julia A. Beard, at Nashua, N. H. They 
have had four children, two of whom are 



VAIL, HOMER W., of North Pomfret, 
son of Joshua and Harriet (\\'arren) \'ail. 



was born in I'omfret, August 5, 1843. -^ 
direct descendant of Lieut. Thomas Vail, 
who was an officer in the old French and 
Indian war, and fought through the bloody 
struggles at the capture of Fort Niagara and 
in the Montreal campaign. 

Homer W. received his education in the 
public schools of Pomfret and the select 
school. For five years after his majority he 
was employed in a publishing house in Bos- 
ton, but was summoned home by the failing 
health of his father, who shortly afterwards 
died and left to his care his mother and her 
younger children. 




Mr. Vail was one of the earliest stock 
raisers in the state to give great attention )o 
the breeding of Jersey cattle. He has made 
a specialty of dairy products, and at the Na- 
tional Food Exposition held in New Vork in 
1892, he obtained the gold medal sweep- 
stakes for the best butter on exhibition. 

.After holding most of the minor offices in 
his native town, he was elected by the Repub- 
licans to represent Pomfret in the Legisla- 
ture of 1874 and was chosen a senator from 
Windsor county in 1892. He is president 
of the Windsor County .Agricultural Society 
and was appointed a member of the board 
of agriculture by Go\ernor Ormsbee in 18S6 
and has served continuously in this capacity 
ever since. He has held for three years the 
position of New England director of the 
American Jersey Cattle Club. He has been 
associated with the Banner Crange of the I'. 



of H. and is also allied with the Masonic fra- 
ternity as a member of Woodstock Lodge, 
No. 31, of Ottaquechee Chapter and a 
Knight Templar of Vermont Commandery.' 
He married, March 9, 1880, Sarah .A., 
daughter of Jackson and Sarah (.Kngier) Vail 
of .Montpelier. Four sons have blessed their 
union : Ralph (deceased), Solon J., Henry 
G., and Homer J. 

VlALL, George Marcius, of East 

Dorset, son of L G. and Helen .A. (Roberts) 
Viall, was born in Dorset, May 5, 1849. 

Of mixed English and Scotch descent. 
His early educational advantages were the 
customary ones given in the public schools, 
and he afterward fitted for college at Elmwood 
Institute, Lanesborough, Mass. Entering 
the classical department of Union Univer- 
sity, Schenectady, N. V., he graduated at the 
head of his class, in 18-4, with the degree of 
.A. B., receiving the additional honor of .A. NL, 




GEORGE MARCIUS VIALL. 



in 1877. Resolving to devote his life to the 
medical profession, he commenced his stud- 
ies in the medical department of the same 
institution, receiving his diploma in 1876. 
For a short time he practiced in Dorset, but 
was compelled by the death of his father and 
grandfather to devote himself to family in- 
terests. .Accordingly, he took the manage- 
ment of a large farm on which he has since 
resided. In addition he has acted as admin- 
istrator and assignee in the settlement of 
many imjiortant estates, and has held the 



412 



offices of town clerk, treasurer, lister, and 
trustee of public money. 

Politically, Mr. Mall is an adherent of the 
Democratic party, was elected to the state 
Senate from Bennington county in 1882, and 
to the House of Representatives from Dor- 
set in 1 886, serving on several important 
committees. 

He was united in marriage in February, 
1S76, to Lucy E., daughter of David E. and 
Hannah E. (Curtis) Deming, of Lanesbor- 
ough, Mass. Of this marriage there are two 
children ; Lucy Deming, and" Helen P^liza. 

Mr. Viall is a member of the Episcopal 
church, but believes that all will be rewarded 
or punished according to the deeds done in 
this life without respect to creed or doctrine. 

VIALL, William B., of West Randolph, 
son of A. Boynton and Lucy (Newhall) ^'iall, 
was born in Dorset, Oct. 19, 1842. 




Receiving the customary education of the 
public schools in 1862 he entered the em- 
ployment of the Vermont Central R. R. 
Commencing at the foot of the ladder with 
the position of brakeman, he soon displayed 
qualities suitable to a higher class of work. 
He has served the corporation in various 
capacities and is now holding the respon- 
sible position of adjuster of claims. Though 
not a lawyer, he is constantly called upon to 
act for the company in cases involving both 
business and legal difficulties, and is univer- 
sally recognized as a man of quick percep- 
tions, acute judgment and wide general in- 



formation, while from his pleasing address he 
is deservedly popular. For some years he 
held government contracts for the greater 
part of the Star route lines of the AN'estern 
states, besides some in New England. 

In 1878 he took up his residence in \\'est 
Randolph where he served as postmaster 
during President Cleveland's first adminis- 
tration, and in 1892 was the nominee of the 
Democratic party for the office of 1 .ieutenant- 
Governor. 

He was united in wedlock, Jan. 29, 1S68, 
to Eunice L., daughter of .'\lden and Clarissa 
(Rice) Lamb of Granville, and thev have 
one daughter : Lucy Clarissa. 

VINCENT. Walter H., of Orwell, son 
of Horace and Cylinda (Wing) Vincent, was 
born in East Montpelier, March 31, 1S5S. 
His great-grandfather, a physician, came from 
New Bedford, Mass., when his grandfather 
Captain Isaac Vincent was thirteen years old, 
to Montpelier, at a time when there was only 
one frame house in what is now Montpelier 
village, having an ox team for conveyance. 
Coming to the end of the road it then being 
a dense forest, he cleared the timber off and 
located his future home and Uved there until 
his death. The farmhouse, over one hundred 
years old, is now occupied by Horace \"in- 
cent. The farm proving to be the best in 
that part of the state, where four genera- 
tions have thus far spent their lives. It 
being the old muster grounds for June 
trainings made so much of years ago. There 
has been a physician in each generation of 
the family of which Walter H. is the present. 

Mr. ^^'alter Vincent received a good early 
education, graduated from Goddard Semin- 
ary in the college preparatory course, June, 
iSSo, afterwards entered the medical depart- 
ment of the L^niversity of Vermont. 'Pook 
three regular courses of lectures in the L'ni- 
versity Medical College of \'ermont. In the 
fall of 18S3 he removed to New York City, 
where he became a student at the L-niversity 
of New York, graduating in 1884. He had 
also profited by the instruction of Dr. Charles 
M. Chandler, of Montpelier. For three 
months he wms employed in the nursery and 
hospital of New York as assistant house 
physician, and then settled in the town of 
Orwell, July 28, 1884, where he has estab- 
lished a profitable practice. 

He is an enthusiastic Republican and true 
to his party affiliations. Recently appointed 
for three years as health officer for Orwell, 
Whiting and Leicester, he is also one of the 
board of school directors of his town. 

In 1889 he was appointed delegate from 
the ^'ermont State Medical Society to that of 
the state of Rhode Island, and has been the Ad- 
dison county councilor of the former associa- 
tion. In 1892 he was honored with the office of 



WADI.EIGH. 

vice-president of the State Medical Society, 
and was one of two delegates chosen to be jires- 
ent at the examination of the medical students 
of the University of Vermont. He is a mem- 
ber of the Rutland County Medical Society ; 
in 1893 he was appointed as a delegate from 
the Vermont State Medical Society to the 
American Medical Association at Milwaukee. 
Dr. Vincent is a prominent member of the 
Masonic order, and is at present worshipful 
master of Independence Lodge, No. 10, of 



Orwell, and affiliated with Farmers' ChajJter 
of lirandon, and is al.so a Sir Knight of the 
.Mt. Cahary C'ommandery of Middlebury. 

He is a thoughtful and considerate man 
and those who have known him longest speak 
of him most highly as a gentleman and phy- 
sician, a kind friend and generous neighbor. 

He was married at Rutland, Oct. 8, 1890, 
to Kate, daughter of A. ^[. and Harriet 
Winchester. One son, Paul Winchester, was 
born August 23, 1892. 



WAD 
Concord, 
Wadleigh 
23, 1829. 



LEIGH, Benjamin F., late of 

son of Eliphalet and Ruth ( Pressey ) 
I, was born in Sutton, X. H., I )ec. 




He was principally educated in the public 
schools of Kirby, to which place his father 
had removed when the son was a small boy, 
and the latter found a good home with Hon. 
E. W. Church, of Kirby, upon whose farm 
he was employed until he attained the age 
of twenty-three years. Forty years ago he 
settled in Concord, where he gave his atten- 
tion to trade and was also the proprietor of 
a hotel. He then made West Concord his 
place of residence, where he remained until 
his death in September, 1S91. For a time 
he followed various occupations, but later 
engaged in insurance business, acting as 
agent for the Vermont Mutual Fire Insur- 



ance Co., at the same time cultivating a 
small farm near the village. He was well 
known and universally popular in the com- 
munity, deservedly possessing the esteem 
and confidence of all his acquaintances. 

He was married at West Concord, Feb. 6, 
1859, to Caroline F:ivira, daughter of Elmore 
and Nancy ('laggard) Chase. Six children 
were issue of the marriage, only three of 
whom survive : F. Eugene, Elmore E., and 
Marion L 

Mr. Wadleigh was affiliated with Moose 
River Lodge, No. 82, F. & A. M., and in 
his political creed was a Republican with 
independent tendencies. He had been jus- 
tice of the peace for several years ; and in 
1S72 was elected town clerk and treasurer, 
which position he ably filled until his death. 
In 1S82 he was elected to the Legislature as 
representative from Concord. 

WAITE, HORACE, of Hyde Park, son of 
Smith H. and Lucinda (Goodenough) Waite, 
was born in Fairfield, May 16, 1826. 

His education was obtained in the com- 
mon schools of Sheldon and at Bakersfield 
.Academy. Left an orphan at the age of 
five he found a home with .Asa Grant with 
whom he remained till he arrived kt man's 
estate and for whom he worked seven vears 
after attaining his majority. 

In 1854 he in\ested his carefully saved 
earnings in the purchase of a large farm in 
Eden, where he resided until 1877 when he 
removed to Morrisville to secure better edu- 
cational advantages for his family. He has 
continued to give much attention to his farm, 
making the dairy its principal feature. 

He was united in marriage, I'eb. 16, 1853, 
to I.ovisa L, daughter of lienjamin H. and 
Lydia (McAllister) Leach. Four children 
are the issue : Smith B., .Abbie L. (deceased), 
Eva B. (Mrs. Solon Abbott of Hiddeford, 
Me.), and Martin P. 

Mr. Waite has always been a member of 
the Republican party, has often been called 
to office and when the town of Eden adopted 
the town system of schools under the optional 
law, Mr. Waite was elected chairman of the 



414 



WAKEFIELD. 



\VALBRIDGE. 



board. In 1865 he was elected to represent 
Eden in the General Assembly and served 
on the grand list committee. He has also 
served as county commissioner and was 
assistant judge of Lamoille county from 1S82 
to 1886. 

Since the death of his wife Judge Waite 
has resided with his son, Smith B. Waite, at 
Hyde Park. The judge possesses in a rare 
degree the confidence of his townsmen and 
has been often called upon to act as audi- 
tor, referee and guardian in the settlement 
of numerous estates in his vicinity. 

Mr. Waite is an ardent votary of temper- 
ance, signing the pledge at eight years of 
age and keeping it inviolate. 

WAKHFIELD, WILLIAM WALLACE, of 
Westfield, son of .Alvah and Hannah (Kimp- 
ton) Wakefield, was born in Orleans county, 
June 27, 1S44. 



f^ 



rades he had the good luck to make his 
escape the \ery first night after he was taken 
prisoner. 

.After his return to Lowell he engaged in 
farming till 1875, when he became inter- 
ested in the lumber business at Eden, where 
he remained two years and then formed a 
partnership under the firm name of Hoyt & 
A\'akefield, to engage in the same line of 
trade at Westfield! His sterling qualities, 
both as a citizen and a business man, have 
called him to many official positions, among 
which may be enumerated those of select- 
man, auditor, lister, first constable, and 
deputy sheriff, which latter position he holds 
to the present time. In 1892 he was elected 
high bailiff of Orleans county, and the same 
year was sent as town representative from 
Westfield to Montpelier, where he served 
creditably on several general and special 
committees. 

Mr. Wakefield has for a long time been a 
member of Masonic LInion Lodge No. 16, 
of Troy, and twelve years since passed 
through the Royal Arch. He is connected 
with the Baptist church in Lowell, and has 
taken a prominent part in Hazen Post, G. 
,\. R. He has always been a strong Re- 
publican, and an active worker in the party. 

February 11, 1866, he married Ruth E., 
daughter of Daniel and .Amanda Newton of 
Lowell. Of their five children four survive : 
Emma, Florence, Helen, and Maude. 




JAVI WALLACE WA<EFIELD. 



He received his early education in the 
Lowell public schools, and during his third 
term at Johnson .Academy was one of several 
students who went to Morrisville and enlisted 
in Co. M, I ith Vt. Vols., in September, 1863. 
He remained with his command to the close 
of the war, receiving his discharge in Oc- 
tober, 1865, was engaged in all the battles 
from the Wilderness to Petersburg, includ- 
ing Spottsylvania, North .Anna River, Cold 
Harbor, and, with four hundred of his regi- 
ment, was captured in the engagement near 
the Welden R. R., but with forty of his com- 



WALBRIDGE, JOHN HiLL, of West 
Concord, son of Henry and .Almira (Hill) 
Walbridge, was born in Plainfield, June 30, 
1847. 

His mother dying in his earliest infancy, 
he was put under the charge of his maternal 
grand uncle, Chauncey Hill, an extensive 
farmer and highly respected citizen of Con- 
cord. Henry moved to St. Johns, Mich., 
soon after the death of his wife, established 
himself there as a successful lawyer, and 
during the civil war served as captain in the 
33d Mich. Vol. Infantry. 

.After having received his early education 
at the public schools of Concord and St. 
Johnsbury Academy, Mr. J. H. Walbridge 
graduated from Lombard LTniversity, Gales- 
burg, 111., in the class of 1S70, in which year 
he returned to West Concord, and at the 
earnest solicitation of his foster parents de- 
cided to remain with them during the remain- 
der of their lives. Soon after this time he 
met with severe reverses in business, from 
the loss by fire of the Essex woolen mills at 
West Concord, and subsequently through his 
liability as bondsman and by the failure of 
debtors. Since these losses he has been 
principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
and is locally well known as a successful 
breeder of sheep, dairy stock and colts. 



WALBRIDGK. 

He was wedded, April 19, 1872, at \\'est 
Concord, to Cynthia H., daughter of Ehiiore 
and Cynthia (Hill) Chase. They have three 
children : Henry Chase, Blanche May, and 
Winifred. 

For nearly a quarter of a century ^Ir. W'al- 
bridge has been affiliated with Moose Ri^■er 
Lodge, No. 82, V. & A. M., and for three 
tertns has presided in the I'last. 




\ ^: 



W.ALES. 4 I 5 

will to all, and genial manners, have gained 
him a wide circle of friends. 

WALES, TORREY ENGLESBY, of Bur- 
lington, son of Danforth and Lovisa .S. 
Wales, was born in Westford, June 20, 1820. 

He graduated from the I'. \'. ^L in the 
class of 1 84 1 : studied law with Hon. .Asahel 
Peck of Burlington, and was admitted to the 
bar of Chittenden county in 1846, and soon 
after commenced the jjractice of law in Bur- 
lington. In 1857, he formed a law jjartner- 
ship with Judge Russell S. Taft, under the 
name of U'ales & Taft, which continued 
twenty-one years. In 18S2, he and his son, 
George W. Wales, became law partners under 
the name of Wales & Wales ; this firm was 
dissolved by the death of George W. Wales, 
in i8go. 



IILL WALBRIDGE. 



He has conscientiously and honorably tlis- 
charged the duties of many official positions, 
among which may be numbered supervisor 
of schools for Essex county, to which post 
he was almost unanimotisly elected. He has 
been appointed county examiner, justice of 
the peace, grand juror, and superintendent 
of schools. In 1888 he was elected, by the 
largest Republican majority ever given in 
Concord, a member of the state Legislature, 
where he labored actively on the committee 
of education, and was recognized as an in- 
dependent and forcible debater. He drew 
and presented a bill reducing the limit of ex- 
emption from taxation in savings banks, and 
also reducing the percentage that those in- 
stitutions and trust companies could invest 
in Western securities, this last measure be- 
coming a law. He also drafted and pre- 
sented the bill which became the present 
law for the protection of horse owners. Mr. 
^^■albridge is one of the trustees of the John- 
son Normal School. He is an interested 
student of history and of current political 
and economic questions. His hearty good 




■'■•p-'^ .^"""^ 



TORREV ENGLESBY WALES. 



Judge Wales was state's attorney for Chit- 
tenden county, in i854-'55-'56 ; mayor of 
the city of Burlington in i866-'67 ; acting 
mayor in 1870, and for several years he was 
one of the aldermen of the city. He was a 
member of the House of Representatives from 
Burlington, in i868-'69, — 1876-'77. In 1S62 
he was elected judge of probate for the dis- 
trict of Chittenden and has e\er since held 
the office by continuous re-elections. 

He is one of the original nine incorjiora- 
tors of the Mary Fletcher Hos|)ital, chartered 
in 1876, and has been its treasurer from the 
beginning. He is a member of the board of 
trustees of the Uni\ersity of N'ermont. He 
is president of the Burlington Law Library 



4i6 



Association ; of tlie Burlington Manufactur- 
ing Co. ; of the Home for Aged Women, at 
Burlington ; of the Farmers' and Mechanics' 
Savings Institution and Trust Co., and vice- 
president of the Merchants' National Bank. 

He has been twice married. His first 
wife was Elizabeth C, daughter of Silas and 
Prudence N. Mason ; she died in 1868. For 
his second wife he married Mrs. Helen M. 
White, of Boston. 

He is a member of the Congregational 
church. 

WALKER, Daniel C, of North Cam- 
bridge, son of Lyman and Adeline (Chase) 
Walker, was born in Cambridge, Dec. 11, 
1841. William U'alker, his grandfather, 
came here from Pirookfield, Mass., in 1800, 
and located in the north part of the town, 
on the farm where Lyman was born, and 
resided there to the time of his death in 
1879, and where Daniel still resides. 

Receiving the customary education of the 
public schools, and afterwards pursuing his 
studies at Bakersfield Academy, Mr. Walker, 
at the age of twenty, enlisted as a private in 
Co. L^, I St Vt. Cavalry, sharing in all the 
numerous engagements in which his regi- 
ment took part. Constantly on duty, except 
six weeks when he was confined by sickness 
in the hospital, he was thrice wounded, but 
not severely, received a promotion to the 
grade of sergeant, and was honorably dis- 
charged from the service June 21, 1865. 

After his return from the war, being gifted 
with considerable mechanical ingenuity, Mr. 
Walker was employed for several years as a 
carpenter and joiner, but his principal occu- 
pation has been that of an agriculturist, his 
chief attention having been given to the 
dairy and the maple orchard. He has held 
many of the offices of the town, was lister, 
selectman, justice and school director and 
was appointed postmaster under President 
tirant, which office he held until his resig- 
nation in 1S92. The same year he received 
the honor of an election to the Legislature 
as a Republican, serving on the committee 
on agriculture. 

He joined and has been the commander 
of Post 10, G. A. R., of Cambridge. Mr. 
Walker is a modest man of solid worth, who 
possesses the respect and confidence of his 
neighbors. His sterling qualities of char- 
acter have often called him to act as admin- 
istrator and agent in the settlement of 
estates. 

He was united in marriage, April 16, 1S67, 
to Kate M., daughter of Josiah and ;\Iary 
(Stone) Converse, of Bakersfield. 

WALKER, Franklin William, of Ben- 
son, son of Rufus and Susannah (Raymond) 
Walker, was born in Sudburv, June 23, 1812. 



In 1 81 7 his parents removed to Benson, 
where most of his life has been spent. His 
early educational advantages were limited to 
the district school, but being possessed with 
a love for study and a strong resolution to 
have all there was for him, he devoted him- 
self to the improvement of his mind by study 
and reading in his leisure moments while 
employed as a clerk in his brother's store, in 
Benson, between the years of fourteen and 
twenty-one. \\'hen he arrived at his majority 
his enterprising spirit led him to try the 
perils and adventures of an unbroken wilder- 
ness in the then territory of Michigan. He 
bought land of the government in Lenawee 
county in the present town of Morenci, built 
a log hut and cleared away the surrounding 
forest, and took long journeys through the 
thickly-wooded country in company with 
other young men of like adventurous spirit, 
undaunted by cold or fatigue, the experiences 



¥^ 




.^ 



.lAM WALKER. 



of which tended to make him a man of nerv'e 
and courage. Mr. Walker returned East in 
1836, and feeling the need of a better educa- 
tion before entering upon business for life 
determined to spend some time at .school in 
Castleton. After this he formed a partner- 
ship with his brother, a merchant in Benson, 
which was dissolved in 1846, after which he 
continued as sole proprietor till 1871. 'XS 
He is one of the oldest residents of the 
town, esteemed and respected by all. He 
enjoyed to such an extent the confidence of 
the communitv that he was sent to the 



House of Representati\es in 1857 and i<S5<S. 
He was a staunch Democrat until the ques- 
tion of slavery was agitated when he joined 
the Republican ranks, and has since remained 
a loyal supporter of their principles. In 
1843 he was appointed trtistee of the U. S. 
deposit money and since that time has been 
honored with many official positions of re- 
sponsibility, and is the present town treasurer 
(1S94) and has been justice of the peace 
over forty years. 

He is one of the seven members who es- 
tablished the M. E. Church in Benson in 
1838, and is still a loyal member of the 
same. 

.\t St. Louis, Mo., June 3, 1861, Mr. 
Walker was married to Elvira A., daughter of 
-Albert G. and Margaret (Honsinger) Sherman 
of Benson, then a teacher in Lindenwood Fe- 
male College, St. Charles, Mo. 'I'hree chil- 
dren ha\e been born to them : William 
Franklin (now cashier of the First National 
Bank of Fair Haven), Susie Sherman (wife 
of Dr. C. A. Belden of Torrington, Conn.), 
and Rufus Raymon (merchant in Benson). 

WALKER, William Harris, of Lud- 
low, son of Ephraim and Lydia (Harris) 
^\'alker, was born in U'indham, Feb. 2, 1832. 

His parents removed to Londonderry in 
1838, w'here he received his primary educa- 
tion in the district schools of the town. He 
fitted for college at Leland and Cxray Semi- 
nary and Black River Academy, and in 
1858 graduated from Middlebury College. 
While pursuing his studies he was elected as- 
sistant secretary of the Vermont Senate in the 
year 1857. In order to secure the necessary 
funds to complete his collegiate course he was 
allowed by the faculty of the college to teach 
in a grammar school in Orleans, Mass., and 
served one term as principal of the West Ri\er 
Seminary at South Londonderry. Soon after 
his graduation he was appointed principal 
of tlie academy at Little Falls, N. Y., where 
he remained for two years, during which 
time he entered his name as a student at law 
in the office of the Hon. Arphaxed Loomis. 
In i860, resigning his position as instructor 
and removing to Ludlow, he finished his 
studies with Hon. F. C. Robbins, was admit- 
ted to the bar of Windsor county at the 
December term, 1861, and immediately 
opened an otifice at Ludlow, where he re- 
mained in practice until he was chosen an 
assistant judge of the Supreme Court by the 
Legislature in 1884. 

Judge Walker represented the town of 
Ludlow in the Legislatures of 1865 and 1866, 
and 1884, serving on several important com- 
mittees, and as chairman of the judiciary com- 
mittee in 1884. In 1867 and 1868 he was 
elected a senator from Windsor county, 
serving on the judiciarv and other comniit- 



WALKER. 417 

tees. He ably filled the position of state's 
attorney for Windsor county for two suc- 
cessive terms. In 1878 he was appointed 
by Governor Fairbanks a commissioner to 
make examination of the insane asylum, 
being associated with Dr. Goldsmith of Rut- 
land, and Dr. Fassett of St. .Albans, and was 
a supervisor of the insane for two years end- 
ing December, 1880. 



I— 




JAM HARRIS 



The integrity, ability, and judicial fairness 
of Judge Walker have often caused his ap- 
pointment as referee in cases pending in the 
courts of several counties in the state. In 
187S he was elected judge of probate, dis- 
charging the duties of that office to the sat- 
isfaction of the people. He was a judge of 
the Supreme Court from 1884 until Septem- 
ber, 1 88 7, when he was obliged to resign on 
account of impaired health. He has always 
been a strong Republican in his political 
views, and cast his first presidential ballot 
for General Fremont. 

He is one of the trustees of Middlebury 
College, and president of Black River .Acad- 
emy. In this last he has taken an active 
interest, and was largely influential in the 
construction of a new building in 1888, at a 
cost of nearly Si 6,000. 

In 1862 Judge Walker entered the patriot 
army and was elected captain in the i6th 
Regt. of the Vt. Vols., but was obliged to 
resign this honorable position on account of 
a severe attack of typhoid fever. For a 
quarter of a century he has belonged to the 
Masonic order. 



4i8 



In 1859 Judge Walker was united to Miss 
Ann Kliza, daughter of Dr. Ardain G. and 
Ruth (Pettigrew) Taylor, of Ludlow. One 
son has been born to them : Frank .Ardain. 

WALLACE, Ja.MES B., of Concord, son 
of Hiram and Lavinia (Pike) Wallace, was 
born in Concord, Dec. 12, 1838. 

He remained on the old homestead with 
his father, who was a re.spected farmer, until 
he arrived at his majority, and received such 
education as the schools of Concord and the 
Essex county grammar school could afford. 




JAMES B WALLACE. 

At the age of twenty-four he was united in 
marriage to Mary, daughter of James and 
Jane D. (Hudson) Kenyon, by whom he had 
the following children ; Jennie (Mrs. Free- 
man Hutchinson), Hiram J., and Willie. 

After his marriage he was extensively en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, purchasing a 
large estate in 1864. Soon afterwards exten- 
sive copper mining operations were com- 
menced on a farm in the neighborhood and 
Mr. Wallace was engaged as manager of the 
property and the boarding house thereon. 
In this business he remained for fifteen years, 
and was then engaged by R. B. Graves to 
superintend his large farm in the town. 
When this property was sold to Mr. L. I). 
Hazen, and in connection an extensive lum- 
ber business was started, Mr. Wallace was 
still retained as superintendent of the estab- 
lishment. 



In iSSo Mr. Wallace was elected trial jus- 
tice of peace, a position which he filled cred- 
itably until his election to the judgeship. In 
1888 he was elected an assistant judge of 
Essex county court and two years later re- 
ceived a similar compliment. 

His genial face and rotund figure were 
familiar in the Essex county Republican con- 
ventions of which he was a constant and 
prominent member for twenty years. 

Judge Wallace has held the usual town 
offices, was for ten years chairman of the 
board of trustees of the Essex county gram- 
mar school and has always manifested a 
marked interest in all educational affairs. 
He is now county auditor and has often been 
called upon to act as guardian and to assist 
in the settlement of various estates. He is 
well and fa\orably known in the county, 
where he enjoys the reputation of a cordial 
and hospitable host, extending a hearty wel- 
come to all who visit him. 

For about twenty years he has been an 
acti\e member of Moose River Lodge, F. & 
A. M. 

WARD, Hiram Owen, of Moretown, son 
of Earl W. and Elizabeth (Munson) Ward, 
was born in South Duxbury, Jan. 10, 1842. 




HIRAM OWEN WARD. 

His education was obtained first in the 
common schools of Duxbury and Barre 
Academy, while later he took a course at 
Eastman's Business College, at Poughkeep- 
sie, N. Y. 



WAKDUKl.l,. 

His early labor on his father's farm proved 
a severe but wholesome training, and fitted 
him well for the duties of his after life. In 
1878 he sold the farm which he had inher- 
ited, and moved nearer \\'aterbury, where he 
purchased a sawmill and box factory. Sell- 
ing his boxes at cash prices, he took his pay 
in musical instruments, deriving a large 
profit in these transactions. In 18S9 he 
came to Moretown, where his business has 
constantly expanded till he is now a large 
proprietor of plants for the manufacture of 
clapboards, boxes and shingles, as well as a 
grist mill and a grocery store. 

Mr. Ward married, June, 1866, May A., 
daughter of Harrison and Caroline (Canar- 
dy) Smith. Three children have been issue 
of the union : Clinton H., Burton S., and 
Clair \V. 

Mr. Ward has held many offices both in 
Duxbury and Moretown, and has represented 
each place in the state Legislature, in which 
he served on the committee on claims. In 
business matters he is esteemed both shrewd 
and prudent, is a genial companion and a 
public-spirited and intelligent citizen. 

WARDWELL, GEORGE JEFFORDS, 
of Rutland, son of Joseph H. and I.ydia 
(Howard) Ward well, was born in Runiford, 
Me., Sept. 24, 1827. Mr. Wardwell traces 
his descent from a family that settled in 
Salem in the old colonial days. One of the 
family was executed during the witchcraft 
delusion in that place, and another was an 
officer in the Continental Army during the 
Revolutionary war. 

Mr. Wardwell's somewhat limited educa- 
tion was received from the public and private 
schools of Rumford, Me., and a short course 
of study at Bridgeton academy. .\t the age 
of thirteen he was apprenticed to his cousin, 
who vvas a general mechanic, and he com- 
menced his career by the manufacture of 
sleighs in Rumford and vicinity. Later he 
moved to Lowell, Mass., where he was 
engaged in constructing looms. He then, in 
partnership with his brother, took a contract 
to build forty of these articles, but the broth- 
ers had the misfortue to lose their shop and 
its contents by fire. Still they fulfilled their 
agreement, and after fitting up a small shop 
in Hanover, Me., they were employed in 
the manufacture of sleighs, and sashes and 
doors for the California market. Here they 
met with more than one disaster, and in 
1852 the partnership was dis.solved. After 
carrying on the business for some time 
alone, Mr. Wardwell moved to Andover, Me., 
where he occupied himself in the various 
vocations of inn-keeper, postmaster, and 
manufacturer of furniture. Always posses- 
sing great mechanical skill, in 1854 he 



WAKUUKl.L. 



419 



inventeci and received a patent for the first 
pegging machine for making boots and 
shoes, but unfortunately he did not reap the 
results of his skill, owing to the dishonesty 
of his [jartner. 

After a short sojourn in Hatley, Can., he 
removed to Moe's Ri\er, again forming a 
partnership for the manufacture of furniture 
and sleighs, then changed the scene of his 
labors to Coaticook, P. ()., where he worked 
at his trade and gave much attention to his 
various inventions, the ])rincipal one of which 
was a stone channelling machine, for which 
he secured a patent in 1S59. The first one 
was placed in Sutherland Falls quarry in 
1 86 1, where it worked successfully, but owing 
to the depressed financial condition at that 
time, he was compelled to give up the 
development of the machine and continued 
working at his trade in Canada until 1863, 
when he obtained a new patent on an im- 
proved machine which accomplished the 
work of fifteen laborers, cut a channel from 
three to four feet deep, and was employed in 
the Sutherland Falls quarry for seventeen 
years. As he was still unable to reap any 
practical result from his discovery, he con- 
tinued for some time with the company con- 
structing stone-boats. Soon after he received 
a contract on somewhat unreasonable terms 
to build several of these machines for various 
parties, and subsequently was enabled to dis- 
pose of his patent to the Steam Stone Cutter 
Co., receiving §1,500 in cash and §33,520 in 
the stock of the corporation, of which he was 
made superintendent. One of the machines 
was exhibited at the Paris exposition in 
1867 and was sold in F'rance. The .same 
year he parted with his foreign patents to 
the Steam Stone Cutter Co., for over $17,000 
in stock. At this time several parties con- 
structed machines in direct violation of his 
patent, the validity of which after a tedious 
litigation was established, and injunctions 
were issued against the sale and use of the 
illicit machines. The invention has proved 
itself of immense practical value, and from 
calculations made up to 1886, it has been 
])ro\ed that over §7,000,000 ha\e been saved 
to the stone producers in the working of their 
quarries. As a testimonial of its worth Mr. 
Wardwell received a gold medal from the 
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Associa- 
tion in 1865 ; and its value was recognized 
by the presentation of a silver medal from 
the Paris exposition, in 1867 ; he afterwards 
received a similar recognition from the Cen- 
tennial exhibition at Philadeli)hia. In 1874 
he invented and patented two different forms 
of valveless steam engines, which also received 
medals at Philadelphia. .At present he is 
the largest stockholder in the Steam Stone 
Cutter Co., at Rutland, having taken out 




^A?. /, (U^e^^-<:ZA^x.^l^ 



WAI I.KMAN. 



421 



twenty-five patents for the channelling and 
other machines in this country and Europe. 
October 4, 1850, iMr. W'ardwell was united 
in marriage to Margaret, daughter of Thomas 
and Margaret (Dickey) Moore of Hatley, 
Canada, who departed this life Nov. 10, 
1883. She left issue four children, two of 
whom alone survive : Lizzie Olina (Mrs. 
Thomas Mound of Rutland), and George 
Alvin. .August 22, 1888, Mr. Wardwell es- 
poused his second wife, Kittie C. E., daugh- 
ter of Hiram W. and Mary M. (Huntoon) 
Lincoln of Danby. To them one child has 
been born : Charles Howard. 

For nearly thirty years Mr. Wardwell has 
been a hard and laborious student, a fact to 
which his large liljrary amply testifies, mak- 
ing a specialty of chemistry and geology. 
He possesses a \-ery large collection of spec- 
imens relating to the latter science, and a 
well fitted, practical laboratory. He has 
made several visits to Europe for the pur- 
pose of studying the geological formation of 
the country, especially with reference to 
quarries. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, being a past eminent commander 
of Knights Templar, and lielonging to the 
Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine. For more than twenty years 
he has been affiliated with the .\merican and 
British Association for the Advancement of 
Science. He is an adherent of the Demo- 
cratic party ; has filled various official posi- 
tions of trust in Rutland : is the vice-presi- 
dent of the board of trade in that city, and 
one of the committee of fifteen who framed 
its charter. He is also a director of the 
Merchants' National Bank of Rutland, and at 
the present time president of the board of 
school commissioners of the city of Rutland. 

Mr. Wardwell is liberal in his religiou> 
views, and has been a generous supporter 11 
the Universalist church. He is eminently .1 
self-made man and possesses great inventi\e 
genius, ha\ing fully overcome the defects of 
his early education by a long course of ardu- 
ous study and able and successful efforts for 
self-improvement. 

WARREN, Charles Carleton, of 

Waterbury, son of Charles \\'. and Julia 
(Perry) Warren, was born in Hartland, Feb. 
II, 1843. 

He was educated in the schools of the 
place of his nativity and at Kimball Union 
Academy, Meriden, N. H. In 1862, at the 
age of nineteen, he joined the band attached 
to the I St Brigade \'t. Vols., with which he 
remained till they were discharged from ser- 
vice. After his return from the war he was 
for some time employed in a tannery be- 
longing to his father, but in 1868 he leased 
<L large establishment in Waterbury which he 
subsequently purchased and where he has 



smce conducted an e.xtensive and constantly 
increasing business, making a specialty of 
manufacturing harness leather; In 1887 Mr. 
Warren e.xtended his operations by the pur- 
chase of a large farm, which he successfully 
devoted in great measure to dairy products. 
This he afterwards sold to the state as a site 
for the new asylum for the insane at Water- 
bury village. He holds strong Republican 
\iews, and in 1890 was a]ipointed a member 
of the board of fish commissions that estab- 
lished the first fish hatchery in the state. 
Though hampered at first by insufificient 
appropriations and other obstacles, the board, 
owing largely to the ])ersevering efforts of 
Mr. Warren, has finally met with great 
success. 




He was united in marriage Dec. 15, 1873, 
to Ella F., daughter of Jerry and Florella 
(Broadwick) McElmore of Middlesex. Two 
children have been born to them : Kate 
Cratre, and Charles Carleton, Jr. 

Mr. Uarren is a member of Edwin 
Dillingham Post, G. .A. R., of Waterbury, 
and has also taken the obligations of the 
Masonic order, uniting with Vermont Lodge, 
No. 18, of Windsor. 

WATERMAN, EleAZBR L., of Hrattle- 
boro, son of Chandler and Polly J. \Valer- 
man, was born in Jamaica, July 25, 1839. 

He was educated in the common schools, 
and at I, eland Seminary, and, adopting the 
legal profession, studied law with Butler & 
Wheeler, and was admitted to the bar of 



WATERMAN. 



^Vindham county at the September term, 
1863. He commenced practice in Wil- 
mington, from which town he was sent as 
representative to the General Assembly in 
1867 and 1868. Four years later he was 
made state's attorney for Windham county, 
and in 1876 was elected a state senator from 
Windham county, and was chairman of the 
Senate judiciary committee. In 1870 he 
moved to Jamaica, and afterwards to Brattle- 
boro, still continuing his professional labors, 
and is now the senior partner of the law firm 
of Waterman, Martin & Hitt. In 1S91 he 
was appointed special U. S. attorney to ap- 
pear for the government in claims originat- 
ing from the late war of the rebellion. 

Mr. W'aterman was united in marriage, 
May 15, 1S64, to Jennie E., daughter of 
Aaron and Julia D. IJemis of Windham. By 
her he had issue three sons and three 
daughters : Mabel J. (now the wife of Dr. D. 
P. Webster of Brattleboro ) , Halbert L. (now 
a practicing physician at Fitzwilliam, N. H.), 
Hugh A. (now of New York), f>nest I., 
F.thel I,., and Alice M. 

WATERMAN, HEMAN A., of Johnson, 
son of Thomas and Kleanor (Dodge) ^Vater- 
man, was born in Johnson, Nov. 3, 1830. 
His family is of mixed Welsh and Scotch 
descent. Araunah Waterman (grandfather) 
came to Johnson in the first year of the cen- 
tury, purchasing 1,200 acres of land where 
the village now stands, paying 4,000 Spanish 
silver dollars for the property. About two hun- 
dred acres of that purchase is now owned by 
Heman A. He served in the Revolutionary 
war, was an intimate associate of the Chitten- 
dens, and for many years represented John- 
son in the General Assembly. Thomas", who 
was a captain in the militia that served at the 
battle of Plattsburg, erected the first hotel in 
the village and was its genial host for forty 
years. Politically a Henry Clay whig, he was 
also a member of the Legislature several 
years and a judge in Franklin county court 
before Lamoille county was organized. 

His youngest son, Heman A., received the 
customary education of the common schools 
of Johnson and afterwards attended the La- 
moille county grammar school. For forty 
years he has been a prominent farmer and 
real estate operator. He has also been a 
practical surveyor, has acted as trustee and 
referee, and has been largely identified with 
the business interests of the place. 

A stalwart Republican, he has repeatedly 
held every office in the gift of his townsmen. 
He was a member of the Legislature from 
Johnson in 187S where he served as chair- 
man of the general committee. For several 
years he performed the duties of L'nited 
States assistant assessor and deputy collec- 
tor. From his various official positions he 



has acquired and maintained a large acquaint- 
ance with the public men of the state. t 
For nearly forty years he has been a Free 
Mason, was a charter member and for several 




years was the first Worshipful Master of 
Waterman Lodge, named in honor of his 
father. He also affiliates with 'lucker Chap- 
ter, R. A. M. 

Mr. Waterman was married Oct. 9, 1S55, 
to Augusta L., daughter of Stephen and Tir- 
zah (Lampson) Hoxsie, who were early set- 
tlers of Milton. Their three children are : 
Elizabeth (Mrs. W. D. Welch of Johnson), 
Frank H., and Thomas .\. 

WATSON, JOHN HENRY, of Bradford,, 
son of Asahel and .\delpha (Jackson) Wat- 
son, was born in Jamaica, May 12, 1851. 

His parents were of limited means and 
the education which he received in the com- 
mon schools and academy was freely inter- 
spersed with active labor on the farm. He 
commenced his life career by the study of 
law in the office of Grin Gambell, Esq., of 
Bradford, where he continued till he was ad- 
mitted to the Orange county bar in Decem- 
ber, 1S77. He immediately formed a part- 
nership with his instructor, and after six 
months' experience, at the dissolution of the 
firm, Mr. Watson assumed the full control of 
their varied and important business, which 
he has ably conducted since that time. He 
has the control of one of the largest and 
most lucrative practices in ( )range county. 



423 



He was elected state's attorney of Orange 
tounty in iSS6, and in 1892 was elected 
from the county to the state Senate, where 
he gave his services to the judiciary and 
general committees, and was chairman of 
that on military affairs. He is one of the 
trustees of the Bradford Savings Bank and 
Trust Co., and also of Bradford Academy. 
In 1 882 he was elected captain of the Brad- 
ford tniards, and was afterwards promoted 
to the post of major of the ist Regt., V. N. 
G. During the riot at the Ely Copper Mine 
in 1883, he rendered efficient service in 
quelling the mob by capturing the powder 
magazine which was in their possession, re- 
ceiving much credit for the gallant manner 
in which he performed this difficult and 
arduous dutv. 




homestead, a beautiful place, where he has 
resided for more than half a century. Here 
in the neighborhood of the pleasant and 
historic \illage of Guildhall he has followed 
the ])eaceful hut pros])er()us jiursuit of agri- 
culture, respected and honored by all who 
have the pleasure of his acquaintance. 

He was married, Jan. 17, 1850, to I.ucre- 
tia Gates, daughter of 'I'homas F. and Sally 
(Duncan) Webb. Five children have been 
born to them: Charles F., Isabel I.. (.Mrs. 
Richard Beattie), George \V., Sarah F., and 
Mary B. 

For nearly half a century Mr. Webb has 
filled the office of town clerk ; is Democratic 
in his political principles, and represented 
Maidstone in the Legislature in the years 
i86o-'6i-'7o, and at the special session of 
1 86 1. He carries his years well and is a 
most interesting and agreeable gentleman of 
the old school. His home circle is cheered 
by the presence of his three younger children, 
who are the prop and stay of the declining 
years of their parents. 

WEBSTER, Dan PEASLEE, of Brattle- 
boro, son of Rev. Alonzo and Laura (Peaslee) 
Webster, was born in Northfield, Dec. 7, 1846. 



Mr. Watson married, March 25, 1S79, 
Clara L., daughter of Darwin A. and Laurette 
L. (Fitts) Hammond, of West W'ardsboro ; 
of this union are two children : John Henry, 
and Hugh. 

WEBB, JOHN W., of Maidstone, son 
of Azariah and Elizabeth (Weeks) Webb, 
was born in Lunenburg, Nov. 8, 1814. 

He received his education in the schools 
of Lunenburg, Concord Normal, Lyndon and 
Lancaster Academies. F^mployed upon his 
father's farm until 1840, he made a tour of 
the West as far as Iowa, participating in the 
stirring scenes of the log cabin campaign. 
When he returned he settled on the old 




^ "^m*^^- 



h'EASLEE V. EB 



His preliminary education was receved in 
the common schools and the Newbury .Acad- 
emy. After graduating from the medical 
department of the L'niversity of Vt., in 1S67, 
he successfully practiced his profession in 
I'utnev, for sixteen years, when he mo\ ed 
to Brattleboro where he has continued till the 



424 



present time, having by his energy and skill 
secured a large and remunerative business. 
In 1872, and again in 1874, Dr. Webster 
was elected to the Legislature to represent 
the town of Putney, and in 1878 he was 
chosen a state senator from\\'indham county. 
During the fall of that year he was made 
railroad commissioner, discharging the duties 
of this office till 1880. He was surgeon- 
general on the staff of (iovernor Asahel Peck 
and again holds that position on the staff of 
Governor Levi K. Fuller, and for a long time 
served as surgeon of the Fuller Light Battery. 
During the civil war he accompanied his 
father, who was chaplain of the 1 6th Vt. Regt., 
and was present at the battle of Gettysburg. 

Dr. Webster has been an active and en- 
thusiastic Free Mason, having served as 
deputy grand master of the Clrand Lodge of 
Vt. from 1876 to i88r, and he is at present 
the eminent commander of Beauseant Com- 
mandery, K. T., of Brattleboro. He is a 
member of the Connecticut River and ^"er- 
mont State Medical Associations. 

He was wedded, Jan. 9, 1868, to Ada, 
daughter of Charles H. and Maria White, of 
Putney, ^"t. Mrs. Webster departed this life 
in South Carolina, March 14, 1887, leaving 
three surviving children : Hattie A., Harry 
A., and Dan C. November i, 1889, he 
contracted a second alliance with Mabel 
Julia, daughter of Hon. E. L. and Jennie E. 
Waterman, of Brattleboro. 

WEEKS, John E., of Salisbury, son of 
Ebenezer and Elizabeth (l^yer) ^Veeks, was 
born in Salisbury, June 14, 1853. He is 
descended from early New England stock, 
and among his maternal ancestors was John 
Alden of ^Layflower fame. His grandfather 
came to Salisbury when it was yet a wilder- 
ness, and his father was prominent in both 
town and county affairs. 

After receiving his education in the schools 
of Salisbury, and the Middlebury high 
school, Mr. J. E. Weeks early engaged in 
stock and wool buying in the vicinity, in 
which business he is still interested. He 
soon settled upon the farm of his father, of 
whom he has been the successor in the in- 
surance business, acting especially for the 
\'ermont Mutual Fire Insurance Co., of 
which he was for a time a director. In 1892 
he became the junior member of the firm of 
Ihomas & \\'eeks, hay and grain dealers, at 
Middlebury. 

Mr. Weeks was united in marriage, Oct. 
17, 1879; to Hattie J., daughter of Frank L. 
and Lucretia (Graves) Dyer of Salisburv. 

He has been quite prominent in political 
and social affairs. He was appointed as- 
sistant census taker in 1 880, and four years 
later was elected as assistant door-keeper of 
the Senate. In 18S8 he was sent to Mont- 



pelier to represent Salisbury, and served on 
the committee on manufactures, and on 
special committee in the matter of a bridge 
between North and South Hero, Grand Isle 
county. In 1S92 he was elected an assistant 




JOHN E. WEEKS. 

judge of Addison county court. Judge 
Weeks has long been a member of and clerk 
and treasurer for the Congregational church 
of Salisbury. 

WELL MAN, Leigh Richmond, of 

Lowell, son of Rev. Jubilee and 'Pheda 
((Jrout) \^'ellman, was born in ^^"arner, 
X. H., Jan. 4, 1S35, and obtained his edu- 
cation in the public schools of Warner, 
Westminster, Cavendish and Proctors\ille. 
In the latter he was a classmate of Senator 
Redfield Proctor. He pursued a further 
course of study at Craftsbury and Bakersfield 
academies. His family removed to Lowell 
in 185 1, where his father was the first settled 
Congregational minister in that town, and 
with the exception of a few years has re- 
sided there ever since. In 1858 he was em- 
ployed as a clerk in a store in Greenville, 
Ala., returning North April ti, 1S61, the day 
of the beginning of the bombardment of 
Fort Sumter. The boat ran in close enough 
so that the ruins of the fort and the steamer 
that took oft the garrison after the surrender 
could be seen with a glass. In 1861 he 
commenced a mercantile trade in Lowell, 
which continued for eight years, when he 
began the manufacture of lumber. In 1872 



he was obliged to \ isit the \\'est on account 
of his health, where he spent nearly two 
years as a clerk in a store in River l''alls, 
Wis. \\'hen he returned to Lowell, in 1874, 
he purchased his present commodious store, 
where he carries a large stock of general 
merchandise. 

Mr. \\'ellman assisted in organizing and is 
a member of Mount Morris Lodge, No. 69, 
F. & A. M., and did not miss a single meet- 
ing during the seven years he occupied the 
master's chair. He also lielongs to Tucker 
Chapter, Morrisxille. 

In 1867 he was married to Bertie L. 
•Cheney, who died in December, 1873, lea\- 
ing one son : Leigh B. In 1878 he married 
Mrs. Emily B. Mustard, by whom he had 
two children : Harry R., and Theda G. 

Mr. Wellman although a strong Democrat 
of the conservative order has held many 
town offices, was for fifteen years justice of 
the peace, from 1868 to 1872 selectman, and 
for many successive terms town treasurer. 

WELLS, Edward, of Burlington, son of 
William Wellington and Eliza (Carpenter) 
Wells, was born in Waterbury, Oct. 30, 1835. 
He was educated in the common schools of 
Waterbury and at the Bakersfield Academy. 




ED'.VARD v;£L_S. 

At the age of seventeen years he entered 
a dry goods store at Montpelier as clerk, 
where he remained one year. From 1856 
to 1 86 1 he was employed in his father's 
stores at Waterburv and Waterbury Center. 



WFSrf)N. 425 

He enlisted in the band of the 5th Regt. 
Vt. \'ols., Sept. 26, 1 86 1, and served about 
six months. Mr. Wells held the position of 
transijortation clerk in the Army of the 
Potomac, under Gen. P. I'. Pitkin, for about 
three years. On his return home, in 1864, 
he received the appointment of clerk in the 
office of the quartermaster-general of the 
state of Vermont, which office he held until 
1866. He then entered the office of Hon. 
John A. Page, state treasurer, where he re- 
mained until 1 868. 

In March, 1S68, he became a partner in 
the firm of Henry & Co., wholesale druggists, 
at Waterbury, who had just transferred their 
business to Burlington. In 1872 the firm 
name was changed from Henry & Co. to 
Wells, Richardson & Co., and in 1883 was 
incorporated und«r the name of Wells & 
Richardson Co. He is president of the 
Wells & Richardson Co. and the Burlington 
Trust Co., and a director in the Burlington 
Cotton Mills. He was elected to the Legis- 
lature in 1890, and served as chairman of 
the committee on banking, and also on the 
committee on ways and means. 

Mr. Wells married, April 26, 185S, Martha 
Frances, daughter of I.ucius Parmelee, of 
\\'aterbury. One daughter was the issue of 
this union. Mrs. Wells died Nov. 25, 1876. 
Mr. \\'ells married as his second wife, Oct. 
14, 1879, Effie E. Parmelee, sister of his 
first wife. 

WESTON, Eugene Sydney, of New- 
fane, son of Freeman F. and Sarah L (Evans) 
Weston, was born in Cavendish, .\ugust 14, 
1S47. 

His early education was obtained m the 
district schools and Chester Academy. Hav- 
ing decided upon the medical profession he 
entered the office of Dr. Z. G. Harrington of 
Chester as a student and attended lectures 
in the medical departments of Dartmouth 
College and the Unix ersity of \'ermont, re- 
ceiving his diploma from the latter in 1871. 

.\fter graduation he first located in Heath, 
Mass., but soon removed to Coleraine, where 
he had a large practice for three years. In 
1874 he moved to Pittsfield, Mass., and re- 
mained there two years being town physician 
and also physician at the house of cor- 
rection. In 1879 he located in Newfane 
where he has since resided. He has been a 
member of both the Massachusetts and Ver- 
mont Medical Societies. 

He is a prominent Free Mason and for 
nearly a quarter of a century he has been an 
active worker and has taken a deep interest 
in the welfare and prosperity of the order. 
He has served three terms as W. .M. of 
Blazing Star Lodge, No. 23, of 'iownshend ; 
has been high priest of Fort Dummer Royal 
Arch ChayHer in Brattleboro : is grand 



426 



lecturer in the (Irand Lodge and grand 
scribe in the Grand Chapter of Vermont. 
For two years he was district deputy grand 
master of the 8th Masonic District, and has 
held appointments on some of the standing 
committees in Grand Lodge and Chapter 
for several years. 

Republican in politics he was elected in 
1892 to represent Xewfane in the General 
Assembly. 






the establishment of Peck Bros., where he re- 
mained for eleven years, when he received 
the appointment of assistant postmaster and 
served in this capacity till his term of office 
expired in 1S87. He then engaged in the 
retail clothing trade, in which he is still oc- 
cupied. In 1891 under a Republican admin- 
istration he w-as appointed postmaster of 
Burlington. This is the only first-class office 
in the state, doing a business of S8o,ooo. 
Mr. ^^'heeler has never held any other offi- 
cial position. 

He is an Odd Fellow, is a sustaining mem- 
ber of the College Street Congregational 
Church, and is an active member of the Burl- 
ington Y. M. C. A. 




UGENE SIDNEY WESTON 



Dr. Weston enlisted during the civil war. 
at the age of seventeen, as private in Co. C, 
7th ^'t. Vols., and served till the close of the 
struggle, when he received an honorable dis- 
charge. His only battle was at the siege of 
Spanish Fort near Mobile, Alabama. He 
has always taken an active part in matters 
pertaining to the i\. A. R., and is a member 
of Birchard Post, Xo. 65, of which he is a 
past commander. 

Dr. Weston w-as married, June 6, 187 1, to 
Eva S., daughter of Richard H. and Mary 
E. (Crowley) Hall of .Athens, and has four 
children : Lena M., Alfred F., Bertha E., 
and Clrace F. 

WHEELER, Charles Frederick, of 

Burlington, son of Dr. Frederick P. and Mary 
.\. (Doude) Wheeler, was born in Bristol, 
Sept. 8, 1843. 

His attendance at school (in the district 
schools and academy in Bristol), terminated 
in 1859, and for five years he was employed 
as a clerk in a country store. He then 
moved to the citv of Burlington and entered 



CHARLES FREDERICK WHEELER. 

He was married, June 30, 1 884, to Louise 
M., daughter of Rev. F. W. and Mary 
(McCotter) Olnistead. Their three children 
are : Mary Louise, Frank Olmstead, and Cora 
Marguerite. 

WHEELER, Charles Willard, of 

Irasburgh, son of Willard and !Maria (Page) 
Wheeler, was born in Enosburgh, April 13, 
1839. 

Obtaining his education in the common 
schools and academy at Enosburgh, he first 
engaged in mercantile pursuits in St. Albans, 
and later in Burlington. 

In obedience to his patriotic impulses, he 
enlisted in Co. I, loth Regt. Vt. A'ols., went 
at once to the field in the summer of 1862, 
beinc; actively identified with its movements 



in the campaigns of 1862 to 1865. In the 
midst of the most exacting duties of field 
service, which had become to be attended 
with great privation and peril, he declined 
to accept the proffer of a year's service at 
home as a recruiting officer, choosing to 
remain at the front. 

After five months' service in the adjutant- 
general's office, and nine months in the 
division commissary department, with offers 
for a discharge from the service and employ- 
ment as a civilian with lucrative pay, he 
obtained his release from these positions and 




LLARD WHEELER. 



joined his regiment when General Grant 
took command of the Army of the Potomac, 
and from the commencement of that officer's 
campaign he participated in every battle to 
the close of the war ; was promoted through 
the grades of corporal, sergeant, orderly ser- 
geant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, to 
regimental quartermaster. He was wounded 
at Gedar Creek, and on account of his injur- 
ies was absent forty days from military duly. 
He received an honorable discharge at the 
close of the war, and came to Irasburgh, 
where he opened a general store, in which 
he has since continued, and at the same time 
operated in real estate. 

He has been a Republican since the for- 
mation of the party, and has been honored 
with many official positions in Irasburgh. 

Mr. Wheeler represented Irasburgh in the 
Legislature in 1886, and in 1890 was elected 
from (Jrleans county to the Senate, in which 



WHEELER. 427 

body he introduced the secret ballot act, 
and labored hard for its enactment. 

He is a successful man, and always relied 
on his own resources, never receiving help 
from others. 

He is a Congregationalist in creed, and a 
member of George G. Post, No. 99, G. A. R. 

He was united in marriage, June 7, 1871, 
to Louise E. Nichols, daughter of I.evi N. 
and Klizabeth Dow of Knosburgh. The 
issue of this union were: George E. (de- 
ceased). May L., and I.ucy H. 

WHEELER, HOYT HENRY, son of John 
and Roxanna ( Hall ) Wheeler, was born in 
Chesterfield, N. H., on the 30th of .\ugust, 
1833. His great-grandfather, Peter Wheeler, 
emigrated from Littleton, Mass., in 1762, and 
was a capenter by trade, while the mother of 
Judge Wheeler was a granddaughter of 
Joseph Titus, one of the first settlers of 
Chesterfield. His father, John \\'heeler, re- 
sided in Chesterfield until 1849, when he 
moved to his present residence at Newfane. 

Hoyt H. Wheeler first saw the light on the 
farm where two generations of his ancestors 
had lived and died. His early education be- 
gan in the common schools of the neighbor- 
hood and was completed at the Chesterfield 
Academy, in 1853. (Iraduating from this 
institution he taught school for some time, 
and also studied law as opportunity afforded 
in the office of Charles K. Field, of Newfane. 
Subsequently he studied the same subject 
under- the direction of Jonathan I). Bradley 
and George B. Kellogg, and was admitted to 
the bar in September, 1859. He then entered 
into partnership with John E. Butler, Esq., 
under the title of Butler & \\heeler. 'i"he 
new firm began professional practice in Ja- 
maica. Mr. Butler died in 1867, and after 
that Mr. Wheeler practiced law by himself. 
Early in his career he obtained a very large 
practice in Southern Vermont, and in the 
county and Supreme Courts acquired the 
reputation of a thorough lawyer and a safe 
counselor. 

' i In 1867, he represented Jamaica in the 
House, and served on the judiciary commit- 
tee. In 1868 and 1869, he was returned to 
the state Senate from M'indham county, and 
ser\ed during each session on the judiciary 
committee. While a member of the House 
he secured the charter of the West River 
R. R., which is now known as the Brattle- 
boro & Whitehall R. R. In the following 
vear what was designated the "enabling act" 
was adopted, under his management, by the 
Legislature. By virtue of this statute the 
towns along the route were permitted to in- 
vest municipal funds in the bonds of the cor- 
poration, the success of whose undertaking 
was thus assured. 



428 



WHEELOCK. 



WHEELOCK. 



In 1869, Mr. \\'heeler was elected an as- 
sistant judge of the Supreme fourt, was re- 
elected in 1S70, and again at each biennial 
election until and including 1876. Of 
judicial temperament, wise, and learned in 
the law, he made a model judge. Without 
solicitation on his part or that of his friends. 
Judge ^^'heeler was, in March, 1S77, ap- 
pointed by President Hayes district judge 
of the United States for the district of Ver- 
mont in place of Judge David A. Smalley, 
deceased. Resigning his seat on the .Supreme 
bench of \'erniont, Judge Wheeler at once 
entered upon his new duties. They do not 
wholly call him to work in Vermont, and a 
large share of his judicial labors are per- 
formed in New "\ork City, where he has 
among the members of the New Vork bar 
the same reputation as a just judge of pro- 
found learning that he has among their 
brethren in Vermont. 

With corporate institutions of financial or 
other character. Judge Wheeler has held but 
slight connection. For several years he has 
been a director of the West Ri\er National 
Bank of Jamaica, but beyond that has not 
accepted any official position. 

Judge Wheeler was married on the 24th 
of October, 1861, to Minnie L., daughter of 
John Maclay of Lockport, N. \'. 

WHEELOCK, Edwin, of Cambridge, 
son of Samuel and Patty (Adams) Wheelock, 
was born in Cambridge, Nov. 17, 1822. 

His maternal grandfather was a near rela- 
tive of President John Adams, and he comes 
of good New England parentage on both 
sides of the house. After an attendance at 
the district school he fitted for college at the 
old Burlington Academy, entered the U. V. 
M. and graduated from that institution in 
1849. For four years he was employed as a 
teacher in the Mountain Academy in West 
Tennessee, then returned to Cambridge, 
where he commenced and has continued his 
ministerial labors in the Congregational 
church of that community. For forty years 
he has continued his pastorate in that town, 
during which time he has conducted more 
than 1,200 funeral services and officiated at 
800 marriages. He was an original member 
of the Lamoille Association of Congregational 
Ministers, and is still an influential factor in 
this organization. 

For fourteen consecutive years Mr. AVhee- 
lock has been superintendent of schools in 
Cambridge, was a member of the House in 
i856-'67, and was chosen senator from 
Lamoille county in 1876. Four years later 
he was made chaplain of the Senate. He 
has been an honored member of the Masonic 
order and has served as chaplain of the 
Grand Lodge since 1886 until now (1894), 
rarely, if e^■er, having missed a meeting of 



the Grand Lodge since he has belonged to 
the order. 

He was married July 30, 185 1, to Laura, 
daughter of Daniel and Lucy Wheelock 
Pierce, who bore him six children, four of 




whom survive : Mary Ella (Mrs. B. R. Holmes 
of Cambridge), Lucy (of Boston, Mass.), .^b- 
bie Laura(Mrs. C. F. Hulburd of Cambridge), 
and George L. of New Vork. 

WHEELOCK, Martin W., of Berlin, 
son of Joseph W. and Laura E. (Phillips) 
Wheelock, was born in Montpelier, March 
iS, 1853. In 1854 his parents moved to 
Berlin, and he has since resided there, re- 
ceiving his education in the schools of 
Montpelier. 

Employed from his earliest years in his 
father's binderv, it was but natural that he 
should follow that vocation, and upon the 
death of his father, in 1876, Mr. Wheelock 
succeeded him in the business of the Mont- 
pelier Bookbindery, which he has since suc- 
cessfully conducted, adding to his force from 
time to time, until he now employs fifteen 
to twenty people. After Montpelier estab- 
lished its present system of water supply, he 
introduced and placed in operation the first 
water motor in town, and procured the first 
exhibit of electric lighting in Montpelier 
from power derived from water motors, and 
caused to be put up the " police signal light," 
so called. 



At the age of twenty-one he was elected 
town superintendent of schools and repre- 
sented Berlin in the Legislature of i88o, 
and has held minor offices of responsibility 
and trust, and for the last eighteen years 
has been town clerk, treasurer and justice 
of the peace in Berlin. He is at present 
one of the directors of the Montpelier Board 
of Trade, was, in 1893, president of Vohni- 
teer Hose, No. i, and is still a member of 
the fire department, and is a member of 
the New England Order of Protection and 
of Vermont Lodge, No. 2, L O. O. F. 

He married Julia .A. Miles, of Montpelier, 
daughter of Otis G. and Mary A. (Smith) 
Miles, March 16, 1878, and they have three 
daughters : Mabel E., Florence M., and 
Winona. 

Mr. Wheelock is deeply interested in the 
prosperity of his native place, and is an 
earnest believer in the investment of capital 
in home enterprises — a course that experi- 
ence proves is not only for the good of the 
community, but as safe — to say the least — 
for the individual invester. 

WHIPPLE, Edward O., of Danby, son 
of John and Clarica (Oakes) Whipple, was 
born in Athens, June 20, 1821. 



WHirCOMH. 429 

also for a time in attendance at the Bellevue 
Hospital in New ^■ork City. 

Dr. \Vhi])ple took up his residence in 
Danby in 1848 and has built up an extensive 
practice in that and the adjoining towns. A 
strong Republican, he has never consented 
to accept any political office, choosing 
rather to devote himself entirely to his pro- 
fessional duties, but his sterling worth and 
ability have gained him the highest esteem 
of the community in which he resides. 

Dr. \\'hipple has received the degrees of 
Ancient t'raft Masonry, affiliating with 
Marble Lodge, No. 46, of Danby. He has 
also taken all those conferred in the I. O. O. 
F. He is an active member of the Rutland 
County Medical and Surgical Society and 
also of that of the state. 

He was married in West Townshend, Sept. 
25, 1848, to Augusta, daughter of Zadock 
and Sarah Sawyer. They have one son : 
Frank E., a physician of Danby. 

WHITCOMB, ERVIN JACKSON, of 
Ludlow, was born in Ludlow, Feb. 24, 1822. 




(iAf'-;: :?:r^yaffi;y^^ ' 



^ 





EDWARD O. 



He received his schooling in ^Albany and 
afterwards studied medicine with Doctors P. 
D. Bradford and Samuel W. Thayer, subse- 
quently graduating from the Castleton Medi- 
cal School in the class of 1847. He was 



'S 




He lived on a farm most of the time dur- 
ing his minority, was educated at the com- 
mon schools, and Black River Academy, and 
occasionally was occupied in teaching. 
In 1844 he engaged in trade, dealing in 
general country merchandise, in which oc- 
cupation he remained five years. After a 
sojourn of three years in Ontario, where he 
was engaged in mercantile pursuits, he re- 



43° 



turned to Ludlow, where he dealt in horses, 
farm produce and agricultural implements 
until 1862. He then formed the partner- 
ship of Whitcomb & Atherton, conducting a 
wholesale and retail feed, flour and grain 
business in connection with a grist mill. In 
187 1 the firm erected Whitcomb & Atherton 
block, and added a bakery to their business. 
In 1887 he retired from active business. 

He wedded, Sept. 29, 1846, Elizabeth 
Goddard, daughter of Hon. Sewall and 
Eunice Howe (Goddard) Fullam of Ludlow. 
The fruit of their union is one child : Belle E. 

Mr. \\'hitcomb is the only surviving grand- 
son of Jonathan Whitcomb, a Revolutionary 
soldier. He has been for many years a 
member of Black River Lodge, No 85, F. & 
A. M. In religious belief he is a L'niver- 
salist, has taken deep interest in and been a . 
liberal donor to the church. He is a trustee 
of the state convention, and also of Goddard 
Seminary. 

He was formerly a whig, but is now a 
Republican, and, after having discharged the 
duties of several town offices, was chosen 
representative from Ludlow for the two suc- 
cessive biennial terms of 1870 and 1872, 
and four years later was elected a senator 
from Windsor county. 

WHITE, Elliot G., of Cavendish, son 
of George W. and Clara M. (Swift) White, 
was born in Cavendish, June 8, 1S56. 

His education was received in the com- 
mon schools of Cavendish, and after its 
completion he entered the service of his 
uncle, Hon. F. E. Swift. Later he moved 
to Boston, where he entered the employment 
of a horse car company and next was en- 
gaged as a clerk in a hotel near Bar Harbor, 
Me., but soon after returned to Cavendish, 
where he married and engaged in trade. 
Commencing business during a period of 
general depression caused by the loss by fire 
of the woolen mills in that place, by his un- 
tiring energy and good management he has 
built up a profitable and remunerative busi- 
ness in a general country store, dealing, in 
addition to his ordinary trade, in feed, grain, 
and lumber. He is also interested in real 
estate. 

November 10, 1S80, he was married to 
Nella C, daughter of Peter P. and Chloe 
(Adams) Wheeler of Cavendish. 

For fourteen years Mr. ^Vhite has held 
the positions of town clerk and postmaster ; 
for several terms he has served as selectman 
and is now the chairman of the board. He 
is one of the trustees of the Chester Sav- 
ings Bank, a director in the Chester National 
Bank, and also librarian of the Fletcher 
Library of Cavendish. He has always voted 
with the Republican party, and for four 
years discharged the duties of deputy sheriff. 



He is a member and jjast master of La- 
Fayette Lodge, No. 53, F. ^:. A. M., of Cav- 
endish, and is affiliated with Skitchewang 
Chapter of that order. 

WHITE, HEMAN Allen, of Washington, 
son of Thaddeus and Rebecca (Gleason) 
White, was born in Washington, Sept. 21, 
18 1 7. His father, Thaddeus, joined the pa- 
triot army at sixteen years of age, served 
under the gallant Lafayette, and after the 
close of the struggle was one of the earliest 
settlers who came to Washington, threading 
his way on horseback through the dense for- 
ests by a line of blazed trees. He posted the 
notice of the earliest Freemen's meeting, 
Sept. 2, and in 1794 was elected the first 
representative to the Legislature. He died in 
i8qi, at the advanced age of ninetv-two. 




ALLEN WHITE. 



Heman was the youngest son, and enjoyed 
only the advantages of the common school 
until he arrived at his majority, when he at- 
tended Newbury Academy, supporting him- 
self while pursuing his course there. In 
1 840 he commenced studying law with Hon. 
John Colby at Washington, was admitted to 
the Orange county bar at the December 
term, 1843, and is today the senior practic- 
ing member of his profession in that county. 

Since 1848 Mr. White has been town 
clerk ; he represented Washington in the 
General Assembly in 1S57, '58, '63, '64, '65, 
and '76, and was chosen a senator from Or- 
ange county in 1S70. In 1866 and '67 he 



was state's attorney for Orange county. He- 
cast his first and last presidential vote for a 
Harrison and in 1S56 was elected judge of 
probate for the district of Randolph, having 
previously served two years as register. 
Judge White possesses the entire confidence 
and respect of all who know him. 

He was united in marriage, Nov. 23, 1S51, 
to Mary, daughter of Ziba and F. .A. Spen- 
cer, by whom he had one child: Dora M. 
(Mrs. R. G. Spafiford, deceased). In April, 
186 1, he contracted a second alliance with 
Mariette A., daughter of Cutting S. and Mar- 
tha H. (Paine) Calef. 

VVHITH, H. C, of North Bennington, 
son of John and Clarissa (Castle) White", was 
born in North Bennington, Dec. 25, 1847. 




])lantof twice the cajwcity of the one burned, 
and since then has enjoyed an uninterrupted 
career of prosi)erity. Mr. White has inven- 
ted several improvements in stereoscopes, 
which he has patented, giving him almost a 
monopoly of the stereoscope business. 

Mr. \\hite married .Margie I.., daughter 
of William Watson of Urooklyn, X. V., by 
whom he has issue four children. 

WILCOX, Henry Clay, of Granby, son 
of iCdmund W. and Matilda (Farnsworth) 
Wilcox, was born in Cambridge, .August 20, 
1842. 

.After receiving the educational advan- 
tages of the Cambridge and Johnson public 
schools, at the age of nineteen he found 
employment in the L'. S. .Armory, at Spring- 
field, Mass., where he remained till the close 
of the civil war, when he returned to Johnson 
and for three years labored on his father's 
farm. For the next seven years he was 
variously employed as a manufacturer of 
butter tubs, clerk of a hotel in Hyde Park, 




/' 



y 



After receiving his education at the public 
schools of North Bennington, at the age of 
twenty-one he removed to the city of New 
York, where he entered into partnership with 
B. G. Surdam, and engaged in the manufact- 
ure of stereoscopes and lenses. There he 
remained four years and after attaining the 
necessary skill he returned to his native town, 
where he started in the same line of business 
for himself. 

In 1877, he removed to his present site 
and erected a large plant, and successfully 
carried on the business of manufacturing 
lenses, writing desks, and stereoscopes. In 
1S86, his entire establishment was consumed 
by fire, but he immediately erected a larger 



HENRY CLAY WILCOX. 

and foreman in different establishments en- 
gaged m the lumber trade. In 1882 he 
assumed the general superintendence of the 
Buck & Wilcox Lumber Co., a very impor- 
tant and responsible position, the duties of 
which he satisfactorily discharged up to 
1885, when they sold to C. H. Stevens & 
Co., since which time he has been in the 
employ of C. H. Stevens & Co. and the 
Northern Lumber Co. 

Mr. Wilcox was formerly deputy-sheriff at 



432 



Johnson, and since his removal to (Iranby 
has been the incumbent of several important 
offices, serving as justice and selectman : 
he .was the Republican representative of 
Granby in 1886 to 1890, and a prominent 
candidate for senator from his county in the 
convention of that party in 1S92. Mr. Wil- 
cox is regarded as a man of sound business 
capacity and great general intelligence. 

For more than a quarter of a century he 
has belonged to the Masonic fraternity, has 
held the office of W. M. in Eden Lodge, 
No. 69, H. P. of Tucker Chapter, and Dis- 
trict Deputy G. M. 

WILKINS, George, of Stowe, son of 
Uriah and Nancy (Kittredge) Wilkins, was 
born in Stowe, Dec. 6, 1S17. 




and in 1S56 a delegate to the Constitutional 
Conxention. He was chosen senator from 
Lamoille county in 1S59 and was subse- 
quently delegate to the union convention at 
Philadelphia ; a presidential elector from 
the Third District and a member of the 
national Republican convention that nomi- 
nated General Grant. 

Mr. Wilkins is everywhere recognized as 
an astute and able trial lawyer, a graphic 
and interesting writer and an earnest, 
thorough, and resolute advocate. .Always 
interested in educational affairs he has been 
a liberal donor of books and apparatus to 
the schools in his vicinity. The manage- 
ment of several large farms purchased by 
him in the town and its neighborhood has 
recently engrossed the chief share of his 
time and attention. 

WILLARD, ANDREW Jackson, of Bur- 
lington, son of Nehemiah Batchelder and 
Hannah (Emerson) A\'illard, was born in 
Harvard, Mass., March 19, 1832. .Among 
his iirogenitors, the lineage being the same 







.After enjoying the educational privileges 
of the common schools and the academies 
of Johnson and Montpelier, Mr. Wilkins 
studied law with Messrs. Butler and Bingham, 
and was admitted to the Lamoille county 
bar at the December term of 184 1. He 
then formed a partnership with O. AV. But- 
ler, Esq., which was continued till 1845, 
when he purchased that gentleman's library 
and alone has conducted the practice of the 
firm since that time. 

He espoused, July 12, 1846, Maria N., 
daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Blanchard) 
Wilson of Hopkinton, N. Y. They have 
adopted Charles B., son of Capt. J. H. Swift 
of \Vashington. 

In 1852 he was elected state's attorney. 



as Miss Frances Willard's, he numbers Major 
Willard of colonial fame, and President 
Willard of Harvard College, while on the 
mother's side he is a scion of the well- 
known Emerson family, which has given the 
country so many eminent teachers of re- 
ligion and philosophy, including the "Sage 
of Concord," Ralph Waldo. The Willards 
and the Emersons seem to be happily 
blended in the subject of our sketch. 



Ha\ing lost his father in early youtli, Mr. 
\\'illard was placed by his widowed mother 
in the academy at Lancaster, Mass., but he 
finished his preparation for college at the 
\\'alnut Street high school of Worcester, 
Mass. .\t the age of seventeen he was ad- 
mitted to Vale college, where his career was 
in every way creditable. Though his studies 
were to some degree impeded by impaired 
health and eyesight, he took many prizes for 
excellence in debate and English composi- 
tion, and he graduated with high honors in 
the "famous class" of 1853. He then spent 
three years in the study of theology at the 
Yale Theological Seminary. He was licensed 
to preach by the New Ha\en Association of 
Congregational Ministers. After a brief 
residence as licentiate at Andover, Mass., he 
was called in January, 1S57, to the pastorate 
of the Congregational church at Upton, 
Mass., one of the oldest and largest in 
Worcester county. Here he spent nearly 
nine years of honorable service, when he 
was olsliged by failing health to resign his 
charge, and later still to gi\e up entirely the 
ministerial profession. 

Rev. Mr. Willard removed to Burlington 
in 1865, and for about five years he supplied 
the pulpits at Essex Centre and Essex 
Junction. In 1870 and 1871 he was the 
superintendent of the public schools in Bur- 
lington. While trying to regain his shattered 
health he, as it were, accidentally attended a 
medical lecture at the University of Ver- 
mont, and was thereby led to the study of 
medicine, and graduated from the medical 
department of the university in 1877. At 
this time he was appointed valedictorian, but 
declined the honor. He was awarded the 
prize for the best thesis, the subject of which 
was "Medical Chemistry," which received 
the unusual compliment from the medical 
faculty of a recommendation to publish. 
Having spent several months in special study 
in New Vork City, he had just commenced 
to practice medicine in Burlington, when he 
was appointed instructor in chemistry and 
assistant professor in that science in the U. 
V. M. Later he was appointed special pro- 
fessor of hygiene and sanitary science. 
These positions he held til! 1890, when 
increasing professional duties connected with 
his specialty obliged him to resign his active 
connection with the university, but he has 
continued to retain, up to the present time, 
the honorary position of adjunct professor 
of chemistry in that institution. 

Soon after graduation in medicine Dr. 
Willard was made superintendent and resi- 
dent physician of the Mary Fletcher Hospi- 
tal in Burlington. In December, 18S6, he 
retired from this position after nearly six years 
of unremitting devotion to the interests of 
the hospital. There can be no question that 
he did a good work while there, to which 



Wll.I.ARl.. 433 

many grateful ])atients bear willing witness. 
One of his first achievements was the foun- 
dation of the Mary Fletcher Hospital Train- 
ing School, for nurses, which is still in suc- 
cessful operation. He early saw, when at the 
hospital, the need of special treatment for 
diseases of the nervous system, and therefore, 
for this purpose, he founded an institution in 
Burlington, known as " Dr. Willard's Rest 
Cure and Nervine Establishment." Its 
present name, however, is the " Willard 
Nervine Home." In many respects the 
success of this institution has been phenome- 
nal. In addition to the main building on 
North Prospect street, a summer retreat has 
been established on the shores of Lake 
Champlain, called "The White Birches," to 
which Dr. Willard frequently takes his con- 
valescing patients. 

Dr. Willard was married May 19, 1857, in 
Burlington, to Harriet Buell, daughter of 
Henry Pearl and Maria (Buell) Hickok. 
Five children have blessed their union : 
Henry Hickok, Albert Emerson, Helen Eliza- 
beth, Julia Maria, and Frederick Buell. 

In politics Dr. Willard has always been a 
staunch Republican. In religion he has been 
a Congregationalist, until quite recently, 
when he joined the Episcopal church. 

WILLARD, George F. B., of Ver- 
gennes, son of George and Delana D. 
(Lake) Willard, was born in Boston, Mass., 
on the 26th of July, 1853. 

He received a liberal education for his 
chosen profession, graduating from the high 
school at Middlebury in 1872, and from 
Middlebury College in the class of 1876. 
He later pursued a course of study at the St. 
Louis Medical College, from which he re- 
ceived his diploma of M. D., in 1883. The 
same year Doctor Willard settled at ^'er- 
gennes, where he has deservedly won a lead- 
ing position among the physicians of the city 
and surrounding country. 

He was married at Washington, D. C, 
Dec. 26, 1883, to H. .\da, daughter of I. D. 
and S. E. Vedder, of Whitehall, 111., and 
from this union there are issue five children : 
Delana E., .Ada Hopkins, George Vedder, 
Lucy Amelia, and Sarah Lake. 

Doctor \\'illard has always strictly devoted 
himself to his professional duties, never seek- 
ing publicity or political office, but at present 
fills the office of alderman and is a member 
of the school board of Vergennes. He be- 
longs to the Vermont Medical Society, and 
while in college afifiliated with the D. U. 

Friendly and open-hearted, he is very 
popular with all classes in his own city, 
being esteemed by all who come in contact 
with him. 

On account of the illness of .Mrs. Willard, 
the doctor gave up his practice in ^'ergennes 
in 1893, and removed to Roodhouse, Ills., 



WILLIAMS. 



where he is at present building up a good 
practice. 

WILLIAMS, Frank Clifton, of Cov- 
entry, son of Clifton and Mariette (Loomis) 
Williams, was born in Glover, May 12, 1853. 

His education was obtained in the public 
schools of Glover, in the Orleans Liberal 
Institute and Goddard Seminary. Shortly 
before he arrived at man's estate he was 
employed as clerk in several mercantile es- 
tablishments in Glover and Coventrv, and in 




Mr. Williams was wedded, May 30, 1S77, 
to Helen Louise Burbank, daughter of 
Samuel and Jane (Coburn) Bowles Bur- 
bank of Coventry. Five children have 
blessed their union : Grace Helen, Florence 
Eliza, Sam Clifton, Kate Mildred, and 
Harold Frank (deceased). 

WILLIAMS, George ABNER, of Sax- 
tons River, son of Russel H. and Mercy 
(Waters) Williams, was born in Westmore- 
land, N. v., July 10, 1S53. 

His earlier education was obtained in 
\\'hitestown Seminary, Whitesboro, N. V. 
He was graduated from Colgate University 
in 18S0, and afterwards received the degrees 
of A. M. and Ph. D. from the same institu- 
tion. While in college he specially devoted 
himself to languages and mathematics, and 




1877 entered into a partnership with Homer 
Thrasher at Coventry. Four years subse- 
quently he bought out his partner's interest 
and for some time continued alone, when 
Mr. Salmon Nye entered the concern which 
continued its operations till 1892, building a 
fine block for business purposes on the main 
street and besides his regular occupation 
Mr. Williams has engaged in lumbering, farm- 
ing and horse breeding. In this latter 
branch he has been very successful, having 
turned out a large number of fast trotters, 
though he makes a specialty of roadsters of 
the Morgan family. 

He is liberal in his religious opinions, but 
attends and supports the Congregational 
church. For many years he has filled the 
offices of justice of the peace and town 
clerk and treasurer of Coventry, which town 
he represented in the Legislature in 1884 
where he was a member of the committee 
on claims. 




GEORGE ABNER WILLIAMS. 

was honored with the valedictory address 
upon his graduation. In 1879 he repre- 
sented his alma mater in the intercollegiate 
contest in New York City, winning the 
highest honors in the Latin language. Mr. 
Williams has followed the profession of 
teaching since 1S73. Immediately after his 
graduation he became the instructor in 
mathematics and the sciences in Whitestown 
Seminary, and subsequently has occupied 
positions in the Hamilton (X. V.) Union 
School and Cook Academy, at Havana, N. 
Y. Since 1889 he has been principal of the 
Vermont .Academy, at Saxtons River, which 
position he occupies at the present time. 



He has always displayed great ability as an 
instructor, successfully laboring for the in- 
tellectual and moral improvement of all 
pupils who have been entrusted to his 
charge. His services have always been 
sought for, and he has never been obliged to 
make an application for any post which he 
has filled. He is a member of the American 
Institute of Instruction and of the American 
Philological Association. 

\\'hile in college he was a member of the 
Delta Upsilon fraternity, and acted both as 
president and vice-president of the Colgate 
Chapter. He was a delegate to the conven- 
tion of the fraternity at Schenectady in 1879. 
At graduation he was chosen a member of 
Phi Beta Kappa. 

He was united in marriage, June 30, 1880, 
to Florence Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. 
Eliphalet and Martha (Spaulding) Owen. 
Four children have blessed their union : 
two daughters, Elbertine and Roberta, and 
two sons, Maynard Owen and Russel Hill. 

Mr. \Villiams is a descendant on both 
sides of the house, from Re\olutionary sol- 
diers, and is a Baptist by inheritance and 
conviction. He is the author of a book on 
"Topics and References in American His- 
tory," widely used in schools, and is actively 
interested in educational problems in Ver- 
mont. He was a member of the legislative 
committee of the Vermont State Teachers' 
Association, which appeared before the ed- 
ucational committee of that body in 1892, 
■urging the adoption of the town system of 
schools, which measure was finally adopted. 
Since 1889 he has served upon the state ex- 
ecutive committee of the Y. M. C. A. 

Though always taking an active interest in 
public affairs, he has never sought or ac- 
cepted political office. Hitherto a Republi- 
can in his preferences, he is now strongly 
inclined to independent views with regard to 
national and state affairs. 

WILLIAMS, James Peter, of Sunder- 
land, son of Peter and F^meline (Jordan) 
\\"illiams, was born in Auburn, Me., April 5, 
1836. 

His education was obtained in the schools 
of Auburn, and Fitzwilliam, N. H. For 
some time after he arrived at his majority he 
was employed in a factory for the manu- 
facture of wooden ware, and afterwards re- 
moved to Sunderland, in which place, in 
1858, he purchased an establishment for the 
manufacture of clothes-pins, which he after- 
wards changed to a turning shop. Mr. 
Williams then changed the scene of his 
labors to Manchester, where in connection 
with Dexter Pierce he manufactured spoons, 
and in 1878 dissolving his partnership he 
returned to Sunderland, where he continued 



wn..so.v. 435 

in a similar occupation, cultivating in ad- 
dition a farm of about one hundred acres. 

August 29, 1866, he espoused Delia, 
daughter of Cleorge Newbury and Sarah M. 
(Phillips) (Mmsted of Fitzwilliam. Four 
children were born to them : (Irace Amanda 
(deceased), Waldo Frank, .Anson Streeter, 
and Shirley Olmsted. 

A Republican in his political faith Mr. 
\Villiams has never assumed any official 
position, and in regard to his religious views 
he is an agnostic. 

WILSON, James DuNLAP, of Greens- 
boro, son of John and Margaret (^■oung) 
\\'ilson, was born in (Greensboro, Sept. 13, 
1848. 

He was educated in the schools of Cireens- 
boro and in Morrisville Academy, and for 
some time taught in the public schools of 
Greensboro. He then, for five years, fol- 
lowed the occupations of farmer and carpen- 
ter and subsequenriy was employed in the 
Fairbanks scale works of St. Johnsbury. 
Since his return to (jreensboro in 1880 he 
has devoted himself to dairy farming and the 
manufacture of maple sugar from a large 
orchard of 1,200 trees. 

November 22, 1877, he wedded Mariette 
T., daughter of James J. and Lilias (Miller) 
Lumsden of Greensboro. Three children 
have been born to them : Florence Edith, 
John P^rwin, and James Harrison. 

Mr. Wilson has been selectman and jus- 
tice of the peace for several years ; has dis- 
charged the duties of town auditor, was dele- 
gate to the state convention in 1892 at 
Montpelier and represented Greensboro in 
the Legislature of 1892, serving on the com- 
mittee on land taxes and the canvassing 
committee. For four years he was a mem- 
ber of the Republican town committee. 

He belongs to the Presbyterian church, of 
which he has been for a long time elder and 
Sunday school superintendent. 

WILLSON, MELVIN a., son of Sydney 
and Lucy (Boutwell) Willson, was born in 
Lowell, Mass., July 31, 1847. 

He was one of a family of four children 
and in his early boyhood was thrown u])on 
his own resources, by the death of his father. 
Removing to Mctory at the age of eight, he 
gleaned a scanty education from the schools 
of Lunenburg and Lyndon, meanwhile con- 
tributing from his earnings to the support of 
the family. 

He enlisted Sept. 13, 1864, in Co. K, 8th 
Vt. \'ols. under the command of Col. Stephen 
Thomas, saw service in the Shenandoah cam- 
paign and was honorablv discharged May 13, 
1865. 

After his return from military service Mr. 
\Mllson settled in Granby, where he purchased 



436 



WINSLOW. 



the property on which he now resides. He 
has been extensively engaged in general 
farming, raising, buying and selling stock and 
his plain, blunt common sense and shrewd- 
ness have rendered him financially success- 
ful in all these enterprises, making him an 
important factor in the business affairs of the 
town. For the last tw^o years he has added 
to his other occupations a trade in feed, flour 
and grain. 

Mr. W'illson is a Republican, but is inde- 
pendent in his views, and has been elected 
to nearly all the responsible offices in the 
town of (Iranby, which he represented in the 
Legislature of 1884. 

He was united in marriage March 6, 1872, 
to Jean, daughter of Loomis and Adeline 
( Farr) \\'ells, of w-hich marriage seven chil- 
dren have been born : Addie L., Sidney I.., 
Leonard H., Samuel G., Oscar M., John H., 
and Dora M. 

WING, George Washington, of 

Montpelier, son of Joseph A. and Samantha 
Elizabeth (Webster) Wing, was born in 
Plainfield, Oct. 22, T843. 

He was educated in the district schools, 
at Barre Academy, at the Washington county 
grammar school, and at Dartmouth College, 
from which institution he was graduated in 
1866. He has been a resident of Mont- 
pelier since 1858. He studied law in the 
office of his father, Joseph A. W'ing, Esq., 
and was admitted to \\"ashington county bar, 
March term, 1868. 

He was assistant state librarian in 1864, 
1865 and 1866, and a deputy secretary of 
state from 1S67 to 1873. During part of 
this latter period he was a clerk in the office 
of the state treasurer, Hon. John A. Page of 
Montpelier. Concluding this service, he 
began the practice of his profession, in 
which he has become distinguished, both for 
soundness of judgment and ability as an 
advocate. He was elected to the House of 
Representatives from Montpelier in 1882, 
and rendered important service to the state 
on the ways and means and the grand list 
committees. He had an important part in 
framing, and to him belongs the honor of 
formulating, the corporation tax law enacted 
at that session of the Legislature — a law that 
was distinguished by the clearness and pre- 
cision of its phraseology and by the benefits 
its well considered provisions conferred upon 
the state at large. As a member of the 
grand list committee his counsel, practical 
judgment and peculiar gift in so formulating 
an enactment that it could bear but one, and 
the right, interpretation, were brought into 
requisition in the act revising and consolida- 
ting the tax and grand list laws. In advo- 
cating, explaining and defending these 
measures in the debates in the House, and 



in his legislative duties generally, he dis- 
closed the qualities of a wise and capable 
law-maker. From 1S84 to 1888, during the 
administration of President Cleveland, al- 
though a staunch Republican, he held the 
office of postmaster at Montpelier, to which 
he had been elected toward the close of 
President Arthur's administration. He was 
a capable and popular administrator of the 
affairs of the post-office, judicious and 
efficient. In 1S90 he was elected a trustee 
of the Village of Montpelier, and in 1892 
was chosen president of the corporation. 
He is treasurer of the Farmer's Trust Co., 
incorporated under the laws of Iowa, and 
which has its Eastern office at Montpelier. 

Mr. \Mng is a member of Aurora Lodge, 
No. 22, F. & A. M., and has taken the 32d 
degree in Scottish Rite Masonry. 

December i, 1869, he married Miss Sarah 
E., daughter of Dr. Orlando P. and Millie 
(Hendee) Forbush, who died in April, 1871, 
leaving one child : Sarah F. October i, 
1882, he married Miss Ida I., daughter of 
Stephen F. and Caroline C. (Stone) Jones. 

Of Mr. Wing, a brother attorney says : 
" He entertains and instructs, whether be- 
fore the jury or court, or on the stump. He 
is at once scholarly and practical, and has 
an enviable power of illustration peculiar to 
himself" 

WINSLOW, DON AVERY, of Westfield, 
son of Orlando and Salome (Hitchcock) 
Winslow, was born in Westfield, Oct. 25, 
1S24. 

He is the seventh in lineal descent from 
Kenelm Winslow, one of the earliest settlers 
of Plymouth county, and also through his 
grandmother \Mnslow, a descendant of the 
.\dams family of Quincy, Mass. The estate 
formerly belonging to Daniel ^^'ebster in 
Marshfield, Mass., was the original Kenelm 
Winslow homestead, and had been preserved 
in that family till its purchase by the great 
orator and statesman. 

The subject of this sketch, after attending 
the public schools of Westfield and Derby 
Academy, did not care to follow^ the foot- 
steps of his father, who was a farmer and 
general merchant in the village, and in 1846 
found his way to Boston, where he studied 
music under the instruction of the well- 
known Lowell Mason. Mr. Winslow com- 
menced his musical career as tenor in an 
English opera in the Boston Theater, and 
also in a quartette in the Unitarian church 
of Bulfinch street in the city. Subsequently, 
after instruction in musical composition and 
in piano and church organ playing, he 
settled in St. Albans, where he was employed 
as organist in the Congregational church, 
and as professor of music in Swanton x\c- 
adeniy. During this period he composed 



both secular and sacred music, and many of 
his efforts have been pubHshed in Kmerson's, 
Perkins', Marshall's, and other musical 
works. 

For over fifty years he has been continu- 
ously connected with churches, either as 
leader of the choir or organist. .After giving 
up his profession he was employed for ten 
years at Johnson as station agent and tele- 
graph operator. In icSSg he removed to 
Westfield, where he now resides on the old 
homestead. 




W ^•s^ 



WINSI.OW. 437 

His parents moved to 'I'ownshend ten years 
later, and he there received the usual educa- 
tion of the common schools, completing his 
studies at the establishment which is now 
styled the Leland and Cray -Seminary, of 
which he was a trustee for twenty-five years. 
1 )uring his vacations, as was then customary 
for all farm-bred boys, he assisted his father 
in the management of his jiroperty, and in 
the winter of 1S51 taught school iii Athens. 
The following spring he went to Boston, 
Mass., where he was employed as a clerk in a 
mercantile establishment for more than three 
years. He ne.xt turned his steps to Califor- 
nia, where he was an instructor in the public 
schools, but in the fall of 1858 he returned 
to Townshend and engaged in general trade, 
in which he continued for thirty-one years. 
His health failing him, he sold out his busi- 
ness in 1 89 1, removing with his family to 
-Amherst, Mass., where he died, Feb. 20, 
1893. 




DON AVERY WINSLOW. 

March 27, 1848, he married Mary S., 
daughter of Curtis and Mary (DeW'olf) 
Newton of Greenfield, Mass. She died Jan. 
12, 1882. Five children were born to them : 
Edward \V. (drowned in early youth), Helen 
M. (now president of the Women's Press 
Association, Boston), Mary .\., Isabel N. 
(Mrs. Alexander Conrad of Cooledge, N. 
M.), and Harriet P. Mr. Winslow contracted 
a second marriage, May 5, 1886, with .Amanda 
M., daughter of Bela and Ann M. Johnson, 
of Whitfield, N. H. 

He has been a consistent member of the 
Congregational church in Westfield, was 
formerly a member of the Handel and 
Haydn Society of Boston, and was one of the 
organizers and early presidents of the Or- 
leans County Musical Association. 

WINSLOW, Samuel Dutton, late of 

Amherst, Mass., son of Peleg and Nancy 
(Bowles) Winslow, was born in Dummers- 
ton, .April 17, 1S32. 




SAMUEL DUrrON V/INSLOW. 

He married, Dec. 6, 1S59, Mary E., 
daughter of David and Betsey (Wood) Wil- 
lis, of East -Alstead, X. H. There were four 
children born to them, of whom the young- 
est, Lotie May, alone survives. 

Mr. Winslow was quite influential in town 
and county affairs, but generally avoided offi- 
cial positions. He was for nearly twenty- 
one years president of the Windham County 
Savings Bank, and was very active in pro- 
moting its interests. 

He contributed most liberally both time 
and money to promote the welfare of the 



438 



WITHERELI.. 



WOOIU'.URV. 



Congregational church, of which he was a 
member for thirty years, and in which he 
served from 1863 to 1S91 as deacon, Sunday 
school superintendent and teacher, doing all 
in his power. to advance its interests and 
efficiency. 

He was a typical New England man of 
active and energetic character, self-depend- 
ent, and relying solely upon his efforts. He 
possessed superior financial ability, was very 
successful in his business enterprises, and 
honorably and deservedly amassed consider- 
able wealth. 

WITHERELL, JOHN H., of Bridport, 
son of James and Susan (Willis) Witherell, 
was born in Bridport, julv 31, 1841. 




townsmen for his good judgment and hon- 
esty. In 18S0 he was called upon to serve 
in the I^egislature, serving on the standing 
committee as also on special committees. 

He was united in marriage at Bridport, 
Sept. 4, 1875, to Anna L)., daughter of Judge 
Henry and Eliza Sollace. Five children 
were born to them, four of whom survive : 
dertrude S., Kittle F"., Herman S., and 
Georgiana. 

For four years Mr. Witherell was Master 
of the Morning Sun Lodge, No. 5, F. & A. 
M. of Pkidporl, and he is a Sir Knight of 
Mount Calvary Commandery of Middlebury. 

WOODBURY, URBAN ANDRAIN, of 
Burlington, son of Albert M. and I.ucy L. 
(A\'adleigh) Woodbury, was born in Ac worth, 
X. H., July II, 1838. His father was a 
native of Cavendish, and returned to Ver- 
mont, after a temporary residence in New- 
Hampshire, when Urban was two years old. 
The latter was educated in the common 
schools of Morristown and the People's 
Academy in Morrisville, and was graduated 
from the medical department of the Univer- 
sity of Vermont in 1859. 




WITHERELL. 



He received his early education in the 
jchools of Bridport, but supplemented this 
instruction by an extended course of reading 
and practical and advantageous study. He 
has always been engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, formerly on the shores of Eake Cham- 
plain, but later in the village of Bridport, 
where he has since resided. He has been 
successful in his efforts and for three years 
has acted as manager of the Black Hawk 
stock farm. He makes horses a specialty 
and has bred already some fine specimens 
of the \Vilkes and Morgan strain. 

Though not one who seeks preferment Mr. 
Witherell has held many town offices, among 
them those of selectman and justice of the 
peace. He has always been a constant Re- 
publican and is held in high repute bv his 




The subject of this sketch was one of the 
first to enlist in the service of his country at 
the breaking out of the civil war. He be- 
came a member of Co. H, 2d Regt. Vt. 
Vols., May 25, 1861 ; was immediately ad- 
vanced to the grade of sergeant, taken pris- 
oner two months after his enlistment, at the 



WOOnwOR'lH. 

battle of Bull Run, in \vhic:h engagement he 
had the misfortune to lose his right arm ; 
was paroled Oct. 5, 1861, and discharged 
from service on account of wounds Oct. 18, 
1S61. Undaunted by his trying experience, 
he again sought to defend his country's flag, 
and Nov. 17, 1862, he was commissionetl 
captain of Co. D, nth Regt. Vt. Vols. He 
was transferred to the \'eteran Reserve ('orps 
June 17, 1863. In March, 1865, after faith- 
fully discharging the duties of his position, 
he resigned. 

Captain ^Voodbury was married, Feb. 12, 
i860, to Paulina L., second daughter of Ira 
and Sarah Darling of Elmore. By her he 
has six children: Charles Lincoln, Minnie 
Stannard, Gertrude Frances, Edward Fhilo, 
Lila Darling, and Mildred Dorothy. 

.After his return from the war he settled in 
Burlington, and became general manager of 
the lumber business of J. R. Booth. His 
skill as a financier and his power of applica- 
tion have made this concern a great success. 
He has also engaged in real estate opera- 
tions, and for twelve years has been the 
owner of the Van Ness House property. 

Mr. Woodbury is a Republican in his 
political views. He was elected alderman 
from the second ward in Burlington in iS8i 
and '82, and the latter year was made presi- 
dent of the board. In 1885 and '86 he was 
chosen mayor of the city, and in 1888 he 
was made Lieutenant-Governor of the state, 
serving under the administration of Gover- 
nor \\"illiam P. Dillingham. In every posi- 
tion, both public and private, he has made a 
most honorable record, and one that justly 
entitles him to the confidence and respect of 
all his fellow-citizens to whom he has proved 
by his past career that he is worthy of all 
honors they can bestow. 

Lieutenant-Governor Woodbury is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity in which he 
has taken the obligations of the 32d de- 
gree and of the Mystic Shrine. He also 
belongs to the I. 0.0. F. and the G. A. R., 
the Llnited States Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion, the Sons of the .American 
Revolution, and the Knights of Pythias. 

WOODWORTH, ARTHUR WELLING- 
TON, of Enosburg Falls, son of William S. 
and Patience S. (Stevens) Woodworth, was 
born in Berkshire, May 7, 1823. 

.After receiving his education at the com- 
mon schools of Enosburg he was instructed 
by his father in the trade of a carpenter and 
joiner, at which he worked till he arrived at 
his majority. Soon after he was employed 
as an agricultural laborer by Judge .Aldis 
and Lawrence Brainerd of St. .Albans. .As he 
was prudent and industrious, on his return 
to Enosburg he was enabled to invest his 
well-earned savings in a farm, to which he 



Wi)OI,S(.)N. 435 

has given most of his attention up to the 
present time, making a specialty of dairy- 
ing. When the railroad reached Enosburg 
he was elected a director, and j^urchasing 
some timber land became hea\ily interested 
in the sale of wood and ties to the corpor- 
ation. He is a joint owner and manager of 
the Lumber Manufacturing Co., at Sampson- 
ville. 

Mr. Woodworth was married, Nov. 15, 
1848, to .Adaline '1'., daughter of .Alpheus 
and Jane (French) Ladd of Enosburg. 
One daughter has been born to them : Lin- 
nie R. (Mrs. Walter P. Phelps). 




ARTHUR 'v'. ELLINGTO:, . 

He cast his first presidential vote lor 
Henry Clay, is an ardent Republican and 
has filled many responsible positions. .Al- 
ways active in the public affairs of his town 
and county, he was elected to the Legisla- 
ture from Enosburg in 1858 and 1859 and 
in rS8o was chosen a senator from Frank- 
lin county, serving on many important com- 
mittees. 

He was a director of the St. .Albans Sav- 
ings Bank and Trust Co., and is regarded 
by all as a man of sound judgment and un- 
doubted integrity, and as one who by his 
own unaided efforts has been financially suc- 
cessful and has lent a helping hand to many 
a fellow-man in need. 

WOOLSON, AMASA, late of Springfield, 
son of -Asa and .Ann Woolson, was born in 
Grafton, .August 6, 181 1. 



440 



Receiving a common school education, 
Mr. \\'oolson early displayed remarkable 
mechanical ability, and from the age of 
fourteen to thirty-five was engaged at Man- 
chester and Chester in manufacturing and 
finishing woolen cloths and inventing and 
making machinery suitable for this purpose. 
In 1S46 he removed to Springfield, and here 
became a member of the firm of Davidson 
& Parks, engaging in the manufacture of 
cloth finishing machinery. Four years later, 
upon the death of Mr. Davidson, the con- 
cern became Parks & Woolson thus con- 
tinuing until 1 8 78, when it was made a 
stock company. Mr. Woolson invented and 
patented the most effective shearing machine 
now in use, with a set of twentv-two revolving 



deacon of the Congregational church, presi- 
dent of the Jones & Lamson Machine Co. 
and of the First National Bank of Spring- 
field. 

As an inventor he held a high rank, and 
was awarded seven premiums, consisting of 
gold, silver and bronze medals, at different 
fairs in Boston and New York, as well as at 
the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. 

He married, Jan. 15, 1838, Mary L., 
daughter of John Davidson. Their only 
child, Helen M., died' in infancy, and her 
mother departed this life a few months later. 
He was again united to Mary E., daughter 
of Aaron and Lettice Baker, July i, 1863. 
Four children were born to them, two of 
whom survive : William D., and Charles A. 




vlASA WOOLSON 



blades. In 1888 Mr. Woolson, in connec- 
tion with others, purchased the stock of the 
Jones & Lamson Machine Co., of Windsor, 
moved it to Springfield and commenced the 
manufacture of machinists' tools of every 
description, but soon devoted their efforts 
to turret machinery exclusively, using for 
this purpose and ])atenting several valuable 
appliances invented by James Hartness, 
superintendent of the works. The company 
is now erecting factories which, vi^hen com- 
pleted, will double the capacity of the 
business. 

Mr. Woolson never aspired to political pre- 
ferment, but for nearly forty years was iden- 
tified with the business and religious life of 
Springfield. At the time of his death he was 



WOOSTER, Jay, of Whiting, son of 
Benjamin P. and Hannah (\\'arner) Woos- 
ter, was born in Whiting, Oct. 23, 1847. 

His educational advantages were confined 
to the schools of the town and he resolved to 
devote himself to the honorable occupation 
of a farmer. He has also speculated largely 
in live stock, and for several years has been 
extensively engaged in purchasing beef cat- 
tle for the general market. 

Mr. Wooster is a very strong Republican 
and an enthusiastic upholder of the national 
policy of that party. While never seeking 
office he has had all the public positions 
thrust upon him, which he cared to accept. 
For seventeen years he has discharged the 
duties of constable. 

He was married 'in Whiting, March 31, 
1875, to Mary Pond, daughter of Nelson and 
Jane Remeley. From this union two chil- 
dren were born : Robert N., and Egbert R. 

Mr. Wooster is a typical Yermonter of his 
class, of powerful frame and of more than 
average intelligence. His acquaintance is 
extensive and his friends numerous in the 
county in which he resides. 

He is a Free Mason, affiliating with 
Simond Lodge, No. 59. 

WYMAN, ANDREW A., of Athens, son 
of Thomas and Huldah (Gilbert) Wyman, 
was born in Rockingham, March 12, 1S30. 

After receiving his early education in the 
common schools of Rockingham, followed 
by several terms at the Townshend and 
Thetford .Academies, he taught school in 
the surrounding towns during the winter 
and was employed on the homestead in sum- 
mer. For some time he acted as salesman 
in the grocery store of his brother at Cam- 
bridgeport, and afterwards purchased a farm 
in Athens, removing in 1S71 to the old 
homestead. 

Mr. Wyman, at Chester, Oct. 27, 1857, 
was united to Martha, daughter of John and 
Martha (Davis) Eastman. One child, Stella 



441 



S., was the issue of this alliance. Mrs. 
Wyman died in October, 1881, and he was 
again married Nov. 16, 1882, to .\bbie A., 
daughter of Everett P. and Electa Wellman. 
He has been prominently identified in the 
affairs of his town, for a long time served as 
justice of the peace and selectman, and was 
elected assistant judge of the county in 1878 
and held the office six years. For four 
sessions (1S64, 1865, 1S67 and 1872) he 
represented his town in the Legislature, and 
in 1874 was elected a state senator from 
Windham county. All these positions he 
has filled with credit to himself and universal 
satisfaction to his constituency. In 1890 
Mr. \\'yman was appointed upon the board 
of cattle commissioners by Governor Page, 
and in 1892 he was elected county com- 
missioner. 

fi He is a public-spirited man, always mani- 
festina; liberal ideas. 



compelled him to withdraw from active busi- 
ness. For si.xteen years subsequently he 
gave his services to the lirattleboro Savings 
Bank, and for half that time he ably acted 
as treasurer of that institution. 

As religious and temperance principles 
were strongly inculcated in his early youth, 
he has always been a strong advocate of 
total abstinence and prohibition. 

He was united in marriage, Jan. i, 1848, 
to Charlotte Maria, daughter of James and 
Elenor Bruce. Of this union there are three 
children : Emma F. (wife of E. C. Crosby), 
Helen M. (wife of N. I). Allen), and 
Annie L. 

WYMAN, Martin L., of Gaysville, son 
of Anson and Lydia (Hannaford) Wyman, 
was born in Poultney, May ^ 1836. 



WYMAN, Cyrus Warren, of Brattie- 

boro, son of Thomas and Huldah (Gilbert) 
Wyman, was born in Rockingham, Dec. 18, 
1823. 




CYRUS WARREN WYMA 



In the intervals of his labor upon a farm 
he received his early education in the com- 
mon schools, and afterwards enjoyed the 
advantages of instruction in a seminary. In 
early life he followed the occupation of a 
merchant in his native town, where he held 
for six years the position of postmaster. He 
then moved to Brattleboro, and for a long 
period continued in trade, until failing health 





t^ 



w 



MARTIN L. WYMAN. 



His education was obtained in the district 
schools of Stockbridge and in the public and 
evening schools of Boston, Mass. At the age 
of fourteen he commenced to learn the trade 
of a machinist at Boston, and was for a time 
in the employment of the Vermont and 
Massachusetts R. R. He spent five years at 
Fitchburg working at his trade, and after- 
ward returned to Boston, where he contin- 
ued till 1 86 1, when, with Charles E. Moore, 
he formed a copartnership to engage in the 
manufacture of all kinds of e.vi)erimental 
machinery. He was one of the first to en- 
gage in the construction of passenger ele- 
vators for hotels and office buildings, under 
the patent of the late ( )tis Tufts. The name 



of Mr. Wyman often appears as the patentee 
of many useful inventions, more especially 
those appertaining to elevators. He retired 
from active participation in business recent- 
ly, leaving his son, Charles E., to occupy his 
place as treasurer and manager of the Moore 
& Wyman Elevator and Machine Works. 

An adherent of the Republican party, he 
has been selectman, auditor, grand juror, 
justice of the peace, and trustee of the pub- 
lic money of the town of Stockbridge, from 
which he was elected to the Legislature in 
1892, being a member of the committee on 
manufactures. 

He married, Feb. 12, 1856, Lydia B., 
daughter of Emerson and P21iza (Barrett) 
Hardy, of Harvard, Mass. Five children 
have been born to them : \\alter E., Charles 
E., George R., Martin L., and Alice M. 

Mr. Wyman is a member of the Massa- 
chusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association, 
and has been allied with the Masonic frater- 
nity for more than thirty years. He is now 
W. M. of White River Lodge, No. 90, of 
Bethel, and belongs to Whitney Chapter, R. 
A. M., Haswell Council, and Mt. Sinai Shrine. 
He is also a Knight Templar of Mt. Z ion 
Commandery. 

YOUNG, JOHN STILLMAN, of Troy, son 
of John and Sophia (Pike) Young, was born 
in Jay, March 6, 1845. 

His education was received in the public 
and grammar schools of Jay, \\'estfield, and 
Troy, after which he taught several terms of 
school ; he then entered Bryant & Stratton's 
Fiusiness College, at Burlington, from which 
he graduated in a shorter time than any pre- 
ceding pupil. He studied law with his 
brother-in-law at Derby Line for awhile, but 
concluding the mercantile business would be 
more congenial, he went to Boston, and en- 



gaged in book-keeping for about two years 
and in 1 8 7 1 entered into partnership with L.P. 
James in a general store in Troy. After being 
in business one year he sold out to his part- 
ner and again returned to Boston, where he 
remained for two years, but on account of ill- 
health returned to Vermont. After a short 
connection with the Reed ISoot and Shoe 
Manufacturing Co. in Westfield he purchased, 
in the fall of 1875, a general mercantile es- 
tablishment in Troy, which he has operated 
to the present time. In 1891 his store was 
consumed by fire, but the following season he 
erected one of the finest buildings for the 
purpose of trade in Orleans county. He 
deals in agricultural implements, furniture 
and undertakers' supplies, besides carrying a 
large stock of general merchandise. He has 
large real estate interests, and owns the old 
homestead in Jay, upon which he was born 
and reared. 

Mr. Young married, Jan. 25, 1883, Ludelle, 
daughter of Albert and Dorcas (Angier) 
Hodsden. 

Till 1886 Mr. Young was a Democrat, but 
since then has been a Republican. He has 
served the town of Troy in the capacity of 
selectman, treasurer, clerk, and auditor for 
many years, and from 1889 to 1893 was the 
postmaster of Troy, and in 1893 was elected 
chairman of the board of school directors. 

He enUsted at the outbreak of the civil 
war, but as he was under age and could not 
obtain his father's consent he remained at 
home. 

He is a member of Masonic Union Lodge, 
No. 16, of Troy, and in his religious prefer- 
ences affiliates with the Methodist church. 

He possesses rare executive ability, and is 
one of the most successful business men in 
( )rleans count v. 



PART III 



BIOGRAPHIES OF SONS OF VERMONT. 



ALLBEE, Burton H., of Springfield, 
Mass., son of Hiram S. and Biglovv Allbee, 
was born at Andover, Feb. 9, 1866. 




His early life was spent on the farm and 
in acquiring his education in the graded 
schools of Springfield. His journalistic ca- 
reer began with local work upon various 
state newspapers and the authorship of tren- 
chant articles on Vermont and her advan- 
tages and agriculture. He is said to have 
been the earliest advocate of a State Bureau 
of Emigration, and became the proprietor of 
the Vermont Monthly, devoted to the re- 
sources and possibilities of the state. Later 
he founded and disposed of the Teachers' 
Journal, the only educational journal in the 
state. From 18S9 to 1892 he was occupied 
in local work and corres]3ondence upon the 
Springfield (A't.) Reporter, Bellows Falls 
Times, Boston Journal, Herald, Globe and 



Record, the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, 
Manchester Union, and editing the Teachers' 
Journal. In November, 1S91, he began con- 
tributions to "Stone" of Indianapolis, on the 
mineral resources of the state, a subject to 
which he had given considerable attention, 
and had made an extensive collection of the 
economic minerals of the state. The result 
of this work brought him the editorship of 
"Stone and Milling," which he resigned to 
assume an editorial chair on the Indianapo- 
lis Sentinel. .After fourteen months' service, 
ending with the city editorship of the paper, 
he was called to the city editor's chair on 
the Springfield (Mass.) Homestead, and also 
the commercial editorship of the New I'^ng- 
land and New York Homesteads and Farm 
and Home, which position he still occupies. 
Mr. Allbee was married Dec. 18, i88g, to 
Emma, daughter of James H. and Sarah T- 
Goldsmith of Weathersfield Center. From 
this union was one child: ^\'illiam Gokl- 
smith. 

ABBOTT, George B., of Brooklyn, 
N. Y., the present surrogate of Kings county, 
N. Y., was born at Brookfield, Sept. 27, 1S50. 

His parents removed to Brooklyn in his 
youth, and he was prepared for college at the 
Polytechnic Institute in that city. His 
academic education was completed at ^\"\\\- 
iams College, where he graduated in 1872. 
He then traveled in Europe, and on his re- 
turn to New York entered upon the study of 
law in the office of Abraham R. Lawrence, 
now on the bench of the Supreme Court in 
that city, and also studied in the law school 
of Columbia College, from which institution 
he received the degree of L. L. B. in 1S74. 
He at once began the active practice of his 
profession, and in i88i,upon the retirement 
of the late Henry J. Cullen, Jr., from that 
office, he was appointed public administrator 
in Kings county, and received a re-appoint- 
ment to the same position in 1886. 

On February 9, 1889, Mr. .\bbott was 
appointed by Governor Hill to the office of 
surrogate of Kings county to fill the vacancy 
caused bv the death of Surrogate .Abraham 




<U^A^J9. GUU-r^-iT^" 



],ott. At the general election in November 
of the same year he was elected surrogate for 
a full term of six years, beginning on Jan. i, 
1890, when his term by appointment expired. 

The amount of business done annually in 
the Kings county surrogate's court and the 
value of the property administered under its 
direction make that tribunal the most im- 
portant probate court in the land, with the 
single exception of the surrogate's court in 
New York City. Speaking of Judge .Abbott's 
character as a judicial officer, " The Surro- 
gate," a monthly journal devoted to subjects 
connected with the probate law, said, last 
year : " Even the limited time which has 
elapsed since Mr. Abbott's promotion to the 
bench has been sufficient to demonstrate his 
exceptional fitness for the high post he 
occupies. We have already spoken of his 
mastery of the peculiar practice and pro- 
ceedure of courts of probate. This gives 
him an ease and facility in disposing of 
routine business not easily acquired except 
by years of experience on the bench. In 
the higher qualities of the judicial office he 
has manifested a vigorous industry, a degree 
of painstaking care, a perfect fairness and a 
knowledge of legal principles and how to 
apply them which has already won for him 
the confidence and approbation of lawyers, 
litigants and the public, and assure him a 
career of the most honorable distinction 
among the surrogates of this state." 

Judge Abbott, in addition to his city resi- 
dence, is the owner of a fine cottage at 
Shelter Island, where he spends his summer 
vacation ; and he is a prominent figure in 
the social life of Brooklyn, being a member 
of the Brooklyn, Hamilton, Excelsior and 
Germania Clubs there and of the University 
Club in New Votk. 

On Nov. 20, 1878, he married Miss Eva 
T. Reene of Brooklyn, and has two charm- 
ing children : a girl eleven years old and a 
boy six, to whom he is devoted. 

ALFORD, ALONZO, of Brooklyn, N. 
Y.,son of Ammi and Clarissa (White) Alford, 
was born in St. Albans, Jan. 28, 1837. 

He received the educational advantages 
of the schools of St. .\lbans, and at the age 
of twenty took a position with A. (1. Strong, 
hardware merchant of Burlington, and after 
four years removed to New Haven, Conn., 
and engaged in the flour and grain business 
with Wadhams & j\Ierwin. In 1863 he 
located in New York, was a salesman for Mer- 
win & Bray, predecessors of Merwin, Hulbert 
& Co., and a few years later having become 
interested in the Ballard Rifle Manufactur- 
ing Co., was chosen treasurer and manager 
of that concern, and subsequently organized 
the house of .Alford, Berkele & Clapp, which 
firm, besides carrying on its own business as 



jobbers of fire-arms, was the New York 
distributing agents of E. Remington & Sons, 
predecessors of the Remington Arms Co. In 
187 1, when the Remingtons opened their 
New York warerooms, Mr. .\lford was placed 
in charge of them as general manager, oc- 
cupying that position for eight years, and 
then purchased the business from the then 
embarrassed company, and conducted it 
successfully for two years, when he sold it 
back to the Remingtons and resumed his 
old position as manager. 1 88 1 he resigned 
this position, purchased the controlling in- 
terest in a tool and cutlery manufactory in 
Massachusetts, and established warerooms 
in New York for the sale of these wares. 
The success of this concern began from the 




first, and in 1883 it was incorporated under 
the title of the Alford & Berkele Co., with 
Mr. Alford as president, a position which he 
still occupies. In 1887 the Alford & Berkele 
Co. bought out the Avery Sewing Machine 
Co., and organized the Avery Sewing Ma- 
chine .\gency, Mr. Alford being elected 
president and holding the position at the 
present time, June 30, 1893. 

Mr Alford is a Republican, and since his 
residence in Brooklyn has been chairman of 
the Ward Association, member of the gen- 
eral committee, and a liberal supporter of 
his party. 

He is a member and one of the deacons 
of the Central Congregational Church of 
Brooklyn ; a member of the Congregational 



Club, the Sons of Temperance ; for twenty 
years a member of the directory of the Y. 
M. C. A. ; a director of the Congregational 
Church Building Society, and of the City 
Mission and Tract Society, and president of 
the Mercantile Benefit Association. He is a 
prominent Mason and Odd Fellow ; was 
treasurer of the Amateur Rifle Club during 
its existence, and a life member of the 
National Rifle Association, out of which was 
organized the American Rifle Team, which 
distinguished itself at Dollymount, Wimble- 
don and Creedmoor. 

Mr. Alford was united in marriage at fSer-- 
nardston, Mass., Feb. i, i860, to Chloe Cor- 
nelia, daughter of Henry and Sylvina A. 
(Hale) Slate. Mrs. Alford is an active 
Christian worker, and is treasurer of the 
National N. P. \V. C. T. U., and for many 
years was the publisher of the official organ 
of the W. C. T. U., Our Union, now the 
Union Signal, and at present pubhsher of 
the Temperance Tribune. 

Since the foregoing was written Mr. Alford 
has retired from business, and has taken up 
his residence at Bernardston, Mass., where 
he has a comfortable country home. 

ALFORD, Albert Gallatin, of Balti- 
more, Md., son of Ammi and Clarissa G. 
(White) Alford, was born at St. Albans, Oct. 
14, 1847, and afterwards removed to ^^'ater- 
ville. 

Death breaking up his parents' home 
while he was yet a boy, Mr. Alford was 
thrown upon his own resources, having had 
only the advantages of the village schools. 
After a short time spent in the American 
Hotel at Burlington he went to New Haven, 
Conn., to learn a trade. At the age of 
seventeen he enlisted in the U. S. Engineer 
Corps at New Haven, Feb. 21, 1S65, and 
served three years, having been promoted 
an artificer. A taste for military life has 
always been fostered ; and while living in 
Chicago in 1874, he enlisted in ist Regt. 111. 
N. G., and was rapidly promoted, holding a 
lieutenant's commission at the time of his 
resignation when he moved to Baltimore ; 
and from 1886 to 1893 held the office of 
captain, ordnance officer and inspector of 
rifle practice in ist Regt., Md. N. G. 

In business life he early became connected 
with the great firm of gun manufacturers, E. 
Remington & Sons, and from 1874 to 1883 
was their manager of the arms department 
in Chicago and later general manager of 
their entire business in Baltimore, when in 
1883 he established the great sporting 
goods house now known as the A. G. Alford 
Sporting Goods Co. 

Mr. Alford has occupied a leading part in 
social organizations and societies. From the 
George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R., of Chica- 



go, he was transferred to Custer Post, No. 6, 
of Maryland, in 1879, i" which post he served 
as commander ; also as assistant inspector 
general ; two terms on commander-in-chiefs 
staff; junior vice-department commander of 
Maryland in 1882 ; and has served continu- 
ously as department and national officer from 
1880 to 1 89 1 in positions mentioned, and 
also as chief mustering officer and A. D. C. 
He is also a member of the A. O. U. W. and 
U. S. Benevolent Fraternity : of the latter he 
is one of the supreme officers. 




ALBERT GALLATIN 



Mr. Alford has never sought political pre- 
ferment, but has always been a Republican, 
and in 1893 was the unanimous choice of the 
Republicans of his ward for first branch city 
council, and although this ward was over five 
hundred Democratic the year previous, was 
defeated by only thirty-three votes. 

In 1886 he married Clara Augusta, daugh- 
ter of William T. and Margaret Robinson, of 
Baltimore, and has two daughters : Delia R. 
and Bessie P. Mrs. Alford is the depart- 
ment treasurer of the Women's Relief Corps, 
and one of the organizers of the department. 

ALLEN, JOHN Clayton, of Lincoln, 
Neb., son of John H. Allen, was born in 
Hinesburg, Feb. 14, i860. 

He received his early education at Hines- 
burg Academy and graduated from the New 
Haven .Academy, when he associated himself 
with his father in the lumber and harness busi- 
ness in his native town and there continued 



until 1881. Remoxing to Lincoln, Xeb., in 
March, 1881, he entered the wholesale grocery 
house of Raymond Bros. & Co., representing 
that firm in southwestern Nebraska and east- 
ern Colorado, where he remained until 1886. 
In that year, Mr. .-Mien entered into business 
on his own account at McCook, Red Willow 
county, Neb., and built up one of the largest 
wholesale and retail general merchandise 
houses in southwestern Nebraska, which he 
continued until 1892. 




JOHN CLAYTON ALLEN. 

Politically, Mr. .\llen has held true to his 
early training and is a member of the Repub- 
lican party. He was elected a councilman 
in the city of McCook in the fall of 1886, 
and served two terms of two years each, 
being president of the council during the en- 
tire term of his incumbency and acting mayor 
for six months, resigning that office at the 
time of his election as secretary of state. In 
1890, he was nominated by the Republican 
state convention for the office of secretary of 
state, and was elected over four other con- 
testants with a plurality of 3,800. 

In 1892 he was renominated by acclama- 
tion by the Republican state convention for 
a second term, and was elected by 21,209 
plurality votes over four others. Mr. Allen 
has always been regarded as one of the 
stanchest Republicans and one of the best 
informed politicians of Nebraska, and natur- 
ally has a large following. He is looked 
upon as a representative of the business in- 
terests of Nebraska, and he has ahvavs 



enjoyed the confidence and support of the 
business men irrespective of political opinion. 

He is a member of Willow Grove Lodge, 
No. 42, K. of P., McCook, Neb., and a 
member of the Commercial Pilgrims of 
.\merica. 

Mr. Allen was united in marriage, in 
August, 1 88 1, to Abbie Stapleford of Ver- 
mont, 111., a niece of ex-Attorney Ceneral 
C. J. Dilworth of Nebraska. The issue of 
this marriage is: Ralph C, born Se])t. i, 
18S3. 

ALLEN, John Clarence, of Brooklyn, 

N. Y., son of Rufus C. and Sabrina (York) 
.Allen, was born July 28, 184S, at Wallingford. 
Mr. Allen is from an ancestry distinguished 
in religious constancy. His mother and her 




CLARENCE ALLEN. 



ancestors for generations were Baptists ; 
while his father and mother were active 
Christians from their youth, and sang to- 
gether in church for thirty-five years. Love 
of music and skill in it are family charac- 
teristics, no less than church work. Mr. 
Allen's sister Fanny is the wife of T. J. 
Whitaker of Brooklyn. 

He was educated at the Wallingford high 
school and Black River Academy at Ludlow, 
and was graduated with highest oratorical 
and other honors at Madison (now Colgate) 
L'niversity at Hamilton, N. Y., in 1874. 
Mr. .Allen entered upon his first pastorate in 
Newark, N. J., in 1875. Success crowned 
his efforts. Following this work he served 



the First Church (Baptists) of Elizabeth, 
N. J., for five and a half years, performing 
loyal work, baptizing many and raising the 
church. The earnest call of the Hanson 
Place Baptist Church drew Mr. Allen to 
Brooklyn. Here his tireless devotion and 
energy found wide scope. During the sum- 
mer and fall of 1885 he remodelled the 
main audience room and erected lecture and 
Sunday school rooms, fitting them with es- 
sential modern appliances for church work. 
In the first year of the pastorate the entire 
church debt was pledged and paid off, 
amounting to $40,000. During Mr. Allen's 
ministry thus far he has baptized over five 
hundred souls, and has been the means of 
securing over $125,000 for the use of the 
Baptist denomination, and has borne an 
honorable part in the formation and work of 
the Brooklyn Baptist Extension Society. 

His activity in temperance and other re- 
form work has been highly commendable. 
At the national Prohibition convention, at 
Cincinnati, in 1S92, he was a delegate. To 
many social organizations he has lent his 
earnest support and membership. Among 
them are the Phi Beta Kappa Society of 
New '\'ork ; the American Institute of Civ- 
ics ; Metropolitan Museum of Art : Brook- 
lyn Baptist Social Union ; Brooklyn Society 
of Vermonters ; and the New York Alumni 
Association of Colgate University, of which 
he is president. 

Mr. x'Vllen was married in 1874 to Julia I., 
daughter of Rev. Charles T. and Irene 
(Buell) Johnson. 

ANN IS, Jere Wright, of Osage, 

Iowa, son of A. \\". and Laura (Hodgkin) 
Annis, was born in AVestfield, Jan. 22, 1844. 

He received his education at the district 
schools of his native town and the Westfield 
.Academy. 

Upon attaining his majoritv he removed 
to Osage, Iowa, and there formed a partner- 
ship with E. O. Hitchcock in the mercantile 
business, which was successfully conducted 
until 1868, when he formed a partnership 
with Judge Hitchcock and J. H. Johnson, 
and conducted a large hardware business 
under the firm name of Johnson & Annis, 
which was continued until 1885, when he re- 
ceived the appointment of assistant cashier 
of the Osage National Bank, which was fol- 
lowed in 1 89 1 by his promotion to the posi- 
tion of cashier, a position he still holds, as 
well as a directorship in the same institution. 

Politically Mr. Annis has affiliated with 
the Republican party, and at the hands of 
his party was honored by an election to the 
mayoralty of Osage in 1881, and again in 
1893, being the present mayor. He is pre- 
sident of the Osage Board of Trade, presi- 
dent of the Mitchell County Farmers' ]\Iutual 



Fire Insurance Company and Agricultural 
Society. 

He is a member of Osage Lodge, No. 102, 
F. & .\. M,, and Osage Chapter, No. 36, and 
is Eminent Commander of Coeur de Leon 
Commandery, No. 19. 




JERE WRIGHT ANNIS. 

Mr. Annis was united in marriage Nov. 24, 
1864, at \\'estfield, to Lucia S., daughter of 
Hiram and Harriet Hitchcock. Four child- 
ren ha^•e blessed this union : Franklin W., 
Fanny, Laura L., and Homer B. 

ARTHUR, Chester .4., late President 
of the L'nited 
States, was born 
in Fa i r fi e Id, 
Oct. 5, 1830, 
the son of Rev. 
Dr. William 
: •*^"*'* .Arthur. The 

educational an- 
tecedents and 
scholarly tastes 
of Dr. Arthur 
induced h i m 
to give his elder 
son, Chester A., 
a thorough 
course of in- 
struction in the 
best schools of L'nion Milage and Schenec- 
tady, N. V. Classical preparation for college 
he made his own especial care, and with such 
success that the future President was fitted for 




matriculation at I'nion College when only fif- 
teen years old. Honorably graduating with 
the class of 184S, young Arthur selected the 
profession of law for his future activities, and 
l)egan the requisite studies in Fowler's Law 
School at Ballston Spa. In 1853 he re- 
paired to the city of New York, entered the 
law office of ex-Judge K. D. Culver, was ad- 
mitted to the bar in the same year, and com- 
menced professional practice. 

-Mr. Arthur's earliest opportunity of legal 
distinction was in connection with the fa- 
mous slave case of Jonathan Lemmon of Mr- 
ginia. Lemmon had attempted to carry 
eight slaves through New York on his way 
to Texas. His right to do this was disputed 
on the ground that they were free because of 
his voluntarily bringing them into free ter- 
ritory. The case was tried on a case of 
habeas corpus before Judge Payne who 
ordered the slaves to be released. The judge 
affirmed that they could neither be held to 
servitude in New York, nor relegated to 
slavery under the provisions of the fugitive 
slave act. The Supreme Court of New York 
sustained his decision, as did the Court of 
Appeals. Not less honorable to Mr. Arthur 
■was the defence of the legal rights of the 
colored people in 1S56, when he was coun- 
sel for Lizzie Jennings, a colored girl who 
had been forcibly ejected from a street car 
after she had paid her fare. A verdict 
against the company was obtained. 

Mr. Arthur's genius was naturally inclined 
to the science and art of politics — in the true 
sense of that much abused phrase. His first 
active associations were with the Henry Clay 
Whigs. Of the Saratoga convention, which 
founded the Republican party in New York, 
he was a member. Military affairs also in- 
terested him. Prior to the outburst of the 
secessionist rebellion he held the office of 
judge-advocate of the second brigade of the 
state militia. Under Governor Morgan he 
was raised, in i860, to the position of engin- 
eer-in-chief of the staff. Subsequently he 
was made inspector-general, and next quar- 
termaster-general of the state militia. This 
latter office he held until the close of Gov- 
ernor Morgan's magistracy in 1863. In per- 
formance of his official functions he equipped, 
supplied and forwarded the immense number 
of troops demanded from his state. Intelli- 
gent, sagacious, vigorous and always incor- 
ruptible, his military administration was 
notably brilliant and successful. 

General Arthur returned to legal practice 
in 1863. His business was largely that of 
collecting claims against the government. 
In legislative affairs he was also greatly in- 
fluential. Many important enactments were 
drafted by him, and to his labors their 
adoption at Albany and Washington was 
mainly due. For a brief period he acted as 



counsel of the New ^■ork board of commis- 
sioners. In local politics he soon became 
an efficient factor. By President Grant he 
was appointed collector of customs at the 
port of New York on the 20th of November, 
187 1. A second appointment to the same 
office followed in 1875, ^"d ^^-s at once con- 
firmed by the Senate, without the customary 
formality of reference to a committee. Dif- 
ficulties between himself and President 
Hayes occurred in 1877, in consequence of 
an order issued by the latter, which pro- 
hibited persons in the civil service of the 
general government from personal activity 
in political management. This injunction 
was specially onerous on General Arthur, 
who was then chairman of the Republican 
central committee of New York City, and 
also on Naval Officer A. B. Cornell, who was 
chairman of the state central committee. 
Both refused to comply, and both were sus- 
pended from office in July, 1878. The suc- 
cessor to General Arthur, appointed after 
his suspension, was confirmed in the ensuing 
session of the L'nited States Senate. A 
previous attempt to eftect Arthur's removal 
had failed, through refusal on the part of the 
Senate to confirm the nominee of President 
Hayes. No oflncial dereliction could be 
detected by either of two special committees 
who investigated the administration of the 
office. The probity of his official acts was 
unquestionable, and was freely acknowledged 
by the superiors who sought to oust him 
from office. The public desired his reten- 
tion. All the judges of the New York courts, 
most of the leading members of the bar, and 
nearly all the mercantile importers in the 
city signed a petition asking that he might 
be continued in office. But he himself sup- 
pressed the petition. The only accusation 
against him was that he had disregarded 
the President's injunction to refrain, in com- 
mon with all civil servants of the public, 
from active political management. In a 
letter addressed to Secretary Sherman he 
showed that during the six years of his 
administration as collector at New York he 
had removed only two and three-fourths per 
cent, of the whole number of subordinate 
officials, while the percentage of removals 
under his three immediate predecessors 
average no less than 28 per cent. He also 
showed that in ninety-seven out of one hun- 
dred appointments to important positions, 
having a salary of §2,000 or more, he had 
raised the incumbents from the lower grades 
of the service on the recommendation of the 
heads of the several bureaus. His fidelity 
to the best interests of ' the public could 
scarcely have been more apparent. 

Returning to pri\ate life, General Arthur 
again resumed the practice of law in the city 
of New York. He also zealouslv guided the 



movements of his political associates, and 
assisted in the nomination and election of 
Mr. A. B. Cornell to the gubernatorial chair 
of the state. He and Roscoe Conklingwere 
closely allied in the effort to secure the nom- 
ination of General Grant to a third term in 
the presidency of the national Republican 
convention held at Chicago in i<S8o. Their 
lack of success, singularly enough, prepared 
the way for his own nomination to the vice- 
presidency. James A. Garfield was selected 
for the national chief magistracy, and Chester 
A. Arthur for the second position. The 
latter was nominated by acclamation. In 
the exciting canvass that followed he was 
one of the principal managers. In his own 
state, as chairman of the Republican central 
committee, he was particularly effective. His 
presidency of the Senate of the United 
States, during the special session which 
began the 4th of March, 1881, was charac- 
terized by great personal dignity. In the 
contest between President Garfield and U. 
S. Senator Conkling over civil appointments 
in the state of New York, and particularly 
over the nomination of Judge A\'illiam H. 
Robertson to the coUectorship of New York, 
he declined to participate. He did, how- 
ever, in harmony with that faithfulness to 
private friendships, which was one of his 
most conspicuous and attractive traits, re- 
pair to Albany after the New York senators 
had resigned, in order to co-operate in their 
re-election. While the issue was yet unde- 
termined. President Garfield was assassi- 
nated. The pistol of Guiteau prevented 
further electioneering in behalf of Mr. Conk- 
ling. General Arthur was o^•erwhel^led by 
the deepest grief over the terrible tragedy. 

The death of President Clarfield was an- 
nounced to General Arthur by telegraph at 
New York. The members of the cabinet 
expressed the wish that he would repair to 
Long Branch on the following morning. 
This he did. But before his departure, and 
in harmony with the advice of his friends, he 
took the oath of office as President of the 
United States in his own house, about 2 a. m. 
of September 20, before one of the judges 
of the Supreme Court of New York. From 
Long Branch he accompanied the remains 
of his deceased predecessor to Washington. 
There he was formally sworn into office be- 
fore the chief justice of the Supreme Court 
of the United States on the 22d of Septem- 
ber, and briefly stated his own appreciation 
of the grave possibilities devolved upon him. 
His first official act on the same day was to 
proclaim a day of general mourning for the 
lamented Garfield. A special session of the 
Senate was convoked, to begin on the loth 
of October, for the purpose of choosing a 
presiding officer and of confirming such ap- 
pointments as might be submitted. The 



members of the cabinet were requested to 
retain their portfolios until the regular meet- 
ing of Congress in December. All of them 
consented to do so with the exception of 
Secretary Windom of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, who insisted on resigning in order 
that he might become a candidate for the 
Senate from Minnesota. Ex-Gov. E. D. 
Morgan, of New York, was nominated and 
promptly confirmed as his successor. On 
the declinture of the latter gentleman to 
serve. Chief Judge Folger, of the New York 
Court of Appeals, was chosen and confirmed 
in his room. 

After his accession to the presidency 
General Arthur made official changes in a 
gradual and cautious manner. Robert T. 
Lincoln, of Illinois, son of the martyr Presi- 
dent, was retained in the secretaryship of 
war. All the other members of the cabinet 
were replaced by different statesmen. In 
February, 1882, he nominated Roscoe 
Conkling to the vacancy on the bench of 
the Supreme Court, but after that gentleman 
had been confirmed by the Senate he re- 
spectfully declined to accept the elevation. In 
August President Arthur nominated General 
U. S. Grant as one of two commissioners to be 
appointed to negotiate a commercial treaty 
with Mexico. In all the legislation of that 
and the following year he was a wise and 
judicious factor. The foreign relations of 
the government were undisturbed and satis- 
factory. The "Monroe Doctrine" was again 
asserted by him in relation to the canal 
across the Isthmus of Panama — the neutral- 
ity of which naturally and rightfully falls 
under the protectorate of the United States 
— in correspondence with the British gov- 
ernment. On May 9, 1883, he approved 
and promulgated the rules of the civil ser- 
vice, under which demonstrated fitness is the 
only condition of continuance in office. 

President Arthur's administration was at- 
tended by the unexampled prosperity of the 
people. Whether in the meetings of his 
cabinet, at his weekly receptions, or in Sab- 
bath worship at the church, he was ever the 
same gentle and unobtrusive gentleman. 
But beneath this quietude of aspect was an 
enormous reserve of power. Holding an 
office to which he was only indirectly elected, 
he exercised its functions in a manner that 
challenged the unfeigned admiration of all 
observers. None of the fears entertained by 
some at the epoch of his accession were 
realized. He fulfilled the highest hopes of 
those who knew him best. The respect and 
gratitude of the nation were justly and 
freely accorded to him. The simplicity, 
the strength, the dignity, the wisdom of his 
patriotic service are acknowledged on all 
hands. 



Chester A. Arthur was married in 1859 to 
Ellen Lewis, daughter of Captain William 
Lewis Herndon, of Fredericksburg, Va., 
Mrs. Arthur died in January, 1880, leaving 
two children, viz. : Chester A., aged fifteen, 
and Ellen Herndon, aged eight years. 
President Arthur died in New ^■ork Nov. 18, 
1886. 

ARNOLD, Lemuel H., was born in St. 
Johnsbury, Jan. 29, 1792, and removed to 
Rhode Island at an early age. He gradu- 
ated at Dartmouth College in 181 1, was 
educated for the bar, but turned his attention 
to mercantile pursuits. In 1S31 he was 
elected Governor of Rhode Island, and re- 
elected in 1832 ; he was a member of the 
Governor's council during the Dorr rebel- 
lion in 1842, was a representative in Con- 
gress from 1845 to 184/1 and died in Kings- 
ton, R. I., June 27, 1852. 

ATWOOD, Harrison Henry, of Bos- 
ton, Mass., son of Peter Clark and Helen 
Marion (Aldrich) .^twood, was born in North 
Londonderry, .August 26, 1863. 




HARRISON HENRY ATWOOD. 

Soon after his birth his parents located in 
Boston, where his school training was obtain- 
ed. He graduated from the Phillips gram- 
mar school in 1877, and immediately entered 
the law office of Godfrey Morse and John R. 
Bullard. At the age of seventeen he took u]) 
the study and practice of architecture as his 
chosen profession, and became a student of 



Mr. Samuel J. F. Thayer, where he remained 
for four years, and after spending one year in 
the office of .Mr. (ieorge A. Clough, ex-city 
architect, he began practice in the fall of 
1886, his prize designs for the Suffolk 
county court house and the public library 
being his best work as a student. Aiter com- 
mencing practice he was at various times 
employed by the city of Chelsea, on public 
work, and established a reputation for thor- 
oughness and care, his First National Bank 
building in Chelsea being the finest and 
most expensive building in the city. In May, 
1889, he was appointed by Hon. Thomas N. 
Hart, mayor of Boston, as city architect, in 
which position he served during Mayor Hart's 
administration, being re-appointed in 1890. 
\\'hile city architect he completed the legacies 
in the way of unfinished public buildings left 
by former administrations, viz. : The Horace 
Mann School for Deaf Mutes, the South Bos- 
ton grammar school, the Ro.xbury high 
school, and several minor buildings ; and the 
new work laid out, completed or placed un- 
der contract during his term of office com- 
prise four of the finest public school buildings 
in New England — the Henry L. Pierce gram- 
mar school ; the Prince primary school ; the 
Bowditch grammar school, and the Adams 
primary school. All the new work was placed 
by him in one single contract, a method of 
doing the public business never before or since 
adopted by the architect department. Be- 
sides these beautiful school buildings, much 
work was accomplished during these two 
years for the fire, police, water, sewer and 
park departments. 

Mr. .■\twood was a member of the House 
of Representatives of 1887 from the eighth 
Suffolk representative district, was re-elected 
in 1 888, and honored again in 1889, at 
which election he received the highest num- 
ber of votes ever cast before or since for 
any representative candidate, and this too, 
despite the fact that the district was o\er a 
thousand Democratic majority. During his 
service in the Legislature, his committee 
appointments were among the most im- 
])ortant. His work upon the committees on 
state house extension, liquor law, mercantile 
affairs and cities was most creditable, and 
gained him much in character and reputa- 
tion. He was elected an alternate delegate 
from the old fourth congressional district to 
the national Republican convention at 
Chicago in 1888, and was again honored by 
being chosen as a delegate to the Repub- 
lican national convention at Minneapolis in 
1892. He has been a member of the Re- 
publican city committee of Boston since 
1884, serving as its secretary for four years, 
and for the years i887-'88 was a member of 
the Republican state committee. Septem- 
ber 14, 1892, he was nominated by the Re- 



publicans of the new tenth Massachusetts 
congressional district as their standard 
bearer in one of the hardest fought political 
campaigns that Massachusetts has witnessed 
in many years. His dignified and manly 
course throughout this most exciting con- 
gressional canvass, and especially towards 
those of his own party whose support was 
given to an independent Republican candi- 
date, was such as to win even the plaudits of 
his political opponents and make even 
keener the regret when at the close of what 
was at first considered a hopeless task, his 



election was defeated by only six hundred 
and eighty-five \otes with the independent 
Republicans attracting the support of over 
twenty-two hundred voters. 

Mr. .Atwood is a member of St. John's 
Lodge, F. & .\. M., St. Paul's Royal .Arch 
Chapter, and Boston Commandery, is also a 
member of the I. O. (). F. 

He was married in Boston, Sept. ii, 1S89, 
to Clara, eldest daughter of the late John 
.'\ugust and Sophie ( Kupfer) Stein ; they 
have two sons : Harrison Henrv, Ir., and 
.■August Stein. 



BABCOCK, JOSEPH Weeks, of Nece- 
dah, Wis., was born in Swanton Falls, March 
6, 1S50 ; removed with his parents to Iowa 
in 1S56, where he received a common school 
education ; he is a grandson of the late Hon. 
Joseph Weeks of Richmond, N. H., who 
was a member of the 24th and 25 th Con- 
gress ; is by occupation a lumberman ; set- 
tled at Necedah in 1S81, where he has since 
resided ; was elected to the Wisconsin As- 
sembly in 1888, and served as chairman of 
the committee on incorporations, and was 
re-elected in 1890: was elected to the 53d 
Congress as a Republican. 

BALDWIN, Melvin R., of Duluth, 
Minn., was born in Windsor county, .April 
12, 1838 : removed to ^\'isconsin 1847 '• ^^' 
tered Lawrence Uni\ersity, .Appleton, Wis., 
1855, remaining through the sophomore 
year ; studied law, and then adopted civil 
engineering as a profession ; was engaged 
on Chicago & Northwestern R. R. till 
.April 19, 1S61 ; enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany E., 2d Wis. Infantry, brigaded with the 
Iron Brigade ; was slightly wounded at the 
first, and severely wounded at the second 
battle of Bull Run ; promoted to captain of 
his company ; was captured at Gettysburg 
and confined in Libby, ;\Iacon, Georgia, 
Charleston, and Columbia, South Carolina ; 
made two escapes, but was recaptured, and 
was finally exchanged after se\'enteen months' 
imprisonment. Engaged in operative rail- 
road work in Kansas after the war ; was gen- 
eral superintendent four years ; removed to 
Minnesota in 1875, and has re.sided in Du- 
luth since 1885 : president of Duluth Cham- 
ber of Commerce since 1886 : always a 
Democrat ; twice declined Congressional 
nomination ; nominated by acclamation in 
August, 1892, and was elected to the 53d 
Congress. 

BARBER, J. ALLEN.was born in Georgia, 
after a partial course of studies at the L^ni- 
versity of Vermont, studied law and was ad- 
mitted to practice in 1833 ; in 1837 he 



removed to the then territory of Wisconsin, 
and settled at Lancaster, where he has since 
practiced. He was a member of the first 
Constitutional Convention of AVisconsin in 
1846; was elected to the state .Assembly of 
Wisconsin in 1852, 1853 and 1863, serving 
the last year as speaker : was elected to the 
state Senate in 1856 and 1857 : was elected 
a representative from Wisconsin in the 
42d Congress, asa Republican : was re-elected 
to the 43d Congress. 

BARTO, ALPHONSO, of St. Cloud, 
Minn., was born in Hinesburgh May 27, 
1834, and was the son of AVilliam R. and 
Mary (Gage) Barto. 

He was educated at the district schools 
and under private instruction. .At an early 
age he removed to Illinois and engaged in 
farming, which vocation he followed until 
his enlistment in 1861. Upon his return 
from the war of the rebellion in 1 864 he en- 
gaged in the manufacture of furniture at 
Elgin, 111. Desiring to lead a professional 
life he studied law and was admitted to the 
bar in 1S70. Removing to Sauk Centre, 
Minn., in 1869, he began the practice of 
his profession and has since followed it with 
great success both there and at St. Cloud, 
where he novy resides. 

He enlisted as a private in Co. K, 5 2d 
111. Inf. Vols., in i86i,andwas successively- 
promoted to second-lieutenant and captain. 
Serving three years he was mustered out 
Oct. 25, 1864. ' 

.A Republican in his political beliefs he has 
held many positions of trust within the gifts 
of the people ; was a justice of the peace in 
Kane county, 111., for three years, and 
treasurer of the same county, i867-'69; was 
a member of the House of Representatives 
of Minnesota, 1871 ; re-elected in 1872 and 
elected Lieutenant-Governor of the state of 
Minnesota in 1873, serving through a cred- 
itable administration until 1S75 ; was a mem- 
ber of the national convention which nomi- 
nated Blaine in 1884 : has held many local 
and state offices and is now re£;ister of the 



r.ATCHELDER. 



U. S. land office at St. Cloud ; was one of 
the organizers of the St. Cloud Merchants 
National Bank, has been a director since its 
organization, and is now its vice-president. 

He married at Middlebury, in 1854, Har- 
riet E., daughter of Allen E. and Sarah 
Hitchcock, of Whiting. The issue of this 
union were: Mary E. (deceased), Lyman 
R. (now judge of municipal court at Sauk 
Centre, Minn.), and Harriet M. (deceased). 
Mrs. Barto died Oct. 13, 1866, and Mr. 
Barto married Charlotte, daughter of Will- 
iam and Mary Ann Allen, of Ferrisburgh, 
Oct. 17, 1S67. Of this union was one 
son, William A., who is now about to grad- 
uate from the University of Minnesota. 




ALPHONSO BARTO. 

Governor Barto has been prominent in 
Masonic circles, and first affiliated with 
Geneva Lodge, No. 139, at fiene\a, 111., in 
1 86 1, receiving the chapter degrees and was 
exalted to a Royal .•\rch Mason in Fox River 
Chapter, No. 49, at St. Charles, 111. ; was 
knighted in Sycamore Commandery, Syca- 
more, 111., and took the Scottish rite degrees 
to the 32d in Occidental Consistory, 
Chicago ; and has held nearly all the offices 
within the local and grand lodges, was grand 
master of the state in 1 891 -'9 2 ; is prominent 
in G. A. R. circles and organized one of the 
first posts in Illinois at Elgin in 1866 and 
was its first commander ; has been past dis- 
trict and department commander in Min- 
nesota : a member of the Loyal Legion, de- 



partment of Minnesota, and a member of the 
Society of the Army of the Tennessee. 

BATCHELUHR, GEORGE W., of Fari- 
bault, Minn., was born in Danville, Feb. 18, 
1S26, the son of John and Alice (Kittredge) 
Batchelder. 

.\fter the usual course at the public schools 
he fitted for college at Phillips .\cademy, 
Danville, graduated from the University of 
Vermont with the class of '51, receiving the 
degree of A. B. and that of A. M. in 1854 ; 
was a member of the Sigma Phi and Phi 
Betta Kappa Societies. 

Upon leaving college he went to Windsor, 
where he took charge of the graded schools 
and began the study of the law with the 
Hon. Warren Currier. In 1852 he removed 
to Tazelville, Tenn., where he was in charge 
of the Tazelville Academy for a year, and 
the following year was at the head of Mc- 
Minn Academy, Rogersville, Tenn., contin- 
uing his law studies with the firm of Hall & 
Walker. He was admitted to the bar in 
1854 and returned to Vermont for a short 
visit. Resolved to follow the advice of 
Horace Greeley, he "went West" and for a 




BATCHELDER. 



short time practiced his profession at Janes- 
ville. Wis., but later in 1855 prospected in 
Minnesota (then a territory), locating at 
the new town of Faribault, in which place he 
has made his home and built up a lucrative 
practice. His first partner was the late 
Judge John M. Berry ; from 1857 to '80 he 



was a partner of Thomas S. Buckham, now 
judge of the fifth judicial district of Minne- 
sota : and his present associate is his son, 
under the firm name of G. W. & C. S. 
Batchelder. 

Mr. Batchelder has always affiliated with 
the Democratic party : was nominated for 
Congress for the Southern District of Minne- 
sota in 1 868, when there were but two dis- 
tricts in the state ; also for associate justice 
of the Supreme Court, 1888 ; was elected and 
served as state senator, i87i-'72 ; was mayor 
of the city of Faribault, i88o-'8i ; has been 
chairman of city board of education for 
twelve years, and exerted a great influence 
in bringing about the union of the parochial 
and public schools and the adoption of the 
"Faribault Plan," which was so widely dis- 
cussed by the press and in the Protestant 
and Catholic churches of this country and 
Europe, adopted by Archbishop Ireland and 
sanctioned by the Pope at Rome. 

Having always taken a prominent part in 
the affairs of Faribault, Mr. Batchelder has 
been a director of the First National Bank 
for twelve years and a director of the Austin 
National Bank since its organization. 

Mr. Batchelder wedded, in Wisconsin, 
Julv 12, 1S58, Kate K., daughter of Cornelius 
and Mary Davis. Of this union are three 
children : Georgia L., Charles S., and John D. 

BAXTER, LUTHER LOREN, of Fergus 
Falls, Minn., son of Chauncey and Philena 
(Peet) Baxter, was born in Cornwall, June 
8, 1832. 

He received his education at the district 
schools of his native town, supplemented by 
private tuition, a year at Castleton Seminary 
and a two years course at Norwich Univer- 
sity. Commencing the study of the law at 
nineteen years of age under I^indsley & 
Beckwith, and concluding his studies with 
Judge Horatio Seymour, he removed to 
Illinois in the fall of 1853 and was there 
admitted to the bar in March, 1854. Loca- 
ting at Geneva, Wis., he practiced his pro- 
fession successfully until 1857 when he 
removed to Carver county, Minn., and re- 
sumed the practice of his profession which 
he continued, except during his enlistment, 
until 1885 ; from 1876 to 1882 at Minne- 
apolis and since 1882 at Fergus Falls, where 
he still resides. 

Judge Baxter enlisted in September, 1861, 
as captain of Co. A, 4th Minn. Vol. Infantry 
and was assigned with two companies to the 
command of Fort Ridley ; remaining there 
until March, 1862, he rejoined his regiment 
at Fort Snelling and was promoted to the 
rank of major. In April, 1862, he was 
ordered South with his regiment, where he 
participated in many battles, but owing to 
sickness was compelled to resign in (Jctober, 



1S62. Re-entering the service in Novem- 
ber, 1864, as major of the ist Minn. Heavy 
.\rtillery, he was promoted to the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel in February, 1865, and 
coinmissioned colonel the same year and par- 
ticipated in the battle of Nashville. He was 
elected to the state Senate in the fall elec- 
tions and was granted leave of absence to 
take his seat. Returning to the army in 
March, 1865, he was assigned to duty as 
chief of artillery of Chattanooga, remaining 
with his regiment until mustered out of 
service in October, 1S65. 




UTHER LOREN BAXTER. 



Judge Baxter is a staunch Democrat, and 
as such has held many positions of honor 
and trust : was judge of probate for Carver 
county in 1858: prosecuting attorney for the 
4th judicial district, 1859; county attorney 
of Scott county, 1863 ; senator from Scott 
county, i865-'69 ; member of the House from 
Carver county, 1869; senator from 1869 to 
1876: county attorney of Carver county, 
1 87 7-' 79, and member of the Legislature, 
i879-'8i. At the hands of the Republican 
Governor Hubbard, he received the appoint- 
ment of judge of the 7th judicial district, in 
March, 1885, to fill an unexpired term, and 
was elected to the same position for a term 
of six years at the elections of 1S86, notwith- 
standing the fact that the district cast a Re- 
pubhcan majority of 3,500 ; re-elected at the 
last election without opposition, he still holds 
the position. 



13 



He has been a .Master Mason for thirty- 
eight years and is now a member of the 
Scottish Rites ; affihated with the Loyal 
Legion and is prominent with the local G. 
A. R., being a trustee of the Soldiers' Home. 

Judge Baxter was first united in marriage 
to Phnma ^Vard. She died in June, 1870. 
He formed a second alliance with Barbara 
Deuhs, who died in March, 1881. He again 
married in November, 1883, Hilda Emma, 
daughter of Lewis and Emma M. Child. He 
has only two children : Chauncey Luther, and 
Bertha. 

BEAMAN, Fernando C, was born in 
Chester, June 28, 1814; removed to New 
York when a boy, and left an orphan at the 
age of fifteen ; received a good English edu- 
cation at the Franklin County Academy, 
studied law in Rochester ; removed to Mich- 
igan in 1838, and commenced the practice 
of his profession ; was for six years prose- 
cuting attorney for Lenawee county : was 
judge of probate for four years ; was a presi- 
dential elector in 1856 ; in i860 was elected 
a representati\e from Michigan to the Thirty- 
seventh Congress. 

BELCHER, Isaac Sawyer, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., the son of Samuel and Anna G. 
(Caldwell) Belcher, was born in Stockbridge, 
Feb. 27, 1825. 



1^^ «gi 




age. He fitted for college in the academy at 
Royalton and entered the University of Ver- 
mont in 1842, graduating with the class of 
'46. Having chosen the law as a profession 
he entered the office of J. W. D. Parker at 
Bradford and after a thorough course of 
legal study was admitted to practice in the 
county courts in 1S49 and to the Supreme 
Court of the state three years later. He 
continued the practice of his profession in 
Windsor county until 1853, when he started 
for California, arriving in San Francisco on 
the 1 6th of June. He went at once to the 
mines in Yuba county and there practiced 
his profession until March, 1855, when he 
settled in Marysville in that county and soon 
acquired a lucrative practice. Mr. Justice 
Field of the Supreme Court of the LTnited 
States and other distinguished lawyers, were 
then practicing at the same bars. His 
brother, William C. Belcher, now a leading 
member of the San Francisco bar, was asso- 
ciated with him. 

He was elected to the position of district 
attorney of Yuba county in 1855, and held 
the office until 1858. He was elected judge 
of the tenth judicial district in 1863, and 
held that office until 1870. In 1872 he was 
appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy 
in the Supreme Court of the state, and at 
the expiration of his term declined a nom- 
ination to succeed himself and resumed his 
practice at Marysville. In June, 1878, he 
was elected a member and served as vice- 
president of the Constitutional Convention 
which met that j^ear. In 1880 he was elected 
by the Legislature a trustee of the State 
Library, which position he held for eight 
years. In 1885 he was appointed a com- 
missioner of the Supreme Court of the state, 
and this position he still holds. 

At the founding of the Leland Stanford, Jr., 
Uni\ersity he was appointed one of its trus- 
tees and since that time has acted as such. 
In this connection a local paper says of him : 
"Judge Belcher is a man of remarkable 
strength of mind and soundness of judgment, 
and his fellow trustees will find in him a val- 
uable coadjutor in administering the noble 
trust confided to their keeping." 

Mr. Belcher was united in wedlock, August 
12, 1861, to Adeline M., daughter of William 
r. and Martha (Tappan) Johnson, of Augusta, 
Maine. The fruit of this union are : Martha 
.\., Richard, William J., and Robert. He 
now resides in San Francisco, in the full en- 
joyment of the fruits of an upright, honorable 
life. 



ISAAC SAWYER BELCHER. 



His father was a farmer and young Belcher 
worked upon the farm and attended the dis- 
trict schools until he was fifteen vears of 



BELCHER, William C, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of Samuel and Anna G. 
(Caldwell) Belcher, was born at Stockbridge, 
Dec. 12, 1S20. 



M 



He graduated at the University of Ver- 
mont in 1843 ; and subsequently tauglit 
several years in the Academy of Bradford. 
He was admitted to the bar in that county 
in 1855. 

In 1856 young Belcher went to California 
and has ever since been engaged in the 
practice of his profession, and in some of 
the most important law suits on the Pacific 
coast. \\'hile in Marysville he was a part- 
ner of his brother Isaac S. Belcher who is 
now on the supreme bench, but since mov- 
ing to San Francisco he has become one of 
the firm of Mastie, Belcher, Van Vleet & 
Mastie. 




C. BELCHER. 



He has never held any political or judic- 
ial office, or been associated with any secret 
society except the Masons. Mr. Belcher is 
a life member of Pacific Coast Association 
Native Sons of Vermont, and is highly es- 
teemed by his associates, and by the citizens 
of the commonwealth in which he resides. 

BEARD, ALANSON WILDER, of Boston, 
Mass., collector of the port of Boston, was 
born in Ludlow, August 20, 1825. 

Leaving his native town at the age of 
seven he spent the years preceding his ma- 
jority at Stockbridge, working on his father's 
farm during his boyhood, receiving a com- 
mon school education, and in addition 
private instruction from the pastor of the 
Congregational church, Thomas S. Hubbard, 
who was a man of liberal culture. 

Early inured to the hardships of farm life 
among the rugged hills of Vermont, we find 



young Beard at seventeen, strong, hardy, of 
wonderful vitality, with a thorough English 
education, well equipped for a life work, 
that may now be said to have begun when 
he entered the school room as a teacher, in 
which occupation he continued with but 
little intermission until his twenty-first year. 
In the spring of 1847 Mr. Beard began a 
mercantile career, opening at Pittsfield in 
his native state a country store, which he 
kept for six years ; during the time he was 
postmaster of the town, the first position 
under the national government he ever held, 
and the only one until he was first appointed 
collector of the port of Boston. Both the 
postmastership and the storekeeper's life he 
gave up to come to Boston in September, 
1853, entering the clothing house of Whiting, 
Kehoe &: Galloupe, as salesman. Less than 
three years after he was in the wholesale 
clothing business on his own account ; later 
under the firm name of Beecher, Beard & 
Co. His Boston business was continued 
until 1879 under the successive firm names of 
C. \V. Freeland, Beard & Co., Beard, Moul- 
ton & Co., Beard, Moulton & Bouve. Dur- 
ing this time he had the management of 
from two hundred to six hundred employes, 
the manufacturing being under his personal 
supervision. 

On the formation of the Republican party, 
Mr. Beard, whose early associations had been 
with the Whigs, gave his influence to the new 
political creed and has held that allegiance 
ever since. The year 1S64 brought him into 
the Republican state committee, there to re- 
main three years. Subsequently he was 
chairman of this committee in 1S75 ^^'^ '7^ 
and again in 1885. In 1868 he was delegate 
to the national Republican convention and 
again in 1888 he was delegate-at-large to 
the national Republican convention. Mr. 
Beard was also a member of the House of Rep- 
resentatives for Massachusetts in 1870 and 
'71, and again in 1884 and '85. Mr. Beard 
served as collector of the port of Boston, 
under appointment of President Hayes, for 
the full term beginning March, 1878, leaving 
the office in May, 1882. In January, 1886, 
he became treasurer of the commonwealth of 
Massachusetts and that office he held for 
three years. In 1890 he was again made 
collector of the port of Boston, which posi- 
tion he held until March, 1894. In every 
capacity he has served his party, his state 
and country faithfully and well. 

Mr. Beard was married at Wayland, Mass., 
Nov. 27, 1848, to Mary Calista Morgan, 
daughter of Harvey and Sophia Morgan, then 
of Rochester, Vt. To them have been born 
three sons : James Wallace, Amherst \\'ilder, 
and Charles Freeland, of whom only Charles 
Freeland is li\ing. 



l6 BELL. 

Although in his sixty-eighth year, he is 
strong and rugged : a fine speciman of phy- 
sical manhood, six feet and two inches in 
height and weighing upward of 200 pounds : 
although of a military appearance and bear- 
ing, he is a most genial and companionable 
man. 

BELL, Hiram, was born in \'ermont, and 
was a representive in Congress from Ohio, 
from 1S52 to 1853. 

BENEDICT, ROBERT D., of the New 
York bar, was born at Burlington, Oct. 3, 
1828. His father was for many years a pro- 
fessor in the University of Vermont, where 
R. D. Benedict was educated and where he 
was graduated in 1S4S. After his graduation 
he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., and taught 
school for two years in what is now the 
Twenty-second ward, after which he entered 
the office of his uncle, Erastus C. Benedict, 
(afterwards chancellor of the University of 
the State) in New York City. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1851, and has practiced 
law ever since. 

In 1S64 he married Miss Frances A. 
"Weaver, of Colchester, and settled in Brook- 
lyn, which he had left for a few years after 
concluding his school teaching. His chil- 
dren are two sons : ^Vyllys (also a lawyer in 
New York City), Edward G. (who is asso- 
ciated with his father in business), and a 
daughter, Elizabeth Evelyn. 

Mr. Benedict is well known to the legal 
profession as the editor of Benedict's Re- 
ports, in ten volumes, presenting the decis- 
ions of the United States district courts. 
He has recently prepared a new edition of 
Benedict's Admiralty, which was published 
many years ago by his uncle, and has been 
the recognized elementary authority on this 
subject. His law practice is largely in the 
-Admiralty courts. 

From the foundation of the New York 
Times till the death of Henry J. Raymond, 
its founder, Mr. Benedict was connected 
with that newspaper as a reporter in the 
United States courts and as a writer of edi- 
torials. 

.An address delivered by him in 1891 on 
the centennial anniversary of the granting of 
the charter of the University of Vermont, 
was published by the University, and a lec- 
ture on "The Hereford Map of the World 
and the Legend of St. Brandon," was pub- 
lished in the proceedings of the .American 
Geogra])hical Society for 1892. 

He was for twenty years a member of Plv- 
mouth Church. For the last eighteen years 
he has been a member, and is a trustee of 
the Central Congregational Church. He was 
president of the board of elections in Brook- 
lyn for several years after its creation, and 



BENJAMIX. 

was the last president of the Republican 
League of that city. For many years he has 
been a trustee of the .\delphi Academy of 
firooklyn ; is a director of the Lawyer's 
Surety Company of New York : is president 
of the New England Society of Brooklyn, 
and has been president of the Brooklyn 
Society of Vermonters, and of the Congre- 
gational Club of Brooklyn. He was also a 
member of the Kings County Club, and is 
now connected with the Hamilton and 
the Union League clubs. 

BENJAMIN, ChaL'NCEY E., late of 
Maiden, Mass., son of Josiah and Rebecca 
( Emerson) Benjamin, was born in Berlin, 
Feb. 1, 1829. 

He was educated in the schools of his 
native town, and assisted his father on the 
home farm until his majority when he re- 
moved to Wakefield, Mass. ; remaining there 
about a year, he located at Maiden in the 
same state and made that place his home 
until his death which took place .\pril i^, 
1892. 

During the first year of his residence in 
Maiden Mr. Benjamin worked in the rubber 
factory, afterwards he joined his brother-in- 
law, E. E. Andrews, in the hardware busi- 
ness, in which he continued with success for 
several years. He then established an ex- 
press line between Maiden and Boston 
which he continued for a year when it had 
assumed such proportions as to require 
additional assistance and he took in as a 
partner George W. Vaughn, with whom he 
continued the business until his death. 

He took a deep interest in Masonic 
matters and was a prominent member of 
the local lodge of Odd Fellows. 

Mr. Benjamin was married in January, 
1S56, to Lucy J. Stanwood of Maiden. 
Three children have been born to them : 
Carrie S. (deceased), Georgiana, and Philip 
C. 

BENTON, Jacob, was born at Water- 
ford, .August 14, 1819 : received an academic 
education ; engaged in teaching for several 
years, studied law, and was admitted to the bar 
in 1843 and commenced practice at Lancas- 
ter, N. H. ; was a member of the state Legis- 
lature in 1854, 1855, 1856; was a delegate 
to the national Republican convention in 
i860; was brigadier-general commanding 
the state volunteers ; was elected to the For- 
tieth Congress, as a Republican, and was re- 
elected to the Forty-first Congress. 

BENTON, Reuben Clark, of Minne- 
apolis, Minn., son of Reuben C. and .Almira 
( Fletcher) Benton, was born in Waterford, 
Mav 1 1, 18-50. 




^^^5^ ^■pP'^v., 




J^C^ ^^^T^C^--^^-'^ 



i8 



In 1 84 1 he removed with his father's 
family to Lunenburg, where he resided until 
twenty-one years of age. During that time bv 
study at home and at such schools as were in 
Lunenburg, and two terms at the St. Johns- 
bury Academy, he was fitted for college. He 
entered the L"ni\ersity of Vermont in May, 
1 85 1, and was graduated in 1854. 

After graduation he went to Johnson, 
where he took charge of the academy. Pre- 
vious to entering college he had read law 
with the late Jacob Benton of Lancaster, 
and with William Heywood, then of Guild- 
hall. While in Johnson he read law with 
Whitman G. Ferrin now of Montpelier, and 
was admitted to practice in June, 1855. He 
commenced practice in 1856, remaining in 
Johnson until 1858, then removing to Hyde 
Park, where he continued until 1867. 




REUBEN CLARK BENTON. 

March 18, 1856, he was married to .Sara 
M. Leland. They have had four children, 
all of whom are deceased. 

At the breaking out of the war of the re- 
bellion he entered the service as captain of 
Co. D, 5th Regt. Vt. Vols., at the organiza- 
tion of that regiment in September, i86i, 
was present with his regiment until Tuly, 
1862, and was wounded at Savage Station in 
June of the same year. Upon the organiza- 
tion of the nth Regt. in .\ugust, 1862, he 
was made lieutenant-colonel of that regi- 
ment, in which position he continued until 
the last of June, 1864, when he resigned for 
disability. 



In March, 1867, he removed to St. Albans, 
where he continued in the practice of his 
profession until June, 1875, when he re- 
mo\ed to Minneapolis, Minn., where he 
still resides. 

He was in the years 1879, 1880 and 1881 
elected city attorney of the city of Minne- 
apolis, which office he resigned December, 
i88t, to enter the employ of the St. Paul, 
Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Co., as its 
attorney at Minneapolis. For its successor, 
the Great Northern Railway Co., Mr. Benton 
and his firm still continue as attorneys, having, 
besides, a general practice. 

During his practice in Minneapolis, he 
was at first in partnership with his brother, 
C. H. Benton, also a Vermonter, under the 
firm name of Benton & Benton : after the 
dissolution of that firm, with William P. Rob- 
erts, as Benton & Roberts ; and for the past 
two years with Mr. Roberts and Rome G. 
Brown, the latter a Vermonter, as Benton, 
Roberts & Brown, which is the present style 
of his firm. Mr. Benton has devoted himself 
almost exclusively to the practice of law since 
his residence in Minneapolis, and has won 
the ]iosition of one of the leaders of the bar 
of Hennepin county, and of the state. In 
politics he is a Republican, but has no re- 
ligious affiliations. 

BISBEE, Lewis H., of Chicago, 111., son 
of David and Sarah Bisbee, was born March 
28, 1S39, at Derby. 

The subject of this sketch (one of the 
most prominent and gifted members of the 
Chicago bar) was born and reared through 
boyhood on a farm. It is not true that the 
broad, stimulating and intense conditions of 
wealth and city life are necessarily suppress- 
ive of marked individual force and character. 
It is true, however, that much of the brawn 
and muscle, the life and brain, the refine- 
ment and energy which lead and govern the 
real forces of society are developed under 
the more quiet and rugged conditions of 
country life. It is a most hap])y and valu- 
able fact that the real strength and virtue of 
society are being constantly replenished from 
the rural and agricultural forces of the coun- 
try. And there is probably no source from 
which is derived a stronger and better rein- 
forcement of manners and social refinement. 
The home of Hon. Lewis H. Bisbee is in 
Hyde Park. It is one of the most refined 
and elegant in the country, and is a promi- 
nent center of healthful and refining social 
influence on a moral and intellectual plane 
as high as social development has anywhere 
attained. 

Mr. Bisbee's advantages in the common 
schools while a lad were good. But he early 
conceived the idea of obtaining the higher 
and broader education afforded in the acade- 



mies of Vermont. In summers he worked 
on the farm, attending school in the winters 
until the age of sixteen. At this age he fell back 
on his own resources and proved himself pos- 
sessed of the energy and tenacity of purpose 
requisite to overcome the obstacles naturally 
in his way. He attended the academies at 
Glover, Derby, and Morrisville in Northern 
Vermont and took a course at St. Hyacinth 
College, near Montreal, Can., when nineteen 
years of age. The course of instruction there 
being conducted in the French language, he 
became a thorough French scholar. Subse- 
quently he read law with J. L. Edwards, 
Esq., a prominent practitioner at Derby, 
paying his way mainly by teaching French, 
and was admitted to practice in June, 1S62. 

The same month he was admitted to the 
bar he enlisted as a private in Co. E, 9th 
Vt. Inf., and was afterward promoted to the 
captaincy of Co. H, of the same regiment. 
During his military service his conduct was 
marked by gallantry and faithfulness. Through 
all the hardships of war he was found reso- 
lute and cheerful, and in battle always at the 
front. In 1863 he resigned on account of 
sickness and returned to Newport and en- 
gaged in the practice of law, soon building 
up an extensive and lucrative business. 

In 1866, Mr. Bisbee was elected state's 
attorney of Orleans county, where he then 
lived, and was re-elected in 1867, but soon 
after resigned to accept the position of deputy 
collector of customs, which of¥ice he filled 
till 1869, when he was elected to the Legis- 
lature of the state. He was again elected to 
the Legislature in 1S70. He proved a most 
valuable and efficient member of that body, 
was one of the leaders of his party in the 
legislative debates, and a member of impor- 
tant committees. In extempore debate, 
when the occasion was important, he was con- 
sidered one of the most vigorous and effect- 
ive speakers on the floor. 

It was in April, 187 1, that Mr. Bisbee 
moved to Chicago, but scarcely had he be- 
come well started in business when the great 
fire occurred. In the rebuilding of the city, 
the reorganization and re-establishment of 
order and business, Mr. Bisbee came natur- 
ally and directly to the front of affairs. He 
had an unwavering faith in the future of 
Chicago, and the ability to seize and hold 
the front position which he has ever since 
occupied. 

Mr. Bisbee is one of the most successful 
jury and chancery lawyers in the Northwest. 
His practice is of the highest and most lu- 
crative order. His management of the case 
known as the " B. F. Allen blanket-mortgage 
case," for Hoyt Sherman, especially, was con- 
ducted with extraordinary ability, and was 
highly complimented by courts and bar ; 
also the noted Sturges case, with many 



others, might be adduced as confirming his 
high reputation as a lawyer. 

In 1887 the Illinois Legislature passed a 
law permitting the annexation of the town of 
Hyde Park to Chicago. Through the in- 
strumentality of Mr. Bisbee the annexation 
became a fact. Mr. Bisbee was elected to 
the common council, representing the town 
of Hyde Park, but the Supreme Court of the 
state declared this law unconstitutional. 
Thereupon in 1888-89 Mr. Bisbee secured 
the passage of a new law, which resulted in 
the annexation to Chicago of the town of 
Hyke Park, Lake Jefferson, and a part of 
Cicero, containing an aggregate population 
of about 220,000 people. This great work 
made Chicago the second city in population 
of the L'nited States, and among other ad- 
vantages enabled it to hold the World's 
Columbian Exposition within its corporate 
limits. 

-Mr. Bisbee is the author of the well-known 
work entitled "The Law of the Produce Ex- 
change," which is a standard text book on 
commercial exchanges in England and 
America. 

In 1878 he was elected to the Legislature 
of Illinois, receiving nearly the unanimous 
vote of the district, one of the most popu- 
lous and intelligent in the state. In that 
body he was one of the most 'prominent 
leaders as a ready and able debater and an 
influential and judicious legislator. He is a 
graceful and impressive orator, an incisive 
and logical thinker ; and being possessed of 
a fine and commanding presence few men 
are his equal in the legal or legislative de- 
bating arena. In politics he is an ardent 
Republican, and in campaigns, when the 
principles of the party are at stake, his 
voice and eloquence are always conspicuous. 

Mr. Bisbee is a member of the Oakland 
and Hyde Park Clubs, and one of the foun- 
ders of the Society of Sons of Vermont in 
Illinois, of which he has been president. 
He is also a Knight Templar, a member of 
the St. Bernard Commandery. 

Personally Mr. Bisbee is a genial and af- 
fable gentlemen of broad and generous 
nature, dignified, courteous and obliging. 
In his profession he is honorable, conscien- 
tious, painstaking and laborious. Of robust 
and hardy nature, refined, cultivated and 
learned, he is in the true sense of the term 
a self-made man. And the most of his life, 
as the lives of strong men generally run, is 
still before him. 

He was married in 1S64 to Jane E. Hin- 
man, of Derby, Vt., a member of a prominent 
family of Orleans county. Their two children 
are : Hattie Hinman, born at Newport in 
1867, and a graduate of Cornell University; 
and Benjamin Hinman, born in 1877 in 
Chicago. 



RI.ANCHARD, 



I'.LANCHARD 



BLANCHARD, Charles, of Ottawa, 
111., son of Ralph and Maria (Kellogg) 
Blanchard, was born in Peacham, August 31, 
1829. 

He was reared on a farm in his native 
county, his education being principally ob- 
tained at the district schools. For three 
successive falls he walked from his father's 
farm to the neighboring village, a distance 
of two miles, to attend a school which in 
those days was called an academy. He at- 
tended this school six weeks each winter, 
part of the time tending the fires and ringing 
the bell to pay his tuition. 




.\fter working on his father's farm he 
worked for the neighbors until he had earned 
forty dollars and in the fall of 1850 started 
West with this amount in his pocket, arriv- 
ing at Peru, 111., with but five dollars cash ; 
from there he went to Granville, 111., and en- 
gaged to teach school for the winter at a dol- 
lar per day and board himself. The follow- 
ing spring he went to Hennepin, where he 
taught school three years, and during vaca- 
tions and other leisure time he studied law. 
At Springfield, 111., he was examined by 
Judge Treat and admitted to the bar. Hav- 
ing taught school to earn enough to pur- 
chase necessary law books, he opened a law 
office at Hennepin, but soon removed to 
Peru, where he practiced his profession, and 
in December, 1861, he removed to Ottawa. 

In November, 1S64, he was elected 
state's attorney of the district, composed of 



La Salle, Ikireau and Kendall counties, and 
re-elected in 1868; his term expired Dec. i, 
1872. Upon the resignation of Judge (iood- 
speed of the ninth district, August 1, 1884, 
he was appointed by Governor Hamilton to 
finish the unexpired term, and in the June 
election of 1885 he was elected for the term 
of six years, and re-elected in i8gi. 

He was married in Hennepin, Putnam 
county, in 1852, to Sarah H., daughter of 
Isaac and Sarah (Hormel) Gudgel. They 
had four children : Sydney, who became an 
attorney at law ; Mae, Herman S., and 
Charles, who died in infancy. The wife of 
Judge Blanchard was a member of the Con- 
gregational church. She died April 16, 
1880, and Judge Blanchard again married, 
Dec. 31, 1884, Mrs. Sylvia A. Bushnell, 
daughter of Jay and Jeannett Garner (now 
deceased) formerly of Athens, Pa. 

Judge Blanchard is a member of Occiden- 
tal Lodge, No. 40, F. & A. M. ; Shabbona 
Chapter, No. 37, R. A. M., and Ottawa 
Commandery, No. 10, and of the Illinois 
.'Association of the Sons of Vermont. 

BLANCHARD, JOHN, was born in Cale- 
donia county, Sept. 30, 1787. 

He spent his boyhood on a farm ; pre- 
pared himself for college, and graduated at 
Dartmouth in 181 2; removed to Pennsyl- 
vania and taught school ; read law and was 
admitted to practice ; was a representative 
in Congress, from Pennsylvania, from 1845 to 
1849. 

He died in Columbia, Pa., March 8, 1S49. 

BLINN, Charles Henry, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of Chauncy and Edatha 
(Harrington) Blinn, was born in Burlington, 
Jan. 27, 1843. 

Educated in the schools of his native place, 
he was prepared for the University of Ver- 
mont, when he entered the army. 

Heenlisted, August 21, 1861, in the famous 
I St \'t. Cavalry, serving three years and four 
months. He was attached to Sheridan's 
Cavalry Corps : participated in the batdes of 
Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Spottsylvania, 
Cold Harbor, Wilderness, Winchester, Cedar 
Creek, and twenty-six skirmishes. He was 
wounded and taken prisoner at Middletown, 
Va., May 25, 1862, in a cavalry charge led 
by General Banks ; his horse was killed by a 
cannon ball from a battery stationed within 
three hundred yards, fell with sixteen others 
and was ridden over by a company of the 
ist Maine Cavalry; was in prison at Lynch- 
burg and Belle Island, Va., from May 25 to 
Sept. 17. His regiment has the honor 
of having captured at Cedar Creek forty-two 
cannon, the largest number taken by anv 
regiment during the war. He was honora- 
bly discharged at Burlington, Nov. 19, 1864. 



After the war he was two years chief clerk 
at the Weklen House, St. Albans. He went 
to California in 1868, and for six years was 
with the \\'ells-Fargo Express Co. In 1S75 
he became an editorial writer of the " Alta 
California." In 1878 he was appointed chief 
permit clerk in the San Francisco Custom 
House, which position he still fills. 

The positions he has occupied in the 
Grand Army of the Republic are too many 
for our space ; suffice it to say, he is now 
quartermaster and secretary of Veteran 
Guard, G. A. R., George H. Thomas Post, 
etc. For five years he has been secretary of 
the Pacific Coast Association, "Native Sons 
of Vermont." He is a regular attendant and 
contributor to Simpson Memorial Methodist 
Church. 

He was married, Dec. 15, 1870, to Nellie, 
daughter of Albert and Lucy Holbrook, of 
Salem, N. H. She is (1894) the leading 
elocutionist of the Pacific Coast. Mrs. Blinn 
is a powerful political speaker, and took the 
stump for Hayes, Garfield, Blaine, and Har- 
rison. Their union was blessed with a son : 
Holbrook, born in 1872, graduated at Boy's 
high school, spent two years in college, and 
is now a rising young actor. 

BLISS, NEZIAH W., of Chicago, 111., 
son of Ellison and Mary B. (Worthen) Bliss, 
was born in Bradford, Lin. 31, 1826. 

His grandfather, P^Uis Bliss, was a lieuten- 
ant in the Revolutionary war. His great- 
grandfather, Ellis Bliss, was the father of 
seventeen children. His great-great-grand- 
father. Rev. John Bliss, graduated from 
Yale, then located at Saybrook, Conn., in 
17 10, and was ordained first pastor of the 
Congregational church of Hebron, Conn., in 
17 1 7, was dismissed in 1734, and was a lay 
reader in the Episcopal church until his 
death. Dr. Neziah Bliss, our subject's name- 
sake, served fourteen terms in the Colonial 
Legislature of Connecticut, and was the 
father of our "public common school system," 
and was also a son of the Rev. John Bliss. 

The subject of our sketch prepared for 
college at Bradford Academy, and graduated 
from the University of Vermont with high 
rank, class of 1846, having as classmates 
ex-Chief Justice Jameson, and H. R. Steb- 
bins of Chicago, Judge Belcher, Supreme 
Court of California, Judge Nelson, U. S. 
circuit court of Massachusetts, Judge J. W. 
May, and Hon. H. O. Houghton (Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co.), Boston. 

He taught schools in Vermont and New 
Hampshire, after which he studied law with 
R. McK. Ormsby in Bradford. He went 
West in 1847, located in Ohio, and there 
taught school until 1850, then went to 
Warsaw, 111., continued his law studies, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1854. He formed 



a law partnership with Judge J. ^V. Marsh in 
1856, and became attorney for Doan, King 
& Co. of St. Louis. In 1S67 he was general 
superintendent of St. Louis Lead and Min- 
ing Co., and conducted a large business in 
mining, smelting, merchandising and farm- 
ing. In 1882 he located at Chicago, and 
became attorney and counsel for Marshall 
Field & Co. : among the many important 
cases he has managed for that firm was one 
in which he recovered $40,000, duties illeg- 
ally exacted on cartons and coverings, under 
the tariff act of 1883, the litigation as to the 
constitutionality of the McKinley bill, etc. 






He married Jessie, daughter of General 
and Sarissa (Wells) Andrews, at Warsaw, 111., 
Dec. I, 1852. They had eleven children: 
Mary and Stella (twins), Ellis AVright, Abby, 
Neziah Wright, Jr., Malcolm A., Wyslys K., 
George W., Walter E., Charles K., Harry 
Staples, Ralph, P^ugene B., and Margaret L. 
Mr. Bliss married for a second wife, Louise, 
daughterof James W. and Catherine (Troxell) 
Baugher, and by her had three children. 

Mr. Bliss is a man of fine personal ap- 
pearance, and strong constitution which his 
excellent habits ha\e fostered He is a man 
decided in his convictions of right, of per- 
fect integrity and truthfulness ; his character 
is above reproach. Possessed of a pleasing 
address, good conversational powers and 
genial temperament, he has made hosts of 
friends. 



HOARI I.MAN. 

He is an Episcopalian, was senior warden 
■of St. Bartholomew Church at Englewood, 
where he resided with his family for several 
years, and now resides at Longwood, a 
.suburb of Chicago, located on the highlands 
of the Blue Island ridge. 

BOARDMAN, HENRY ElDERKIN JEW- 
ETT, of Marshalltown, Iowa, son of Rev. 
Elderkin J. and Ann (Gookin) Boardman, 
was born in Danville, June 21, 1828. He 
is a lineal descendant through eight genera- 
tions of the ancestor Samuel Boardman, who 
emigrated from England about 1635. He 
removed to \\'eathersfield. Conn., in 1641. 
The name is first found in the records of 
Ipswich, Mass., 1637-1639. The father of 
Henry E. J., Rev. E. J. Boardman, w^as one 
of the first abolitionists of ^■ermont, publish- 
ing in 1838 a work entitled "Immediate 
Abolition of Slavery Vindicated." 



HO.ARDMAN. 



23 




HENRY ELDERKIN JEWETT BOARDMAN. 

The subject of our sketch was educated at 
Randolph and St. Johnsbury, and Meriden, 
N. H., academies. Graduated at Dartmouth 
(JoUege, class of 1850. He spent six years 
in Tennessee, .'\labama and Maryland as 
principal of academies, becoming professor 
of languages in the University of East Ten- 
nessee at Knoxville, and was admitted to the 
practice of law in Tennessee. 

In 1856 he removed to Marshalltown, 
Iowa, and has since been a practicing law- 
yer in that place and one of the largest land 
owners in Iowa. In iSCg-'yg-'SS he tra\eled 
extensivelv in the ( )1(1 World. He has been 



|)resident of the District Bar Association, 
president of the Farmers' National Bank, 
director of the First National Bank, of the 
City Bank, also of the Central Iowa Railway 
Co., of which he was general attorney for 
many years, and has been a trustee of the 
Iowa College at Grinnell. Was nominated 
for supreme judge by the Democratic party 
in 1877, as district judge in 1870 and again 
in 1879, was nominated for congressman, 
July, 1879. He was a delegate from the 
sixth congressional district, Iowa, to the Na- 
tional Union Convention at Philadelphia, 
.•\ugust 14, 1866 ; also a delegate to the Na- 
tional Democratic Convention held in New 
York, July 4, 1868. 

July 6, 1893, at Des Moines, he was elected 
president of the Sons of the American Revo- 
lution for the state of Iowa. The " Historian 
of Iowa" says of him : "His success in pub- 
lic and private undertakings and his final 
recoveries in litigated cases, involving ab- 
stract legal principles, are marvelous. This 
is due to extraordinary powers of generaliza- 
tion and analysis, and an industry that never 
tires. He is solicitous that his acts of benev- 
olence shall be known only to himself, and 
is one of the most modest and retiring of 
men." 

He married Miss M. E. Williams (now 
deceased) Dec. 7, 1858. Of this union 
were three children : Delia Louisa, Annette 
Gookin, and Clarence Elderkin Carver (de- 
ceased). 

BOARDMAN, HalSEV J., of Boston, 
Mass., son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Hunt) 
Boardman, was born in Norwich, May 19, 
1834. He is of Puritan ancestry, a descend- 
ant of Samuel Boardman who settled in Con- 
necticut in 1 63 1. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
his native town and at Thetford Academy, 
graduating from that institution in 1854 as 
the valedictorian of his class. Entering 
Dartmouth College in the same year he was 
graduated in 1858 with high honors. 

.\fter teaching the high school at Leo- 
minster one year he entered as a student the 
law office of Norcross & Snow, Fitchburg, 
Mass., and later, the law office of Phillip H. 
Sears of Boston. He was admitted to the 
Suffolk bar in i860 and immediately began 
the practice of his profession as senior part- 
ner of the law firm of Boardman & Blodgett, 
this partnership continuing until the junior 
l)artner, Caleb Blodgett, was made a judge 
of the Superior Court ; later partners have 
been Stephen H. Tyng and Frank Paul. 
During the past few years Mr. Boardman 
has been engaged in various manufacturing 
and railroad interests which ha\e necessi- 
tated frequent and prolonged absences from 
the state. He is president of the Duluth & 



24 



HOARDJIAN. 



BOUTIN. 



Winnipeg Railroad Co., and a director of 
several other corporations. He is also presi- 
dent of the F^vans Coal Co., a large 
producer of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania, 
president of the Commercial Mining Co. of 
Colorado, and a director of the Boston Ma- 
rine Insurance Co. 




Mr. Boardman is a stalwart Republican. 
From 1862 to 1S64 he was commissioner 
of the board of enrolment, under President 
Lincoln, for the fourth congressional dis- 
trict. In 1874 he was chairman of the Re- 
publican ward and city committee of the 
city of Boston, also a member of the com- 
mon council and in 1875 its president, and 
the Republican candidate for mayor the 
same year. From 1883 to 1885 inclusive 
Mr. Boardman was a member of the Massa- 
chusetts House of Representatives. He was 
a member of the railroad committee during 
his entire term and its chairman during the 
last two years. In this capacity he was in- 
strumental in securing a large amount of 
legislation calculated to improve the railroad 
service in this state, including provisions for 
the change of railroad grade crossings, safety 
couplings on freight cars, regulations against 
discrimination in freight rates and for im- 
provement in signals and precautions to be 
enforced against color blindness— all matters 
involving exhaustive examination and sound 
judgment. Mr. Boardman was elected to 
the state Senate in 18S7 and 188S and was 
president of that body both years. 



He was married in 1862 to Miss Georgia 
Hinman of Boston. Thev have two daugh- 
ters. 

BOUTIN, Charles W., of Hampton, 
Iowa, son of Joachim and Martha (Warner) 
Boutin, was born in Chester, No\-. 8, 1839. 

Removing at an early age to \\'indham he 
received such an education as the district 
schools of the town afforded and followed the 
occupation of a farmer until 1858. He then 
followed carpentering in Andover and Ches- 
ter until 1865, when he engaged in the dry 
goods business in Chicago. This venture 
was of short duration, for in December of the 




Ife ^i'tfi^^ 




CHARLES W. BOUTIN. 

same year the entire building and stock were 
destroyed by fire and he was left without a 
dollar. Not daunted, however, he started 
out and accepted such employment as he 
could find, locating at \\'ebster City, Iowa, 
in 1867, where he engaged in the nursery 
business, but this proving uncongenial he 
sold his interest and removed to Hampton, 
where began his life's business — that of an 
architect and builder, in which profession he 
stands high. 

In 1 86 1 he enlisted as corporal of Co. E, 
I St. Vt. Regt., and in the following May went 
out with the regiment ; again enlisting Augtist 
20, in the 4th Vt. Regt., he was success- 
ively promoted ist lieutenant, captain and 
major. Major Boutin was on duty with his 
regiment and participated in all its battles 
until June 28, 1864, when with others of his 



HRADFOKD. 



regiment he was captured by the rebels and 
held as a prisoner of war until March, 1865, 
being confined at Libby, Macon, Sa^■annah, 
Charleston and Columbia. After being ex- 
changed he rejoined his regiment and was 
mustered out of service with it in 1865. He 
took a prominent part in the organization of 
the Iowa National Guards and for sixteen 
years has served as captain, major, lieuten- 
ant-colonel and colonel of one of the craclv 
regiments of the state. 

Mr. Boutin married at Londonderry, August 
25, 1861, Marinda A., daughter of Theodore 
and Sarah French. She died in 1864, while 
he was a prisoner of war. He married again, 
in March, 1869, Julina A. French, a sister 
of his first wife. She died in April, 1886. In 
November, 1888, Mr. Boutin married at 
Ripley, Tenn., Elmma S. Kennedy. Of this 
union is one son ; Charles K. 

A staunch Republican, he has never evinced 
a desire for public ofSce. He has, however, 
been a member of the city council, and 
county auditor of Franklin county, Iowa, for 
two terms ; and twice refused the nomination 
for the mayoralty of Hampton. 

He has taken a deep interest in matters 
Masonic and has held nearly every office in 
the gift of the lodge and chapter ; as a Royal 
Arch Mason and Knight Tempi ir he has knelt 
at the altar of the Mystic Shrine. Assisting in 
the organization of the local post G. A. R., he 
has been adjutant, past commander, delegate 
to department encampment many limes and 
a national delegate twice. Became a mem- 
ber of Wisconsin Commandery, Loyal Legion, 
and assisted in organizing the Iowa Com- 
mandery of which he is now a member. 

BRADFORD, JaMES HENRY, of Wash- 
ington, D. C, traces his ancestry not only 
to Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth 
Colony, but three or four generations further 
back to Rev. John Bradford who after having 
been chaplain to the Queen was burnt at the 
stake at Smithfield by Bloody Mary with 
John Rogers, Latimer and others. His 
mother, who died when he was but four 
years old, was the daughter of Thomas 
Dickinan, the first postmaster, printer and 
editor of Greenfield, Mass. She was a 
woman of noble character, beloved by all. 

Henry attended the district school and at 
sixteen mowed his turn with the men in the 
hay field for the last time, for that autumn 
he went to Charleston, S. C, into the dry 
goods store of his brother-in-law. 

Three years at Williston Seminary pre- 
pared him for Vale with one hundred and 
sixty-two others to make the class of '63. 
He had jumped from college to the Theo- 
logical Seminary, and the next step was into 
the army as chaplain, having received the 
unanimous vote of the officers of the 1 2th C. 



W, for that position. From Hartford to Ship 
Island, then up the Mississippi, the first 
troops to land at New Orleans, where they 
guarded the upper defenses while General 
Butler reigned supreme. L'P the far famed 
Teche to the Red River, thence to Port 
Hudson for a forty-two days siege, then 
down the river to the old camp ground at 
Brasier City ; the regiment re-enlisting re- 
ceived a veteran furlough. Back to New 
Orleans and around to Bermuda Hundred 
and Washington and up the Shenandoah 
" whirling up the valley " with Sheridan. In 
bloody work at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, 
Cedar Creek and on up to Staunton and 
return. Mustered out of service with the 
regiment, completed a war experience of 
singular freedom from sickness or wounds. 
He then went as a home missionary to Hud- 
son, Wis., on the St. Croix, for two years. 
Coming East for reformatory work his ser- 
vice in \Vestboro (Mass.) State Reform 
School three years ; Connecticut Industrial 
School four years, and Masssachusetts Pri- 
mary School three years gave him a broad 
experience and enabled him to leave his 
impress upon hundreds of young lives, that 
have none too much sympathy and care. A 
few months at Howard Mission, New York, 
then to Washington where he has been for 
twelve years a part of what is called The 
United States Government. Preaching 
almost every Sabbath, chaplain in Post and 
Department of the Grand Army and the 
Loyal Legion, active in church, temperance 
and charitable work, he has lived a busy life 
and not less so has Mrs. Bradford, carrying 
all over the country the fame of the " Ben 
Hur Tableaux," her own creation ; and train- 
ing her two girls and two boys into a model 
family. 

Chaplain Bradford is ne\er so happy as 
when breathing the pure air of Vermont, 
which state he visits with delight and leaves 
with regret, for her hills and valleys and 
people are very dear to him. 

Chaplain Bradford was married August 
19, 1865, to Ellen J., daughter of Sylvester 
and J. Sophia Knight of Easthampton, Mass. 
Their children living are : Mary Knight, 
Harry Bonnell, Horatio Knight, and Faith. 

BRIGHAM, HOSEA WHEELER, of Win- 
chester, N. H., was born at Whitingham, 
May 30, 1837, the son of John and Huldah 
(Wheeler) Brigham. 

Educated in the schools of his native 
town and at Barre Academy he followed 
farming until 1862 when he removed to 
Boston, Mass., where he made his home 
until 187 1. Resolving to follow the legal 
profession he entered the office of Judge 
Asa French, of Boston, in 1869, and com- 
pleted his studies under H. X. Hix, of Sad- 



26 



awga. Admitted to the Windham county 
bar in 1872 he practiced his profession at 
Sadawga until 1S81, being admitted, in the 
meantime, to practice in the Supreme and 
United States circuit and district courts. 
Removing to Winchester, N. H., in 1881, 
he was admitted to the New Hampshire 
courts, and has since lived at that place, en- 
joying a lucrative practice. 

Mr. Brigham is a staunch Republican, 
was a member of the New Hampshire con- 
stitutional convention in 1889, member of 
the House of Representatives iS93-'94, 
postmaster at Sadawga i872-'78, justice of 
the peace, chancellor, and four years a 
member of the Winchester board of educa- 
tion. He is also town clerk. 

Prominent in Masonry, he is a member 
of Philesian Lodge, No. 41 t, and of the 
Royal Arch, Council and Knight Templar. 

Mr. Brigham married at Whitingham, 
Sept. 14, 1858, Florilla R., daughter of 
Joseph and Rebecca Farnum. ( )f this union 
are three children : Eva C, Ulric U., anil 
Maud F. 

BROWN, Orlando J., of North 
Adams, Mass., son of Harvey and Lucina 
(Fuller) Brown, was born in Whitingham, 
Feb. 2, 1848. 

His early education was received from his 
parents, people of sturdy, representative 
New England stock, and at the public 
schools of his native town, later supplemented 
by several terms at Powers Institute, Ber- 
nardston, Mass. He began teaching in the 
public schools at the early age of sixteen. 
Successful in this pursuit, he not only ai 
quired an education, but earned the mean^ 
for fitting himself for his early chosen pro- 
fession, that of medicine. 

He graduated from the University of Ver- 
mont with the degree of M. D. in 1870. 
After studying in the hospitals of New York 
for the remainder of that year, Dr. Brown 
began his practice of medicine and surgery 
in Adams, Mass , Jan. i, 1871. In 1872 he 
moved to North Adams, where he has been 
an honored and successful practitioner to 
the present time. I )etermined to keep apace 
with the improved methods of practice, he 
has taken several special courses of study at 
the hospitals and medical schools of New 
York and Chicago. He excels particularly 
in the treatment of diseases of women and 
children. 

Dr. Brown is prominent in the political 
and social affairs of North Adams, and has 
a wide reputation throughout the state. He 
was appointed one of the state medical ex- 
aminers for Berkshire county in 1882, which 
position he still holds. In 1889 he was one 
of the Republican nominees for representa- 
tive in the First Berkshire District and was 



elected. In the House he was vigilant and 
actixe, meriting special credit for his work 
with the committee on public health. Dr.. 
Brown is a member and officer of the Massa- 
chusetts State Medical Society, Massachusetts 
Medico-Legal Society, Medical Association 
of Northern Berkshire, and Berkshire Dis- 
trict Medical Society. He has been a health 
officer of the town most of the time since 
1880, and has served the state continuously 
since 1878 as a medical officer of the Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer Militia. He belongs to 
the order F. & A. M. and other fraternal 
and beneficiary organizations, and is a mem- 




ORLANDO 



ber of the First Universalist Church, of 
which he has been deacon since 1885, and 
superintendent of Sunday school since 1872, 
was member of the building committee for 
new church in 1892, besides holding other 
important offices. 

Dr. Brown was married, Nov. 22, 1S71, 
to Eva M., daughter of William and Amelia 
(Blakeslee) Hodskins, who died Oct. 14, 
1873. Of this union there was one child : 
William O. (deceased). Of his second mar- 
riage with Ida M., daughter of Homer and 
Martha (Phelps) Haskins, which occurred 
Sept. 13, 1876, is one daughter: Agnes O., 
his only child surviving. The mother died 
at the birth of a second child, Ida M., in 
1881. Dr. Brown's present wife is Alice, 
daughter of Edward and Celestia (Stevens) 
Stowell, to whom he was married Dec. 16, 
1884. 



llUriKKFIEI.I) 



27 



BRUCE, Eli Mansfield, of Philadel- 
phia, son of Rev. Mansfiekl and Grace 
'Cloddard) Kruce, was born in \\'ilmington, 
April 25, 1825. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
his native town and by hard application dur- 
ing his leisure time. Fifteen years of age 
found him teaching and his aptitude and 
ability to gain the good will and esteem of 
those under his charge soon placed him in 
the front ranks of the instructors of ^\ ind- 
ham county, and in after years when he was 
in Ohio and Illinois he had no difficulty in 
maintaining the reputation of the ''N'nnkee 



right Christian life since, and for the past 
twenty-eight years has been thoroughly in 
earnest in his efforts to jjursuade his fellow- 
men to turn from their e\il ways and in his 
belief that nothing less than entire and un- 
reserved consecration is required of every 
one who professes Christianity, his energy 
and money have been freely given for that 
purpose. 

Mr. Bruce united in mairiage Sept. 27, 
1843, to Harriet, daughter of Daniel and 
Catherine (Moore) Snow, of \\"ilmington. 
Of this union are two daughters : Kate, and 
Ellen H. The golden wedding of Mr. and 
Mrs. Bruce was celebrated Sept. 27, 1S93. 

BUTTERFIELD, L. ALONZO, of .Akron, 
Ohio, son of Ezra T. and Mary (Leonard) 
Butterfield, was born in Wilmington, July 
24, 1846. 



«tv 




ELI MANSFIELD BRUCE. 

School Master." In 1857 he commenced a 
business life by engaging with the late Dea- 
con Estey — famous the world o\er as the 
manufacturer of the Estey organs — and he 
still carries a gold watch taken in exchange 
for one of the melodeons. In the winter of 
i858-'5g he visited in the East and was in- 
duced by Deacon Estey to go to Philadel- 
phia and open a market for the Estey or- 
gans, and the trip proved so successful that 
his teaching was given up and he removed 
to Philadelphia, where a store for Estey or- 
gans was opened, in which he is still success- 
fully engaged. 

Mr. Bruce enlisted and served three 
months in the 44th, or "Merchants' Regi- 
ment" emergency men, about the time of 
the battle of Gettysburg. In politics he is a 
Republican but has never taken more than a 
voting interest. ' Uniting w-ith the ISaptist 
church in 1840, Mr. Bruce has led an u])- 




L. ALONZO BUTTERFIELD. 

He was educated at the district schools of 
Wilmington, Wesleyan Academy and the Bos- 
ton University. Since his graduation he has 
devoted his entire time to teaching, ha\iug 
followed that profession for twenty years ; one 
year in Wesleyan Academy and several terms 
in the Vermont Methodist Seminary, state 
normal school and the New Hampton ( N. H. ) 
Literary Institution. He taught for three 
years in the Boston University ; was instruc- 
tor in the Newton (Mass.) '["heological In- 
stitution, and for several years at Dartmouth 
College ; was for several years associate prin- 
cipal of the Boston School of^"ocal Physi- 
ologv, with Prof. .Alexander Graham LSell. 



28 



CARPENTER. 



From 1 8 78 to 1SS3 Prof. Butterfield developed 
an original sj'stem of voice culture, and has 
become widely known as a specialist in voice 
culture for speakers and singers and in the 
treatment of all forms of defective speech. 
For several years he was a professor in the 
Emerson College of Oratory, Boston, Mass., 
resigning in June, 1891, to accept a call to 
the chair of rhetoric and oratory at Buchtel 
College, Akron, O., which position he still 
holds. Dr. Butterfield has been prominently 
connected with summer schools and institute 
work, having had charge of the department 
of voice culture and oratory at the National 
Simimer School at Saratoga and (ilens Falls, 
N. Y., for five summers, beginning in 1887. 
In 1883 he was elected to a fellowship in the 
Society of Science, Letters and Art, of Lon- 
don. He received the degree of Ph. D. from 
the thnerson College of Oratory in 18S8. 

Dr. Butterfield united in marriage, Julv 3, 
1877, to Ruhamah, daughter of Hiram and 
Betsey D. (Canney) Felker, of Barrington, 
N. H. Of this union is one daughter : Alice. 



BUEL, ALEXANDER W., was born in 
Rutland county, in 1S13, graduated from 
the Vermont Lniversity in 1831, taught 
school for many years in Vermont and New 
York, during which time he prepared him- 
self for the practice of law. In 1834 he 
took up his residence in Michigan ; in 1836 
was attorney for the city of Detroit ; in 
1837 was elected to the state Legislature; 
in 1843 and 1844 was prosecuting attorney 
for \Vayne county ; in 1847 was again elec- 
ted to the Legislature: and from 1849 to 
1851 was a representative in Congress from 
Michigan. 

BURKE, Edmund, was born in West- 
minster, Jan. 23, 1809; was educated by 
private tutors, studied law^, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1829 : removed to New Hamp- 
shire in 1833, where he established in Sulli- 
van county the New Hampshire Argus. He 
was a representative in Congress from New 
Hampshire from 1S39 to 1845, and by Pres- 
ident Polk was ajjpointed commissioner of 
patents in Washington. 




CARPENTER, MATTHEW Hale, son of 
Ira and Esther 
.A.nn (Luce) 
Carpenter, was 
born in More- 
town, Dec. 22, 
1834. 

When he was 
six years old, 
Paul Dillingham 
told him to be 
a good boy at 
home, and the 
best pupil in 
school, and 
when he was 
fourteen to come 
to his house and 
he would make a lawyer of him. The boy 
then bore the name of Decatur Merritt 
Hammond Carpenter, and changed it to 
Matthew Hale Carpenter when residing in 
Beloit. The lawyer forgot the promise, but 
the boy did not, and when he was fourteen 
Merritt made his appearance as requested, 
charmed Mrs. Dillingham, as he had her 
husband, and the ])romise w^as kept. 

In 1843 Merritt was appointed a cadet at 
West Point, remained there two years, re- 
signed in August, 1845, returned to \\'ater- 
bury, resumed the study of law, and was ad- 
mitted to the Washington county bar at 
Montpelier in November, 1S47. His mother 
died before he left Moretown, and while at 
Waterburv he had a home in Mr. Dilling- 



ham's family, as well as a student's place in 
his office. 

L^pon admission to the bar he went to 
Boston to continue his studies in the office of 
Rufus Choate, who came to admire and love 
him. In 1S4S he went to Beloit, Wis., 
opened an office, got a sign painted and 
didn't ha\e the fifty cents to pay for it, but 
he did ha\e a good library which Mr. Choate 
had enabled him to buy by becoming re- 
sponsible to a Boston firm for payment. 

In 1849 Carpenter was stricken by what 
threatened to be permanent blindness, found 
his way to New York, where he remained 
sixteen months for treatment. Choate loaned 
him money to pay his expenses. After his 
New York sojourn, and a few weeks spent at 
Waterbury, he returned to Beloit. There 
Matt Carpenter, as he was called by every- 
body in \Visconsin, soon won distinction in 
his profession, and in 1858 he moved to 
Milwaukee, which was thenceforward his 
home. 

During the rebellion he was one of those 
patriots who were known as War Democrats. 
His services as a soldier were not permitted 
because of physical disability, but he was a 
tower of strength to the Union cause through- 
out the Northwest. 

In January, 1869, he was elected by the 
RepubHcans of Wisconsin to the United 
States Senate. In January, 1875, he was de- 
feated for re-election, but in January, 1S79, 
the state again returned her first citizen to 



the Senate chamber, but he was then in de- 
cUning heaUh and, Feb. 25 1S81, he died. 

He married, Nov. 27, US55, CaroHne Dill- 
ingham, daughter of Paul Dillingham. Mrs. 
Carpenter survives him. Of their four chil- 
dren two died in infancy, and two, Lilian, 
and Paul D., are living. 

Xo attempt is here made to even outline 
the work of the most brilliant personality of 
all the Sons of Vermont. His genius was 
not only the capacity of taking infinite pains, 
but in person, in voice, in grace and charm of 
speech he had no rival. The light of the 
inward fire glowed for those who heard and 
saw him. He was a student, as the midnight 
lamp bore witness ; profound lawyer, as the 
highest courts of the land recognized ; a 
statesman, who gave the logical ground for 
his party to stand on in its work of recon- 
struction, and an orator who mo\ed not only 
juries and courts, but was the idol of the peo- 
ple, and whose winged words made true for 
him what he once said when asked to make 
a political speech, that the only ceiling under 
which to do that was "(lod's blue skv." 

CAMP, ISAAC N., of Chicago, 111., son 
of Abel and Charlotte (Taplin) Cam]), was 
born in Elmore, Dec. iS, 1S31. lioth 
parents were natives of Vermont. His 
father, a farmer, was the postmaster and a 
leading man in town, and had charge of a 
large tract of land left to the University of 
Vermont by Guy Catlin, who gave him the 
disposal of a scholarship in the University : 
the father died Dec. 22, 1890, aged ninety 
years. 

Our subject prepared for college at Bak- 
ersfield Academy, paying his board by 
teaching music. At the age of twenty he 
entered the University of Vermont, earning 
the money necessary to meet his expenses, 
graduating in 1856. 

He immediately became assistant princi- 
pal of Barre Academy, where he remained 
teaching mathematics and music until 1S60 
when he became principal of the high 
school at Burlington, a position which he 
filled until his removal to Chicago in 1S68, 
forming a partnership with H. L. Story, 
firm name Story & Camp. In 1884 the 
Estey Organ Co. bought Mr. Story's interest 
and the firm became Estey & Camp, and 
has continued such. Mr. Story received 
§250,000 for his interest ; the capital of the 
firm today is close to $1,000,000, and it is 
one of the most substantial and reputable in 
Chicago. 

In religion, Mr. Camp is a Congregation- 
alist, a director in the Chicago Theological 
Seminary, a member of Union Park Congre- 
gational Church and president of its board of 
trustees. 



29 



In politics, he is a thorough-going Repub- 
lican. He is a member of the Illinois and 
Union League clubs, a director of the Chi- 
cago Guaranty Life Society and the Royal 
Safety Deposit Co. In April, 1891, he was 
elected a director of the World's Columbian 
FIxposition, and was a member of its com- 
mittee on agriculture and liberal arts. 





/ 



4 



ISAAC N. CAf* 



Mr. Camp is a man of fine ])hysique, 
pleasing address and genial in manner ; gen- 
erous to church and charitable enterprises : 
the architect of his own fortune ; he is 
highly esteemed in the city of his adoption. 

He was united in marriage, Jan. i, 1862, 
to Flora M., daughter of the Hon. Carlos 
Carpenter, of Barre. The fruit of this 
union was four children, three of whom are 
now living : The daughter is Mrs. M. .\. Farr; 
the oldest son, Edwin M., is in business with 
his father ; the youngest, William C'., is fit- 
ting for college. Mr. Camp, with his familv, 
has travelled e.xtensively in Europe and in 
the L^nited States. 

CARTER, Ep.HUND H., of Wahpeton, 
N. D., son of Rev. Ira and Elizabeth B. 
(Shedd) Carter, was born in Springfield, 
.August 9, 184S. He is a descenilant of 
Thomas Carter, who came over in the ship 
Planter in 1630 and settled at Salisbury, 
Mass. His maternal great-grandfather was 
Col. Jonathan Martin, an ofific:er in the 
Revolutionary army and a member of the 
first constitutional convention of New Hamp- 
shire. 



30 



Edmund's education was begun in the 
district schools of Springfield and com- 
pleted at the M. E. Conference seminaries 
of Springfield and Newbury. He learned 
mercantile business of Robbins & White of 
Cavendish and Tuxbury & Stone of Windsor, 
and for five years from 1874 was in the dry 
goods business at Felchville. In 18S0 took 
up a government homestead in the Red 
River Valley, Richland county, Dakota Ter- 
ritory, where he has since been extensively 




engaged in farming. He owns the Cherry 
Hill ranch at Mantodore, N. D., where he 
raises Clydesdale horses and Exmoor ponies. 

In 1884 formed, with Hon. R. N. Ink, the 
Farm Loan Co. of Ink & Carter; in i8go 
Mr. Ink withdrew, leaving Mr. Carter sole 
manager of an extensive loaning business. 
It is his proud boast that no investor has 
ever lost a dollar through him. 

Mr. Carter is a Republican in politics ; in 
religion a Methodist. 

CASWELL, LUCIEN B., of Fort Atkin- 
son, Wis., was born in Swanton, Nov. 27, 
1827. At three years of age he removed to 
Fort Atkinson, Wis., with his mother, gradu- 
ated from Beloit College, studied law with 
the late Matt. Carpenter, was admitted in 
185 1, and began the practice of his profes- 
sion. Was district attorney, i855-'56 ; mem- 
ber of the Legislature in 1863, i873-'74 ; was 
commissioner of the Second District Enrol- 
ment Board of the state, i863-'65 ; delegate 



to national Republican convention, 1S80; 
elected to the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, 
Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses." 

GATE, George W., was born in 
Montpelier, Sept. 17, 1S25 ; received a com- 
mon school education, studied law and was 
admitted to the bar in 1845 ^t Montpelier; 
removed the same year to Wisconsin and 
located at Plover ; was elected a meinber of 
the state Legislature in i852-'53 ; was elected 
judge of the circuit court in April, t8s4, and 
held that position continuously until March 
4, 1875, when he resigned upon being 
elected a representative from Wisconsin in 
the Forty-fourth Congress as an Independ- 
ent Reformer. 

GHAMBERLIN, EDSON J., of Ottawa, 
( )nt., son of Joseph M. and Roeann (Abbott) 
Chamberlin, was born in Lancaster, N. H., 
August 25, 1852. 

His early education was accomplished at 
the high school of Bethel and supplemented 
by a course of study at the Montpelier Metho- 
dist Seminary. December 6, 1871, Mr. 
Chamberlin entered the employment of the 
Central \'ermont R. R. and held success- 
ively the positions of time keeper in the car 
shops at St. Albans, clerk in the paymaster's 
department and in the ofSce of superintend- 
ent of transportation. In 1875, he became 
corresponding secretary of the general super- 
intendent, and in 1877 the private secretary 
to the general manager. April, 1884, to Sep- 
tember, 1886, he acted as general manager 
of the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain R. R. 
and the Central Vermont line of steamers 
running between Chicago and Ogdensburg. 
September i, 1886, he assumed the position 
of general manager of the Canada & .Atlantic 
R. R. 

Mr. Chamberlin has never entered politi- 
cal life nor has he held town or county 
offices. He is a prominent member of the 
Masonic fraternity, belonging to Engelsby 
Lodge of Burlington, a past high priest of 
Champlain Chapter, No. i, and a Sir Knight 
of Lafayette Commandery and of the su- 
preme council Ancient and Accepted Scottish 
Rite. 

He was united in marriage to Sarah G., 
daughter of James and Clarissa Place, of 
Highgate, Sept. 18, 1876. 

GHANDLER, ALBERT BROWN, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., was born in West Randolph, 
August 20, 1840, and is the youngest son of 
^\'illiam Brown Chandler, a man whose life, 
covering almost ninety years, was marked 
by an eminently Christian spirit that em- 
bodied in its law both of these great princi- 
ples that were declared as embodying all 
the law and the prophets ; and whose 



CKANDLKR. 



CHANDLER. 



wife, f^lecta Owen, was a woman of rare 
merit, possessing uncommon intellectual 
endowments as well as high character ; she 
lived to seventy years old, and both, through- 
out their long lives, were sincerely respected 
and loved. Albert Chandler's first ancestor 
in America was AVilliam Chandler, who 
settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 1637. From 
the three sons of this man came the New 
England branches of the family, among the 
members of which were several men who 
distinguished themselves in civil or military 
life in colonial times. The Hon. Zachariah 
Chandler of Michigan, United States Senator 
from that state and Secretary of the Interior 
under President Grant, was a descendant of 
A\'illiam, the eldest of the three ; the Hon. 
William E. Chandler, senator from New 
Hampshire, who was Secretary of the Navy 
under President Hayes, and Commander 
Benjamin F. Chandler, an officer in the 
navy, are descendants of Thomas another 
of the three. .Albert B. Chandler is a de- 
scendant of the third brother, John, and he 
numbers also among his ancestors, in a 
direct line, Mary Winthrop, daughter of 
John Winthrop, the first Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, and sister of John Winthrop, 
founder of New London and the first Gover- 
nor of Connecticut. 

Of studious tastes, Mr. Albert B. Chandler 
made effective use of the opportunities af- 
forded him for securing an academic educa- 
tion, and in the intervals between school 
proved his native industry by working as a 
compositor in a printing office in his native 
town and in Montpelier. There was a tele- 
graph office located in a bookstore at West 
Randolph in connection with the printing 
office in which he worked, and this enabled 
him to acquire the art of telegraphy. For 
a time he was telegraph messenger and oper- 
ator. In October, 1858, through the influ- 
ence of his brother, AN'illiam Wallace Chan- 
dler, he was appointed manager of the 
Western Union telegraph office at Beliaire, O. 
In February, 1 85 9, he was promoted to a posi- 
tion in the office of the superintendent of that 
Railway Co., at Pittsburg, and on May i of the 
same year he was appointed agent of that com- 
pany at Manchester, opposite Pittsburg. He 
occupied this position with much credit vntil 
the end of May, 1863, and there became 
familiar with the various branches of railway 
service. On the istof June, 1863, he entered 
the U. S military telegraph service as cipher 
operator in the War Department at Washing- 
ton, D. C. In October of the same year he 
was made disbursing clerk for Gen. Thomas 
T. Eckert, superintendent of the Department 
of the Potomac, in addition to his duties as 
cipher operator. Here he became personally 
acquainted with many officers of the go\ern- 



ment, and particularly with President Lincoln 
and Secretary Stanton. 

Early in .August, 1866, before the general 
consolidation of the several telegraph inter- 
ests into one company had become fully 
organized, he removed to New York City 
and became chief clerk of the general super- 
intendent of the Eastern di\ision, and was 
also placed in charge of the trans-Atlantic 
cable traffic, which had then just com- 
menced. In addition to these duties Mr. 
Chandler was apjjointed, on the first of June, 
1869, superintendent of the sixth district of 
the Eastern division. He continued in this 
service until January, 1875, when, soon 
after the election of General Eckert as pres- 
ident and general manager of the Atlantic 
and Pacific Telegraph Co., Mr. Chand- 
ler was made assistant general manager of 
that company. In June of the same year he 
was appointed secretary, and the following 
year he was made a member of the board of 
trustees, and subsequently treasurer and 
vice president. In December, 1879, after 
the resignation of General Eckert, Mr. 
Chandler was elected president, continuing 
in that position until the complete absorp- 
tion of the .Atlantic and Pacific company by 
the Western L'nion in 1882. The property 
was combined with that of the Western 
L'nion, as to its operation, in the spring of 
1 88 1, and his duties in connection there- 
with, after that time, were only such as were 
made legally necessary by its separate cor- 
porate existence. In the summer of 1881 
he acted as treasurer of the Western L'nion 
company during the absence of that officer. 

In October, 1881, he accepted the presi- 
dency of the Fuller Electrical Co., which 
was one of the first to undertake the 
development of the arc system of electric 
lighting. He remained acti\ely in that 
position until May, 1884. During the sum- 
mer and fall of that year, having had more 
than twenty-five years incessant service, he 
spent three months in A'ermont, but per- 
formed during this period of relaxation, a 
variety of services for the Electrical com- 
jiany, and also for the Commercial Cable 
Co., whose system was then in course of 
construction. 

Early in December, 18S4, he was em- 
ployed as counsel by the Postal Telegraph 
and Cable Co., at the instance of Mr. John 
\\'. Mackay, and acted in that capacity 
until June i, 1885, when he was appointed 
receiver of the property of that company by 
the Supreme Court of New York, and had 
charge of the operation of its lines and the 
management of its business while the fore- 
closure suits, which resulted in the sale of 
the property in January, 1886, were pend- 
ing. L^pon its reorganization he was elected 
president of the company. In connection 



CHANDLKR. 



CHANDLER. 



33 



with his care of the iiropertj- of the I'ostal 
'relegra]ih Co., the general management of 
the newly organized United Lines Telegraph 
Co., was assigned to him, that company having 
purchased the lines formerly known as the 
Bankers and Merchants. This property sub- 
sequently became a part of the Postal. In 
the meantime he had been made a director, 
a member of the e.xecutive committee and a 
vice-president of the Commercial Cable Co., 
and of the Pacific Postal Telegraph Co., and a 
director, and subsequently president of the 
Commercial Telegram Co. Mainly through 
his efforts the control of the plant of the 
latter company was sold to the New 
York Stock E.xchange for the purpose of 
enabling that institution to make simulta- 
neous distribution of its quotations to its 
members, and Mr. Chandler became vice 
president and general manager of the New 
York (Quotation Co., which assumed con- 
trol of the business in the interest of the 
stock exchange. He is also a member of 
the board of directors of the Brooklyn IJis- 
trict Telegraph Co., of which he was presi- 
dent during the first three years of its 
existence. 

Immediately after the Western Union 
Co. acquired possession in October, 1S87, 
of the telegraph system which had been built 
up by the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Co., 
^Ir. Chandler was invited by reason of his 
well-known views on the subject of tele- 
graphic competition, and the necessity for 
it, to confer with certain of the principal 
owners and officers of the \\'estern Union 
Co., the conference resulting in an arrange- 
ment for the discontinuance of rate cutting, 
rebating and other destructi\e methods of 
competition which had previously prevailed 
whenever any telegraph interest attained 
considerable extent. This condition has 
ever since continued, with great benefit to 
the telegraph companies, and to the public. 
Under it, non-paying rates were of course 
discontinued : but a still larger number of 
rates were reduced, the aim being to equal- 
ize the charges and place the public on a 
uniform basis as to telegraph rates, discrim- 
inating neither for nor against any one, and 
making excellence of service, in speed and 
accuracy, the means of influencing patron- 
age. This has produced a telegraph service 
which is far superior to any that has ever 
before been performed, and to Mr. Chandler, 
more than to any other one person, the 
credit of establishing such conditions, both 
in connection with land lines and trans- 
Atlantic service, unquestionably belongs — 
negotiations respecting the latter having 
been intrusted to him, after the merit of the 
principles involved had become well assured 
by experience on the land lines. An authority 
on the history of the telegraph in this 



country fittingly alludes to Mr. Chandler as 
"a man of much prudence and conservative 
judgment, having an engaging courtesy and 
refinement." 

To Albert B. Chandler the American public 
is very largely indebted for the comparative 
inexpensiveness of telegraphic communica- 
tion in these days, when the most sanguine 
ideas that Samuel F. B. Morse could have 
indulged in have been more than realized. 
From boyhood Mr. Chandler has been con- 
nected with the telegraph business, and for 
many years he has been prominently identi- 
fied with enterprises and movements that 
have been fruitful in bringing this immense 
interest into its present profitable and useful 
condition. During the last five years that 
Professor Morse lived, Mr. Chandler was 
well acquainted with him, and he has had 
the personal friendship of almost every one 
of the prominent promoters, inventors, own- 
ers, managers, etc., of telegraphic interests 
and of electrical enterprises generally, which 
have revolutionized the modern world. He 
is at the present time president and general 
manager of the Postal Telegraph Cable Co., 
vice-president of the Commercial Cable Co., 
and president of several local companies in 
different cities that are allied to those inter- 
ests. The magnificent new Postal Telegraph 
building erected during the past two years, 
on the corner of Broadway and Murray 
streets, opposite the New York City Hall, is 
the most recent of Mr. Chandler's important 
enterprises. He selected the site, conducted 
the negotiations which secured it, was chair- 
inan of the committee which had charge of 
its construction and which now controls it. 
The building is of limestone, gray brick and 
terra cotta, fourteen stories in height over 
basement and cellar, and is recognized as 
one of the handsomest, as well as most com- 
modious, well-appointed and well-lighted 
office buildings in the world. The steam 
and electrical machinery are of most recent 
design, of the highest order of merit, and are 
so extensive and complete as to command 
the admiration of experts and scientists as 
well as less skillful critics. The value of 
land and building is about two and a half 
millions of dollars. 

In addition to these important trusts, Mr. 
Chandler has been called upon to give much 
time and careful attention to the manage- 
ment of a large estate in Brooklyn of which 
he is the executor. 

Mr. Chandler married Miss Marilla Eunice 
Stedman, of West Randolph, Oct. 11, 1864, 
and three children have been born of the mar- 
riage. The first, a daughter named Florence, 
died in early childhood ; the others are two 
sons, Albert Eckert and Willis Derwin. 

Mr. Chandler ow-ns a handsome residence 
on Clinton avenue, Brooklyn, and has a com- 



34 



CHANDLER. 



CHANDLER. 



niodius country home in his nati\e town 
where his family passes the summer. He i.-. 
a man of extremely pleasant manner, very 
approachable, and amid his many cares and 
responsibilities finds time to cultivate the 
graces of social life. His domestic attach- 
ments are strong and he is a lover of music 
and literature, cultivating his tastes quite 
freely in both these directions. He wields a 
ready pen in literary and historical work, and 
among his diversions has been the prepara- 
tion of a genealogical record of his family 
that would do credit to a professional searcher. 
One of his peculiar faculties is a remarkable 
memory for names, faces and dates, and 
this, with his ease in conversation, his wide 
range of information and his companionable 
ways, makes him a very interesting man to 
meet and to know. 

CHANDLER, William Wallace, of 
Chicago, was born at \\'est Randolph, Jan. 
7, 1821. He was the eldest of a family of 
eight boys, there having been two girls older 
and three younger than himself. Twelve of 
these thirteen children lived to become 
parents, one girl having died in infancy. 

His parents, William Brown and Electa 
Owen Chandler, were married at Hanover, 
N. H., in 1816, and removed immediately 
to West Randolph, where they resided to- 
gether for fifty years, lacking four months, 
when his mother passed to a higher life, — 
his father surviving until he was eighty-nine 
and one-half years old when he died at the 
residence of his son Frank in Brooklyn, 
N. Y. 

His paternal ancestor, William Chandler, 
came from England to Ro.Nbury, Mass., in 
1637, only seventeen years after the landing 
of the Pilgrims. 

William Brown Chandler, whose birth 
dates back to primitive times, learned the 
manufacture of farming and carpenters' 
tools and other branches of handiwork in 
iron and steel, from a horseshoe to articles 
and implements requiring far more skill. 
He also owned a farm (less than thirty 
acres), where this large family were reared, 
— the small farm contributing largely to 
their support. .As was the case in most 
Vermont families in those days, industry 
and economy were necessary, and as soon 
as the Chandler children were able to work 
their services were utilized, and they were 
never idle, although never overtaxed, ^^'hen 
there was no work, their mother, who was a 
natural and competent teacher, managed to 
keep them studying, which was a great ben- 
efit, as the school terms were limited to 
three months in summer and winter. 

The subject of this sketch was a robust, 
hearty boy, and his services on the little 
farm and among the neighbors were too val- 



uable, after he was nine years old, to allow 
him to attend school except the three winter 
months. 

From early childhood, he manifested an 
inclination to write in all sorts of places 
where letters could be formed, with a stick 
on the sand, or in the smooth snow, and a 
new shingle was a delight to him. .At the 
age of fifteen, with very little instruction, and 
without the aid of copies of any merit, he 
had succeeded in formulating a system of 
penmanship which attracted much atten- 
tion in his nati\e town and throughout the 
county. 

Soon after passing his fifteenth birthday, 
he was induced to teach an evening class of 
thirty-eight persons in the village near his 
home. Not only boys and girls were his 
pupils, but their parents also. He possessed 
the rare faculty of being able to impart to 
others whatever he knew himself. His suc- 
cess in this, his first school, was regarded as 
almost marvelous. This was before the days 
of steel and gold pens, and he provided each 
pupil with three quill pens, uniform as to 
quality, which they used alternately for each 
lesson. The next day the pens were "mended" 
for the following lesson. 

To make a good quill pen, and hundreds 
of them alike, was "high art" — not one man 
in a hundred could do it, but he could, and 
afterwards taught thousands to follow very 
closely his method. In the autumn of 1843, 
at Montpelier, he taught nearly every mem- 
ber of the Legislature to make a quill pen, 
no one paying him less than one dollar, 
and some voluntarily paid him fi\e dollars, 
and one senator from ^'ergennes handed him* 
a ten dollar note, remarking as he did so, "I 
never paid any money for anything more 
cheerfully." 

The spring after his first school, he at- 
tended a term at Randolph Academy, or as 
it was called, " The Orange County Gram- 
mar School." Soon after he commenced his 
studies here, the preceptor asked him to call 
at his room that evening, which he did. He 
said : " I have learned of your wonderful 
success as a teacher of penmanship last win- 
ter at the ^^'est village. Here are between 
one and two hundred students at this acad- 
emy, very few of whom are able to write 
even tolerable. They have no system what- 
ever, yet many of them are teachers. Now 
I am aware that if you should have classes 
in writing, you would be able to do very 
little with your own studies, but I am anxious 
to have these students instructed and will 
pay whatever we can agree upon for each 
pupil, relying upon myself to collect from 
them sufficient to reimburse me. You pro- 
cure suitable stationery, keep an account of 
what you pay therefor, which shall be re- 
funded. Make three classes — I will arrange 



.^,6 



CHANDLER. 



for the time of each, — one in the forenoon, 
one in the afternoon and one in the evening, 
using the academy hall. If you find you 
have not time to set the copies in each book, 
limit your work to blackboard illustrations." 
Suffice it to say, most of those students were 
his pupils, and he was well paid for his 
services, albeit he was obliged to give up his 
studies. When that school term closed an 
extensive farmer, who also ran a brickyard, 
said : " I want you for three months to work 
as I may direct, and will pay you §15,00 
per month.' When the time was up the 
farmer said, "Here are $45, that fulfils the 
contract, but I am paying some of the others 
S20 per month, and your services have been 
more valuable than theirs, and no grumbling, 
therefore I gladly make you a present of 
Si 5." Farmers of that class are now nearly 
extinct. 

That autumn he attended another academy 
for three months, where he also had a class 
in penmanship, — not so large, however, but 
that he was able to devote more than half 
his time towards perfecting his education. 
The following winter he taught a district 
school in a village, and had a large evening 
class in writing. Thus he continued to 
work and to study as best he might be able 
until he was nineteen years of age, when he 
entered Norwich Military Academy, an ex- 
cellent school, especially for the study of 
mathematics, of which he was especially fond. 
This school he attended nearly five terms, in 
the aggregate, teaching more or less between 
times, and this was by far the best opportu- 
nity he ever had for instruction. From that 
time until he was twenty-four years of age, 
he taught penmanship in most of the large 
towns of Vermont and some in the state of 
New York, in academies, seminaries, col- 
leges, and rooms which he rented outside of 
schools. 

In June, 1845, he was persuaded to take 
a position as advance agent for a concert 
troupe, affording him an excellent opportu- 
nity to learn men and things, especially to 
study geography practically. 

In September following, he returned to his 
teaching for nine months at Bakersfield 
Academy, at St. .-Mbans, and other towns in 
Northern Vermont. 

Having had experience as an advertising 
agent, the Cheney family (the famous Ver- 
mont singing masters), who had organized 
as a concert troupe, sought his services in a 
similar capacity, making him a very tempt- 
ing offer, which he accepted, and remained 
with them nearly eight months, when they 
disbanded at Albion, N. V. Not long there- 
after he engaged with another concert 
troupe, where he continued until February, 
1853, during which ex])erience he visited 
twentv states of the Union, traversing some 



of them several times over, traveling a great 
part of the time with a pair of horses and 
buggy — a good way to see the country 
thoroughly. 

March 5, 1S53, he entered the employ at 
Cleveland, Ohio, of the Cleveland, Pittsburg 
& \\'heeling R. R., as fourth clerk in a 
freight office. In about three months he 
was promoted to first clerk, and before the 
end of three years he was advanced to the 
position of general freight agent of the road, 
where he remained nearly nine years, when 
he was sent to Chicago upon the organiza- 
tion of the "Star Union Line," the pioneer 
of the through freight lines of this country. 

From that time until the present date. 
May 10, 1893, he has been the general agent 
of that company at Chicago. For more than 
forty years he has been so constantly em- 
ployed by the Penna. Co. in different capac- 
ities as to have received his pay for each 
and every day. 

April I, 1893, his health being somewhat 
impaired, he was retired on full pay, retain- 
ing his rank and title, whether or not he 
ever performs any further service. 

Mr. Chandler enjoys the distinction of 
having invented and put in operation the first 
refrigerator cars ever built in this or any other 
country. He neglected to procure a patent, 
not realizing at the time the magnitude of 
the business which such cars would attain in 
a little more than a quarter of a century. 
Many thousands of such cars are in daily 
use all over this broad land. 

Mr. Chandler has been married three 
times, his first wife bearing him two sons, 
both of whom died in infancy. The two 
sons of his second wife are married and liv- 
ing in New York City : William W. Jr., born 
Thanksgiving Day, 1856, and Fred Brown 
Chandler, born Thanksgiving Day, 1859, ^^ 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

He married his third wife. Miss Lavinia 
B. Pendleton, .\ugust 18, 1 881, in Boston, 
her native city, where for several years she 
had ranked among the first of that city's fa- 
mous teachers. She is a lady of thorough 
education and refinement, and besides being 
her husband's constant companion is his 
amanuensis. 

CHASE, LUCIEN B., was born in Ver- 
mont, and was representative in Congress 
from Tennessee, from 1S45 to 1847, and for 
a second term, ending 1849. He was the 
author of a work entitled "History of Presi- 
dent Polk's Administration." 

CHEEVER, DUSTIN GROW, of CHnton, 
Wis., son of Josiah Rider and Candace Grow 
(Bronson) Cheever, grandson of Nathaniel 
Cheever, and great-grandson of Willianv 



37 



Cheever, who were pioneers of Hardwick, 
was born in Hardwick, Jan. 30, 1830. 

He received his education in the pubHc 
schools of his native town, and at Derby 
Academy, where he was a schoolmate of 
Hon. Redtield Proctor. Mr. Cheever was 
reared on a farm, but spent the winters either 
in attending school or teaching. In the 
spring of 1851 he emigrated to Wisconsin, 
and settled in Clinton, where he still resides. 
He at once engaged in agricultural pursuits 
with marked success, and has made that his 
chief occupation. 

Mr. Cheever has ever been an ardent Re- 
publican, and many times has been honored 
by holding positions of trust and responsi- 
bility. During the years 1856 and 1858 he 
was town superintendent of schools ; in 1857 
he was elected town clerk; 1865 and 1875 
he was chairman of the town board of sup- 
ervisors, and from 1865 to 1873 inclusive was 
justice of the peace. During the war of the 
rebellion, from 1861 to 1865, he was enroll- 
ing officer for the town, was chairman and 
treasurer of the recruiting committee to keep 
filled the town quota of volunteers. He was 
deputy postmaster from 1871 to 1877 and 
managed the Clinton postoffice mainly dur- 
ing those years. 

In 1872 he was elected a member of the 
Wisconsin Legislature, and re-elected in 
1873 ; in 1873 was appointed by Gov. C. C. 
Washburn a member of the committee to 
visit the charitable institutions of the state 
and make reports to the Legislature, was 
chairman of the committee, a member of the 
committee on claims, and was frequently 
speaker pro fern of the .Assembly. From 
1876 to 1883 was trustee of the Wisconsin 
Deaf and Dumb Institute, located at Dela- 
van, Wis., and during the entire time was a 
member of the executive committee ; was 
also a member of the building committee, 
having in charge the construction of its pres- 
ent fine buildings, erected since the old 
ones were destroyed by fire, Sept. 16, 1879. 

Early in life he became connected with 
the Baptist denomination and has ever had 
an active interest in its welfare. He was a 
member of the building committee to erect 
their present fine church edifice in the vil- 
lage of Clinton and contributed liberally of 
his time and means to its completion ; has 
been superintendent of Sunday school and 
for many years teacher of a Bible class. He 
is a member of Clood Samaritan Lodge, No. 
135, A. F. & A. M., and was the first man 
made a Mason in Clinton. For many years 
he served the order either as senior deacon, 
junior or senior warden and has been dele- 
gate to the Grand Lodge : is a member of 
Beloit Chapter Xo. 9, Royal Arch Masons. 
He is also a member of Hope Temple of 
Honor and Temperance, No. ^t„ and takes 



a deep interest in all temperance reform 
work. In years past when business cares 
were less pressing he vi'as an active member 
of the I. O. O. F. 

Mr. Cheever was married Jan 4, 1853, to 
Christiana, daughter of Dustin and Sarah 
( Lamson ) Grow. Of this union are two sons : 
Ralph \Vright Cheever, editor and proprietor 
of the Clinton Herald, a Republican weekly ; 
he is also village postmaster, appointed by 
President Harrison. The other son, .\rthur 
Josiah, is a farmer. Mrs. Cheever died Jan. 
I, 1873. October 17, 1878, he married Mrs. 
Dell Louisa (Shumway) Bailey, who has a 
daughter by her first husband, Phebe L. 
Bailey, also a resident of Clinton. 

CHEEVER, Silas Grow, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of Capt. Josiah Rider and 
Candace Grow (Bronson) Cheever, was 
born in Hardwick, June 23, 1838. His pa- 
ternal and maternal ancestors were from 
England. His great-grandfather, William 
Cheever, who was born in Chatham, Mass., 
in 1745, was one of the early settlers of 
Vermont. 

The subject of this sketch received his 
education at the schools of his native state 
and from private lessons from professional 
instructors in the \\'est after leaving home. 
During the years of his minority he worked 
on his father's farm until 1856, when he 
went to Wisconsin, where his eldest brother, 
Hon. D. G. Cheever, resides. He was there 
engaged in farming, teaching school and 
bagging grain for Chicago, Milwaukee and 
Racine markets. In the spring of 1859 he 
moved to Iowa and engaged in farming and 
building. From there he crossed the plains 
to Nevada, where he was interested in min- 
ing, and as contractor and builder, until De- 
cember, 1867, when he went to California, 
arriving in San Francisco in January, 1S68, 
where he still resides. He then purchased 
a half interest in the Evangel, the organ 
of the Baptist denomination, and was for 
several years associated with Rev. Stephen 
Hilton as assistant editor and business man- 
ager : and it was during his connection with 
that journal that it saw its most prosperous 
days. Subsequently he disposed of his in- 
terest in that paper and engaged in general 
advertising, including in his list of papers 
the Daily and ^\'eekly Call, also Bulle- 
tin and several of the leading weeklies of 
the Pacific coast. 

He has always voted the Republican 
ticket, and sometimes made political 
speeches at club meetings, but always de- 
clined to run for office. 

He was captain of Co. Q, of the Nevada 
state militia, and was afterwards appointed 
assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of 
major and served on Gen. John B. \\'inter's 



^s 



staff in 1867. When on the plains, he, at the 
head of a company of determined men, ar- 
rested and disarmed a band of rebels and 
half-breed Indians who were disturbing and 
robbing emigrants, and turned them o\er to 
the commander at Fort Independence on 
the Sweetwater ri\er. 

He has been an Odd Fellow for more 
than twenty \'ears and is a past grand of 
Unity Lodge of San Francisco and was its 
representative to the Grand Lodge in 1877, 
and its permanent secretary and organist 
since 1882. He has been a member of the 
Handel and Haydn Society and held the 
office of financial secretary and trustee. 
Having a fine and well cultivated tenor voice 
he was in demand for church choirs and he 
has been tenor soloist and director of several 
and also superintendent and musical director 
of their Sunday schools. He is a member 
of the First Baptist Church of San Francisco, 
and also the Pacific Coast Association Native 
Sons of Vermont and held the office of secre- 
tary in 1891 and 1892, and vice-president. 
He is editor and proprietor of the Maple 
Leaf, which he publishes in the interest of 
the Vermont Association. 

He was married in 1858 to Miss Anna 
Wells, of Wisconsin, and they had one son ; 
Edwin Freemont Cheever, who died in 1863, 
and his wife died in 1885. In .April, 1887, 
Mr. Cheever was married to Miss Phoebe 
H. Carr, and of this union is one son : Earl 
Howard Cheever, born Feb. 15, 1890. Mr. 
Cheever has two brothers, D. G. and E. W. 
B. Cheever, and one sister, Mrs. .Adaline L. 
Mason. 

CHIPMAN, John S., was born in Ver- 
mont, and was a representative in Congress 
from Michigan from 1845 ^^ 1847. 

CHITTENDEN, L.E., of New Vork City, 
was the son of Giles, who was the fifth in 
descent from Thomas Chittenden, the first 
Governor of Vermont. He was born at 
Williston, May 24, 1824. 

Educated at the Williston and Hines- 
burgh academies, he studied law with Nor- 
man L. Whittemore, of Swanton, and was 
admitted to the bar in Franklin county, 
with John G. Saxe and Croydon Beckwith in 
September, 1844. Commencing practice in 
Burlington in the spring of 1845, his part- 
ners in succession were Wyelys Lyman, Ed- 
ward J. Phelps and Daniel Roberts. In 1861 
Mr. Chittenden was appointed by Governor 
Fairbanks a member of the Peace Confer- 
ence, which met at ^\'ashington on the invi- 
tation of the Governor of Mrginia, on the 
third of February in that year. As he kept 
the records of the conference he afterwards 
published them in 1864. At the request of 
Salmon P. Chase he accepted the position of 



Register of the 'I'reasurv, which position he 
held until 1864. In 1867 he commenced 
the practice of his profession in New Vork 
City, where he still resides. Mr. Chitten- 
den has collected, and still owns, probably 
the largest collection of books printed in 
and relating to Vermont. He has published 
the following books and pamphlets : "."Ad- 
dress on the Centennial Celebration at 
Ticonderoga," "Address on the Dedication 
of the Monument to Ethan Allen at Bur- 
lington," "Recollections of Abraham Lin- 
coln and his .-Vdministration," "Reminis- 
cences from 1840 to 1890," and several 
other pamphlets and magazine articles. 

He has been a Republican since the for- 
mation of the party, and was an organizer of 
the Free Soil party in 1848. He is also a life 
member of the N. E. Society, of the Repub- 
lican and Grolier clubs, and the Society of 
Medical Jurisprudence. 

CR 1ST Y, AUSTIN Phelps, of Worces- 
ter, Mass., son of John B. and Louisa L. 
(Cooke) Cristv, was born in Morristown, 
May 8, 1S50. 

Beginning in the district schools of his 
native town, his education was continued in 
the high school at Reading, Mass., and the 
academy at Monson, Mass., graduating 
from Dartmouth college in the class of '73. 

In 1874 he was admitted to Hampden 
county bar, having studied law with Judge 
Chester I. Reed, of Boston, and with Leon- 
ard and Wells, of Springfield, Mass. He 
practiced his profession in Marblehead and 
Worcester, Mass. 

In 1884, Mr. Cristy started the A\'orces- 
ter Sunday Telegram, and in 1886, the Wor- 
cester Daily Telegram. He is the editor 
and chief owner of both : they have a 
larger circulation and advertising patronage 
than any other newspapers in New England, 
outside of Boston and Providence. 

In politics Mr. Cristy is a Republican. 

He was married in 1876 at Ware, Mass., 
to Mary E., daughter of Henry and Mary 
Bassett. Their children are : Horace W., 
Austin P., Jr., Mary L., Rodger H., and 
Edna V. 

CLARK, Chester Ward, of Boston, 

Mass., son of .Amasa F. and Belinda (Ward) 
Clark, was born in (;io\er, .August 9, 1851. 
Educated at Orleans Liberal Institute and 
Phillips Exeter .\cademy, he began the study 
of law in May, 1874, with B. C. Moulton, of 
Boston. .Admitted to the bar March 12, 
187S, he immediately began practice in Bos- 
ton, and has since assiduously applied him- 
self to his chosen profession, in that city. 
He has attained a great degree of success, 
having established a lucrative practice. 



His residence is at Wilmington Mass., 
where he is prominent in local affairs, having 
served as chairman of various organizations. 
He has originated and forwarded numerous 
public improvements. 'I'he high standard of 
Wilmington's public schools is greatly owing 
to what he has done for them. 




CHESTER WARD CLARK. 

Mr. Clark is a inember of the following 
•organizations in Boston : The Congregational 
Club ; the Middlesex Club ; the Phillips I':.\e- 
ter .-Mumni .'\ssociation and the\'ermont .As- 
sociation. 

CLARK, Ezra, Jr., was born in Ver- 
mont, and, having removed to Connecticut, 
was elected a representative to the Thirty- 
fourth Congress, and re-elected to the Thirty- 
fifth Congress, serving as a member of the 
committee on elections. 

CLARK, Frank G., of Cedar Rapids, 
Iowa, son of Theo. F. and Mary .A. (Taylor) 
Clark, was born in Roxbury, April 17, 1838. 

Fitted for college at South Woodstock and 
Barre academies, he graduated at Middle- 
bury College, class of 1864 ; began the study 
of law in the otifice of (leneral Hopkins, 
county clerk of Rutland ; completed his legal 
course with Washburne and Marsh of Wood- 
stock, where, December, 1866, he was ad- 
mitted to the bar. 

In June, 1867, he opened a law office at 
Belle Plaine, Benton county, Iowa, continu- 
ing in practice until November, 1876, when he 



removed to Cedar Rapids, where he is now- 
engaged in a lucrative practice. 

In early life Mr. Clark taught schools in 
Bridgewater, Pomfret, Proctorsville, Will- 
iamstown, and as principal of an academy 
at Chester. At. Belle Plaine, Iowa, he or- 
ganized and taught the first graded school, 
and was chairman of the school board for 
several years. He has also represented his 
county in the state Legislature. 

Lawyer Clark has an enviable war record. 
He enlisted as a private .August, 1862, and 
was elected second lieutenant Co. G, six- 
teenth Vermont Volunteers, W. G. Veazey, 
colonel. April i, 1863, he was promoted 
first lieutenant Co. I. He took part in the 
Ciettysburg campaign, and actively partici- 
pated in the movement that resulted in the 
repulse of Pickett's famous charge on the 
afternoon of July 3. iMustered out soon 
after and returned to college, graduating the 
following suiTimer ; called to take charge of 
Chester .Academy, fall of '64, he contiuned 
there till Jan. 4, '65, when he again enlisted, 
serving on the Northern frontier until the 
close of the war, being mustered out in 
June, 1865. 

He was united in wedlock at Rochester, 
Sept. 5, 1S65, to Harriet N., daughter of 
1 )avid and .Sarah Newton, who died Sept. 28, 
1892, leaving six children, one of whom, 
Charles Newton, had died. The living chil- 
dren are : Charles F., Paul N., David F., 
Robert L., and Maud. Previous to her 
marriage Harriet N. Newton was widely 
known as a very successful teacher, having 
taught in Rochester, Ciranville, Randolph 
\\illiamstown, Barre, Berlin, and the acade- 
mies at Barre and Chester. 

CLARK, Jefferson, of New York City, 
son of .Amasa F. and Belinda (Ward) Clark, 
was born in Glover, Oct. 3, 1846. 

He fitted for college at Orleans Liberal 
Institute, and Newbury Seminary, graduated 
from .Amherst in 1867, took his legal course 
at Columbia College Law School. He was 
principal of high school at Needham, Mass. 
two years, was admitted to the bar in New 
A'ork in 1872. In 1875 he formed a law- 
partnership with Sanford H. Steele (brother 
of the late Judge Steele), under the firm 
name of Steele & Clark. In 1884 his pres- 
ent partnership with Edw-in W. Sanborn 
(son of the late Professor Sanborn of Dart- 
mouth College) w-as formed under the name 
of Clark & Sanborn, with offices in Mutual 
Life building. Lawyer Clark is especially 
effective as an advocate before a jury, and 
has been engaged in many important cases, 
both in state and in L'nited States courts. 

Mr. Clark w-as a charter member of the 
Republican Club of New York, in w-hich 
city he says "It takes a genuine \'ermonter 



40 



to be a Republican." He has never held or 
sought office. 

He is a member of the following organiza- 
tions : Association of the Bar of the City of 
New York, New York State Bar Association, 
New York Law Institute, University Club, 
Union League Club, of which he has been a 
member of the committee on political re- 
form ; American Geographical Society, life 
member of New England Society, Alpha 
Delta Phi Club, Phi Beta Kappa Alumni in 
New York, National Sculpture Society, Mun- 
icipal Art Society. 




JEFFERSON CLARK. 

November 17, 1885, Mr. Clark married 
Cynthia Hawley, daughter of the late Hiram 
C. Bennett of New York. 

CLARK, William Bullock, of Bahi- 

more, Md., was born in Brattleboro, Dec. 15, 
i860. He is the son of f5arna A. and Helen 
C. (Bullock) Clark. His paternal and ma- 
ternal ancestry came, the former to Plymouth, 
the latter to Salem, Mass., during the first 
decade of the colony's settlement. The rec- 
ords show them to have been prominent in 
the affairs of those towns. A few generations 
later his paternal ancestors were among the 
pioneer settlers of Westminster, his maternal, 
of Guilford. 

He graduated from Brattleboro high school, 
class of 1879 ; Amherst College, class of 1884, 
degree of A. B. ; Royal University, Munich, 
Germany, in 1887, degree of Ph.D.: after- 
wards studied in Berlin and London, being 



absent altogether nearly four years in Eu- 
rope. Mr. Clark was especially fortunate in 
receiving instruction at Munich from the 
world renowned Professor von Zittel. 

In 1887 hewas called to the Johns Hopkins 
University to organize a course of instruction 
in stratigraphical geology and palaeontology. 
He has continued a professor in that university, 
making Baltimore his residence, and holding 
the chair of organic geology. 

In 1S8S he was appointed a member of the 
V. S. geological survey and requested to pre- 
pare one of a series of reports on the exist- 
ing knowledge of American geology. The 
volume was published in 189 1. In 1889, 
under the auspices of the U. S. geological 
survey, he made investigations in the Caro- 
linas, Georgia, and the Rocky Mountains and 
since 1890 has conducted work for the state 
and national surveys, in Maryland and New 
Jersey, publishing a work on American 
fossils. 

In 1891 Professor Clark became interested 
in establishing a state weather service for 
Maryland, which was formed under the aus- 
pices of the Johns Hopkins L'niversity, Mary- 
land Agricultural College, and L\ S. weather 
bureau ; the organization was recognized by 
the Legislature of the state in 1892, and 
he was, by the Governor, appointed the di- 
rector. 

Professor Clark was instrumental in form- 
ing, in 188S, the Brattleboro Society of Nat- 
ural History, one of the objects of which 
was to form a natural history museum to 
be placed in the Brooks Library building ; 
of this society he is secretary. 

Professor Clark is a member of many 
scientific societies in this country and in 
Europe. 

He was united in marriage at Boston, 
Oct. 12, 1892, to Ellen Clarke, daughter of 
Edward A. Strong. 

CLARKE, ALBERT, of Boston, Mass., 
son of Jedediah and Mary (Woodbury) 
Clarke, was born in Granville, Oct 13, 1840. 

He received his education in the public 
schools of Rochester and at West Randolph 
and Barre academies. He studied law at 
Montpelier and began practice there in part- 
nership with Hon. W. G. Ferrin. After 
practicing there and in Rochester about six 
years (with the exception of a year in the 
army) he removed to St. .\lbans and en- 
gaged in editorial work upon the Daily and 
Weekly Messenger. He bought that paper 
and also the Transcript in 1870, consoli- 
dated them and published until iSSo, when 
he sold out to S. B. Pettengill. After spend- 
ing a winter in Washington in charge of 
some of the congressional work of Hon. 
Bradley Barlow, he removed in 1881 to Bos- 
ton, where he engaged in journalism, attend- 



41 



ing somewhat at the same time to railroad 
interests. He was president of the Vermont 
& Canada Railroad Co. and assisted in con- 
solidating it with the Central Vermont. Pre- 
vious to this, while at St. .Mbans, he con- 
ducted a memorable controversy on " rail- 
road i^olitics." 

He was on the staff of the Boston Daily 
Advertiser when that paper bolted Blaine's 
nomination in 1884, but, not bolting himself, 
he resigned and became assistant to the 
president of the B. & L. R. R., but he re- 
signed this position to accept a call to Rut- 
land as editor and manager of the Herald, 




ALBERT CLARKE. 



where he remained about three years. He 
returned to Boston and was elected secretary 
and executive officer of Home Market Club 
and has been annually re-elected since. 

In 1874 he was state senator from Frank- 
lin county. In 1892 was delegate from 
Massachusetts to Republican national con- 
vention in Minneapolis, and an active sup- 
porter of Harrison. Enlisted as a private 
in Co. I, 13th Vt. Vols., at Montpelier, 
August, 1862, promoted to first sergeant of 
that company, and later to first lieutenant 
Co. G, which he commanded at the battle 
of (Gettysburg. He was mustered out with 
the regiment a month later ; was colonel on 
the staff of Gov. Paul Dillingham. In 1887, 
'88 and '89 he was secretary and executive 
officer of the Vermont Commission to build 
monuments at Gettysburg. 

Colonel Clarke has given the Home Market 
Bulletin reputation, influence and circulation 



second to no other economic journal in the 
world. He has delivered many public ad- 
dresses and spoken in campaigns in several 
states ; has held public discussions upon the 
tariff with Edward Atkinson, Josiah Quincy, 
\V. L. Garrison and others of note, and has 
written upon it for leading magazines. 

He was commander of Post Baldy Smith, 
G. A. R., at St. .\lbans ; junior vice-com- 
mander, Department of Vermont ; belongs 
to Massachusetts Commandery, Loyal Legion 
of LI. S. In i8go was president of ^'ermont 
\'eteran Association of Boston, and has been 
four times elected president of the Wellesley 
Club. 

He married, Jan. 21, 1864, Josephine, 
daughter of Hon. ¥.. D. and Eliza (Hodg- 
kins) Briggs, of Rochester. They had three 
children: .Albert Briggs (deceased), Josie 
Caroline (deceased), and Mary Elizabeth. 
His twin brother, .Almon, was assistant sur- 
geon loth Vt. Vols., and surgeon ist Vt. 
Cavalry. He lives in Sheboygan, Wis. 

CLEMENT, Austin, of Chicago, 111., 
son of Ebenezer and Adoline (Lamb) Cle- 
ment, was born at Bridgewater, Sept. 19, 
1842. 

He received his education in the district 
schools of his native town and Hydeville, 
with one year at Black River .Academy, Lud- 
low. From fifteen until nineteen he was 
clerk in a country store at Hydeville, when, 
in 1 86 1, he became clerk in a Hour mill in 
Illinois. Through the illness of the owner 
the entire responsibility of the business, for 
several months, fell upon this boy of nine- 
teen and so well did he discharge the varied 
duties of his position (buying, manufactur- 
ing and selling) that he w-as offered a better 
situation by several business men. He ac- 
cepted a clerkship in the leading dry goods 
store of the town, taking "fourth place" and 
within a year was promoted to "first place," 
having the management of the business dur- 
ing his partner's absence ; who, upon his re- 
turn, made him junior partner. So well did 
he apply himself to business that within two 
years he was the sole owner. He was for a 
while cashier of a bank, w-hich position he 
resigned to go to Chicago, where, with an 
elder brother and others, he founded the 
clothing firm of Clement, Ottman & Co., 
which has continued, with a change or two 
in name (Clement, Bane & Co. for the past 
fifteen years) for a quarter of a century and 
is today one of the leading firms in the 
United States. In 1885 the business was in- 
corporated and Mr. Clement was elected 
president. 

In 1867 Mr. Clement married, at Adrian, 
Mich., Sarah Montgomery. They have two 
sons : Allan, and Arthur. .Mian graduated 
at the Chicago Manual Training School, 



42 



learning the trade of a cutter in his father's 
factory, and now occupies a responsible po- 
sition, being a director and assistant mana- 
ger. Arthur has nearly completed the 



Native Sons of \'ermont. When he took the 
office, in 1887, the association was in a crip- 
pled condition and its dissolution expected, 
but upon his retirement it was, and still is, a 
most flourishing and prosperous organization. 
Mr. C'olton is a Mason, a member of the 
A. O. U. W., I. O. R. M., and A. O. F. of 
America. 




chemical engineering course at the Massa- 
chusetts Institute of 'I'echnology. Father 
and sons are members of the Sons of Ver- 
mont of Chicago, and often visit the Green 
Mountain state to enjoy its beautiful scenery. 

COLTON, AlRIC OSWY, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of Franklin D. and S. (Ras- 
kins) Colton, was born at West Bolton, Jan. 
23, 1852. His father, who studied law with 
Hon. George F. Edmunds at Burlington, was 
for several years a prominent lawyer of Chit- 
tenden county, and at one time a member of 
the Assembly. He went to California in 
1859, and was for several years one of the 
most prominent attorneys of Sonoma county. 

The subject of our sketch was taken to 
Petaluma, Cal, at the age of ele\en, and 
there educated in the public schools and at 
the Baptist College of California. In 1874 
he went to San Francisco, where he was ad- 
mitted to the bar the following year, and has 
since been engaged in an extensive law 
practice, with office in the Mills building. 

In politics he has always been an ardent 
and active Republican. He has held sev- 
eral important official positions, and during 
i89i-'92 served as prosecuting attorney for 
the city and county of San Francisco. 

Mr. Colton was for four consecutive years 
president of the Pacific Coast Association 



He was married at San Francisco, June 1 1 , 
1879, to Frances, daughter of Samuel and 
Margaret Henry. 

CRAGIN, Aaron H., was born in 
Weston, Feb. 3, 182 1 ; adverse circum- 
stances prevented him from obtaining a col- 
legiate education ; but having studied law, 
came to the bar in Albany, N. V., in 1S47, 
and the same year removed to Lebanon, 
N. H. He was a member of the New 
Hampshire Legislature from 1852 to 1855; 
was elected a representative from that state 
to the Thirty-fifth Congress, and re-elected 
to the Thirty-sixth Congress. In 1859 he 
was again elected a member of the state 
Legislature. In 1864 he was elected a sena- 
tor in Congress, from New Hampshire, for 
the term of six years from 1865. 

CROSBY', Henry B., of Paterson, N. J.,, 
son of the late \Vatson Crosby of \\est Brat- 
tleboro, was born in Hrattleboro, April 13, 
1S15. His father was from Cape Cod, 
moved into the country a young man, mar- 
ried the daughter of Deacon Joseph Bangs. 



43 



of Hawley, Mass., and lived on so called 
"Tater Lane" West Brattleboro, where they 
raised a family of ten children of which 
Henry was the sixth. 

He was early thrown upon his own re- 
sources. At the age of twelve he evinced a 
taste for mechanics and followed that busi- 
ness until he became a master of mechanics 
and in the year of 1837 went to I'aterson 
and took charge of j\lr. Colt's factory for the 
manufacture of Colt's patent firearms, and 
was the first to exhibit them before Con- 
gress. After the failure of Mr. Colt Mr. 
Crosby entered into the grocery business in 
Paterson with a small capital which proved 




to be the beginning of his success, and 
which was enlarged from time to time, until 
it became the largest wholesale and retail 
store in that line in the county of Passaic, 
and he was called the " King Grocer of New 
Jersey." In 1876 he took his son in busi- 
ness with him, and they continued together 
until 1886, when he retired and left the 
business to his son. 

He was a staunch Republican and cast his 
first vote for William H. Harrison : he never 
aspired to political promotion, and could 
not be called a politician. 

He devoted much time and money to the 
growth of the city of Paterson, and he has 
the credit of doing most of any man by way 
of every improvement, giving his influence 
also to good government, good morals and 
the general welfare of the city. 



He is one of the first stockholders and 
directors of the First National Kank of 
Paterson, also is vice-president of the 
.Savings Bank. He is the president of the 
Cedar Lawn Cemetery, also a member of the 
Paterson Board of Trade. He was the in- 
stigator of the public parks, and succeeded 
in the city purchasing two large tracts of 
land, each side of the city for public parks, 
and is now called the " Father of Parks." 

His business relations with firms in New 
York brought him into prominence there. 
He is a member of the New York Produce 
Fxchange. 

.Since his retirement from business he has 
spent much time in travels in this and for- 
eign countries, and has visited nearly all of 
the important cities of the Old World. 

Mr. Crosby was married, Feb. 22, 1840, 
to Pauline S. Hathorn, by whom he had five 
children, of whom Josephine, .Annie and 
John Henry are still living. Mrs. Crosby 
died in July, 1872. He married a second 
time, in December, 1875, Harriet Rogers of 
Stockbridge, Mass., and by her had two 
children : Henry Barry, and Florence. 

He now enjoys the pleasure of talking 
over the past with some choice friends, and 
is proud to say that he has been in business 
over forty years and never had a note pro- 
tested or dishonored, and never paid less 
than one hundred cents on a dollar. 

He lives in one of the finest establish- 
ments in the city and gives himself to the 
enjoyment of all he can find in life, spend- 
ing his winters in the South. 

CULVER, Marshall Lyman, of san 

Francisco, Cal., son of Isaac H. and Mary 
E. (Hatch) Culver, was born in Montpelier, 
Dec. 4, 1844. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Lake Village, N. H., where his parents 
mo\ed when he was a mere lad. He worked, 
at intervals, in the daguerreotype business 
until he was eighteen years of age, when he 
enlisted in the army. .After his discharge he 
engaged in manufacturing hosiery until 1868, 
when he moved to Oregon, and under the 
auspices of (lovernor (afterwards U. S. Sen- 
ator) Grover built a hosiery mill, which he 
superintended for the next five years. In 
1868 he moved to San Francisco and con- 
nected himself with the Mission Woolen 
Mills as Tiianager of the hosiery department, 
remaining there until 1882, when he accepted 
a position in the San Francisco postoffice, 
where he remained about two years. \\'hen 
Postoffice Station D (which is the most im- 
portant station in the city) was built Mr. 
Culver, on account of efficient service, was 
appointed assistant superintendent of that 
station, which position he now holds. In 



44 



CURTIS. 



1889 the Inter Nos Building and Loan Asso- 
ciation was incorporated with Mr. Culver as 
its secretary. Much of the success it has 
acquired is due to his management. 

He enlisted in the 8th N. H. Vols, in 1862, 
and was wounded in the battle of Georgia's 
Landing, La. A portion of the time he was 
under the command of (len. B. F. Butler. 
He is a ^2d degree Mason, and a member of 
the G. .A. R. 



the baking business with his two sons, Wil- 
bur E. and John E., at 817 Sixth avenue and 
806 Third avenue ; two years after, two 
other sons, Arthur and Nathan, were taken 
into the firm which then had two more stores, 
one at Fifty-eighth street and Ninth avenue, 
the other at Eightieth street and Amsterdam 
avenue. In 189,^ another establishment was 
added at 903 Eighth avenue, where Mr. 
Cushman now resides. They are doing a 
prosperous business. 

He was married to Emily Scott at Wil- 
mington, and by her had three children, 
one of whom. Wells S., is living. His second 
wife was Clarina A., daughter of Lewis and 








May 10, 1865, he was united in wedlock 
to Henrietta C. Jackins, of Gardiner, Me. 
Of this union are : Charles Marshall, and 
Nancy Bell, both of whom live in .Alameda, 
Cal. 

CURTIS, Howard, was born in \er- 
mont, graduated at I'nion College, New 
York, and practiced law in New York City. 
He took a prominent part in the councils 
of that city, and was a representative in Con- 
gress, from New York, from 1837 to 184T. 
He was appointed Collector of New York by 
President Harrison and removed by President 
Polk. 

CUSHMAN, Sylvester, of New York 

City, was born in W'ilmington, April 14, 1824, 
the son of Levi and Polly Cushman. He was 
educated in the public schools of Wilming- 
ton. 

He began business in his native town as a 
tanner. In January, 1866, he removed to 
Genesee, III, where he engaged in farming 
and stock raising. In February, 1887, he 
mo\ed to New York Citv and engasred in 



'i/ t 



SYLVESTER CUSHMAN. 

Sally (Sage) Bills. Of this union there were 
ele\en children, ten of whom are now living. 
They are : Wilbur E., Katie A., C. Idell, 
John E., L. .Arthur, Nathan .A., Cilista, 
Larimer .A., and the twins, Merton L. and 
Millie L. 

CUTTS, MaRSENA E., of Oskaloosa, la., 
was born at Orwell, May 22, 1833 ; received 
an academic education ; removed to Iowa 
in June, 1855, and has since resided there. 
Was prosecuting attorney of Poweshiek 
county ; was a member of the state House 
of Representatives at the e.xtra session in 
INIay, 1 86 1 ; was a state senator from Janu- 
ary, 1864, until he resigned in .August, 1866 ; 
was a member of the state House of Repre- 
sentatives 1 8 70-' 7 1 : was attorney-general of 
the state of Iowa from February, 1872, until 
January, 1877, and was elected to the Forty- 
seventh Congress as a Republican. 



45 



DAVIS, George Warden, of Kansas 

City, Mo., son of S. J. and Rosanna (Bray- 
ton) Davis, was born in Alburijh, Dec. 7, 
1851. 

After attending the public schools of his 
native town, and schools in other parts of 
the state, his education was completed at 
the Fort Edward (N. V.) Classical Institute. 

Commencing the study of medicine in 
1873 with Dr. M. J. Hyde of Isle La Mott, 
the next year he entered the medical depart- 
ment of the University of \'ermont, attend- 
ing a two-}ears' course of lectures, besides 
private lectures and dissections given by 
various members of the college faculty. The 
fall of 1875 found him a matriculant at the 
University Medical College, New York City, 
graduating in 1876. The didactic work of 
college instruction was immediately supple- 
mented by clinical experience in the out- 
door poor department of Bellevue Hospital, 
and in the New York Dispensary. Nearly 
a year was then passed in preparing for a 
competitive examination for a position on 
the house staff of the New York Hospital, 
and on the first day of April, 1878, being 
successful, a year and a half was passed in 
that institution. Thus was passed nearly 
six years in actual medical experience and 
study. Immediately on leaving the hospital, 
the position of assistant to the chair of 
clinical surgery at the University Medical 
College, New York City, was tendered him 
by Dr. James L. Little, then professor of 
clinical surgery in that college. Flattering 
offers were also made to take charge of St. 
Vincent's Hospital, New York Cit}', and of 
the Mary Fletcher Hospital, Burlington, \'t. 
But tiring of the big city, and ha\ing no 
further desire for hospital life, none of these 
positions were accepted, and never having 
seen the great West, his footsteps were 
turned in that direction. 

After a winter of pleasure travel, and be- 
coming impressed with the unlimited possi- 
bility of that section of country, he concluded 
to locate in Kansas City, Mo., which he did 
in the spring of 1880. Being interested in 
medical education, soon he associated him- 
self with others in organizing the medical 
department, L'niversity of Kansas City, Mo., 
now the University Medical College, and was 
also one of the founders of All Saints Hospi- 
tal. His connection with these institutions 
has continued ever since and he is now pro- 
fessor genito-urinary, venereal and skin dis- 
eases in the college and treasurer for the 
board of trustees. 

Much time has been gi\en to clinical work 
and experimental research, especially in the 
college dis])ensary and city hospital, so much 
so that little attempt has been made to con- 
tribute to medical literature. 



Interest in other things aside from medi- 
cine has engrossed his attention. He has 
found time to devote a little leisure to horti- 
culture and has kept up a liking for fancy 
poultry. At the present time he is president 
of the' Mid-continental Poultry Association, 
an organization that not only includes breed- 
ers in the state of Missouri, but of the four 
adjacent states. 

Dr. Davis was married Sept. 17, 1886, to 
Alice M., daughter of John K. Kiebler. They 
have two children : a son and a daughter. 

DAVIS, Park, of Sioux Falls, S. D., 
son of Elijah and Miriam (Park) Davis, was 
born in Athens, Sept. 24, 1837. 

He spent his boyhood days on the farm 
and attending the district school. He fitted 
for college at" Leland Seminary, Townshend, 
entering Middlebury in 1858, graduating in 
due course in 1862. He studied law with 
Butler and Wheeler at Jamaica, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar of Windham county at the 
September term in 1864. He commenced 
the practice of his profession Feb. 3, 1865, 
at St. Albans, with Dana R. Bailey under the 
firm name of Bailey & Davis. In the fall of 
1879, with Hiram F. Stevens (who was then 
his law partner) he went to St. Paul, Minn., 
where, under the firm name of Davis & 
Stevens, he continued to practice his pro- 
fession until Sept. I, 1881, when he removed 
to Albany, N. Y., where he engaged in the 
wholesale provision business with his broth- 
er-in-law, A. F:. Gray (firm name Gray cV 
Davis) where he remained five years. Pre- 
ferring to pursue his profession, he went to 
Sioux Falls, S. D., and resumed the practice 
of law with his first partner, Dana R. Bailey, 
where he is engaged in a large and success- 
ful practice. 

He cast his first vote at a presidential 
election for Stephen A. Douglas. Has 
since, without exception, voted the Republi- 
can ticket. He represented St. Albans in 
the ^'ermont Legislature in 1874. 

In college Mr. Davis was a member of the 
Chi Psi fraternity. He was made a Mason 
in Blazing Star Lodge, No. 23, Townshend, 
Feb. 17," 1859; took chapter degrees in 
Fort Dummer Royal Arch Chapter, No. 12, 
Bratdeboro, March 5, 1863 ; council degrees 
in Columbus Council, No. 3, St. Albans, 
1865 ; commandery degrees in LaFayette 
Commandery, No. 3, in 1868. He changed 
his affiliation from the Chapter and Com- 
mandery at St. Albans, to those bodies in 
Sioux Falls, still retaining his lodge mem- 
bership in Vermont. 

He held many official positions in the 
Masonic fraternity, the most important of 
which was that of grand master of the 
Masons of Vermont for the years 1872, '73 



46 



and '74, and grand high priest of the Royal 
Arch Masons of South Dal^ota in the years 
l8go-'gi. 

He was married at 'lownshend, Oct. 27, 
1863, to Delia S., daughter of Alanson and 
Sabrina (Pool) Gray. Their children are • 
Henry Park, and May Louise. 

DAVIS Thomas T., was born in Mid- 
dlebury, August 22, 1810; graduated at 
Hamilton College, New York, in 1831 ; stud- 
ied law at Syracuse, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1S33 ; in 1862 he was elected a 
representative from New York to the Thirty- 
eighth Congress, and re-elected to the 
Thirty-ninth Congress. 

DELANO, Columbus, was bom in 

Shoreham in 1809 ; removed to Mount Ver- 
non, Ohio, in 181 7: was admitted to the 
bar in 1 83 1. In 1S44 he was elected a 
representative from Ohio to the Twenty- 
ninth Congress. In 1 84 7 he was a candidate 
for c;overnor, but lacked two votes of a 
nomination. In i860 he was a delegate to 
the Chicago convention. In 1861 was ap- 
pointed commissary general of Ohio, and 
filled the office until the General Govern- 
ment assumed the subsistence of all troops. 
In 1862 he was candidate for United States 
senator, but again lacked two votes of 
nomination. In 1863 he was elected to the 
House of Representatives of Ohio, and was 
a prominent member of that body. In 1864 
he was a member of the Baltimore conven- 
tion, and chairman of the Ohio delegation 
zealously supporting President Lincoln and 
Andrew Johnson. He was re-elected to the 
Thirty-ninth Congress. 

DERBY, Philander, of CJardner, Mass., 
son of Levi and Sally (Stratton) Derby, was 
born June iS, 18 16, in Somerset. 

His career is one which should encourage 
all. It is a lesson of industry, sobriety and 
perseverance. Remaining on the home 
farm until his majority, several years were 
spent in Massachusetts and at Jamaica, dur- 
ing which time he learned the business of 
chair making, when opportunity offered to 
engage in the business for himself which he 
quickly embraced. The trying period from 
1857 to 1861 found him a young manufact- 
urer in the town of Gardner, Mass., with the 
burden of heavy responsibilities resting 
upon him. Nerving himself to meet the 
crisis in a manly way, he succeeded in going 
through the ordeal without serious harm, 
meeting his obligations, maintaining his 
credit and his honor unimpeached and firm- 
ly established before the world. From that 
time to the present he has gone on in a 
career of exceptional prosperitv, due chiefly 
to himself rather than to fortunate circum- 



stances, his untiring energy and persever- 
ance. 

Mr. Derby though closelv confined to the 
building up and development of his business 
interests has not been disposed to ignore his 
relations to the public nor the welfare of the 
community. He has been ready and happy 
to do his full share in supporting the institu- 
tions of society, to contribute to benevolent 
and charitable objects, and to help in enter- 
prises which he deemed conducive to the 
good order and enduring welfare of the 
communitv. 




Declining invitations to public office, he 
has however consented to act as director of 
the national bank and is trustee of the sav- 
ings bank in his own town. A man of prin- 
ciple, he shares the confidence and regard 
of his fellow-citizens ; a friend of temper- 
ance, he commends the cause by precept 
and example. 

A Republican in politics, he is true to his 
convictions. An orthodox Congregational- 
ist in religion, he is tolerant of ah faiths and 
seeks to honor his Christian profession by a 
Christian life. 

Mr. Derby was married, Feb. 27, 18^9, at 
Petersham, to Viola Dunn, daughter of'john 
and Abigail Dunn. Of this" union were 
three children : Mary Augusta, John Baxter 
(deceased, July 11, 1842), Ella Viola, 
and .\rthur Philander. 

DEXTER, Daniel Gilberl, of San 

Francisco, Cal., son of David and Chloe 



47 



(Hazeltine) Dexter, was born in Dover, 

March 29, 1833. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of his native town, the Dover high school, 
and Brattleboro Academy. When nearly 
fitted to enter college business pursuits at- 
tracted his attention. He was always a 
student, and e\ ery leisure hour from business 
was employed among books, and leading 
periodicals of the day. At an early age he 
became a contributor to various leading 
newspapers and magazines, which has em- 
ployed many happy hours through life. 

\\'hile in his teens he was a clerk in a store 
in his native town, and before reaching his 
majority was a partner in the firm under the 
name of Perry & Dexter. A few years later 
he removed to Wilmington, and was con 



1lfc»i^ 




DANIEL GILBERT DEXTER. 

nected with the mercantile house of E. & C). 
J. Gorham, and afterwards became sole.owner 
of the establishment. For a time he con- 
ducted a mercantile house in Jamaica, but 
returning to Wilmington he continued busi- 
ness under the firm name of U'alker & Dex- 
ter. In 1866 he closed a most successful 
business career in his nati\e state and re- 
mo\ed to Boston, Mass., where he engaged 
in the wholesale boot and shoe business. He 
was the financial manager of Mellendy, Dex- 
ter & Co. He retired from mercantile pur- 
suits in 1 87 1 with large property interests, 
having accumulated a fair fortune. Ihe 
great Boston fire fell heavily upon him. The 
panic of 1873 followed, and seriously im- 



paired his fortune, leaving him almost 
penniless. 

In leisure hours he has devoted much 
time to literary pursuits, his mind and pen 
being always busy. He appears in Miss 
Hemmenway's " Poets and Poetry of Ver- 
mont " and has been a contributor to the 
leading magazines and periodicals of the day. 
In 1878 through the urgent solicitations of 
leading literary and business friends he 
founded the Cambridge Tribune, Cambridge, 
Mass., a successful journal from its initial 
number. The list of contributors was un- 
surpassed. This enterprise stamped the 
editor and publisher with ability of the first 
order. In 1885 Mr. Dexter sold the Tribune 
on account of failing health and a few 
months after went to California. The genial 
climate of the Golden State restored him to 
health and two years later (1887) he re- 
moved his family to Los Angeles with the 
intention of making California his home. 

He has been connected with many lead- 
ing enterprises in the state and won the 
esteem of those with whom he has been 
associated. He has written much for the 
press since his residence in California. In 
1 89 1 he removed from Los Angeles to San 
Francisco, taking charge of the business of 
the Massachusetts Benefit (Life) Associa- 
tion, Boston, Mass., as general agent for the 
state. 

He is connected with the leading societies 
and clubs, secret and otherwise ; is a mem- 
Ijer of the First Congregational Church, San 
Francisco, and a member of the board of 
deacons ; a mason and a K. of P. 

In politics he is a Republican, having cast 
his vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856. He 
has never been an aspirant for public office 
although an active participant in political 
iffairs. He was a member of the aldermanic 
hoard in Cambridge, Mass., for two years, 
dating from 1869. He was a police com- 
missioner of Los Angeles for several years, 
which office he held until his removal to San 
Francisco. 

.'\t the time of the civil war Mr. Dexter 
was engaged in active mercantile business. 
He was a generous contributor in many ways 
to help put down the great rebellion. He 
largely aided in raising two companies of 
Vermonters for the army. 

Mr. Dexter was married Feb. 6, 1856, to 
Ellen, daughter of .\sa and Sophia (Lyon) 
Simonds, of Peru, Vt. From this marriage 
two children have been born : Florence Bell 
(wife of Prof. Charles H. Wiswell, of Boston, 
Mass.), and David Hazeltine. 
-(■^ He is a man of untiring energy — a genial 
and warm-hearted friend and companion. 
Has a w^arm hand of welcome to e\ery w^orthy 
l^erson and his charity is unbounded. His 
home is always open to friends of yore and 



New Englanders enjov his hospitality with- 
out stint. 

DEXTER, Solomon King, of Lowell, 

Mass., son of Parker and Betsey (King) 
Dexter, was born in Topsham, May 23, 
1839, O" the old homestead which, with the 
then adjoining farms, now forms the summer 
residence of his family. 

His education was obtained in the district 
schools of ^\•est Topsham. For the past 
quarter century business men of Lowell, 
Mass., have numbered Mr. Dexter among 
their shrewdest and most upright produce 
merchants, where, at 360 Middlesex street, 




he early developed a large and successful 
ousmess of wide extent. A spendid monu- 
ment to Mr. Dexter's success is the large 
and elegant building erected by him, for the 
ise of his business, in 18S5. It is a four- 
story brick building, trimmed with granite 
stone and terra cotta, measuring forty by 
one hundred feet, and equipped with every 
facility for handling his great commission 
business. 

Political honors have come unsought to 
Mr. Dexter, as a member of the Lowell city 
council for two terms, and two years repre- 
sentative in the Massachusetts Legislature 
which office he filled with honor to^'himself 
reflecting the worthy confidence reposed by 
his fellow-citizens. He is also a director of 
the Traders' National Bank and of the Brad- 
bury & Stone Electric Storage Battery Co 
both of Lowell. 



Mr. Dexter was married at Montpelier, 
Feb. 24, 1863, to Mary .Sophia McCrillis, of 
\\aits River. There are four children in 
the family: Nellie May (now the wife of 
Fred L. Batchelder), born at Waits River, 
and three others born at Lowell, viz., Jennie 
v., now deceased, Daisy B., and Royal K. 

.Mr. Dexter has a fine residence at '343 
\\ ilder street, Lowell, where a welcome hand 
IS always extended to his friends. 

DICKSON, James Milligan, of Provi- 
dence, R. L.wasbornatRvegate, Feb.6, 1831. 
His parents were from Scotland. His father, 
Robert Dickson, son of an early settler', 
was a successful farmer and a public-spirited 
citizen, for years town trustee, and also for 
many years an elder in the Reformed Pres- 
byterian Church of Ryegate. His mother, 
who came from a suburb 'of the city of (ilas-' 
gow, was a woman of great refinement and 
unusually versed in the'Scriptures. 

James was the sixth of a family of ten 
children, who have all, we believe, proved 
worthy of their parentage. His rudimentary 
education was in the public school, but at 
fourteen he was sent to Peacham Academy. 
Here he was prepared for Dartmouth Col- 




lege, but instead of at once entering he went 
West, where he spent some time in study 
and travel, and taught one term in a private 
school at Cincinnati. Returning to Dart- 
mouth he entered an advanced class on ex- 
amination, and was graduated in 1853. 



DILLIN'iaiA-M. 



After his graduation at Dartmouth he was 
offered a Cireek professorship in a Western 
college, but choosing another course he went 
to New York City, where after teaching one 
year he entered Union Theological Seminary, 
from which he was graduated in 1857. He 
was ordained to the gospel ministry that same 
year, and has since been constantly engaged 
in active service, resigning one position only 
when he felt he was called to another. He 
has been pastor of churches in Brooklyn, N. 
v., Newark, N. J., Montgomery, N. Y., and 
New York City, and is now pastor of the 
Pilgrim Congregational Church in Provi- 
dence, R. I. 

Shortly after going to New \'ork, in 1883, 
he was honored with the degree of Doctor of 
Divinity. 

From an editorial sketch of Dr. Dickson 
in the Treasury (New York) of May, 1889, 
we quote the following: "To his church 
here — the Thirty-fourth Street Reformed 
Church, New York City — he was called on 
the ground of his ability as a preacher and 
his previous success in the ministry, and for 
nearly six years he held the church in its 
down-town west side location, and left it 
stronger than he found it, notwithstanding 
the up-town tendency of population and the 
lack of any local constituency for a reformed 
church. To his credit be it said that his 
most devoted friends are among the people 
to whom he has ministered. When he came 
to New York our attention was called to him 
as a remarkable preacher, and as we have 
once and again listened to him we have ap- 
proved the judgment expressed." The fol- 
lowing is taken from a paper read before the 
council which installed him at Providence 
in 1889, which was afterward printed : "I 
entered the ministry because I could not do 
otherwise. I was consecrated to the work 
before I was born by a pious mother who 
kept her hand on my early life in view of re- 
sults. I planned lots of other courses, and 
yet, years after she had gone to her reward, 
which occurred while I was yet in college, I 
marched as straight into the service as 
though there had been no possible alter- 
native, and I have been happy in it." 

Dr. Dickson has written considerably for 
the press. Some sermons have appeared in 
pamphlet form, and in 1880 he prepared 
the Goodwill Memorial, a history of the 
original Presbyterian church, at Montgom- 
er}', N. Y., which was substantially the early 
history of the town. 

Dr. Dickson has been twice married, first 
to Miss Agnes Annot jNForrison, daughter of 
John and Mary Nelson of Ryegate, to whom 
one son was born. Nelson James : and second 
to Miss Helen Alzina, daughter of William 
and Alzina (HoUey) West of Dorset, to 
whom three children were born : ^\'illiam 



West (deceased), Clarence 
Margarella May. 



49 
Haines and 



DILLINGHAM, Frank, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., youngest son of Paul Dillingham, 
late Governor of Yermont, and Julia ( Car- 
penter) Dillingham, was born in Waterbury, 
Dec. 9, 1849. 

He was educated in the \\'aterbury gram- 
mar school, Montpelier high school and 
Milwaukee College. Young Dillingham after- 
ward lived in the family of and studied law 
with his brother-in-law, Hon. Matthew Hale 
Carpenter, U. S. Senator from \\'isconsin. 

At the age of twenty-five years, the subject 
of this sketch was elected justice of the peace 
in the First and Seventh districts of Mil- 
waukee, on the Republican ticket, receiving 
a majority of two hundred and thirty-eight 




votes over his Democratic opponent, in dis- 
tricts which usually gave the Democrats a 
majority of about fifteen hundred, and was 
also elected chairman of the Republican 
county committee, which office he held for 
some time. He was afterward a]i]3ointed 
deputy collector of internal revenue for the 
first district of Wisconsin, which office he 
held until appointed V. S. Counsel to Italy 
by President Grant. In 1882 he left Wis- 
consin for California, and has made San 
Francisco his home a greater part of the 
time since. 

He organized the Consumers' Ice Co. 
of San Francisco, and was elected sec- 



50 



retary and general manager of the same, in 
which he is still interested. His associates 
in this enterprise were ex-United States 
Senator A. P. Williams, E. J. Baldwin, one 
of the bonanza kings and owner of the cele- 
brated Baldwin Hotel, Hon. R. C. Sneath, 
ex-president of the Anglo California Bank, 
and others. 

Mr. Dillingham is now vice-president of 
the Home Benefit Life Association of San 
Francisco. He has been four times unani- 
mously elected president of the Pacific 
Coast Association Native Sons of Vermont, 
the largest social organization on the Pacific 
coast, and still holds that office. 

He is a friend of his native state and 
encourages sociability among Vermonters. 
Clovernor Fuller appointed i\Ir. Dillingham 
one of the honorary commissioners from 
Vermont to the Mid-Winter International 
Exposition at San Francisco, in 1S94, where 
through Mr. Dillingham's energy and push, 
A'ermont Day was celebrated in a manner 
most befitting to that state and which re- 
flected great credit upon its promoter, Mr. 
Dillingham, to whose efforts may be ascribed 
the success of the affair. Vermonters from 
all sections of the country to the number of 
over three thousand were present on the 
occasion. 

He belongs to the Plpiscopal denomina- 
tion, and in church work holds the follow- 
ing offices : Junior warden of the Church of 
St. Mary the Virgin ; director in the Church 
Club of San Francisco ; delegate to the 
Episcopal convention of California in 1892 
and again in 1893, and was a member of the 
general missionary council, coni]30sed of 
the clergy and laity of the Episcopal church 
of America which met in Chicago in Octo- 
ber, 1893. 

Mr. Dillingham was married June 3, 1883, 
to Miss Minnie Louise, only daughter of 
Hon. Richard G. and Anne Kathryn (Myers) 
Sneath of San Francisco. Two children, 
Matthew Carpenter, and Julia Louise, bless 
their union. 

Mr. Dillingham had three brothers, two 
of whom are living : Col. Charles Dilling- 
ham, president of the Houston &: Texas 
Central Railway Co., and William Paul 
Dillingham, ex-(jovernor of Vermont, and 
Edwin Dillingham, major loth \'t. Infantry, 
who was killed at the battle of the Opequan 
near \N'inchester, Va., on the 19th of Sep- 
tember, 1864. 

DODGE, HENR>' Lee, of San Francisco, 
Cal., was born in Montpelier, Jan. 31, 1825. 
He traces his paternal ancestry back to the 
earlie.st settlement of New England. He was 
a son of Nathan Dodge and Hannah Phin- 
ney, who were also natives of New P2ngland. 



Both parents numbered among the early 
settlers of Mont|)elier. 

Mr. Dodge recei\ ed his early education in 
the schools and in the academy of his native 
town. For his higher education, he entered 
the University of Vermont, in 1842, when 
seventeen years old. In 1847 he entered 
the law office of Piatt & Peck in Burlington, 
where he continued his studies until the out- 
break of the California gold fever in 1849. 
Led by its spell, Mr. Dodge determined to 
try his fortunes in the mines. He quickly 
gathered around him a chosen band of twelve 
associates from among his friends, and they 
entered at once with zeal on their prepara- 
tion for leaving home. They decided to try 
the unusual and hazardous journey across the 




HENRY LEE DODGE. 



Republic of Mexico. On the first day of 
June, 1849, Mr. Dodge and his companions 
arrived in San Francisco, having been three 
months and a half on the way. After land- 
ing they pushed off for the mines, where 
they soon separated, each following his own 
inclinations. Mr. Dodge soon left the mines 
and returned to San Francisco, seeking em- 
ployment that would demand something else 
than mere animal strength. 

In .\ugust, 1849, the Alcade of San Fran- 
cisco, John W. Geary, appointed him clerk 
of his court, and in the following December 
he received the additional appointment of 
clerk of the Ayuntamiento, or town council. 
Mr. Dodge filled both of these positions 
until the Mexican forms of government were 



51 



dissolved by the organization of California's 
state government and her admission to the 
Union. The duties of these positions were 
large and responsible. It was the time of 
San Francisco's first growth, when the sale of 
town lots and of beach and water lots aggre- 
gated more than a million dollars. To Mr. 
Dodge fell the task of making and delivering 
the deeds, of receiving the payments, and of 
turning the money over to the treasury. 
Difficult as the demands were, he discharged 
them all creditably and to the satisfaction of 
everybody concerned. After California was 
admitted to the Union, in September, 1850, 
the government of San Francisco was re- 
organized on the American system. Colonel 
Geary was elected mayor and retained Mr. 
Dodge as his clerk, under the new order of 
administration. i\Ir. Dodge retained the 
position about a year and then abandoned 
it to take up his profession. 

About this time Mr. Dodge returned to 
his native state, and, in Orwell, was married 
on Dec. 2, 1S51, to Omira, daughter of Hon. 
Roswell Bottum of the same town. 

In jMay, 1852, Mr. Dodge was admitted at 
San Francisco to practice in the Supreme 
Court of California, and in the Federal 
Courts of the United States. Throwing him- 
self into his professional work, he soon built 
up a large and profitable clientage, showing, 
too, that he had mettle to make a lawyer of 
no mean ability. 

But mercantile pursuits seemed to promise 
more lucrative results than his professional 
work. Mr. Dodge therefore closed his law 
office, and joining his brother, L. C. Dodge, 
established a wholesale provision house. The 
business has grown for thirty-five years, with 
some slight changes in the firm, being now 
Dodge, Sweeney & Co., and has established a 
reputation for stability and honor, second to 
none in San Francisco. 

In 1 86 1 Mayor Teschemacher appointed 
Mr. Dodge on the board of supervisors of 
San Francisco, to fill the unexpired term 
of a member, representing the sixth ward ; 
on the election following he was elected to 
a full term. He was subsequently elected 
on the Union ticket to the Lower House of 
the Legislature, and accordingly resigned 
his position in the board of supervisors in 
January, 1862, and took his seat among the 
lawmakers of the capitol. Having served 
his term in the Assembly, he was elected 
two years later to the state Senate for four 
years. He was appointed in June, 1877, on 
a Treasury commission, with F. F. Low and 
H. R. Linderman, director of the mint, as 
associates, to investigate the condition of the 
San Francisco Mint and the Custom House. 
They performed the delicate duty with rare 
skill and wisdom. Indeed, Mr. Dodge's 
work was so well done that, in the following 



December, he was appointed superintendent 
of the U. S. Mint at San Francisco. For 
four years and a half he held this ])osition, 
and when he relinquished it delivered to his 
successor upwards of thirty-one million dol- 
lars, and received from the accounting offi- 
cers, not only a certificate of the accuracy 
of his accounts, but also the unusual com- 
pliment : " The superintendent of the Mint 
at San Francisco has been and is distin- 
guished alike for ability, fidelity and accuracy 
(having returned to the Treasury about 
Sioo,ooo of the appropriation unexpended). 
This is an example worthy of commendation 
and imitation." He was invited by Presi- 
dent Cleveland, in January, 1886, to serve 
on the United States Mint .\ssay Commission, 
which was to meet at Philadelphia in the 
following February. He accepted the ap- 
pointment and served on the commission. 
In January, 1885, he was called to the 
presidency of the San Francisco Chamber 
of Commerce, and on the following January 
he was re-elected to the same position. 

Mr. Dodge has long been connected with 
the Society of California Pioneers, being 
president of the society in i879-'8o. He is 
also a life member of the San Francisco 
Art Union, and other kindred associations. 

Lastly, we may state that Mr. Dodge was 
selected as one of the trustees of the 
Leland Stanford Jr. University. This mag- 
nificent endowment, involving property to 
the value of several million dollars, is one 
of the most splendid gifts ever bestowed on 
a people, and its administration will require 
not only great earnestness and ripe judg- 
ment, but also eminent executive ability 
and more than ordinary familiarity with the 
varied demands of an educational institution 
of such extraordinary character. 

Since the organization of that party, Mr. 
Dodge has ever been a staunch Republican. 

With a moderate taste for art and litera- 
ture he has accumulated some treasures in 
each. Of a quiet and unassuming demean- 
or, he follows the light of his own conscience 
with an inflexibility that no influence can 
swerve. His spotless integrity has gained a 
reputation for him in the community, of 
wich any man might well be proud, but 
which (ew can rival. 

DODGE, Luther C, of San FrancLsco, 
Cal., son of Nathan and Hannah (Phinney) 
Dodge, was born in Montpelier Sept. 7, 
1821. 

He was educated in the common and 
private schools of his native town, and fol- 
lowed farming until July, 1841, when he 
entered the employ of J. & J. H. Peck & 
Co. of Burlington, as a clerk. In 1847 he 
was employed by the Troy & Canada Junc- 
tion Telegraph Co. at Burlington as operator. 



52 



A year later he was elected superintendent 
of the company, remaining in this position 
till 1853. In September, 1855, he went to 
California, where he was engaged in trade 
(wholesale provisions) in connection with 
his brother, Henry L. Dodge, till 1868, when 
he returned to Burlington, remaining there 
till April, 1877, serving three terms as mayor 
of that city in the meantime. He then re- 
turned to California, engaging in business 
with E. W. Forsaith under the firm name of 
Forsaith & Dodge. In 1882 he disposed of 
his interests in San Francisco and engaged 
in the manufacture of lumber, sash, doors, 
etc., in northern Idaho with his two brothers, 
O. A. and N. P. Dodge. In the winter of 
i883-'84 the mill and factory, together with 
a large stock of lumber, sash, doors, glass, 
etc., were destroyed by fire. The following 
November he, with his wife, returned to San 
Francisco, where they still reside. 

Mr. Dodge has held the office of cashier 
in the U. S. internal revenue office at San 
Francisco since March, 1890. 

He is a life member of the Pacific Coast 
Association Native Sons of Vermont, and 
was a member of the first lodge of Odd 
Fellows organized in \'ermont. 

October 4, 1849, he married Lucia Ponie- 
roy, a native of Burlington, and daughter of 
George and Oliva (Sanger) Moore. One 
son, George Moore, now a resident of San 
Rafad, Cal., is the result of this marriage. 

DODGE, Willis Edward, of Minne- 
apolis, Minn., son of William B. and Harriet 
N. (Baldwin) Dodge, was born in Lowell, 
May II, 1857. 

The education of the district schools of 
Lowell was supplemented by academical 
training at St. Johnsbury Academy, where he 
graduated from the college preparatory 
course, class of 1879. Entering the law of- 
fice of his uncle, Hon. F. ^V. Baldwin, of 
Barton, he was admitted to the bar in Iras- 
burg, in September, 1880. He immediately 
went to Fargo, Dak., and was employed in 
the law office of Roberts & Spaulding until 
January i, when he entered upon the prac- 
tice of his profession at Jamestown, law- 
firm of Allen & Dodge, afterward Dodge cS: 
Camp, where he remained until July i, 18S7. 
During this time he was attorney for the 
Northern Pacific R. R. Co. and secretary 
and attorney for Northern Dakota Elevator 
Co. July I, 1887, he became attorney for 
St. Paul, M. & i\I. R. R. Co. for Dakota, 
and moved to Fargo. September i, 1892, 
he moved to Minneapolis, Minn., as attorney 
for the Great Northern R. R. Co., which po- 
sition he now holds, doing exclusively a cor- 
poration business. 

Mr. Dodge is a stalwart Republican. In 
1886 he was elected to the Dakota Senate 



from the Jamestown district with a plurality 
of 1,270, out of a total of 4,800 votes, over 
both the Democratic and Farmers' Alliance 
candidates. He was also district attorney 
for Stulsman county in 1882 and city attor- 
ney for Jamestown in 1884, '85 and '86. ' 




.IS EDWARD DODGE. 



Mr. Dodge was a member of the Knights 
of the Red Cross in Jamestown, Dakota, and 
is now a member of the Minneapolis Club, a 
social organization of a high order. 

He was married March 27, 1882, to Hat- 
tie M., daughter of Daniel and Mary Crist, 
of Vinton, Iowa. They have two children : 
Dora May, and \\'illiam P^dward. 

DORSEY, Stephen W., was born at 
Benson, Feb. 28, 1842 ; received an academ- 
ical education ; removed, when a boy, to 
Oberlin, Ohio, was one of the first volun- 
teers in the L-nion army, in which he served 
at Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River, Chat- 
tanooga, and .\Iission Ridge in 1864, and 
was transferred to the Army of the Potomac 
and took part in the battles of the Wilder- 
ness and of Cold Harbor, serving until the 
close of the war ; returning to Ohio he re- 
sumed business with the Sandusky Tool 
Co., was soon chosen its president, and 
on the same day he was elected without 
his knowledge, president of the Arkansas 
Central Railway Co. Removing to Ar- 
kansas he was chosen chairman of the Re- 
publican county and state committee, was 
offered a seat in Congress by the Republi- 



S3 



cans of the first district, but declined and 
was elected almost unanimously United States 
senator from Arkansas, as a Republican, and 
took his seat March 4, 1873. 

DOUGLASS, Stephen A., was born 

at Brandon, April 23, 1813. He lost his 
father while in infancy, and his mother be- 
ing left in destitute circumstances, he en- 
tered a cabinet shop at Middlebury for the 
purpose of learning the trade. After re- 
maining there several months he returned to 
Brandon, where he continued for a year at 
the same calling, but his health obliged him 
to abandon it, and he became a student in 
the academy. His mother having married 
a second time, he followed her to Canan- 
daigua, N. V. Here he pursued the study 
of the law, until his removal to Ohio in 1831. 
From Cleveland he went still further west, 
and finally settled in Jacksonville, 111. He 
was first employed as a clerk to an auction- 
eer, and afterwards kept school, devoting 
all the time he could spare to the study of 
law. In 1S34 he was admitted to the bar, 
soon obtained a lucrative practice, and was 
elected attorney-general of the state. In 
1837 he was appointed by President Van 
Buren register of the land office at Spring- 
field, 111. He afterwards practiced his pro- 
fession, and in 1840 was elected secretary of 
state, and the following year judge of the 
Supreme Court. This ofifice he resigned, 
after sitting upon the bench for two years, in 
consequence of ill-health. In 1S43 he was 
elected to Congress, and continued a mem- 
ber of the lower House for four years. In 
December, 1847, he was elected to the 
United States Senate for the term ending in 
1853, was re-elected for the term ending 
1859, and re-elected for another term, but 
died in Chicago, June 3, 1861. In r86o he 
was the candidate of his party for President 
but was defeated. 

DREW, Charles Aaron, of ciarinda, 

Iowa, was born in Kinsea Falls, Canada, Jan. 
13, 1859, son of Joseph and Emeline (Ken- 
nedy) Drew. 

His education was begun at Troy, con- 
tinued in Westfield grammar school, and 
completed at Derby Academy. In the win- 
ter of i877-'78 he taught his first school at 
Morgan Center : later he taught in Westfield, 
Coventry and Troy. An acquaintance was 
formed with Rev. Jacob I'^vans, pastor of 
the M. K. church of Troy, into which church 
later young Drew was received and of its 
Sunday school was superintendent. This 
acquaintance was especially helpful to Mr. 
Drew ; it helped to inspire him with a de- 
sire for a broader and more useful life. \\'hen 
not engaged in teaching he worked for the 
lumber firm of C. P. Stevens & Co. In the 



sjjring of 1880 he entered luistman's Busi- 
ness College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., gradu- 
ating in June of that year. After a short 
exjjerience as bookkeeper and salesman at 
Springfield he returned to the firm of C. P. 
Stevens & Co. In the winter of i88i-'82 
he taught in Coventry and became ac- 
(|uainted with Dr. C. F. Branch of Newport, 
superintendent of schools. He began the 
study of medicine with I )r. liranch and 
graduated from the medical department of 
the University of Vermont in June, 1884. 
He immediately went as apothecary to the 
state hospital for the insane at Taunton, 
Mass. ; here he was made third assistant 
physician, and, excepting a six weeks' ab- 
sence to attend the Berlitz summer school of 
languages, remained in continuous service 
until the fall of 1SS7. 





CHARLES AARON DREW. 



In September of 1887 he went to New 
\'ork to pursue a six months course of spec- 
ial study in the post graduate medical schools 
and hospitals. There he gave special atten- 
tion to the eye and ear. In 18S8 he returned 
to the Taunton hospital, resigning in 1890 to 
accept the position of assistant physician in 
the government hospital for the insane at 
\Vashington, D. C. Since 18S8, besides gen- 
eral hos]Mtal work, he has done much ophthal- 
mic work for the patients, who, gratuitously, 
have had the benefit of his skill. In the 
American Journal of Insanity for October, 
1S92, was published his article, "A Plea for 
Ophthalmic Work in Institutions for the In- 
sane," which met the apjirobation of judges. 



54 



In February, 1893, he became first assistant 
physician of the Iowa hospital for the insane 
at Clarinda, Iowa. 

In"May, 1890, he married Carrie, daugh- 
ter of ^Claudius B. and Agnes Somers. 

DUNN, Charles C, of Minneapohs, 
Minn., was born at Ryegate, Feb. 20, 
1 84 1. He is of direct Scotish descent on 
his father's side, his grandfather having been 
born across the water. His father, John 
Dunn, was a \'ermont farmer, one of the 
sturdy class who clung to the old state 
through all the excitement and temptations 
of Western emigration, and lived and died 
in the same house which he built when a 
young man. The life of the father was in 
striking contrast to that of the son. Charles 
was the youngest of five sons (there were 
also two daughters) and was brought up on 
the farm with limited opportunities for 
schooling. 




CHARLES C. DU 



When the war broke out he was tw^enty 
years old. He wished to enter the army and 
enlisted prom])tly, but was rejected on ac- 
count of his health. Trying another locality 
Mr. Dunn enlisted again, but was again re- 
jected by the medical examiner, and after a 
third failure gave it up and engaged with 
the firm Cramton & Dunn of Rutland. For 
four years he drove a tin cart, selling tin 
and japan ware from house to house, taking 
barter in exchange. In 1865 he went into 
the wholesale and retail stationery business 
under the firm name of Sawyer & Dunn, his 



part of the enterprise being to dri\e a whole- 
sale cart through northern New York and 
Vermont, supplying the trade. After two 
years the business had greatly increased, and 
sales were made only by samples, after the 
more modern style. A little later the firm 
was consolidated with Cramton iv: Dunn, 
dealers in sto\ es and hardware, the concern 
becoming Dunn, Sawyer & Co. 

Mr. Dunn maintained a very prosperous 
business connection in the new firm until 
187 1, when, his health having failed, he went 
West and invested in timber lands in Wis- 
consin. This was the beginning of his suc- 
cess as a manager of Western investment 
properties. He organized the Jackson 
County Bank of Black Ri\ er Falls, Wis., and 
became one of the directors. Fx-Senator 
\V. T. Price was president. 

In 1878 Mr. Dunn went to St. Paul, 
founded a company under the name of 
Dunn, Thompson & Co., and built the first 
refrigerator and cold storage house in that 
city. Within a year it was burned out with 
heavy loss. Mr. Dunn returned to Rutland 
and engaged in farming and the merchant 
tailoring business, but the attraction of the 
West and its broader field for his abilities 
led him to dispose of his interests, and in 
1885 he became a citizen of Minneapolis. 
Entering the real estate business, Mr. Dunn 
at once became an enthusiastic "hustler" 
and promoter of the interests of the city. 
He has always been loyal and hopeful. One 
of his manifest abilities is a talent for organ- 
ization. In 1885 and 18S6 he engaged in 
the mining business at Neguanee, Mich., 
and was one of the organizers of the Buffalo 
Mining Co., of which concern he was a 
director and vice-president; the mine was 
sold in 1 888. Mr. Dunn then organized the 
Midland Lumber and Manufacturing Co. of 
Wisconsin, of which he is still vice-president, 
and in 1S92 formed the Minneapolis Disin- 
fecting Co., and the Northwestern Fuel and 
Kindling Mfg. Co., of both of which com- 
panies he is general manager. During his 
business career he has organized some twenty 
different companies. 

On account of ill-health and in the course 
of his business ventures, Mr. Dunn has been 
an extensive traveler. Soon after the war he 
spent some time traveling through the South, 
penetrating on horse-back as far as the ever- 
glades of Florida, and having numerous ad- 
ventures incident to the unsettled political 
conditions during the Ku Klux times. A 
few years later he joined a party of explor- 
ers in the Black Hills, and saw some exciting 
Indian campaigning. 

In 1869, Mr. Dunn was married at Bran- 
don, to Miss Anna E. Jones. They have one 
daughter : Oce J. 



55 



Mr. Dunn was one of the organizers of 
the \'ermont Association of Minneapolis. At 
the time of the census troubles with St. Paul 
he proposed the famous indignation meet- 
ing, and was largely responsible for the 
successful arrangements for the occasion. 

DURKEE, Charles, was born in 
Royalton, Dec. 5, 1807. Was a merchant ; 



removed to Wisconsin, was elected to the 
Legislature of that state in 1837 and 1838: 
a Representative in Congress in i848-'5o 
from Indiana, and a L'nited States senator 
for six years, commencing March, 1855. 
He was a delegate also to the peace con- 
gress of 1861, and in 1865 was appointed, bv 
President Johnson, Governor of Utah. 



EDGERTON, JOSEPH KetcHUM, was 
born in Vergennes, Feb. 16, 1818; spent 
his youth in Clinton county, N. Y., and re- 
ceived a common school education, chiefly at 
Plattsburg. Read law, settled in New York 
City in 1835 and came to the bar in 1839, 
and removed to Fort \\'ayne, Ind., in 1844. 
In 1855 he was president of the Fort Wayne 
■& Chicago Railroad Co., and subsequently 
financial agent of the same when consoli- 
dated with the Pittsburg road, and in 1862 
he was elected a representatixe from Indiana 
to the Thirty-eighth Congress. 

ELDRIDGE, CHARLES A., was born in 
Bridport, Feb. 27, 1821. When a child he 
removed with his parents to New York ; 
studied law in that state and came to the bar in 
1846. In 1848, he removed to Fon du Lac, 
Wis.; in 1854 and 1855 he was a member 
■of the state Senate; and in 1S62 he was 
elected a representative from Wisconsin to 
the Thirty-eighth Congress ; re-elected to the 
Thirty-ninth Congress. 

ELLIS, George Williams, of New 

York City, son of Zenas C. and Sarah B. 
(Dyer) Ellis, was born in Fair Haven, Nov. 
2 7, 1848. 

t His education was acquired at the Rut- 
land high school and Middlebury College, 
where he was graduated in 1868, and Col- 
umbia College (N. Y.) Law School, which 
he attended from 1868 to 1870, when he was 
admitted to the bar. 

The early years of his professional life 
were passed as a student and clerk in the 
office of ex-Judge Theron R. Strong, and ex- 
Judge John W. Edmunds, and with Tracy, 
Olmstead & Tracy in New York City, em- 
bracing a period from 1868 to 1874. He 
then began practice of the law at 119 Broad- 
way, and later at 155 with JohnS. Lawrence. 
This association continued until the death of 
Mr. Lawrence in 1880, since which time Mr. 
Ellis has maintained the business, which is 
one of the oldest in the city, numbering 
among its clients representatives of all classes 
of business. 

While politics have never actively inter- 
ested Mr. Ellis, his membership in social 
organizations indicate his taste and varied 



acquirements. Among the societies who 
claim his membership are the New York 
state and city bar associations, the Univer- 
sity Club, the D. K. E. Society and Club, 
the Washington Heights Century Club, the 
New York Athletic Club, the ^Ietropolitan 
Museum of Art, the American Geographical 
Society, and the American Academy of Polit- 
ical and Social Science. 

ELLIS, William H., late of Greenfield, 
111., son of Barnabas and Belinda (Kidder) 
Ellis, was born in Fair Haven, June 6, 1818. 




Educated in the district schools and the 
Castleton Seminary, he went at the age of 
eighteen to Whitehall, 111., making the trip 
by the usual conveyances of that time, by 
canal from Whitehall to Buffalo and by lake 
to Cleveland, thence by canal to Portsmouth 
on the Ohio river, thence steamboat to St. 
Louis and from there by stage to his desti- 
nation, taking six weeks to make the trip. 



56 



ELLSWORTH. 



For several seasons Captain Ellis taught 
school in the neighboring towns, and drove 
cattle to Chicago and horses to St. Louis 
and New Orleans, and later made entry of 
some government land in Greene county, 
111., and since 1844 has lived on his farm 
now comprising over one thousand acres. 

His sterling business qualities met with 
public recognition in the election for two 
successive terms to the office of county sur- 
veyor in 1849, and the appointment by the 
county to survey and classify lands acquired 
from the government by the state, and 25,- 
000 acres were surveyed by him. Governor 
French commissioned him captain of the 
i8th Regt. Ills. Vols. Captain Ellis did 
active work in obtaining a large subscription 
to the stock of the Rock Island, Alton & St. 
Louis Railroad Co., and in securing the right 
of way for the line, and was afterwards 
elected a director, and was chairman of the 
committee to make arrangements for the 
transfer of the road with Judge Green, pres- 
ident of the Rock Island, Rockford & St. 
Louis Railroad Co. In acquiring the right 
of way, and building the Litchfield, Carroll- 
ton & Western R. R., of which he was a 
director, vice-president, and member of the 
finance committee. Captain Ellis was promi- 
nently engaged. He was also trustee of the 
Central Hospital at Jacksonville, receiving 
his appointment froni, Governor Beveridge. 

He was a member of Greenfield Lodge, 
No. 129, F. & A. M. 

Captain Ellis was married Nov. 6, 1S44, 
to Maria, daughter of I-'avid and Laura 
Wooley. His family consists of four chil- 
dren : Julia, Arthur, Amy M., and Flora L., 
all of whom are married. 

Captain F211is died May 27, 1893, at hi;- 
home at Greenfield, 111. 'I'hrough a long life 
he had won and held the respect and love of 
a large circle of friends and acquaintances. 

ELLSWORTH, CHARLES C, was 

born at Berkshire, Jan. 29, 1824 ; received 
a common school and academic education ; 
is a lawyer by profession and practice ; was 
appointed by Governor Barry prosecuting 
attorney of Livingston county, Mich., in 
1850; removed to Montcalm county, Mich., 
in 185 I : was a member of the state House of 
Representatives in 1852 and '54 ; was elected 
prosecuting attorney of Montcalm county 
at two successive elections ; was appointed 
by the President of the LInited States a pay- 
master in the Union army in 1862 and 
served until the close of the war and was 
elected to the Forty-fifth Congress as a Re- 
publican. 

ELLSWORTH, Samuel S., was born 

in Vermont ; was a member of the NewVork 



Assembly in 1840, and a representative in 
Congress from that state from 1845 to 1847. 

EMERSON, Charles Wesley, of Bos- 
ton, Mass., was born on Nov. 30, 1837, in 
Pittsfield. His parents were Thomas and 
Mary F. (Hewitt) Emerson. His boyhood 
was passed amid the picturesque scenery of 
his native place, and his education was 
much better than boys of his day commonly 
received. He enjoyed the most excellent 
instruction of a father whose taste, culture 
and strong intellectual powers developed in 
the youth that habit of independent thinking 
and original research which have so marked 




CHARLES WESLEY EMERSON. 

his life, and so contributed to his success. 
His paternal grandfather was a man of un- 
usual attainments in history and mighty in 
the Scriptures. His maternal grandfather 
was a Methodist minister. It is of interest 
to know that he came from the same stock 
as Ralph Waldo F.merson, the Sage of Con- 
cord. Their common ancestry goes back to 
one Thomas Emerson, who was of a family 
knighted by King Henry VIII, and who 
emigrated from England to settle in Ipswich, 
Mass., in 163S, to become the progenitor of 
a famous race. 

After leaving the tutelage of his sturdy 
father, Wesley took courses in medicine, law, 
oratory and theology and was ordained to 
the ministry in the Orthodox Congregational 
church. He had a tremendous power as a 
preacher, and his churches were crowded 



57 



■with eager listeners. He made liundreds of 
■converts, raised churcii societies from a con- 
dition of decay to one of flourishing life. 
But the stock of vitality which he had in- 
herited from his sturdy ancestors was ex- 
hausted under the strain which was put 
upon him, he was compelled to resign for 
rest and recuperation, and he spent the 
time in travel on the continent. Upon his 
return, with health much restored, he was 
■elected lecturer on physiology and hygiene 
of the voice in Boston University School of 
Oratory. 

Upon the death of Professor Monroe, Mr. 
Emerson opened an independent school of 
■oratory. This was the beginning of what 
proved a most remarkable career in educa- 
tional work. Under the genius of its presi- 
dent the school has grown, until today it is 
the largest of its kind in the world. It is a 
chartered college incorporated under the 
laws of Massachusetts. Among its lecturers 
are names well known in the highest literary 
and educational circles. Its course embraces 
a thorough system of physical culture devel- 
oped by President Emerson, the results of 
which have been almost miraculous in re- 
storing the health of many students ; a sys- 
tem of voice culture, largely the result of his 
personal study and investigations in the field 
of vocal physiology ,; literary and scientific 
studies, training in expression, studies in 
■classical art, etc., making the course a com- 
plete education, physical, mental and esthe- 
tic. President Emerson's work has become 
of the greatest interest to leading educators 
here and in England. 

He is a broad scholar, acquainted with the 
best of ancient and modern learning. He is 
an advanced thinker, bold and independent 
and yet withal conservative to a remarkable 
degree, testing every theory by actual work 
before announcing it. His success is the 
result of a mind thoroughly imbued with 
the ijrofoundest principles of ]ihilosophy, 
reaching from old Plato to the modern Sage 
of Concord ; acquainted with the largest at- 
tainments of modern science ; saturated with 
the spirit of the world's liest art and literature ; 
illumined with a lofty faith and throbbing 
with a great love for mankind ; and pulsing 
with a tireless energy, which knows no obsta- 
cle to success. His power is that of a great 
personality, from which all elements of mere 
individualism have vanished in the light of 
universal truth. He is beloved by all his 
pupils, in every one of whom he takes the 
deepest personal interest. His aim is to de- 
velo]j not merely readers, but men and women, 
who shall give to the public not simply their 
acquirements, but themselves, enriched by 
all the culture and consecration which they 
achieve. 



In his college work President Emerson is 
most ably assisted by his wife, formerly Miss 
l^usie Rogers, of I )anvers, Mass. She is 
hardly second to himself in zeal and energy, 
and stands by his side in the affections of the 
puj.ils. 

EWER, Warren Baxter, son of Rev. 

Seth and Eliza (Bourne) Ewer, was born 
.■\pril 2 2, 1 8 14, in Windsor. His father was 
a Baptist minister and a native of Barn- 
stable, Mass. His mother was a native of 
Falmouth, Mass. The Ewer family is of 
Norman descent, and originated on the Ure 
river in the north of France, where the 
ruins of the "Eure Castle" are still to be 
seen. The head of the family was a par- 
ticipant in the Norman invasion of England, 
and after the conquest settled there. Dur- 
ing the Cromwellian war, the family became 
divided, one portion following Cromwell, 




WARREN BAXTER EWER. 

the mher the King. So bitter was this polit- 
ical estrangement that the former changed 
the spelling of the family name, adopting 
the Scotch name "Ewer." Fourteen years 
after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, two 
brothers, "Ewer," landed with a colony on 
the north shore of Cape Cod, and founded 
the town of Barnstable. I''rom those two 
brothers all the Ewers of the United States 
have descended. 

Of six children born to the father of the 
subject of this sketch, four were born in 
Vermont. Warren, the eldest, attended the 



58 



common schools until ten years of age, after 
which he was sent to the high schools, and 
finally finished his preparatorx' studies for, 
college at South Reading, Mass. He entered 
Brown University at Providence, in the 
summer of 1835. At the close of his first 
year his health compelled him to leave his 
studies, and chance led him to Dedham, 
Mass., where he connected himself with the 
Dedham Patriot newpaper. The opening of 
the Harrison political campaign in 1840 
found him sole proprietor of that journal, 
and under the advice and patronage of 
Samuel G. Goodrich, better known as "Peter 
Parley," he removed his paper to Roxbury, 
changed its name and entered the campaign 
as a supporter of Harrison. He also started 
a campaign paper which he called "The 
Harrison Democrat," taking for his motto, 
"Things by their right names," claiming 
that Harrison, rather than his opponent. 
Van Buren, represented the true Democratic 
principles. 

The first political song of that famous 
campaign was introduced at the suggestion 
of Mr. Ewer and Mr. Goodrich at a political 
meeting in the Roxbury town hall, and made 
such a decided hit that song singing in pol- 
itical rneetings soon became general, and to 
meet the want thus created Mr. Ewer com- 
piled and published the first political song 
book, which was soon after republished and 
enlarged by the publishers of the New York 
Tribune. 

Mr, Ewer appears to have been a very 
good judge of character. ']"he writer will give 
two instances which have an historical as 
well as personal interest ; At the opening of 
the Harrison campaign, it was suggested 
that some good and well-known speaker 
should be secured to canvass the towns 
throughout the district. Mr. Ewer, on the 
contrary, thought it best to secure some 
promising young man direct from the peo- 
ple, from the shop, as better calculated to 
arouse enthusiasm, and suggested his friend, 
Henry ^^'ilson, a shoemaker of Natick, as a 
man possessing the requisite qualities, al- 
though he was then unknown out of his own 
immediate neighborhood. After many ex- 
cuses and protestations of unfitness for such 
services Mr. Wilson consented, and was' in- 
troduced through the pajjers and to his 
audiences by Mr. Ewer as "Henry Wilson, 
the Natick cobbler," a sobriquet which fol- 
lowed him through life. This engagement 
was Mr. Wilson's first special effort as a pub- 
lic speaker and it led him finally to national 
fame, to the Vice-Presidency of the United 
States, and would probably have given him 
the presidential chair had his life been 
spared two years longer. 

.Another instance of Mr. Ewer's correct 
judgment of character is of equal historic 



interest, and occurred in the life history of 
the late John B. Gough ; Mr. Ewer, while 
publishing a "Washingtonian" temperance 
paper in Dedham, was anxious to secure the 
services of a good speaker, who could in- 
terest that class of people for whose good the 
"Washingtonian" movement was initiated. 
He had heard of a reformed man near Wor- 
cester who was creating some interest in that 
vicinity. He took his carriage and drove to 
one of his meetings in a little. schoolhouse — 
listened to his talk, was profoundly im- 
pressed with its manner and matter, and 
after it was over introduced himself to the 
speaker and finally took him home with him. 
In the quiet of that home he subsequently 
persuaded Mr. Gough that he could do a 
great work if he would make the effort. Mr. 
Gough at first doubted his fitness or ability, 
but was finally persuaded, and Mr. Ewer 
traveled with him for some time, making hi& 
appointments and looking after his private 
wants. Mr. tlough's personal efforts and 
the notoriety given them through Mr. 
Ewer's paper, finally attracted the attention 
of Deacon Moses Grant, at that time one 
of Boston's most wealthy and earnest philan- 
thropists. Through Mr. Ewer the I )eacon 
sought an interview, which finally resulted in 
a year's engagement for free temperance 
lectures. Deacon (irant to pav him a thous- 
and dollars and his expenses, with an agent 
to travel with him. .At the expiration of that 
engagement Mr. Gough found himself fairly 
launched upon that wonderful career of use- 
fulness which elicited from Daniel Webster 
the remark that "John B. Gough had proven 
himself the greatest natural orator the world 
has ever produced." 

We next find Mr. Ewer in Boston printing 
a paper devoted to the interests of the Lake 
Superior copper mines, and edited by a 
brother of l^lias Howe, the inventor of the 
sewing machine. A\'hile thus engaged the 
wonderful discovery of gold in California 
was announced to the w-orld. As soon as 
that discovery was fully verified Mr. P^wer 
made arrangements for the journey, and the 
spring of 1849 found him on his way across 
the plains in the first great company of gold 
seekers. He reached the mines in October, 
mined for gold awhile, but soon dropped the 
pick and shovel to teach others, from his 
editorial chair, how to mine for the precious 
metal. He first established a paper at Ne- 
vada City, which he- soon sold, and went to 
Grass Valley, where he purchased the Grass 
Valley Telegraph, and also started the Cali- 
fornia Mining Journal, the first mining paper 
in California. To secure a larger field for his 
work, he subsequently went to San Francisco, 
purchased the Mining and Scientific Press, 
and brought out the first number in his own^ 
name Nov. 8, 1S62. Mr. .A. T. Dewey sub- 



I'AIKCHILD. 



I'AIRClllI.l). 



59 



sequently became interested in that publica- 
tion, and continued with him about thirty 
years, when the business was incorporated. 

In 1870, when agriculture began to assume 
considerable interest in California, Mr. 
Ewer added an agricultural department to 
the M. & S. Press, which attracted so much 
attention that the State Agricultural ISoardof 
that year invited him to go to Sacramento 
and take the editorial charge of an agricul- 
tural paper which it was proposed to start in 
that city. He declined the offer, but the 
matter finally resulted in the establishment 
by Dewey and Ewer of the Pacific Rural 
Press in San Francisco, Jan 7, 1871. lioth 
the Mining and Scientific Press and the 
Pacific Rural Press have been acknowledged 
from their start as the two leading papers in 
the United States in their respecti\e fields 
of labor. 

Near the commencement of 1893, Mr. 
Ewer retired from active editorial labor, 
having been thus engaged fifty-six years, 
with only about four years of intermission. 
It is doubtful if there is any other person 
living who has been so long and so steadily 
engaged in active editorial work. Though 
now in the eightieth year of his age, he is 
well and hearty and has never experienced 
sickness. He has left editorial work simply 
to get more time to attend to his private 
business, and to give younger men a chance. 

Except during the Harrison campaign of 
1840, Mr. Ewer has never taken any active 



interest in politics. He has no taste in that 
direction except as a citizen. In the early 
fifties he was appointed county school super- 
intendent for Sfevada county, unsolicited. 
He was also once, without seeking the office, 
nominated and elected school director for 
San Francisco. He was appointed by the 
Legislature of 1867 commissioner to repre- 
sent California at the Paris International 
Exposition, but knew nothing of it until he 
saw the announcement in the papers. Busi- 
ness compelled him to decline. He was ap- 
pointed by C.overnor, now Senator Perkins, 
to represent the state of California at the 
first Denver mining exposition. 

Mr. Ewer has ever been social in his 
tastes and belongs to several social and char- 
itable organizations. He is a member of 
the California Pioneer Association, a charter 
member of the Bohemian Club and a mem- 
ber of the Native Sons of Vermont. The 
only fraternal association with which he is 
connected is the Masonic, in which he has 
taken the Templar degrees. 

He has been three times married. His 
first wife was Miss Hosapher N. Brush, of 
Mneyard Haven, Mass. His second wife 
was Martha D. Luce of the same place. He 
is now living with his third wife, Martha, the 
widow of Donald McLennan, the projector 
and for many years superintendent of the 
Mission and Golden Gate woolen mills of 
San Francisco. 



FAIRCHILD, David S., of Ames, Iowa, 
son of Eli and Grace D. Fairchild, was born 
Sept. 16, 1847, at Fairfield. 

He was educated at the academies of 
Franklin and Barre, and during the years 
1866 to 1868, attended medical lectures at 
.Ann Arbor, Mich., and graduated from the 
Albany Medical College in December, 1868. 
He read medicine in the office of Dr. J. (). 
Cramton, of Fairfield. 

Dr. Fairchild located first in High For- 
rest, Minn., in May, i86g, but in July, 1872, 
removed to Ames, Iowa, where he has since 
been continuously engaged in his practice. 
In 1873 he was prominent in the organizing 
of the Story County Medical Society and 
was its first president. In 1874 he assisted 
in organizing the Central District Medical 
Society, which includes the central counties 
of his state, and was twice elected its presi- 
dent. He is also a member of the Iowa 
State Medical Society, the American Medical 
Association, the Western Association of 
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the 
National Association of Surgeons. In 1876 
he was a delegate to the International Medi- 



cal Congress held in Philadelphia. He 
assisted in organizing the Iowa Academy of 
Sciences, and was chairman of a committee 
appointed by the State Medical Society to 
prepare a history of medicine in Iowa, which 
was completed. In 1877 he was appointed 
physician to the Iowa Agricultural College, 
and in 1879 was elected professor of physi- 
ology, comparative anatomy, and pathology, 
of the same college. In 1882 he was elected 
professor of history and pathology, in the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Des 
Moines, and was transferred in 1885 to the 
chair of pathology and diseases of the ner- 
vous system, and in 1887 to the chair of 
theory and practice of medicine and pathol- 
ogy. In 1884 he became local surgeon for 
the- Chicago & Northwestern R. R., and 
two years later was appointed district sur- 
geon, and in 1892 consulting surgeon for its 
Iowa interests extending over 1,300 miles. 

For sixteen years Dr. Fairchild w-as en- 
gaged in general practice, but for the past 
eight years his practice has been almost ex- 
clusively one of consultation, particularly in 
surgery- Has contributed many articles to 



6o 



the medical journals, and to the transactions 
of various medical societies. 

Outside of his profession he has had no 
time for politics or other matters except in 
educational matters and he is at present 
president of the board of education of his 
citv. 




cepted the position of teller in the First 
National Bank of Chicopee, Mass. Upon the 
organization of the Peoples National Bank 
of Brattleboro, in October, 1875, he was 
chosen cashier of that institution, which he 
successfully conducted until October, 1886, 
when he was offered and accepted the cash- 
iership of the National Hide and Leather 
Bank of Boston ; in this larger field he was 
always found ready to serve his customers 
promptly and faithfully, thus making for him- 
self many warm friends. 

Becoming deeply interested, and a large 
stockholder, in the Traders National Bank of 
Boston, he was elected its president, in 1890. 
By his energy and careful, conservative meth- 
ods the business of the bank was largely in- 
creased. 



l:/jfeT 



He is a member of the .Arcadia Lodge, 
three times three (^x^) chapter, and of 
Excaliber Commandery ; also of the order 
of Elks. 

May I, 1S70, he married Welhelmina t'., 
daughter of Hon. W. K. Tattersall of High 
Forest, Minn., and has three children : 
David S., Gertrude M., and Margaret T. 

FAULKNER, William A., of Boston, 
Mass., son of Shepherd D. and Miranda 
(Greene) Faulkner, was born in Whitingham, 
Sept. 14, 1848. 

Educated at the district schools of his na- 
tive town and Powers Institute, Bernardston, 
Mass., he prepared himself further for a 
business career by a course at Eastman Busi- 
ness College, of Poughkeepsie, N. V. 

Mr. Faulkner's early life was spent upon 
the farm : but not finding that congenial, to 
his taste he decided to enter upon a business 
career in which he has enjoyed a succession 
of promotions. 

Beginning in .April, 1872, with a clerkship 
in a dry goods establishment in Shelburne 
Falls, Mass. ; in April, 1873, he became 
bookkeeper in the Shelburne Falls National 
Bank ; in October of the next vear he ac- 




WILLIAM A. FAULKNER. 

Ill-health compelled him to relinquish the 
arduous duties of this position in January, 
1893. Since which, his time has been spent 
in travel and in caring for his personal mat- 
ters and those intrusted to him bv others. 

Mr. Faulkner was married at Brattleboro, 
Sept. 21, 1876, to Alice H., daughter of Par- 
ley and Clara ( Blanchard) Starr. Mrs. Faulk- 
ner died in March, 1891. 

FIELD, RoswELL Martin, late of St. 
Louis, was born in Newfane, Feb. 22, 1807, 
and was the son of Gen. Martin Field and 
Esther S. Kellogg, his wife. 

He fitted for college with Rev. Luke 
\\'hitcomb of Townshend, and entered Mid- 



6i 



dlebury College with his brother, Charles K. 
Field, late of Brattleboro, graduating at the 
age of fifteen years in 1822. He studied 
law with Hon. Daniel Kellogg of Rocking- 
ham, and was admitted to the bar in 1825, 
at the age of eighteen years, and practiced 
in Windham county till 1839. He was 
elected state's attorney for said county for 
four years in succession, from 1832 to 1835. 
He represented the town of Newfane in the 
Legislature of Vermont for the years 1835 
and 1S36. The special pleas drawn by him 
in the libel suit of Torrey vs. Field, reported 
in 'I'enth Vermont Reports were declared 
by Justice Story to be masterpieces of spe- 
cial pleading. 

In 1839 Mr. Field removed to St. Louis, 
Mo., and continued the practice of his pro- 
fession ; at first as partner of Miron Leslie, 
also from Vermont, and a man of splendid 
talents and great legal attainments. Mr. 
Field at once took high rank with the oldest 
members of the St. Louis bar, among whom 
were Henry S. Geyer, successor of Thomas 
H. Benton in the U. S. Senate, Fdward 
Bates, attorney-general in the cabinet of 
President Lincoln during his first term, and 
Hamilton R. damble, provisional ("lOvernor 
of Missouri during the war of the rebellion. 

After a few years the partnership of Les- 
lie & Field was dissolved, and for the re- 
mainder of his Hfe Mr. Field practiced his 
profession alone. His practice was large 
and remunerative. He was engaged es- 
pecially in numerous and important land suits, 
growing out of conflicting Spanish and 
French tides, existing before the United 
States acquired the territory of Louisiana. 
Not only was Mr. Field a great lawyer, but 
he was a fine classical scholar and exten- 
sively informed in, and familiar with, the 
best of English literature and general sci- 
ence. In addition to Greek and Latin, he 
was well versed in the Spanish, French, and 
German, and spoke the two latter languages 
with great facility. He brought and tried in 
the LTnited States Circuit Court, Missouri, 
the celebrated case of Dred Scott, which 
gave him a national reputation. In the war 
of the rebellion he was a staunch and promi- 
nent defender of the government and the 
L'nion, and co-operated with Generals Lyon 
and Blair and others in defeating the schemes 
of the secessionists to attach Missouri to the 
fortunes of the confederacy, and was largely 
instrumental in preventing the state from 
committing the folly and crime of secession. 
A commission as judge of the state Supreme 
Court was sent to him by the Governor of the 
state in 1865, but he declined the position, 
which he would have adorned and dignified, 
preferring the quiet of private life. 

He was a splendid specimen of ])hysical 
manhood, being over six feet in height, well 



proportioned and of dignified and imposing 
presence. In his social relations he was 
genial and entertaining, unstirpassed in con- 
versational powers, delighting in witty and 
epigrammatic sentences, was elegant in his 
manners, affable and refined in his deport- 
ment, and to his other accomplishments he 
added that of the skillful musician. 

In 184S he married Miss Frances Reed, 
a beautiful, cultured and lovely young lady 
from Vermont, richly endowed with all the 
domestic virtues and graces of womanhood. 
Their married life was relatively short, as 
Mrs. Field died in 1856, and he himself 
died in 1869 at the comparatively early age 
of sixty-two years. 

At the time of his death, and for many 
years before, he was regarded as standing at 
the head of the bar in the state. He left 
two sons, both of whom have exhibited in 
later years eminent ability, though in differ- 
ent lines from their father, they having selec- 
ted the field of journalism and authorship. 
The eldest, Eugene Field, of the Chicago 
News and Record, has earned and deserves 
a high reputation, as a wit and humorist, 
being the author of a prose work entitled 
"Profitable Tales," and of poems entitled a 
"Little Book of Western Verse," ".\ Second 
Book of Verse," and "Tin Trumpet and 
Drum," and with his brother, Roswell M. 
Field, a translation of certain Odes of Hor- 
ace entitled "Echoes from the Sabine Farm." 
The younger son is Roswell M. Field, for a 
number of years employed on the Kansas 
City Times and Evening Star, of Kansas 
City, Mo., and latterly on the New York 
World. As a journalist he has won a favor- 
able name and has published a volume of 
sketches entitled "In the Sun Flower Land" 
which show marked ability and give prom- 
ise of still better literary work in the future. 

This brief notice of the life and charac- 
ter of Roswell M. Field, deceased, cannot 
be better closed than by quoting the re- 
marks of Judge Wagner, chief justice of the 
Supreme Court of the state of Missouri, in 
response to the resolutions of the St. Louis 
bar, presented to said court. Judge \Vag- 
ner in behalf of the court responded as 
follows : 

" The members of this court have heard 
w'ith the deepest regret of the death of R. 
M. Field, and the warm and deserved tribute 
which has just been paid to his memory 
receives an assenting response from the 
hearts of all who knew him. In the decease 
of our lamented friend and brother, the bar 
of Missouri has lost one of its brightest orna- 
ments. To a naturally keen, vigorous and an- 
alytical iiiind he added a thorough mastery of 
legal principles, combined with high scholar- 
ly attainments. Perhaps no man at the bar of 
this state ever brought to the consideration 



62 



of any question a greater amount of exact 
legal learning, or clothed it with a more im- 
pressive and attractive logic. When he gave 
the great energies and powers of his mind 
to a cause, he exhausted all the learning to 
be had on the subject. He studied law as 
a science, and delighted to examine its har- 
monious structure and explore its philosophic 
principles. So deeply w-as he imbued with 
its true spirit, and so great was his reverence 
for its excellence, that he maintained them 
with the most jealous regard, and would 
sooner have failed in success than have won 
a case by trenching upon a sound legal rule. 
He made no parade of learning, and in his 
social intercourse he had a childlike sim- 
plicity. With his professional brethren he 
was full of courtesy and kindness, and his 
whole conduct was marked by entire integ- 
rity and perfect truth. He adorned every 
circle in which he moved, and so beautiful 
was his life, in all its relations, that he won 
and enjoyed the esteem and regard of all 
who knew him. It is fit and proper that the 
death of such a man should be marked by 
all the honors that we can pay to his mem- 
ory. It is just that we should pay this last 
tribute as an evidence of our appreciation 
of his great abilities and exalted virtues. It 
is therefore ordered, that the report of the 
proceedings of the bar which have been 
presented, be entered of record on the 
minutes of this court, and out of respect for 
his memory, it will be further ordered that 
this court do now adjourn." 

FIELD, WaLBRIDGE .4BNER, of Bos- 
ton, Mass., son of Abner and Louisa ((Iris- 
wold) Field, was born in Springfield, April 
26, 1833. His father was a descendant of 
the Fields of Rhode Island, and his mother's 
ancestors were from Connecticut. 

Mr. Field was educated at private schools 
and academies until fitted for college, when 
he entered Dartmouth and graduated in the 
class of 1855. He was tutor in the college 
in 1856 and 1857 and again in 1S59. He 
studied law in Boston with Harvey Jewell 
and at the Harvard Law School ; was ad- 
mitted to the bar in Boston in i860, and 
began practice with Mr. Jewell. In 1865 he 
was appointed assistant United States attor- 
ney for Massachusetts under Richard H. 
Dana, and remained with him and with 
George S. Hillard until 1S69, when he was 
appointed by President (Irant assistant at- 
torney-general of the L'nited States. This 
office he resigned in August, 1870, and be- 
came a partner with Mr. Jewell and William 
Ciaston, under the firm name of Jewell, Gas- 
ton & Field, and after Mr. (laston became 
Governor of Massachusetts, Edward O. Shep- 
hard was taken into the partnership, and the 
firm name became Jewell, Field & Shephard 



and so remained until Mr. Field became asso- 
ciate justice of the Supreme Judical Court in 
1881. 

Judge Field was a member of the Boston 
school board in 1863 and 1864 and of the 
common council in 1S65, 1866 and 1867. 
In 1876 he was declared elected to the 
House of Representatives of the Forty-fifth 
Congress of the United States from the Third 
District of Massachusetts, but his seat was 
contested, and after about a year's service he 
was unseated. He was again a candidate 
for the House of Representatives, was re- 
elected, and, taking his seat in the Forty- 
sixth Congress, served without contest. 

Judge F'ield was married in 1869, to Eliza 
E. McLoon, who died in March, 1877, and 
by whom he has two daughters : Eleanor 
Louise, and F^lizabeth Lenthal. In October, 
1882, Judge Field was married to Frances 
E., daughter of the Hon. Nathan A. Farwell 
of Rockland, Me. 

FINNEY, Darwin A., was born at 
Shrewsbury, August 11, 1 8 1 4 ; removed with 
his family to Meadville, Pa., when a lad : 
received a classical education ; graduated at 
the Meadville College ; studied law, was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and practiced at Mead- 
ville ; was twice elected to the state House 
of Representatives, and once to the state 
Senate : was elected a representative from 
Pennsylvania in the Fortieth Congress as a 
Republican, and served from March 4, 1S67, 
until his death while traveling in Europe, 
August 25, 1868. 

FISHER, ALONZOG., of Chicago, III, 
son of Samuel G. and Catherine (Parker) 
Fisher, was born in U'est Fairlee, Oct. 10, 
1S39. 

Educated in the district schools of his 
native town and Barre .Academy, he found 
his first employment, in 186 1, with Denison 
Derby, driving a peddling wagon, and seven 
years later he engaged with N. K. Brown & 
Co., of Burlington, as a traveling salesman 
for their manufacture of patent medicines, 
traveling by team and reaching the wholesale 
trade of New England and some of the mid- 
dle states. 

Mr. Fisher located in Chicago in iS76and 
established himself in the wholesale patent 
medicine business, being the Western dis- 
tributing agent for many of the largest con- 
cerns in the country, and his business has 
grown to be the largest of its kind in the 
West. He is still a partner with N. K. 
Brown & Co., of Burlington, and spends a 
portion of his time in the East in the inter- 
est of this connection and at his elegant 
summer home at Foster's Point, Me. 

Besides his regular avocation Mr. Fisher 
has been a large and successful operator in 
Chicago real estate. 



FLAGG. 



63 



Sociallv he is verv prominent in Chicago, 
being a member of the Citizens' Committee : 
a well known member of the Illinois Club, 
and an enthusiastic attendant in the Union 
Park Church. 

A member of the Illinois Society Sons of 
Vermont says of him : "For honesty and 
integrity in business matters, he has few- 
equals ; for his kind and generous impulses 
he is well known and much admired." 

Mr. Fisher has been twice married. He 
married first, August i, 1861, Lois, daughter 
of Horatio Nye, of Barton. Of this union 
were three children, only one of whom, 
Arthur N. (in business vyith his father), is 
living. He was married a second time, in 
1878, to Fannie D., daughter of Moses O. 
Crafts, of Bath, Me. They have two sons : 
Theo M., and Alonzo G., Jr. 

FLAGG, Fred ALVIN, of Troy, N. v., 
youngest surviving son of Gen. Stephen P. 
and Lucinda (Brown) Flagg, was born in 
Wilmington, June 19, 1837. 



his position, and for several years thereafter 
was successfully engaged in the coal trade at 
North Adams under the firm name of Rich- 
ardson & Flagg. During his business resi- 
dence in Massachusetts he was repeatedly 
urged to become a candidate for political 
honors, but he uniformly declined such dis- 
tinction. Retiring from the coal business in 
1888, Mr. Flagg, who inherited a fine bass 
voice, for a time placed himself under the 
training of his lamented brother, Lyman, 
whose musical career in Europe is familiar 
to most Vermonters, and his advancement 
was such that his merits found ready recog- 
nition in oratorio and concert music, which 
made him at once prominent in the musical 
circles of New England. 

Mr. Flagg became connected with the 
Fidelity and Casualty Co., of New York, in 
1890, and vi'as subsequently promoted to the 
position of superintendent of agencies, and 
is now manager of all departments of the 
company for a large territory, including the 
state of Vermont, with his headquarters 
and general office at Trov, N. Y. 




RED ALVIN FLAGG. 



He received a classical education at W'il- 
liston Seminary, Easthampton, and at W'ill- 
iams College, l\Iass. 

In 1877 he was appointed deputy collector 
of internal revenue for the Tenth Massachu- 
setts District, with a residence in Greenfield, 
Mass., and three years subsequently was ap- 
pointed cashier and home office deputy col- 
lector of the same district, with residence at 
North Adams. In 1882 Mr. Flagg resigned 



FLAGG, John Henry, of New York 

City, son of Gen. Stephen P. and Lucinda 
(Brown) Flagg, was born in \\'ilmington, 
July II, 1843. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
his native town, and at Wesleyan Academy, 
Wilbraham, Mass. His law studies were 
pursued at the Albany Law School, and with 
the firm of Flagg & Tyler, \Vilmington. The 
members composing this firm were his 
father, Gen. Stephen P. Flagg, and the Hon. 
James M. Tyler, now one of the judges of 
the Supreme Court of Vermont. Mr. Flagg 
was admitted to the bar in Windham county 
at the September term in 1864, practicing 
for the first year at Wilmington, and subse- 
quently at Bennington, for a period of four 
vears. 

At the October session of the Vermont Leg- 
islature in 1864, he was elected clerk of the 
House of Representatives, and was unani- 
mously re-elected to the same office for the 
succeeding four years. At the first session 
of the Forty-first Congress, beginning in 
December, 1S69, he was appointed principal 
clerk of the U^nited States Senate, which 
office he continued to hold through succeed- 
ing Congresses until the spring of 1878, when 
he resigned. He was admitted to the bar of 
the Supreme Court of the L^nited States in 
1870, and on terminating his connection with 
the United States Senate resumed his law prac- 
tice, both in Washington and New York, giv- 
ing special attention to international questions 
arising under treaties between the United 
States and foreign powers, as well as kindred 
subjects. He was prominent in the pro- 
longed discussion involved in the earlier 



64 



FLETCHER. 



legislation of Congress, defining the relation 
of our government to the "Gene\a Award 
Fund," and the method of its distribution, 
and subsequently prosecuted to a successful 
termination a large number of claims arising 
under said treaty. 

Removing to New York City in the year 
1880, he has not only continued his practice 
before the Federal courts and departments at 
Washington, but has given much attention to 
corporation law, receiving a lucrative in- 
come therefrom, being steadily employed by 
various corporations prominent throughout 
the country. He is an accepted authority 
on the law of parliamentary procedure as 
well as of international law, and has had for 
clients several foreign governments in this 




HENRY FLAGG. 



latter branch of practice, to which so few 
lawyers seem to have given special attention. 
For many years he has been counsel to va- 
rious foreign steamship lines, the large pe- 
troleum corporations of the United States, 
railroad corporations and many others. 

He is a member of Union League Club, 
the chief Republican organization of New 
York City, the Metropolitan Club of Wash- 
ington, a life member of the New England 
Society of New York, and was one of the 
promoters of the Brooklyn Society of ^'er- 
monters, of which he is a member and one 
of the executive committee. 

Mr. Flagg was married in June, 1889, to 
Peachy J., daughter of Frank F. and Marion 
Jones of Brooklyn, N. Y. 



FLETCHHR, RICHARD, was ,born in 
Cavendish, Jan. 8, T78S ; graduated at Dart- 
mouth College in 1S06 ; served in the Legis- 
lature of Massachusetts ; was a judge of the 
Supreme Court from 1848 to 1853 ; and a 
representative in Congress from Massachu- 
setts, from 1837 to 1S39. 

FOLLETT, JOHN FaSSETT, of Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, was born in Franklin county, his 
father removed to Ohio in 1837, and settled 
in Licking county ; he procured for himself 
a classical education, entering Marietta Col- 
lege in 1 85 1, and graduating in 1855 as the 
valedictorian of his class ; he taught school 
two years ; studied law and was admitted to 
the bar in 1S58; was elected to the Ohio 
Legislature from Licking county, in 1865, 
and re-elected in 1867 ; was elected in Janu- 
ary, 1868, speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives; in September, 1868, removed to 
Cincinnati to engage in the practice of the 
law, and on the assembling of the Legislature 
resigned the speakership and his commission 
as representative from Licking county ; in 
1880 was nominated at the Democratic state 
convention as one of the electors at large for 
( )hio on the Hancock and English jiresiden- 
tial ticket: in 1879 received the degree of 
LL. D., from Marietta College; and was 
elected to the Forty-eighth Congress as a 
Democrat. 

FONDA, Edmund S., of Osage, lowa, 
son of Stephen H. and Julia (Harwood) 
Fonda, was born June 3, 1839, at Rupert. 

Mr. Fonda was educated in the common 
schools and at l-"ort Edward (N. Y.) Insti- 
tute. The usual experience of a farmer's 
son was that of Mr. Fonda until, in 1S62, he 
became a book-keeper and salesman in the 
general store of F. Wells, Conslantine, Mich., 
which position he resigned after two years, 
and entered into partnership with G. W. 
Waterson, of the same place, selling dry 
goods and groceries. He continued in the 
same business until 1S68, when he removed 
to his present home. In the fall of 1869 he 
sold out and engaged in real estate, and in 
1875 became further engaged in the sale of 
farm machinery, a business he continues in 
at the present day. 

Mr. Fonda served as chairman of the rail- 
way committee of the Osage Board of Trade 
for five years, during the projecting and 
building of the Winona & Southwestern 
R. R., and was largely instrumental in get- 
ting the company to build to Osage. 

Educaiional matters have had a strong 
interest for him. He was engaged, previous 
to embarking in the mercantile business, in 
teaching district winter schools in Vermont, 
New York and Michigan. He has served 
many years on the city school board, and 



65 



as a trustee of the Cedar \'alley Seminary 
has served several years, and is now presi- 
dent of the board. He is also president of 
the Mitchell County Agricultural Society, 
holding that honor for thirteen years. 

In politics he is Republican ; has served 
for two years as member of state central 
committee. Has never sought office. Was 
elected mayor of the city of Osage, in 18S9, 
receiving, without distinction of party, every 
vote cast but one. Was re-elected mayor in 
189T, and declined a re-election in 1893. 
He had previously served as city council- 
man. 




EDMUND S. FONDA. 

In 1893 Mr. Fonda obtained a charter 
for himself and associates to organize the 
Farmers' National Bank of Osage, of which 
he is a director. He is now comfortably 
situated with a farm of nine hundred and 
ten acres, every acre of which is tillable, and 
which is situated but two and a half miles 
from Osage, valued at $45,000. Has a large 
implement trade and other interests. 

He married, August iS, 1864, in Constan- 
tine, Mich., I.oretta E., daughter of Rulef 
and Charlotte A. Crego. 'I'hey have three 
children : Lottie J., Fannie L., and Kate !'.. 

FOOTE, Stephen Miller, United 

States .Army, son of Henry William and 
Rebecca (Dunlap) Foote, was born Feb. 19, 
1859, at La Salle, Mich., and came to \'er- 
mont, his father's native state, at fourteen 
years of age. 



His early education was receixed at Bee- 
man Academy, class of '79, when he entered 
Middlebury College. 'I'he following year he 
entered the LTnited States Military .Academy 
at Went Point, graduating in the class of '84. 
He afterwards graduated at the L'nited States 
.Artillery School at Fortress Monroe, \'a., in 
the class of '88. 

Junei2, 1884, he was appointed 2d Lieut. 
4th .Artillery U. S. A., and ist Lieut. June 17, 
1889. From September, 1884, to Septem- 
ber, 1885, he served at Fort .Adams, New- 
port, R. I., from 1885 to 1886 at Fort Trum- 
bull, New London, Conn., and from 1886 to 
1888 in the artillery school at Fort Monroe. 
F^rom September, 1888, to January, 1889, 
he passed traveling in Europe, on leave of 
absence, and in January, 1889, became as- 
sistant instructor of engineering, and in 
charge of non-commissioned officers' school 
at the artillery school. Fort Monroe. From 
March, 1891, till July, 1892, he was on duty 
with the Intercontinental Railway Commis- 
sion in Washington, I). C., and in Central 




STEPHEN MILLER FOOTE. 

.America. From July, 1892, to February, 
1S93, he was on duty at Fort Barrancas, 
Pensacola, Fla. His last service at present 
date is with World's Columbian E.xposition. 

Lieutenant Foote is a member of the Chi 
Psi Society of Middlebury College. 

He was married at Fort Monroe, Va., 
.April 24, 1889, to Sara, daughter of Maj. 
John Brooke of the Medical Department U. 
S. A., and Esther \\'illing Brooke. 



66 



FREEMAN, NELSON ORLANDO, of 
Freeport, 10. , was born in Wolcott, [an. i, 
1836. 

Mr. Freeman acquired his early education 
in the village school and the academy at 
Johnson, and prepared for college at Fort 
Edward Institute. Entering Union College 
at Schenectady, N. Y., in the class of 1863, 
he later was transferred to the University of 
Vermont, where he completed the course 
and graduated in 1869, receiving the degree 
of A. M. In further pursuance of a thorough 
preparation for the university he commenced 
a course at the Itoston Theological Seminary 
in i86g. 

Mr. Freeman began his life work by enter- 
ing the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church at the conference held at St. Albans. 
While attending college he was pastor at 
Winooski. In 1870 he went westward and 
transferred to the Rock River Conference, 
and for the past twenty-five years has served 
at various places, including the following 
churches : St. Charles and Wheaton, and at 
Batavia a second term, four years at Ottawa. 
He is now pastor of P'irst M. E. Church, 
Freeport, 111. 

While ever assiduously applying himself_to 
his chosen profession and making no effort 
for distinction in social organizations, he is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity and of 
the Odd Fellows. 

Mr. Freeman's first wife was Francis E. 
Richmond, of Woodstock, Vt., daughter of 
Baezillar Richmond and Lodoisski Brown. 
She died in 1867, leaving one daughter since 
deceased. Mr. Freeman again married in 
1872, Hattie, daughter of Ezra and Catherine 
Samson, of Waterman, 111. The result of 
this union is three children : Charles S., 
Dwight, and Anna Louise. 



ference to the general conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church held in New 
York City, which is the legislative body of 
the church and meets quadrennially. 




TIMOTHY PRESCOTT FROST. 

Mr. Frost is a member of the Society of 
the War of 181 2, and of the Brooklyn 
Society of the Sons of \'ermont. 

He married, Jan. 23, 1876, Carrie M., 
daughter of Nathan and Lavona (Webster) 
Holt, and has two children: Philip Pres- 
cott, and Florence Virtine. 



FROST, Timothy PRESCOTT, of Balti- 
more, Md., son of Timothy M. and Mary G. 
(Prescott) Frost, was born at Mount Holly, 
June 26, 1850. 

His education was received in the district 
schools of Weston, the Methodist Seminary 
of Montpelier, and the Wesleyan University 
at Middletown, Conn. 

Mr. Frost entered the itinerant ministery 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1876 
and served full terms at Thetford Centre, 
Woodstock, Bradford and Montpelier. He 
was chaplain of the Vermont Senate in 1886. 
He also served two years at St. Johnsbury, 
from which place he went to the Summer- 
field Church, of Brooklyn, N. Y., in May, 
1889. In April, 1893, he was appointed 
pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Baltimore, Md., where he is 
located at present. 

In 1888 Mr. Frost was chosen one of two 
ministerial delegates from the Vermont con- 



FRINK, ALDEN, of Boston, Mass., son of 
Luther and Alvatina (Childs) Frink, was 
born in Woodstock, April 18, 1833. 

Receiving a limited education in the dis- 
trict schools, he has earned his own living 
since he was nine years of age, working on a 
farm until the age of fifteen. He then 
learned the carpenter's trade and this occu- 
pation he followed for six years in Windsor 
and Worcester, Mass., during which time he 
learned the draughting of plans and when 
twenty-one years of age he began the study 
of architecture in the office of Elbridge 
Boyden, Worcester, Mass. After remaining 
there three years, in the spring of 1857 he 
removed to Boston and was employed by the 
United States Government as a draughts- 
man on the new Minot Ledge Lighthouse. 
In 1859 he visited Europe, travelling through 
England, Ireland and Scotland as well as on 
the Continent. In i860 he returned to 
this country and opened an office at 28 State 



;aki'ii£L1ie. 



67 



street, lioston, where he has been located 
ever since. Mr. Frink has built over fifty 
stores ; over one hundred dwellings ranging 
from SSjOOo to $150,000, and a number of 
schoolhouses, engine-houses and police sta- 
tions for the city of Boston. He also built 
the New England Manufacturers and Mer- 
chants Institute building in Boston, which 
was destroyed by fire in 1886. 

Within the past eight or ten years, he has 
built ((uite a number of railroad stations for 
the Boston & Maine, Fitchburg, and Old 
Colony Railroad Companies, at Woburn, 
Sonierville Highlands, Winter Hill, Prospect 
Hill, Wakefield, Marblehead, Lynn Com- 



mon, Waverly, Marlboro, Athol, Concord 
Junction, Stoneham, Wilton and other 
])laces. He has also made extensive ad- 
ditions to the Lowell station in Boston. 

He affiliates with St. Andrew's Lodge of 
Masons, and is a prominent member of 
'I'remont Lodge, No. 15, L O. O. F. 

Mr. Frink was united in marriage at Bos- 
ton, Jan. 29, 1859, to Ro.xana, daughter of 
Benjamin and Charlotte Folsom of Vienne, 
Me. Mr. and Mrs. Frink have two children : 
Leonard Alden Frink, born Sept. 22, 1870, 
entering Harvard College in 1889 in class of 
1893, 3-nd is now a student in Harvard Law 
School ; and Carrie Roxana Frink, born 
April 16, 1876. 



GARFIELDE, SELUCIUS, was born in 
Shoreham, Dec. 8, 1822; removed to Ken- 
tucky in early life ; finished his collegiate 
course at Augusta College ; read law and was 
admitted to the bar in 1849 ; was elected a 
member of the convention to revise the 
state constitution ; spent the following year 
in South American travel ; emigrated to 
California in 1851; was elected a member 
of the Legislature of that state in 1852 and 
in 1853, was selected by that body to codify 
the laws of the state ; returned to I-ventucky 
in 1854, was a member of the Cincinnati 
national convention in 1856 and an elector 
during that canvass ; removed to Washington 
Territory in 1857, where he filled the posi- 
tion of receiver of public moneys to i860; 
in 1 86 1 he was nominated for Congress, but 
was beaten by the secession wing of the 
Democratic party ; was surveyor general 
from 1866 to 1869, when he was elected a 
delegate from Washington Territory in the 
Forty-first Congress as a Republican ; was 
re-elected to the Forty-second Congress. 

GILFILLAN, JOHN B., of Minneapolis, 
Minn., was born at Barnet, Feb. 11, 1835, 
graduated at the Caledonia County Academy 
in 1855, then removed to Minneapolis, 
where he has since resided, studied law, was 
admitted to the bar in July, i860, and has 
practiced since ; was a member of the board 
of education, i86o-'68, was an alderman of 
the city of Minneapolis, i865-'69, was pros- 
ecuting attorney of Hennepin county, 1863- 
'67, and i869-'73 ; was city attorney, 1861- 
64, was a member of the state Senate of 
Minnesota, i875'-85, was regent of the State 
LTniversity of Minnesota in 1880, and still 
holds that office, and was elected to the 
Forty-ninth Congress as a Republican. 

GLAZIER, Nelson Newton, of Green- 
field, Mass., son of John Newton and Phebe 



Cass (Bourn) Glazier, was born Dec. 12, 
1838, at Stratton. 

His education was acquired in the com- 
mon schools, Leland Seminary, .Amherst Col- 
lege, i859-'6i, and at ISrown L^niversity, 
1864, where he graduated in 1866, receiving 
the degree of A. B., and from there in 1869 the 
degree of A. M. Also three years, i866-'69, 
were spent at the Newton Theological Insti- 
tution (Baptist). In 1865 while a senior at 
Brown L'niversity he was elected representa- 
tive from his native town, and served on the 
committee on education. This honor was 
again conferred on him in 1867 and he was 
made a member of the committee on elec- 
tions. 

Mr. Glazier, August 11, 1862, enlisted in 
Co. G, nth Regt., afterwards ist Vt. Heavy 
Artillery, and served as private, corporal, and 
for a time acting ordnance sergeant at Fort 
Slocum, and in recruiting ser\ice in Vermont. 
He was made 2d lieutenant of Co. A, Now 
2, 1863, and became ist lieutenant, Jan. 21, 
1864. He lost his left arm at Spottsylvania, 
May 18, 1864, and was honorably discharged 
Sept. 3, 1864, on account of wounds received 
in action. 

He is a member of Edwin E. Day Post, 
No. 174, G. A. R., of Greenfield, Mass. 

October 21, 1869, he was ordained to the 
work of the gospel ministry (Baptist). He 
was pastor at Central Falls, R. I., 1 869-' 70, 
Montpelier, iS72-'78,South Abington, Mass., 
i88o-'84, Westboro, Mass. (acting pastor), 
i884-'86, and in 1887 he became pastor of 
the First Baptist Church at Greenfield, Mass., 
which place he now occupies. 

From 1872 to 1875 he was superintendent 
of schools at Monti)elier. From 1872 to 
1878 he was for three consecutive terms 
chaplain of the \'ermont Senate. His in- 
terest in religious matters generally has 
always been great, and he is closely identi- 
fied with the reli£;ious and benevolent work 



68 



GOODNOUGH. 



of the Baptist denomination, especially in 
Massachusetts, and is deeply interested also 
in educational matters. 

GLEASON, James Mellen, of Boston, 
Mass., was born in ^^'ardsboro, Oct. 6, 1833. 
His parents were Josiah and Susan Read 
(Morse) Gleason, excellent representatives 
of the Green Mountain state — of a thrifty 
and hardy race of people. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
his native town and at Springfield Wesleyan 
Seminary ; for three years he was an effi- 
cient teacher in the public schools of his 
native state. 




The 1 6th of January, 1856, he went to 
Boston to complete his education, entering 
French's Commercial College from which he 
graduated in due course. After several 
years service as a book-keeper he became 
cashier of the John Hancock Mutual Life 
Insurance Co., March i, 1870. That he 
has carefully and conscientiously discharged, 
in an efficient manner, the duties of his re- 
sponsible position, no stronger testimony 
could be possible than twenty-three years of 
continuous service therein. 

The politics of Mr. ( Reason, like so many 
"Men of Vermont," has been a stalwart 
Republican. He has never sought official 
position, yet he has not escaped being 
sought after by the office, but has as often 
declined, having no desire or taste therefor. 
Masonrv has the allurements for Mr. Gleason 



that politics has for so many others. He was 
made a Master Mason in Joseph Warren 
Lodge of Boston, Feb. 25, 1868 : a Royal 
Arch Mason in St. .Andrews Chapter, Boston, 
Jan. 20, 1871 ; a Knight Templar in Bos- 
ton Commandery, Nov. 20, 1872. He has 
also received the degrees in the Ancient 
and Accepted Scottish Rite including the 
32d degree. In no way perhaps has Mr. 
Gleason become so well known to the Ma- 
sonic fraternity as in the capacity of Grand 
Lecturer, and never was the office more 
effectively filled than by him, in the years 
'82 to '87. Few men have more kindly en- 
deared themselves to their fellow-men than 
Mr. Gleason, and among none is he more 
highly esteemed than by his brethren of the 
craft. Masonry has given his life abundant 
social privileges, which his kindly and gen- 
ial manner has enabled him to improve. 
He is a member of the .'\ncient and Honor- 
able Artillery Co., of Boston, in reality, to- 
day, Boston's highest social organization, by 
no means a savage war-waging bodv of men. 

Mr. Gleason is intensely patriotic ; he re- 
lates as one of the most pleasing experiences 
of his life "that he attended the dedication 
of the Bennington monument with the Ver- 
mont Veteran Association, of Boston, and 
upon their return they elected him an honor- 
ary member." 

Such is a brief sketch of a son of Vermont 
who in a quiet modest way has done credit 
to his native state. 

GOODNOUGH, ALGERNON MOR- 
DANT, of Redding, Cal., was born in Des 
Plaines, Ills., on the i6th of March, 1838. 
His parents were both from Vermont, and 
his mother dying soon after his birth the 
discouraged father returned to his old Green 
Mountain haunts, where the subject of our 
sketch was reared and educated in a state 
he has ever been proud to call his home and 
native land. He was the son of Daniel 
Goodnough, a hard working-farmer of Eng- 
lish descent, and Harriet M. Conant, a 
woman of rare intelligence and gentle Chris- 
tian spirit, whose family were direct des- 
cendants of the world famous Huguenots; 
they and their ancestors through successive 
generations gave evidence of the source 
from vifhich they sprung, not only in their 
marked intelligence and enterprise, but in 
the fact that they were men, 

■• Who wore the while lily of a blameless life." 

Mr. Goodnough graduated at Middlebury 
College in the class of '61, and the following 
year was married to Lucy H., daughter of 
Myron Langworthy of Middlebury, who up 
to the time of her death in 1890, proved a 
true helpmeet and affectionate wife. For 
manv vears an invalid with rheumatism, her 



Goi)DNiiri;H. 

patient, uncomplaining, Christian spirit won 
all hearts. Always devoted to her husband's 
welfare it is not strange he speaks of her as 
" the noblest woman he ever knew, and the 
truest friend he ever had." 

Shortly after marriage Mr. Goodnough en- 
gaged in teaching, his last school being in 
Barnstable, Mass., after which he pursued a 
course of studies in Yale Theological Semi- 
nary, and subseqently was installed pastor of 
the Congregational church in Mystic Bridge, 
Conn. Failing health induced him to 
resign his charge in 1867, when he went 
to the Pacific coast with his wife, across the 
isthmus, under the auspices of the American 
Home Missionary Society, and was for sev- 
eral years settled in San Mateo, Cal., where 
a commodious church was built during his 
pastorate : after which he moved to Vallejo, 
Cal., and after some years of ministerial 




labor there, his iienltii being still delicate, he 
engaged in merchandising, building up a 
large trade, by strict attention to business 
and honorable dealing with all, in musical 
instruments. In the character of a music 
dealer he is now well and favorably known 
on the Pacific coast. As a singer of home 
songs he is known to multitudes in Califor- 
nia, and wherever known is always welcome. 
He sings over four hundred songs from 
memory, without the sight of words or music, 
and there is, perhaps, not another man in 
America who can sing as many from recol- 
lection only. 

For many years he has been an occasional 
contributor to various magazines and news- 



coss. 69 

])apers, both secular and religious, and his 
articles whether in ]irose or verse, have 
always been recognized as possessing a high 
order of literary merit. Among the most 
notable and widely circulated of his writings 
we may mention a religious tract entiried 
"My Dead Mother," published several years 
ago under the auspices of the M. E. Tract 
.Society, by Nelson & Phillips ; speaking of 
this tract Bishop J. R. Vincent said : "It 
will live a thousand years"— a high compli- 
ment indeed, coming from such a source. 
In 1872 he came East on a lecturing tour, 
delivering in Representatives Hall in Mont- 
pelier, and in many other important towns, a 
lecture entided : "Five Years in the Sunset 
Land." This lecture was spoken of bv the 
press in most flattering terms, and received 
by large audiences with marked interest and 
pleasure, winning for the lecturer an envi- 
able reputation as a platform orator of un- 
usual ability, as well as an enthusiastic Cali- 
fornian. 

In addition to his music trade Mr. Good- 
nough has quite large real estate interests, 
consisting of improved and unimproved 
properties in the cities of Redding and 
Vallejo, Cal., and a large acreage property 
in Shasta county, Cal., where he now re- 
sides. 

( )f unusually, and we might say unreason- 
ably, retiring disposition, the subject of our 
sketch, desiring no preferment political or 
social, has steadfastly refused to accept any 
of the offices which have frequently been 
offered him in the various political, fra- 
ternal, social and religious bodies to which 
he has belonged, being deeply impressed 
with the emptiness of all earthly fame, since 
"The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

In 1 89 1, a year subsequent to the death of 
his former beloved wife, he married Miss Ida 
May Bloyd, a native of California, an amiable 
young lady, with a large circle of friends, 
and who had been for many years an inti- 
mate friend of the family. This union has 
been blessed with one infant daughter': Elsie 
Alzette, born August 21, 1893. 

As the position in life, financial and social, 
which Mr. Goodnough has acquired is due 
solely to his unswer\ing integrity and unaided 
efforts, he may justly take pride in the result 
of his labors while looking cheerfully toward 
the sunset of life, as well expressed in an 
original stanza from his pen with which we 
close : 



trust when this Tast fleeting life ri 
And o'er past are its labors, its t 
'ond the dark night I shall gree 
^ iding day on the hcav< 



„e^o 



aubles anil 
the bright 
ily hills. 



GOSS, Ezra C, was born in ^^"indsor 
county, graduated at the University of Ver- 
mont in 1806 ; was a representati\e in Con- 
gress from New York, from 1819 to 1821; 



and was elected to the Assembly of that 
state in 1828 and '29, but died before the 
close of his second term. 

GOULD, Charles Gilbert, of Wash- 
ington, D. C, son of James and Judith 
\\'hite (Tenney) Gould, was born in Wind- 
ham, May 5, 1S44. 

He attended the common schools in his 
nati\e town until eighteen years of age, 
when he entered the volunteer army of the 
United States in the war for the suppression 
of the rebellion, his subsequent education 
having been received from private tutors 
and in the Columbian University at Wash- 
ington, I). C. 



f 



'J^ *'H 




CHARLES GILBERT GOU 



He enlisted as a private in Company G, 
nth Vt. Vols., August 13, 1862, was pro- 
moted corporal Dec. 27, 1863, sergeant- 
major Feb. 12, 1864, second lieutenant Co. 
E, nth Vt. Vols. June 30, 1864, captain Co. 
H, 5th Vet. Vols. Nov. 10, 1864, and major 
by brevet April 2, 1865. ^Vas honorably 
discharged June ig, 1865. During his mil- 
itary service he participated in the battles of 
Spottsyhania, Va., May 15 to 18, 1864; 
Cold Harbor, June i to 12, 1864; Peters- 
burg (four), June 18, 1864; Weldon Rail- 
road, June 23, 1864 ; Fort Stevens, D. C, 
July 12, 1864; Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 
1864 ; Fisher's Hill, Sept. 21, and 22, 1864; 
Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864. He was 
severely wounded in the battle of Peters- 
burg, Va., .\pril 2, 1865, receiving, after en- 
tering the enemy's works, a dangerous saber 



cut in the head, a bayonet wound in the face 
and a second bayonet wound in the back, 
besides being severely beaten with clubbed 
muskets. \\'as ofificiaily reported as the first 
one in the assaulting column to enter the 
enemy's works, and for distinguished gal- 
lantry in this battle was breveted major 
and also received a medal of honor from 
Congress. 

Being disabled from pursuing the more 
active avocations of life when discharged 
from the army, he accepted a clerkship in 
the United States Pension Office at Washing- 
ton, D. C, in January, 1866, and after serv- 
ing in various grades and capacities in that 
office until October, 1871, he resigned there- 
from to accept the position of chief clerk in 
the office of the \\'ater Registrar for the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, from which he resigned 
on account of ill-health in 1874. 

In 1S75 he was offered, but declined, the 
appointment as U. S. Consul at Odessa, 
Russia. In 1876 he accepted an appoint- 
ment in the office of the Secretary of the 
Navy, which he resigned during the same 
year to accept an appointment in the office 
of the Secretary of War. This appointment 
he resigned in February, 1877, to accept an 
appointment in the Ufiited States Patent 
Office, in which, after promotion through the 
\'arious intermediate grades, he was ap- 
pointed a principal examiner July i, 1SS4, 
which position he now occupies. 

In politics he has always been a Republi- 
can, but has never been a candidate for any 
political office. 

He is a member of West River Lodge, 
No. 57, F. & A. M., of Londonderry, and 
of Columbia R. .A. Chapter, No. 3, and 
Washington Commandery, No. i , K. T., of 
Washington, 1 ). C, and of the Commandery 
of the District of Columbia, in the Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion of the LInited 
States, but has always declined office in any 
of these organizations. He was a member 
of the G. .\. R. from October, 1866, until 
1872, in which organization he held the 
offices of post adjutant, assistant adjutant 
general of the Department of the Potomac 
and aid-de-camp on the staff of the com- 
mander-in-chief. 

He was married Oct. i, 1871, to Ella 
Cobb, daughter of Hon. William and Mary 
D. (Cobb) Harris, of Windham. Two 
daughters, Myra Harris, and Ella, were born 
of this union, but neither wife nor daughters 
survive. He was again united in marriage 
Sept. 12, 1893, to Frances Lucy, daughter 
of Gen. George F. and kda. R. (Cobb) 
Davis, of Cavendish. 

GOULD, Will D., of Los Angeles, 
Cal., son of Daniel and Betsa (Smith) 
Gould, was born Sept. 17, 1845, at Cabot. 



Mr. (iould was educated at high schools 
and academies at St. Johnsbury and Barre, 
and the University of Michigan, where he 
graduated in 1871, and was principal of the 
graded schools at Passumpsic Village, Marsh- 
field, and Plainfield. At the March meeting 
next, after becoming of age, he was chosen 
superintendent of schools of his native town. 
He studied law in the office of Hon. Charles 
H. Heath, and was admitted to the bar at 
Montpelier. Removing to his present home 
in 1S72, he has been actively engaged in a 
large practice, having the oldest lawofifice in 
the county. He is a close student, proud of 





WILL D. GOU 



his profession and scrupulously faithful in the 
discharge of duty. Having been born and 
raised on a farm, agricultural and horticul 
tural pursuits have always attracted his at- 
tention, and his thousand-acre farm in the 
valley and foot-hills of La Canada and Pasa- 
dena bears witness of his foresight and 
energy. 

" In public affairs, local, state, and national, 
he has taken an active interest. He is a 
Prohibitionist, and has been the party's can- 
didate for superior judge, attorney general, 
and member of Congress. 

He is a member of several social, frater- 
nal, and commercial organizations, including 
temperance and Masonic, and Chamber of 
Commerce. 

Mr. Gould was married at Los Angeles, 
June 26, 1875, to Mary L., daughter of Dan- 
iel and Harriet T. Hait of Katonah, N. V. 



GRAY. 71 

GRAY, ANDREW Jackson, of Hamp- 
ton, Iowa, son of Dr. Henry and Margaret 
(Carpenter) Gray, was born in Weston, 
Feb. 23, 1820. Descended from the Scotch 
on the paternal, and English on the mater- 
nal side, young (Iray was well-equipped 
from his birth to cope with the world. 

He was educated at the district schools 
and at Bennington and Chester academies, 
and settled on a farm in Weston at the age 
of twenty-one, where he followed the life of 
a farmer for twenty years, removing to 
Manchester in i860, in order to better edu- 
cate his three sons. He was chosen a di- 
rector of the Battenkill Bank, of Manchester, 
in 1 86 1, and elected vice-president in 1870, 
and president in 1880, and continued in 
this position until the close of the institu- 
tion in 1885, when he was appointed agent 
to close its affairs, which he successfully 
accomplished and paid one hundred and 



,^'':' 



. ^ 





ANDREW JACKSON GRAY, 

fifty cents on the dollar to the stockholders. 
Mr. Gray removed to Hampton, Iowa, in 
1885, where he has since resided and carries 
on a successful real estate and loan business, 
besides being interested in many other 
enterprises. 

Mr. Gray was united in marriage Nov. 
25, 1845, to Mary, daughter of .'\aron and 
Susan Burton of Chester. Their children 
are : L. B., L B.> and Henry. 

When Mr. CIray was twenty-one years of 
age he was called to Woodstock to act as a 
juror in a land case. On repairing to the 



jury room he found that the eleven other 
jurors had opinions adverse to his, and after 
a thorough canvass of the case in his own 
mind to find wherein he was wrong, he was 
unable to change his opinion, and after 
being out twenty-tour hours the jury return- 
ed a verdict in accordance with his opinion. 

Always a Democrat, Mr. Oray has been 
the recipient of many public positions. He 
was a grand juror, assessor and justice of the 
peace in Weston : and a grand juror, assessor 
and justice of the peace in Manchester. 

He has been prominent in Masonic cir- 
cles, and has been treasurer of Adoniram 
Lodge, No. 42. 

.A man of sterling integrity, he has always 
had the love and respect of all whose good 
fortune it was to be numbered among his 
circle of friends. 

GRAY, EDGAR H., of Oakland, Cal., 
was born in Bridport, November, 18 13. Of 
Scotch-Irish parentage on the paternal side, 
his father being Daniel Gray, a graduate of 
Middlebury College in 1805, and his mother 
being Amy Bosworth. 



«i>>< 
r^- 




While quite young he learned the printer's 
trade, and thereafter fitted for college, partly 
at select schools in Bridport, and partly in 
Brandon, and graduated from Waterville 
College (Maine) in 1838; studied for the 
ministry and was for a few years pastor of 
a Baptist church in Freeport, Me., having 
previously married Mary J. Rice of said 
state. Sometime between 1845 and 1850, 



he was settled in Shelburne Falls, Mass., 
and labored there till i860, when he became 
pastor of the E Street Baptist Church, Wash- 
ington, D. C. His pastorate at Shelburne 
Falls was a very successful one, and he was 
much loved and popular among his people. 
In 1852 he was called to the leading Baptist 
church in St. Louis, Mo., but his people so 
strongly opposed his leaving that he de- 
clined the call. In i860, however, he ac- 
cepted a call to Washington, where he 
officiated till about 1878. He was chosen 
chaplain of the V. S. Senate, and held that 
position at the death of President Lincoln, 
and officiated at his funeral. 

He had two sons and three daughters by 
his first wife, who died during his residence 
in Washington, and he subsequently married 
a Mrs. Carter, who had interests in Califor- 
nia, and he removed to San Francisco, and 
became first pastor of a Baptist church in 
that city ; afterwards he was employed to 
look after and superintend the Baptist 
churches in that state. He officiated also 
as pastor of a church in Oakland, where he 
now resides, and is acting as dean of a the- 
ological seminary in that city. In 1889 was 
the anniversary of his fifty years in the min- 
istry, and his church in Oakland celebrated 
the event as a jubilee occasion, in which 
other denominations joined. Many expres- 
sions from persons present and absent in 
commendation of his long, faithful, and use- 
ful services were presented. These services 
and labors had secured for him a large circle 
of admiring and affectionate friends. He 
had been honored with the degree of 1). D., 
and' was well equipped for the training of 
young men for the ministry, in which work 
(1893) he is now engaged at nearly eighty 
years of age. 

Few men have had the good fortune to 
work in the Lord's vineyard as long and 
continuously as he, and yet his eye is not dim 
nor is his natural force abated. 

GRAY, MELVIN L., of St. Louis, was 
born in Bridport, July, 1815, the son of 
Daniel Gray, of Scotch-Irish descent, and 
Amy Bosworth. 

He was reared on a farm in his native 
town, and in the family of the Re\-. Increase 
Graves, the first settled minister (Congrega- 
tional) of said town. He attended district 
and select schools in the winters and labored 
on the farm during the summers, and in that 
way fitted for college and mastered the 
studies of the freshman year at home, with- 
out a teacher, in the winter preceding his 
entry of the sophomore class in August, 
1836, of Middlebury College, from which his 
father had graduated in 1805. He defrayed 
the expenses of his college course by teach- 
ing winters and graduated in August, 1839, 



73 



in a class of thirty-eight, among whom were 
John G. Saxe, the poet, and the Hon. Will- 
iam A. Howard, at one time member of Con- 
gress from Michigan, and afterwards ( 'ro\er- 
nor of Washington Territory. 

He taught in .Autauga county, .Ma., two 
years and in Montgomery county of said 
state six months, and then located in St. 
Louis in September, 1842, and was admitted 
to the bar in that city in May, 1S43, after a 
study of law for only se\en months, supjile- 
menting that short course by continued 
study, after admission. In February, 1844, 





he formed a partnership with Charles B. 
Lawrence, a native of Vermont, afterwards 
for many years on the Supreme Bench of 
the state of Illinois. .As business came 
slowly, Mr. Lawrence removed to Illinois, 
and in 1848 Mr. Gray formed a partnership 
with Franklin Fisher, a native of Massa- 
chusetts, who came to St. Louis from .Ala- 
bama where he had been in practice, and 
■on his death, in 1849, ^^^- tlray ever after 
practiced his profession alone. 

He married in 185 i Miss Rith C. Bacon, 
■of Warren, Mass., daughter of Rufus F. and 
Emeline (Cutler) Bacon, but no children 
were born to them, and his wife departed 
this life in July, 1893. 

For several years prior to 1854 Mr. Gray 
had a large practice in steamboat cases, 
under the Missouri statute regulating steam- 
boats, but in that year Judge Robert \\'. 
Wells of the United States District Court for 



Missouri decided that the L'nited States 
courts had exclusive jurisdiction of ad- 
miralty causes, as well on the navigable 
rivers as on the sea, and, the United States 
Supreme Court sustaining this view, the 
state statute became inoperative. The 
practice of the subject of this sketch was 
wholly in civil cases, and embraced the 
whole range of legal and equitable causes. It 
is beliexed that the first trade mark suits 
brought and tried in the state, were brought 
by him in the United States Circuit Court for 
the Eastern district of Missouri and of which 
cases he had a large number, one of which, 
McLean vs. Fleming, 96 United States 
Supreme Court rejjorts, is a leading case in 
that branch of the law. He has also acted as 
executor, administrator and curator of num- 
erous estates, many of them quite large, and 
having labored over fifty years in the con- 
tinuous work of his profession, he has now 
withdrawn from the same, though yet vigor- 
ous, and devotes his time to his personal 
affairs and various financial enterprises. 

He has never sought or held ofifice, unless 
acting as trustee of Drury College of Spring- 
field, Mo., and other educational institutions 
may be considered such. He was originally 
a Whig, then a Re])ublican, and during the 
civil war, was for the Union and his country, 
and was a member of the Home Guards, an 
organization of the elder citizens of St. 
Louis for its protection and defense. 

GRAY, Henry William, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of Benjamin and Nancy Jane 
(Vance) Grav, was born in Hardwick, fan. 
18, 1837. 

He received his education in the public 
schools of his nati\e town, and the academy 
at Glover. When not attending school he 
worked on his father's farm imtil he had 
passed the years of his minority. 

In t86o he went to California, and soon 
after his arrival in San Francisco he pro- 
ceeded to the mines, where he was engaged 
in mining and milling until 1876, when he 
located at San Francisco, and engaged in 
the livery and boarding stable business, 
which he has followed ever since, being at 
present proprietor of the Santa Clara Stables. 
Mr. Gray was always \ery fond of horses, and 
on pleasant afternoons is freqiiently seen driv- 
ing a handsome team through (lolden Gate 
Park. 

He is president of the Gray F^agle Gravel 
Gold Mining Co., located at Forest Hill, 
Cal., and one of the proprietors of a large 
timber tract in Mendocino county ; also a 
large shareholder in two irrigation com- 
panies in San Joaquin county. 

He is a Republican : a member of the 
Red Men ; A. ( ). V. W. and the Pacific 
C'oast .■\ssociation Native Sons of \"ermont. 



-Mr. dray was married in San Francisco 
thirty years ago to Miss Catherine Sophia 
Gerry. Of this union is one son : Frank 
John (Iray, aged twenty-nine, who is justice 
of the peace in San Francisco, having been 
elected for the second term. Mrs. H. W". 
Ciray died in February, 1892. 

GREENE, ROGER S., of Seattle, Wash., 
son of David and Mary Evarts Greene, was 
born at Ro.xbury, Mass., Dec. 14, 1840. He 
is a descendant of many of the distinguished 
families of the Atlantic states, and in his 
character can be detected some of the 
strongest virtues of his ancestry. On the 
maternal side he is the great-grandson of 
Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, the Articles of 
Confederation, and the United States Con- 
stitution. His mother, Mary Evarts, was a 
daughter of Jeremiah Evarts, and a sister of 




HOGER S. GREENE. 



^\'illiam M. Evarts, recently United States 
Senator from New York. His father, David 
Greene, was for twenty years corresponding 
secretary of the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions. In his 
eighth year the family removed to ^^'estbor- 
ough, Mass., and two vears later to Windsor, 
Vt. 

He received a most careful education, and 
after completing an academic course entered 
Dartmouth College, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1859. During his college life, 
being largely dependent upon his own exer- 
tions for supjiort, he taught school in \aca- 



tions at Windsor in the winter of iS57-'58,. 
and at Falmouth, Mass., in the winter of 
i858-'59. Soon after his graduation he be- 
gan the study of law in the office of F^arts, 
Southmayd &: Choate, in New York City, a 
firm composed of as brilliant men as e\er 
adorned the bar of the metropolis of .America, 
each of w^hom had at that time gained national 
renown. In this office as student, and after- 
ward as managing clerk, he had an excellent 
opportunity of gaining a valuable preliminary 
legal training. In May, 1S62, in New York 
City, he was admitted to practice, but his 
loyalty to his country induced him to aban- 
don his professional career and to enter the 
Union army. 

InSeptember,i862, he enlisted under com- 
mission as 2d Lieut, of Co. I, 3d Missouri 
Inft. : in March following he was promoted 
to I St Lieut, of the same company, and still 
later, in 1863, was made captain of Co. C, 
51st U. S. Colored Inft., serving as such 
until honorably discharged by acceptance of 
his resignation in November, 1865. He 
also served during this period as judge advo- 
cate of the District of Vicksburg at the close 
of 1864 and beginning of 1865, and judge 
advocate of the Western Division of Louis- 
iana from June, 1865, until retirement from 
service. He receixed a gun-shot wound 
through the right arm in the general assault 
on Mcksburg while in command of his com- 
pany. May 22, 1863. Just before his mili- 
tary service. Judge Greene was offered the 
position of Assistant I'nited States District 
.\ttorney for the southern district of New 
\'ork, but declined the otfice. 

In January, 1866, he began the practice of 
his profession in Chicago, occupying the 
same otfice with Perkin Bass, then United 
States attorney, with whom he was associated 
in practice. 

He remained in Chicago until his appoint- 
ment by President Grant, in July, 1870, as 
associate justice of the Supreme Court of 
Washington Territory, when he settled at 
< )lympia. He was twice re-appointed, hold- 
ing the office until January, iSyg, when he 
was commissioned chief justice, at which 
time he removed to Seattle, where he has 
since continued to reside. In 1883 he was 
re-appointed chief justice and served until 
the close of his term in March, 1887. Since 
that time he has been for the most part en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession. In 
NIarch, 1887, he formed a professional co- 
partnership with Hon. Cornelius H. Hanford, 
now United States District Judge of the 
District of \Vashington, and Hon. John H. 
McGraw, now Governor of the state of Wash- 
ington, under the firm name of Greene, 
Hanford & McGraw ; afterward, in .\ugust, 
the firm was enlarged by the addition of 
another member, Joseph F. McNaught, Esq., 



GREKNLEAF. 



CRKKNI.KAK. 



75 



under the firm name of (Ireene, McNaught, 
Hanford & McGraw. In July, i888, the 
partnership was dissolved by mutual con- 
sent, all the partners retiring from jiractice, 
the senior partner on account of temporary 
ill-health, Messrs. McNaught and McGraw 
to enter other pursuits and Judge Hanford 
to become chief justice of the Su])reme 
Court of Washington Territory. In i88g 
judge Greene resumed the practice of law, 
and in 1890 formed a partnership with I.. 
Theodore Turner of Seattle, with whom, un- 
der the firm name of Greene & Turner, he 
has been in full practice ever since, hand- 
ling in course of his practice many of the 
most important interests in the state. In 
i88g he was trustee and secretary of the 
Seattle Investment Co. From 1890 to the 
present time, he has been trustee and secre- 
tary of the Seattle Trust Co., $500,000 capi- 
tal. From 1S90 to 1893 he was trustee and 
vice-president of the Rainier Power and 
Railway Co., capital $500,000. He has 
been successful in business. 

Judge Greene is a member of the Seattle 
Stevens Post G. A. R., and has repeatedly 
been the selection of the Posts of Seattle to 
address them on Memorial Day. 

Politically, he has always been identified 
with the Republican party until the year 
1 888, when he joined the Prohibition move- 
ment, to which he has ever since adhered. 
He was, in 1888, the candidate of the Pro- 
hibition party for delegate to Congress from 
U'ashington, and in 1892 was the Prohibi- 
tion candidate for Governor of the state. 

Religiously, his parents being Congrega- 
tionalists, his first church connection was 
with the church of that denomination in 
Windsor, where his membership remained 
until after the war. Then he united with 
the New England Congregational Church of 
Chicago. Afterward he was a constituent 
and prominent member of the Lincoln Park 
Church. On removal to Olympia he joined 
the Baptist church, with which denomina- 
tion he has ever since been conspicuously 
and influentially identified. 

Judge Greene was married August 17, 
1 866, at Whitewater, Wis., to Grace, daughter 
of Jesse and Rhoda (Pirockett) \\'ooster of 
Naugatuck, Conn. They ha\e four children ; 
.•\gnes Margaret, born Oct. 18, 1868: Roger 
Sherman, born Sept. 29, 1870 : Grace 
Evarts, born Jan. 15, 1875, and Mary 
Rhoda, l)orn July 27, 1876. 

GREENLEAF, Halbert Stevens, of 

Rochester, was born in Guilford, April 12, 
1827. The descent of the Greenleaf family 
of New England is "undoubtedly to be 
traced," says the compiler of the Greenleaf 
genealogy, "from the Huguenots, who, when 
persecuted for their religion, fled from 



France about the midtile of the sixteenth 
century." The name was originally Fuille- 
vert, anglicized Greenleaf, in which form it 
occurs in England toward the close of the 
sixteenth century. 'I'he common ancestor 
of the Greenleaf family of America was Ed- 
ward Greenleaf, a silk dyer by trade, who 
was born in the parish of P.rixham, in the 
county of Devonshire, England, about the 
year 1600. He married Sarah Dole, by 
whom he had several children in England, 
and with his wife and family came to this 
country, settling first in Newbury and after- 
ward in Boston, Mass., where he died in 
167 I. A number of the family ha\e distin- 
g\ushed themselves in New England by their 
intellectual attainments, which have been of 




HALBERT STEVENS GREENLEAF. 

a high order. One of these, Jeremiah Green- 
leaf, the father of the subject of this sketch, 
was the author of what was known as Green- 
leaf's Grammar, and devoted a large part of 
his life to study, authorship, and instruction 
in this special branch of education. He was 
also the author of Greenleaf's Gazeteer, and 
Greenleaf's Atlas, both excellent works of 
their kind, and highly esteemed at the time 
they appeared. True to his instincts and 
patriotism as a "Green Mountain Boy," 
Jeremiah Greenleaf took an active part in 
the war of 1812, enlisting as a private and 
winning his commission as an officer. He 
married Miss Elvira E. Stevens, the daugh- 
ter of Simon Stevens, M. D., of Guilford, "a 
true and noble woman, of no small degree of 
culture." 



76 



GRKENLEAF. 



Thus the subject of this sketch combines 
in his nature, as in his name, the elements of 
two characteristic New England families of 
the old school. His career has been in 
many respects a most varied and remarkable 
one. The son of educated parents, it was 
quite natural that he should receive a good 
education, which was received in part, of 
course, at home, and in part at the common 
schools and academy of his native New 
England. His boyhood and youth were spent 
in farm life, but, from his nineteenth to his 
twenty-third year, he taught district and gram- 
mar schools in the winter months, and during 
one season — so as to add as much as possible 
to his funds, worked in a brickyard. At the 
age of twenty-three he made a six month's 
sea-voyage in the whaling vessel, Lewis Bruce, 
serving before the mast as a common sailor. 

(Jn the 24th of June, 1852, shortly after his 
return from sea, he married Miss Jeannie F. 
Brooks, the youngest daughter of John 
Brooks, M. D., of Bernardston, Mass., and, 
in the month of September following, removed 
to Shelburne Falls, Mass., where he obtained 
employment as a day laborer at the bench, in 
a large cutlery establishment. .\ few months 
later he found a position in the office of a 
neighboring manufactory, and in a short time 
became a member of the firm of Miller & 
Greenleaf. On the nth of March, 1856, he 
was commissioned by the Governor of Massa- 
chusetts a justice of the peace. In 1857, a 
military company having been formed in 
Shelburne Falls, the young men composing 
it selected Mr. Greenleaf as their captain, 
and he continued in command from the 29th 
of August in that year, until the 3d of March, 
1859, when he resigned his captain's com- 
mission. The same year he became a mem- 
ber of the firm of Linus Yale, Jr., & Co., in 
Philadelphia, and went to that city to live, 
remaining in business thereuntil 1861, when 
he returned to Shelburne Falls, and organized 
the Yale & (ireenleaf Lock Co., of which he 
became business manager. 

Making the best disposition he could of 
his business, he enlisted as a private soldier 
in the Union army in August, 1862, enter- 
ing the fifty-second Massachusetts regiment, 
to the organizing and recruiting of which he 
devoted both his money and energy. He 
was commissioned captain of Company E, 
Sept. 12, 1S62, and on the 13th of October 
was unanimously elected colonel of the reg- 
iment, which was soon afterwards ordered 
into service under General Banks in the de- 
partment of the Crulf. During Banks' first 
Red River expedition Colonel Greenleaf was 
commandant of the post at Barre's Landing, 
Louisiana, and for a brief period in com- 
mand of the second brigade of Grover's 
division. At the head of his regiment he 
participated in the battles of Indian Ridge, 



and performed gallant service at Jackson 
Cross Roads, and in the grand assault on 
Port Hudson, June 14, 1863, and in the 
subsequent siege operations resulting in the 
surrender of that important confederate 
stronghold, he bore a conspicuous part and 
distinguished himself by his coolness, judg- 
ment and bravery. At the expiration of his 
term of military service, Colonel Greenleaf 
was offered and accepted the command of 
the government steamer. Colonel Benedict, 
on the lower Mississippi. 

Soon after the close of the war he took 
charge of the extensive salt works of Petite 
.\nse Island, St. Mary's Parish, Louisiana. 
In June, 1867, he removed to Rochester, 
N. v., and on the ist of July following, the 
firm of Sargent & Greenleaf, of which he is 
the junior member, was organized. The 
firm of Sargent & Greenleaf manufacture, 
under patents held by them, magnetic, auto- 
matic, chronometer and other burglar locks ; 
combination safe locks, padlocks, drawer, 
trunk, house, chest, store, door and other 
locks, night latches, etc., and so successful 
has the firm been, that to-day their locks of 
every description have made their way to 
every part of the civilized world. 

In the presidential campaign of 1880 
Colonel Greenleaf devoted himself with 
energy to the support of General Hancock, 
the Democratic candidate, and organized 
and commanded the "Hancock brigade" 
a political-military organization opposed to 
the Republican organization of similar char- 
acter, known as the " Boys in Blue." In 
the early part of February, 1882, he was 
elected commander of the First New York 
veteran brigade, with the rank of brigadier- 
general, and unanimously re-elected to that 
position in January, 1883. Although he did 
not seek the honor, in the fall of 18S2 the 
Democratic congressional convention, for 
the Thirtieth District, at Rochester, nomi- 
nated General Greenleaf for Congress as a 
Democrat, and he was elected, receiving 
18,042 votes, against 12,038 for John ^'an 
Voorhis, Republican, and 1,419 for (Gordon, 
Prohibitionist. He was also elected to the 
Fifty-second Congress from the same Repub- 
lican district, and is at present a member of 
the board of trustees of the Rochester Sav- 
ings Bank ; of the Rochester park commis- 
sion ; of the St. Lawrence L^niversity at Can- 
ton, N. Y., and of the Soldiers' and Sailors' 
Home at Bath, N. Y. 

GRINNELL, JOSIAH B., was born in 
New Haven, Dec. 22, 1821 ; received a col- 
legiate and theological education ; went to 
Iowa in 1855, and turned his attention to 
farming ; was a member of the state Senate 
for four years ; a special agent for the gen- 
eral post office for two years, and was elected 



GRISWOLD. 



77 



a representative from Iowa to tlie Thirty- 
eighth Congress. 

GRISWOLD, William D., of st. l.ouis, 

was born Nov. 6, 1815, in Benson. His 
father and mother were Isaac and Huldah 
(iriswold. 

'I'he son William received his early educa- 
tion in the common schools and afterwards 
took a course in Middlebury College. In his 
preparatory studies he was tutored by the 
late Rev. Dr. Post, of St. Louis. Soon after 
leaving college, at the age of twenty years, 
Mr. Griswokl went to the \Vest and began 
the study of law at Indianapolis. After his 
admission to the bar he located in the town 
of Terre Haute and began the practice of law 
in partnership with John P. Usher, who in 
after years was made Secretary of the Inte- 
rior in President Lincoln's cabinet. The 
law firm of Griswold & L'sher became well 



.t^ nf!%5!*.'- 





WILLIAM D. GRISWOLD. 



and widely known in the states of Indiana 
and Illinois, and many important cases were 
committed to its charge. In the practice in 
Illinois Mr. (Iriswold became intimate with 
Abraham Lincoln and Judge David Davis, 
and a very sincere regard marked the friend- 
ship as long as their lives lasted. Having 
located at Terre Haute in 1838 Mr. Cris- 
wold continued his residence there for thirty- 
five years. 

In the year 1842 he married Miss Maria 
Lancaster, of Kentucky, who is still living. 
They had two children : A son, who is the 



well known hotel man, owner and proprietor 
of the Laclede, of St. Louis ; and a daughter, 
wife of Mr. Huntington Smith of St. l.ouis. 

After the expiration of the partnership 
with Mr. L'sher, Mr. Griswold gradually re- 
tired from the practice of law. In 1858 he 
was placed by a state convention on the 
Republican ticket with three others, consti- 
tuting the bench, for judge of the Supreme 
Court. The ticket was defeated at the polls, 
whereupon Mr. Griswold took a great inter- 
est in the railroad development of his section 
of the country. He built the original Evans- 
\ille & Crawfordsville R. R., and operated it 
for a period of three years, and was then 
called to take charge of the Terre Haute, 
Alton & St. Louis line, which at that time 
was much involved, badly managed, and fast 
approaching a state of total wreck. .\s pres- 
ident and manager of this road he demon- 
strated his superior organizing and adminis- 
trative ability. Later, in the year 1S64, Mr. 
( Iriswold took hold of the Ohio (It Mississippi 
R. R., and as president and manager brought 
order out of chaos, and put that important 
line into the prominent place which it has 
ever since occupied. It was during Mr. 
Griswold's administration of seven years 
that the change of the gauge of the road was 
reduced from the six foot to the standard 
width. The work was all accomplished in 
one day, and without any injury to the trans- 
l)ortation of the line, and at that date was 
considered one of the marvels of railroad 
building. 

Mr. Griswold removed to St. Louis in the 
year 1872, and has proceeded to invest 
within it and near the borders. He was an 
excellent judge of real estate values, and has 
unbounded confidence in the growth and 
extension of the city. It was this good 
judgment which directed him to the pur- 
chase of a large body of land lying on the 
north side of Forest Park between Kings 
Highway and L^nion avenue. The tract was 
purchased at the price of S 1,000 per acre, 
and lay for years idle, and in the judgment 
of many business men, a dead piece of prop- 
erty. Time worked wonders with it, how- 
ever, and justified all of Mr. Griswold's most 
sanguine expectations. Three years ago it 
was purchased by a syndicate of well-known 
citizens at the handsome figure of i>5,ooo per 
acre. It is to-day one of the most attractive 
residence portions of the city, where all the 
improvements are made upon a scale of 
costly elegance. .\ home in Westmoreland 
Place or Portland Place implies wealth and 
taste, fulfilling Mr. Griswold's early conceiJ- 
tion of the ultimate value of that ])ortion of 
the city. Mr. Griswold is at present con- 
siderably interested in property across the 
river in East St. Louis. He is owner of the 
eras works of that citv. (}uite recentlv he 



78 



bought a thousand-acre tract of land in the 
American Bottom, lying on both sides of the 
Vandalia Railroad, about six miles east of 
East St. Louis. He has divided this body 
of rich arable land into four farms of 250 
acres each, upon which he has put many im- 
portant improvements. In this particular 
enterprise he has indulged the desire of his 
heart to provide for each one of his voung 
grandchildren a comfortable and complete 
farm home, which is to pass absolutely to 
each one when the youngest reaches his ma- 
jority. The deed of trust conveying these 
lands is to their father, Mr. Huntington 
Smith, who at present manages the property. 



Mr. Griswold passes his winters and the 
cool seasons in St. Louis. In the summer 
time he takes his family and repairs to his 
native state, Vermont, where at the hand- 
some town of Castleton he has provided 
another home, which lies one and one-half 
hours railroad distance north and east of 
Saratoga, near Lake Champlain, where the 
winds are cool and refreshing under the 
morning shadows of the beautiful Green 
Mountains. Here he finds recreation and 
pleasure aniong family and friends and in 
the atmosphere of a life nearly sjient. 



HALL, ALFRED Stevens, of Boston, 
Mass., son of Edward and Frances A. (Tut- 
tle) Hall, was born in West A\'estminster, 
April 14, iS^o. 




The people of his native parish, in his 
boyhood years, were generally of an intel- 
lectual cast, and highly appreciated educa- 
tional advantages and attainments. It is 
not strange that a naturally good scholar, 
growing up in such surroundings, should 
have early possessed good ambitions. After 
some preparation for college in the home 
schools, in \\'est \\'estminster, and at the 
Williston Seminary and Kimball Union 
Academy, Mr. Hall entered Dartmouth Col- 
lege in I S69 and was there graduated in 1S73. 



It was necessary for him to earn the pe- 
cuniary means of his education in the main, 
and to do this he taught school some por- 
tion of each year for several vears. He also 
taught an entire year, after his graduation 
at Dartmouth, in Manchester, N. H., where 
also he began the study of law in the office 
of Cross & Burnham. 

In the fall of 1874 he went to Boston to 
enjoy the advantages of a law school. In 
1 8 75 he received the degree of LL. B. from 
Boston L'niversity, graduating from its law 
school. A few months afterwards he was 
admitted to the Suftblk bar, and the first of 
January, 1876, he began the practice of law 
in Boston. He has an excellent clientage 
and practice, and has steadfastly continued 
at Boston in the pursuit and exercise of his 
profession, with the exception of about one 
year, since he there began his life work. 
L'pon him are also devolved many corpor- 
ate and personal trusts in the line of his 
professional work and practice. 

Mr. Hall was married, Oct. 18, 1876, to 
Miss Annette M., daughter of Josiah H. and 
Martha A. (Chamberlain) Hitchcock, of 
Putney, a lady of exceptional graces and 
personal worth. She died Sept. 26, 18S7, 
but is survi\ed by a son, Francis C, and a 
daughter, Helen A. 

Ever since his marriage, Mr. Hall has had 
his home in Winchester, a suburb eight 
miles out from Boston, and he is identified 
with the public measures and responsibili- 
ties of his town and community. 

HALL, Christopher W., of Minne- 

eapolis, Minn., son of Lewis and Louisa 
(Wilder) Hall, was born Feb. 28, 1845, at 
Wardsboro. 

The Leland and Gray Seminary at Towns- 
hend, Chester Academy and Middlebury 
College were the sources of Dean Hall's 
earlier educational acquirements, and occu- 
pied the years from 1864 to 1871. He was 



principal of tlie Glens Falls, N. V., Academy 
in i87i-'72, and the Mankato, Minn., high 
school the two following years and superin- 
tendent of city schools at Owatonna, Minn., 
from 1873 to '75. From 1875 10 i<S77 he at- 
tended the famous University of Leipzig, 
Germany, and in 1878 he was called to the 
chair of geology and mineralogy in the 
University of Minnesota, and has recently 
received further distinction from that institu- 
tion, in becoming the dean of the College of 
Engineering, Metallurgy and the Mechanic 
Arts. 

Dean Hall has long occupied a prominent 
and active position in his chosen field and is 
the author of many valuable papers on 
geological and educational subjects. iJuring 
the winter term of 1878 he lectured on 
zoology at Middlebury College and was later, 
that year, and up to 1879, an instructor in 
the University of Minnesota. From 1879 to 
1891 he was a professor of geology, mineral- 
ogy and biology, and in 1891 became the 
professor of geology and mineralogy. From 
1878 to 1 88 1 he was assistant geologist of 
the geological survey of Minnesota and be- 
came assistant geologist of the United States 
geological survey in 1883. The Minnesota 
Academv of Natural Sciences at Minneapolis 
made him its secretary in 1882 and in 1883 
the editor of its bulletins, which positions he 
held uninterruptedly to the present time. 

Such a busy life has left no time for polit- 
ical work. \VhiIe at college he was active in 
fraternity life, and was elected on graduation 
to the Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of 
the American Association for Advancement 
of Science, and was made a fellow of 
that association in 1883, and also of the 
Geological Society of .America, of which he 
is one of the charter members. 

Dean Hall's first wife was Ellen .A., daugh- 
ter of Hon. Mark H. and Sarah B. Dunnell 
of Owatonna, Minn., whom he married July 
27, 1S75, and lost while in Leipzig, Germany, 
on the 2ist of February, 1876. He married 
again, I^ec. 26, 1883, Mrs. Sophia L. Haight, 
daughter of Eli and Sophia Seely of Osh- 
ko.sh, Wis. Mrs. Hall died July 12, 1891, 
leaving an infant daughter : Sophia. 

HATCH, EGBERT Benson, of Salinas 
City, Cal., son of Charles P. and Lydia M. 
(Taylor) Hatch, was born in F^ast Hard- 
wick, Feb. 8, 1 83 1. 

The Hatch family is one of the oldest in 
the state of \'ermont. The great-grand- 
father of the subject of this subject married 
Sarah Richards and moved from Preston, 
Ct., to Norwich, in i 768 ; being a surveyor 
he made the first survey of that town. He 
raised a large family. The youngest son, 
fohn, Jr., was the grandfather of the subject 
of this sketch, and with his wife, Waity Ens- 



worth, moved to Hardwick in 1809. Feb- 
ruary, 20, 1815 he was commissioned ist 
Lieut, in the 31st Regt. of the Inft., and the 
commission is in the possession of the sub- 
ject of this sketch and bears the signatures 
of President James Madison and Secretary 
of War James Monroe. 

Mr. Hatch prepared himself tor the minis- 
try, and his early education was received at 
the academies of Williston and Johnson, and 
in the .Academical and Theological Institu- 
tion at Fairfax, Vt , while dependent upon 
his own resources, teaching school winters 
and working summers in the hayfield, to 
provide means which the moderate circum- 
stances of his parents compelled them to 
denv him. 




Mr. Hatch was ordained to the ministry, 
in the Baptist denomination, Jan. 3, 1856, at 
Lowell, and his whole life has been devoted 
to his chosen profession. During these 
years of faithful work he has had pastorates 
in Clinton, \\'is., Marcellus, N. V., Reno, 
Nev., Vallejo and Salinas City, Cal., having 
been pastor at the latter place for nine years. 
His manner of preaching with the greatest 
fluency without the use of manuscript has 
always been very attractive to his hearers. 
He left ^'ermont in 1S57 going thence to 
Wisconsin and from there to New York state 
in 1865, taking up his present residence in 
Califo'rnia in 1S70. Mr. Hatch has always 
been honored bv his denomination. In 1892 



■8o 



HAVWAKD. 



he preached the anniversary sermon before 
■the California Baptist State Convention at 
Santa Cruz. 

Among the social organizations, the Good 
Templars have no more active faithful worker 
than Mr. Hatch. The Ancient Order of 
United Workmen is another body in which 
he has done much good work. 

Mr. Hatch was married in Johnson, to 
Laura W. Butterfield, whose parents were old 
settlers of the town of Lowell, having moved 
there when there were only seven families in 
the township. Mrs. Hatch died in Septem- 
ber, 1884, at San Francisco, leaving two 
daughters: Mrs. L. H. Cooke of San Fran- 
cisco, and Mrs. A. F. Bellene of Salinas. 

HAWLEY, David, of Vonkers, X. v., 
son of r)a\id and Bethiah (Buck) Hawley, 
was born at Arlington, Aiaril 14, 1S20. 




L'psilon and the Skull and Bones societies. 
In the spring before his graduation he com- 
menced the study of law in the office of 
Orsamus Bushnell, Esq., in New York City, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1848. In 
May, 1850, he formed a partnership in New 
York with John H. Glover, a classmate at 
Yale. This partnership continued about 
twelve years, the firm doing a successful busi- 
ness and having charge of some important 
trust estates, .'\fter the dissolution of the 
firm of Hawley & Glover, Mr. Hawley con- 
tinued the practice of law, and having become 
counsel for Isaac M. Singer, the sewing ma- 
chine inventor, went to Paris, in 1870, at his 
request, to draw his will. In 1873 he relin- 
quished the general practice of law to take 
charge of Mr. Singer's large business inter- 
ests in this country, representing him as a 
director in the Singer Manufacturing Co. 
After Mr. Singer's death in 1875, Mr. Hawley 
as sole surviving executor of his will in this 
country, administered on his estate, and 
though many complications arose therein, he 
successfully arranged them all, and had the 
estate settled and ready for distribution in 
the shortest time allowed by law for that pur- 
pose. He was testamentary guardian and 
trustee of the minor children and devoted a 
large share of his time to the management of 
their estates, and when released from that 
trust as they attained their majority he retired 
from active business. 

In politics he is a Democrat, but has 
always declined public office, except the 
positions of water commissioner and school 
trustee in the city where he resides. 

In August, 1 85 1, Mr. Hawley married Miss 
Maria Louisa \Vhiteside of Cambridge, N. 
Y., who died in 1S60. In October, 1S61, 
he married Miss Catharine Ann, daughter of 
Samuel and Maria Crosby Brown of New 
York. He has two children living : Cath- 
erine S., and Samuel Brown. 

He has made his home at Yonkers on the 
Hudson since 186^. 



He remained on his father's farm attend- 
ing the district school, until nearly twenty 
years of age. He then commenced his prepa- 
ration for college at Burr Seminary, Man- 
chester, and after about eighteen months 
study, entered Yale College in 1841. At the 
end of the freshman year, sickness compelled 
him to leave college, and he spent a year 
reading law with Harmon Canfield, Esq., in 
his native town. He returned to New Haven 
again the following summer, joining the 
sophomore class of 1846, and graduated with 
that class. He was an editor of the Yale 
Literarv Magazine, and a member of the Psi 



HAYWARD, LEWIS A., of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of Lewis and Margaret 
(Smith) Hayward, was born in Dalton, N. 
H., Sept. 22, 1847, but claims to be a son of 
^'ermont, because his parents moved with 
him to St. Johnsbury before he was a month 
old, and all his love centers in the (ireen 
Mountain state. 

He received his education in the common 
schools of Vermont, having attended school 
in St. Johnsbury, St. .-Xlbans and Bristol and 
at intervals worked on his father's farm dur- 
ing the years of his minority, and continued 
farming in partnership with his father in 
Kirby until he was thirty years of age. 

Mr. Hayward removed to San Francisco 
in March, 1S77, where he engaged in the 



HAZELTINE. 



81 



milk business, which he has followed to the 
present time. He became the junior partner 
of the firm of J. A. Roy & Co. in 18S4. He 
is now one of the members and directors of 
the firm known as the (uiadaloupe Dairy 
Co., a stock company formed and incorpor- 
ated in 1889, and holds the office of treasurer 
and is also manager of the city dejiartment 
of their extensive business. 




He became a Free Mason in 1876, having 
joined Moose River Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 
82, in West Concord, and is still a member 
of the same lodge in good standing. He is 
also a member of the Pacific Coast Associa- 
tion Native Sons of Vermont. 

Mr. Hayward was married in San Fran- 
cisco July ig, 18S2, to Margaret S. Hender- 
son, daughter of John and Jean (Knowles) 
Henderson. 

HAZELTINE, Ira S., was born in An- 
dover July 13, 182 i ; removed to Wisconsin 
at an early age ; studied law and lectured 
for ten years upon scientific and reformatory 
subjects ; in 1851 laid out the town of Rich- 
mond Centre, now county seat of Richland 
county ; received a colonel's commission in 
1852 at the hands of Governor Farwell ; 
was a delegate to the first Republican state 
convention in 1854 ; member of the Wiscon- 
sin Legislature in 1S67, and established a 
newspaper called the Live Republican at 
Richmond Centre; in 1868 removed to 
Springfield, Mo., and engaged in farming ; 
was district lecturer of the grange several 



years; was member of state grange execu- 
tive committee ; was delegate to the first 
Creenback state convention in 1876; was 
elected to the Forty-seventh Congress as a 
National Greenback Labor candidate. He 
still resides at Springfield. 

HAZEN, ARTHUR Herbert, of Sioux 
City, Iowa, son of Addison and Jane (Hyde) 
Hazen, was born at North Hero, March g, 

Mr. Hazen was educated at the Vermont 
Methodist Seminary at Montpelier, and the 
Barre Academy, entering the University of 
Vermont in 1876, and prepared himself for 
the practice of the law at Montpelier. At 
Fargo, North Dakota, he organized the law 
firm of Hazen & Clement and was its senior 
member from 1S81 to 1885. Mr. Hazen's 
business has been largely in banking as well 



^ f?5fc- 




ARTHUR HERBERT 



as in the law, and he has held high positions 
of trust in successful Western institutions. 
From 1883 to 1885 he was the treasurer of 
the Northwestern Trust Co., of Fargo, and 
from the time of the original organization 
of the Farmers Trust Co., of Sioux City, 
Iowa, he was its vice-president and Western 
manager which position he now holds. He 
is also president of the Red River Valley 
Banking Co., which has its office at Fargo,^ 
and a director of the Moorhead National 
Bank, of Moorhead, Minn. Mr. Hazen re- 
sided in Fargo from 1879 to 1889, and 
while there received political honors as a 



82 



member of the board of aldermen for three 
years. In i88g he removed to Sioux City, 
Iowa. 

Mr. Hazen was married at Fargo, (October, 
1880, to Ida A., daughter of \\illard and 
Sophronia S. Marsh, of I'lainfield, and has 
one child : Ray M. 

HIBBARD, George Lovictor, of 

Portland, Ore., son of Joel Tyler and Lucy 
Elnette (Cleveland) Hibbard, was born in 
Troy, July 18, 1835. 

He received his earlv education in the dis- 
trict schools of his native \illage until the 
age of sixteen years. In iSji or 1 85 2 he 
went to l^oston, Mass., where he learned the 




GEORGE LOVICTOR 



trade of carpenter, joiner, and ship-builder. 
This accomplished, he became a contractor 
in the city of Boston for about a year. When 
the vast western country, with her great pos- 
sibilities, was opened to the world the spirit 
of research possessed him, and in June, 
1857, he turned westward, spending about 
three months in prospecting. Satisfied that 
he did not like well enough to make this new 
country his home, he returned to Wellsville, 
N. Y., and became interested in building 
until the spring of 1859. 

The Pacific coast at this time allured him 
to her shores, so embarking in an Aspinwall 
steamer, he sailed for San Francisco via the 
Isthmus of Panama, and after a long and 
tempestuous voyage, cast anchor in San 
Francisco Bay. Mr. Hibbard spent a month 
or more among friends in San Francisco, and 



set sail for Portland, Ore. The upper Col- 
umbia promised good results in the building 
business, consequently he engaged in the 
lumber trade, with sash and door manufact- 
ory at The Dalles, Ore., during the years 
i860 and 1 86 1. 

In January, 1862, he sold out, and taking 
a stock of merchandise went to the Florence 
gold mines in Idaho, sold out, prospected 
awhile then returned to The Dalles in the 
autumn of the same year ; bought out the 
hotel "What Cheer House," ran it four 
months and sold out. He became again in- 
terested in building enterprises until the 
spring of 1863, when, with Mr. Lurchin, he 
founded and built up the town of Umatilla 
on the Columbia River in Umatilla county, 
Oregon. He sold out in 1863, took a stock 
of goods to Bannock City, Idaho, engaged 
in merchandise a year, sold out and in Jan- 
uary, 1865, settled permanently in Portland, 
Ore. In 1866 he went into the produce, gro- 
ceries, and general commission business 
until 1872, when in the great fire of that 
year he lost everything, and was in debt to 
the extent of Si 5,000, which he afterwards 
paid in full with interest. In 1873 he 
started in the wholesale produce commission 
business, also consignments of boots and 
shoes from his brother, C. A. Hibbard of 
Burlington, and C. M. Hibbard of Newport, 
now deceased. In 1877 J. W. Brazee be- 
came his partner as manufacturers, import- 
ers, and wholesale dealers in boots and 
^hoes, the firm name being O. L. Hibbard 
iV- Co., until Feb. 14, 1885, when he sold out 
to Mr. Brazee. The following month he 
went to Boston, bought a stock of goods in 
conjunction with his brother, C. J. of New- 
port Vt., returned in eight weeks and en- 
tered into the importing of boots and shoes, 
the firm name being Hibbard Brothers. 
After a run of two or three years, he as- 
sumed the entire business and still continues 
in the importing, wholesale and retail, of 
boots and shoes. 

Mr. Hibbard is a " pioneer " in its strict- 
est sense, having seen Portland grow from 
an infant village to the full grown, prosperous 
city of to-day ; and by his untiring zeal in 
every honorable enterprise has contributed 
in no small degree to the upbuilding of the 
metropolis of Oregon. 

Mr. Hibbard, in 1874, was one of the 
original charter members of the Portland 
Board of Trade which was subsequently sub- 
merged into the chamber of commerce, in 
which he has continuously been a member 
and stockholder, being at present (1894) a 
member of the manufacturers committee. 
Mr. Hibbard has been many times called 
upon to accept public positions, but being 
of rather a retiring disposition he has as often 
declined overtures. 



83 



In 1892 he built the Tremont House, one 
of the most elegant, complete, and commo- 
dious hotel properties on the coast. 

Mr. Hibbard was married, Sept. 17, 1867, 
to Josephine, daughter of Hon. Josejih and 
Sarah (Hurford) Jeffers. She died May 30, 
1878, and he married Carrie Jeffers Harned, 
sister of his first wife. Of the first union 
there were three sons and one daughter, two 
of whom are living; and of the latter union 
four sons, all living. 

HIBBARD, Harry, was born in Vermont ; 
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1835 ; 
was assistant clerk of the House of Repre- 
sentatives for New Hampshire in 1839 ; clerk 
of the same from 1840 to 1843 ; speaker of 
the House in 1844 and 1845 ■ '" the state 
Senate from 1846 to 1849 ; officiating two 
years as president ; and was a representative 
in Congress from New Hampshire from 1849 
to T855. 

HIGLEY, Edwin Hall, of Groton, 

Mass., son of Rev. Harvey O. and Sarah 
(Little) Higley, was born in Castleton, Feb. 
15, 1843. 

He received his preparatory education at 
Castleton Seminary, and then entered Mid- 
dlebury College, where he graduated in the 
class of 1868. For the next four years he 
studied music and philology in Boston and 
Cambridge, and from 1882 to 1884 at the 
Royal Conservatory of Leipsic, in Germany. 

Though scarcely emerged from boyhood, 
he was inspired with the enthusiasm attend- 
ing the early outbreak of the war for the 
Union, and in 1861 he enlisted in Co. K, 
I St Vt. Cavalry. During his service he was 
detailed as adjutant and as regimental com- 
missary and in the latter part of 1863 acted 
as brigade ordnance officer on the. staff of 
Gen. G. A. Custer. During Kiljiatrick's 
raid he commanded a section of I'.attery C, 
3d U. S. Artillery and had the satisfaction of 
shelling the rebel capitol. He was wounded 
and taken prisoner June 29, 1864, after hav- 
ing participated in most of the cavalry en- 
gagements of the Army of the Potomac in 
the campaigns of Pope, second Bull Run, 
Gettysburg and the Wilderness. Exchanged 
March i, 1865, he was commissioned captain 
of Co. K, and soon after brevet major for 
gallant and meritorious service during the war. 

From 1868 to 1872 Major Higley taught 
music in Boston, Mass., and then accepted a 
professorship of German and Greek in Mid- 
dlebury College, where he remained ten years. 
After his return from Europe, he was teacher 
of music and organist in Worcester, Mass. 
In 1886 he came to Groton School as Greek 
and German instructor and as choir master 
and organist, which position he holds up to 
the present time. 



He married, June 2, 1870, in Middlebury, 
Jane S., daughter of Oliver and Jane (Shep- 
ard) Turner. They have one daughter; 
Margaret K. 

HOARD, Charles B., was bom in 
Springfield June 28, 1 805 ; he was a mechanic 
and for se\eral years in early life a clerk in 
a private land office at .Antwerp, N. W He 
was postmaster under Presidents Jackson 
and Van Buren : justice of the peace for sev- 
eral years ; a member of the Legislature of 
New York in 1S3S, and county clerk of Jef- 
ferson county, N. V., in 1844, '45 and '46 ; 
was elected a representative to the Thirty- 
fifth Congress and was re-elected to the 
Thirtv-sixth Congress. 



HOLABIRD, William HYMAN, of Oak- 
land, Cal, son of Oscar F. and .\delia A. 
(Pierson) Holabird, was born in Shelburne, 
Sept. 29, 1845. 

Mr. Holabird availed himself of the educa- 
tional advantages afforded by the schools of 
Shelburne and the academy at Williston, and 
at the age of fifteen went to Missouri, His 
first occupation was as a newsboy on the Han- 
nibal & St. Jo R. R. 

At the breaking out of the war he returned 
to \'ermont and enlisted in Co. C, 12th Vt. 
Vols, and served out his term. He entered 
the navy as first-class fireman on theL'. S. S. 
Monadnock in September, 1S64. In Decem- 
ber of that year he was promoted to acting 
assistant paymaster. He was in the great 
naval engagement at Fort Fisher and resigned 
from the ser\ice in 1865 and went to Indiana. 
Later he went to Chicago, and was for a time 
in the employ of Marshall Field <S: Co., and 
J. ^'. Far well. 

Mr. Holabird began his railroad work in 
1876, with the Penn. & Grand Rapids & 
Indiana Co., as general travelling agent. In 
1880 he went with the Atchison, Topeka & 
Sante Fe R. R., as special agent and for the 
past three years has been confidential agent 
of President Man\ el of that system. During 
his connection with the Atchison system he 
has performed much important work in rela- 
tion to the company's lands and the location 
of new railroad lines. 

In politics Mr. Holabird has been an act- 
ive Repubhcan and while not aspiring to pre- 
ferment has generally represented his party 
as delegate to local conventions. He has 
also been prominent in various temperance 
organizations and Masonic bodies, including 
all orders of the Temple. 

He married, June 9, 1870, Phebe |., daugh- 
ter of Russell and Emeline (James) l)orr, of 
Middlebury, whose father is a descendant of 
the Puritans. They have three children : 
Russell D., Emma .\., and Harrison G. 



HOLMES, ELIAS B., was born in Fletch- 
er, May 27, 1S07. He commenced life as a 
teacher, and at the age of twenty emigrated 
to Munroe county, N. V., where he studied 
law and was admitted to practice ; in Con- 
gress from New York, from 1845 to 1849. 

HOPKINS, Caspar Thomas, late of 

San Francisco, Cal., was the third son of the 
Right Reverend John H. Hopkins, first 
bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in Vermont, and of Melusina Muller, his 
wife, was born at Allegany Town, Penn., 
May 18, 1826. His father was a native of 
Dublin, Ireland, and arrived in the United 
States at the age of eight years. His mother 
was born in Germany. Her father, once a 
wealthy shipping merchant, having been im- 
poverished by the Napoleonic wars, emi- 
grated to the United States in 18 12, when 
his daughter was thirteen years old, and 
settled at Zelienople, Penn. In 1832 the 
father of the subject of this sketch, having 
been elected Bishop of Vermont, took up his 
residence in the beautiful town of Burling- 
ton, and there his family of thirteen children 
were educated. 

Bishop Hopkins will long be remembered 
in Vermont for his indomitable energy and 
industry, his varied talents, his peerless ex- 
pression of his often peculiar opinions, his 
unselfish and self-sacrificing devotion to 
duty, and his powerful will. In no respect 
were his opinions more peculiar than on the 
subject of education, and all his children 
were necessarily deeply impressed by those 
peculiarities. They were never sent to any 
public school until the boys were old enough 
to enter college, but the good bishop opened 
a school of his own, embarking his entire 
property and all he could borrow in the 
erection of the old Vermont Episcopal Insti- 
tute, which was located just south of the then 
village of Burlington, and a part only of 
whose buildings now remain. In this school 
there were no vacations, no plays, no relax- 
ation from alternate study, work, and church 
attendance, except on Saturday afternoon. 
Severe discipline, and frequent punishment 
with the rod or lalack strap were the only 
inducements to effort — emulation, rewards, 
and even marks being strictly excluded. 
The teachers were nearly all theological 
students, the great object of the school being 
to train up clergymen for the church. For 
several years it was well attended, but the 
hard times of i838-'39 caused the with- 
drawal of so many of the pupils that the 
school closed its doors, and bankruptcy 
resulted. 

Caspar was then fourteen years old and 
had been fitted to enter college two years 
previously, besides receiving a good ele- 
mentarv training in music and French. But 



it was now necessary for the boys to go to 
work. A farm of one hundred acres of rocky 
land, now known as Rock Point, and the 
site of the present Vermont Episcopal In- 
stitute and Bishop Hopkins Hall was bought 
for the bishop by an old Pennsyhania friend. 
Here the boys went to work, learning by 
daily practice, under the constant lash of 
the severest poverty, all those varied prac- 
tical lessons which have pro\ed New Eng- 
land farm life the best of preparations for 
success in after years. Four years of farm- 
ing, wood chopping, mechanical work, quar- 
rying, building, and boating, while the even- 
ings were devoted to solid reading (no 
novels being allowed in the house) and Sun- 
days to church and sacred music, laid broad 
and deep the foundations of a hard-working, 
industrious and energetic character. The 
education thus begun was completed by the 
full four years' course in the University of Ver- 
mont, during which Caspar supported himself 
by playing a church organ Sundays, tuning 
pianos, and lecturing. He was graduated 
second in the class of 1847, without having 
cost his father a dollar, and entirely free 
from debt ; the S500 he expended for board, 
clothing and college bills during the four 
years having been earned by himself. 

In the month of December, 1848, the 
California fever broke out, and he was one 
of the first Vermont boys to catch the in- 
fection. On New Year's morning, 1849, he 
left home for New York with $5 in his 
pocket, and found himself June 10, 1849, in 
San Francisco without a dollar, ragged, badly 
afflicted with land scurvy, and S600 in debt. 
He came by the Mexican route as a member 
of the United Pacific Gold Co., of which he 
was elected captain while at the City of 
Mexico. His first three years in California 
were marked by the same risks, adventures, 
sudden changes of fortune, hardships, and 
romantic but unprofitable experience com- 
mon to the great majority of the "Argonauts." 

In 1850, in connection with Herman Win- 
chester and H. J. Paine, he organized the 
famous "Samuel Roberts Expedition," which 
first explored the Rogue and Umpqua rivers 
in Southern Oregon. Hopkins' widely pub- 
lished description of that region caused its 
first settlement by Americans. 

In December, 185 i, he secured a position 
in the custom house which he held three 
years. Through favorable influences and 
thrifty habits he was enabled at the end of 
this time to return to New York, with the 
view of raising capital there to undertake fire 
and marine insurance in San Francisco. 
Finding it impossible however to get the 
necessary money he attempted to secure 
agencies of American companies to compete 
with the few F'.nglish concerns, then doing 
business in California, which had formed a 



86 



close monopoly. New York companies had 
not then learned the principles of scattering 
their business through distant agencies, how- 
ever, and he returned to accept employment 
at Sacramento, with a sub-agent of an Eng- 
lish company. After two years of remarkable 
success he returned to San P'rancisco and ac- 
quired a third interest in the insurance firm 
of McLean & Fowler, who had represented 
some old Hartford companies with indifferent 
success. Mr. Hopkins developed their busi- 
ness at once to large proportions. Finding 
a great opportunity to establish a marine in- 
surance business he withdrew from the firm, 
and consummated his favorite plan by organ- 
izing the California Mutual Marine Insurance 
Co., in February, 1861, with a capital of 
$200,000, of which he was secretary. Suc- 
cess came from the start, and in 1864 the re- 
incorporation as the California Insurance Co., 
adding fire business to its risks, took place. 
In 1866 Mr. Hopkins became the president 
of the company, retaining this business until 
his retirement from active business life in 
1885. He was now in a position where his 
natural energies and varied education were 
directly brought to bear not only upon the 
interests of his company, but on those of 
Pacific coast underwriting generally. 

His good judgment brought large profits 
to his stockholders, and his persistent refusal 
of F^astern business doubtless saved an im- 
mense loss in the conflagrations of Chicago 
and Boston in 1871, which ruined so many 
companies. Mr. Hopkins was a moving 
spirit in the organization, in 1864, of the 
Board of Marine Underwriters, and wrote 
the "iron-clad" constitution of the Board of 
Fire Underwriters. 

In 1868 and 1869 he was secretary of the 
chamber of commerce and worked out its 
reorganization on the present basis. His 
efforts were instrumental in securing light- 
houses and signals on the Pacific coast. He 
advocated and drafted the law creating the 
office of insurance commissioner in 1866, 
and for many years he worked unceasingly 
to establish the insurance business of the 
Pacific coast on a firm basis. He promoted 
the Merchants and .Ship Owners Steam Tug 
Co., which destroyed the towage monopoly. 
He wrote the pamphlet entitled " Sugges- 
tions to Masters of Vessels in Distress " 
which was reprinted by the .\ustralian un- 
derwriters, and by Lloyds committee in Lon- 
don. Mr. Hopkins found time for numer- 
ous tasks in the broader field of general 
good, and wrote in 187 1 a "Manual of 
American Ideas." He was also the presi- 
dent of the California Immigrant LTnion in 
1870 and 1 87 1, the precursor of the efficient 
Immigration Society. He promoted and 
was president of the Pacific Social Science 
Association. He was a prominent member 



of the famous committee of one hundred 
which undertook to curb the power of the 
Southern Pacific R. R. He was a valued 
contributor to local periodicals on serious 
subjects. Throughout his life in California 
he was an ardent member and worker for 
the L'nitarian Church, and helped to organ- 
ize and establish the now flourishing church 
of that denomination in Oakland. He raised 
$20,000 for this church, and his personal 
influence secured also a fine organ for it, 
which he played gratuitously for five years. 

The above is but a faint outline of Mr. 
Hopkins' labors for public good and far from 
complete. His disposition was to be useful 
without other motive than to be a power for 
good in the community where he lived. He 
never pointed out evil except for the sake of 
abating it. C)n his retirement from business 
and from San Francisco to Pasadena in July, 
1S85, both branches of the insurance pro- 
fession tendered him a handsome acknowl- 
edgement of his great services, at a com- 
plimentary luncheon, and presented him 
with an elegant service of plate. At Pasa- 
dena he soon recuperated his waning 
strength and became actively engaged in 
building operations and the culture of fruits 
and in town matters. He contributed large 
numbers of volumes to the Library Asso- 
ciation, as well as a large amount of money 
for its building. 

Mr. Hopkins married, in 1S53, .\lmira 
Burnett, daughter of Daniel Burnett, a New 
York capitalist. Mrs. Hopkins died in 1875, 
leaving six children. In 1877 Mr. Hopkins 
married Mrs. Jane E. Taylor, of Glaston- 
bury, Conn. 

He was indebted for his success to his 
own native abilities, assiduous self culture, 
indomitable persistence and commendable 
self-reliance. 

He knew how and when to say "No." 
In early life he made his choice between 
popularity and usefulness, and armed and 
equipped with innate honesty and integrity he 
fought for his principles with good courage. 
It was this characteristic above all others 
which made him a marked man in a com- 
munity where wealth was God — and where 
the pubilic did not question methods, so 
long as wealth was attained. Mr. Hopkins 
died at Pasadena, Cal., Oct. 4, 1893. Mrs. 
Hopkins, three daughters and a son survive 
him. 

HOPKINS, George Wesley, of San 

Francisco, Cal., son of Enos Daniel and 
Sally Knight (Titus) Hopkins, was born in 
Bethel, Oct. 18, 1852. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of his native town and the St. Johnsbury 
Academy. At the age of eighteen he be- 
came bookkeeper for E. & T. Fairbanks & 



87 



Co., which position he held four years. He 
then engaged as bookkeeper in the Frst 
National Bank at St. Johnsbury, remaining 
there one year. In 1875 he moved to Cali- 
fornia and for two years was an accountant 
in the general office of the Southern Pacific 
R. R. Co. Subsequently mercantile and fire 
insurance business occupied his attention 
until 1883, when his health failed and he 
was compelled to leave San Francisco. Mov- 
ing to Los Gatos, he engaged in fruit grow- 
ing, and after two years regained his health. 
He then returned to San Francisco to take 
charge of the wholesale produce and coni- 




GEORGE WESLEY 



mission business of Getz Brothers & Co., 
occupying this position for two years. He 
ne.xt formed a partnership with Nathan C. 
Carnall in the real estate business, known as 
the Carnall-Hopkins Company, a corpora- 
tion of which .Mr. Hopkins was \ice-presi- 
dent. He has been instrumental in effecting 
some of the most important transfers in both 
city and country real estate known in the 
history of California. F^arly in 1894 Mr. 
Hopkins withdrew from this firm and has 
since engaged in the same line of business 
without partners. 

In December, 1878, he conceived the idea 
of forming a society of the sons of his nati\ e 
state, and with that end in view, inserted 
notices in the daily papers inviting native 
Vermonters to meet at the Palace Hotel. 
This movement resulted in the organization, 
Jan. 6, 1879, of the " Pacific Coast Associa- 



tion, Native Sons of Vermont," which is 
to-day one of the most nourishing social 
societies on the Pacific coast. Mr. Hopkins 
was the first secretary of this association, 
and held that ofifice until he left the city, on 
account of illness, in 1883. He is now one 
of its vice-presidents. Much of the success 
of this association during its early history 
was due to the indefatigable exertions and 
good management of Mr. Hopkins. 

October 18, 1877, Mr. Hopkins was mar- 
ried to Miss Francisea Amelia Schafer, 
daughter of John F. and Annie M. Schafer. 
They have had four children : Lillian \'ida, 
Florence Pearl, George Wesley, Jr., and 
-Annie F"rancisca (deceased). 

HORR, ROSWELL G., of East Saginaw, 
Mich., was born at Waitsfield, Nov. 26, 
1830 ; removed with his parents, when four 
years of age, to Lorain county, O., where he 
passed his early years ; graduated at Antioch 
College, the fall after his graduation was 
elected clerk of the court of common pleas 
of Lorain county, and was re-elected in 
i860 ; at the close of his si.K years' clerkship 
he was admitted to the bar, and practiced 
law two years at Elyria, O. ; in the spring of 
1866 removed to Southeastern Alissouri, 
where he was engaged in mining for six 
years: removed in the spring of 1872 to 
East Saginaw, Mich., where he now resides ; 
is at present a lumberman and has been 
engaged in that business a large portion of 
his time since his residence in Michigan ; 
was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress as a 
Republican and received other elections to 
Congress. 

MORTON, Valentine b., was born at 

Windsor, Jan. 29, 1802 ; was educated at 
Partridge's Military Academy, and after that 
institution was removed to Middletown, 
Conn., he became a teacher therein. He 
studied law at Middletown, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1830, after which he removed 
to and practiced his profession in Pittsburg. 
He removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1833, 
where he followed his profession for two 
years, and in 1835 removed to Pomeroy, 
Ohio. He was a member of the Ohio Con- 
stitutional Convention of 1850, and in 1854 
he was elected a representative to the Thirty- 
fourth Congress, and was re-elected to the 
Thirty-fifth and Thirty-seventh Congresses. 
In 1 86 1 he was a member of the peace con- 
gress held in Washington. 

HOSFORD, JEDEDIAH, was born in 
\'ermont, and having removed to New York, 
was elected a Representative in Congress 
from that state from 1851 to 1853. 

HOUGHTON, Henry Oscar, of Cam- 
bridge, Mass., son of William and Marilla 



HOUGHTON. 



(Clay) Houghton, was born at Sutton, 
April 30, 1823. 

At the age of thirteen he became an ap- 
prentice in the office of the Burlington Free 
Press, and laid the foundation of his future 
career as the head of America's greatest 
publishing house, the Riverside Press, of 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. His brother at 
this time (1836) was in college at Burling- 
ton, and, listening to his advice, he deter- 
mined to acquire a thorough education. At 
the age of nineteen he entered the Univer- 
sity of Vermont, possessed only of a sub- 
stantial preparation and dauntless resolu- 
tion. Graduating after four years, he spent 
some time in proof-reading and reporting 
on the Evening Traveler of Boston, before 
he discovered his life work as a master 
printer. In 1849 he joined Mr. Bolles in 
establishing a printing office in Cambridge, 
Mass. The business was soon removed to 
the present site of the Riverside Press, on 
the banks of the Charles river, and from 



/ X .■»?*^ 






■'"'$ 




the first Mr. Houghton was its controlling 
spirit. The business continued an uninter- 
rupted career of success, characterized by 
the publication of works that satisfied artis- 
tic feeling as well as literary sense, and be- 
came by various alliances possessed of valu- 
able plates and the literary accumulations 
and franchises of a half a century, collected 
by leading firms. Among these treasures 
were privileges covering the works of an un- 
equalled galaxy of the "fixed stars" of 
American literature. 



A record of the publications of the River- 
side Press will show a greater proportion of 
the works which make up the best literature 
of .America, than can be found in the publi- 
cations of other publishers. 

" Do it well or not at all," has long been 
the motto of Mr. Houghton, and that senti- 
ment is built into the very corner stone of 
the Riverside Press. It is hard to exaggerate 
the influence for good which this establish- 
ment has exerted upon the world of letters 
and consequently upon the world of men. 
A high purpose, followed through a series of 
years, does not fail to accomplish high re- 
sults. 

Mr. Houghton's social life, from the fact 
that by necessity he is thrown into con- 
fidential relations with many of the bright- 
est men and women of the era, is most 
charming. 

He was president of the Boston Vermont 
.Association for eight years. 

Mr. Houghton was married, Sept. 12, 
1854. His children are : Henry Oscar, Jr., 
Elizabeth Honis, Alberta Manning, and 
Justine Frances. 

HOWARD, Charles Webb, was bom 

in Cabot, Jan. 23, 1831. His father, The- 
ron Howard, was a lawyer of good repute 
and for some time district attorney. His 
mother was Calista Webster. 

Mr. Howard had the usual experience of 
a New England boy of that period, who be- 
longed to an intelligent, well-to-do family, 
good opportimities at school, high school 
and academy, with genial care and sym- 
pathy at home. His early inclination to af- 
fairs and business was manifest. Before he 
was of age he had a more than common ex- 
perience of clerkship, partnership and man- 
agement, and in 1852 he was in Galveston, 
Texas, for the repair of broken health, hav- 
ing given tip business. Health restored, the 
spirit of enterprise awakened, California 
offered a brilliant field. On the 2 2d of 
lanuary, 1853, he sailed from New Orleans 
for San Francisco via Grey-Town, the San 
Juan River and San Juan, Nicaragua. On 
the western coast he was washed ashore 
from a burning ship, in which catastrophe 
more than two hundred lives were lost. 
After tedious delays and hardships he ar- 
rived in San Francisco on the ist of April, 

Circumstances brought him into intimate 
relations with the late Oscar L. Shafter, a 
nati\e of Vermont, and judge of the Supreme 
Court of California. He married Judge 
Shafter's eldest daughter, Emma, in 1862. 

The Shafters (the Judge and his brother, 
lames McM. Shafter) owned the Point Reyes 
ranch, a domain of about 70,000 acres, in 
Marin county, Cal. Mr. Howard's rela- 



90 



tions with Judge Shatter (luickened his mind 
and kindled his ambition, and in 1865 he re- 
tired from trade and became part owner and 
manager of the ranch. His administration 
of that property involved many interests 
public and private, from leasing lands to the 
building of railroads. It was a field for or- 
ganizing and executive ability. During this 
period Mr. Howard traveled in Europe. On 
his return in 1874, he was associated with 
the purchase and management of the Spring 
Valley water works, which supplies the city 
of San Francisco. Upon the transfer of this 
property to the new owners in January, 1874, 
he was elected president of the corporation 
and has held that office continuously since. 
The administration of its affairs and property, 
valued at §25,000,000, requires accurate 
knowledge, a faculty for general oversight, 
careful deliberation, quick decision, patience, 
firmness and courtesy. Mr. Howard, by 
natural endowment and experience, unites 
these qualities in an unusual degree. 

More than is common among men of busi- 
ness, he retains that flexibility and teachable- 
ness, that can receive suggestions, modify 
opinions and carry acquired knowledge and 
experience into new circumstances without 
that rigidity of mind that in so many men 
becomes a conceit of knowing and cannot be 
taught. 

The public and private relations of the 
corporation of which he is president are con- 
tinuously increasing, affording a school of 
wisdom, discretion and honor, and a theatre 
for their display. In the first Mr. Howard 
has been an apt learner, and upon the last 
a successful actor. 

Mr. Howard was united in marriage, Jan- 
uary, 1862, to Emma, daughter of Judge 
Oscar L. and Sarah R. Shaffer. Their 
children are : Oscar Shaffer, Theron, Maud, 
Charles Webb, Jr., Frederick Paxson, and 
Harold Shafter. 

HOWARD, Jacob M., was born in 
Shaftsbury, July 10, 1805 ; was educated at 
the academies at Bennington and Brattle- 
boro, and at Williams College where he 
graduated in 1S50 ; studied law, and taught 
in an academy in Massachusetts for a time ; 
removed to Michigan in 1832, and came to 
the bar of that territory in 1833; in 1S38 
he was a member of the Legislature of that 
state ; from 1841 to 1843 he was a represen- 
tative in Congress from Michigan; in 1854 
he was elected attorney-general of the state, 
twice re-elected and serving in all six years : 
and in 1862 he was elected a senator in 
Congress ; was re-elected a senator in Con- 
gress for the term commencing in 1865. 

HOWARD, William a., was born in 
Vermont, and having taken up his residence 



in Michigan, was elected a representative 
from that state, to the Thirty-fourth and 
Thirty-fifth Congresses. Having contested 
the seat of G. B. Cooper in i860, he became 
a member of the Thirty-sixth Congress. In 
1 86 1 he was appointed by President Lincoln 
postmaster at Detroit. 

HOWE, Charles M., of Mellette, So. 
Dak., son of Benjamin C. and Sabra (Wash- 
burn) Howe, was born August 4, 1S28, at 
\Voodstock. 

His education was received in the common 
schools. His parents died when he was 
about sixteen, and he was thrown upon his 
own resources. In 1846 he left Vermont 
and passed two years in Massachusetts. In 
1848 he went to sea, and for five years made 
several voyages in the Atlantic and Indian 
Oceans, and in the Arctic upon whaling 
ships. 

He left the sea- in 1855 and went west, 
locating in Rock county. Wis., where he en- 
gaged in farming for a few years. He then 
engaged in trade at Fulton, Wis., and from 
there went to Stoughton in 1863. He again 
sold out in 1876, and went into business at 
Maze Manie, Wis., as a general trader. In 
1881 he went to Dakota, then a territory, 
becoming one of the first settlers in what 
was afterward the town of Mellette. Here 
he opened up a general store and lumber 
yard, and has accumulated a large property, 
including a farm of four thousand acres, upon 
which last year's wheat crop amounted to 
thirty-five thousand bushels. At the present 
time his business is that of a farmer and 
grain dealer. He also owns an elevator of 
large capacity and a coal yard. Mr. Howe 
has become a leading citizen, though not a 
politician. He is a Democrat, and has held 
the office of chairman of the board of sup- 
ervisors since the organization of the town 
in 1884. 

In social organizations Mr. Howe is prom- 
inent. He was the treasurer of the I. O. O. 
F. until elected N. G., and is a Past Grand. 
He is also a member of the A. O. U. W., 
and is a Past Master of L'nity Lodge No. 22 
of Wisconsin jurisdiction. He is also a 
member of the Daughters of Rebecca. 

In charitable work Mr. Howe is a leading 
worker, and was appointed a member of the 
Board of Charities and Correction upon its 
organization, and in 189 1 was elected its 
president. This most important position he 
still holds, the board having charge of the 
hospital for insane at Yankton, the peniten- 
tiary at Sioux Falls, the reform school at 
Plankinton, and the school for deaf mutes at 
Sioiix Falls. 

Mr. Howe was married in Cabot, Feb. 5, 
1855, to iVfary J. Bickford, and has had two. 
children, but one of whom is now living. 



91 



HOWE, Thomas M., was born in Ver- 
mont, and, having settled in Pennsyixania, 
was elected a representatixe in Congress 
from 185 I to 1855. 

HUNT, Richard Morris, of New 

York City, was born in I'.rattleboro in 1828, 
the son of Hon. Jonathan Himt, M. C, and 
Jane Maria Leavitt. After his father's 
death his mother moved to New Haven and 
his education was commenced at French's 
School and was continued at the Boston 
high school and latin school. In 1843 he 



■ WH 



'^ 




RICHARD MORRIS 



went to Europe with his family and en- 
tered a school at Geneva, commencing the 
study of architecture with Alphonse iJarier. 
From there he went to Paris and studied 
under Hector Lefuel, entering the Ecole des 
Beaux Arts in 1845 ^nd remaining until 
1S55, with intervals of travel over Europe, 
Egypt and Asia Minor. In 1854 and 1S55 
he had an appointment from the French 
government as Inspecteur aux Travaux de 
la Reunion des Tuileries au Louvre. 

He returned to America in 1855, and 
commenced the practice of his profession by 
spending six months with the late Thomas 
U. Walter on the capitol at Washington. He 
then opened an office in New York with an 
architectural course for students on the prin- 
ciple of the Paris Ateliers. Messrs. George 
B. Post, Professor William R. Ware, Frank 
Furniss, Henry Van Brunt, Charles Gam- 
brill and others were members of his studio 
at this time. 



In 1867 he served as a member of the art 
jury at the Paris Exposition and in 1876 he 
held the same office at the Centennial Ex- 
hibition in Philadelphia. Received the 
decoration of the Legion of Honor from the 
French Government in 1882 and was made 
corresponding member of the Institute of 
France the following year. 

In New York and through the country 
generally Mr. Hunt ranks among the first 
architects. He is a prominent member of 
the Architectural League of New ^'ork, the 
New York Chapter of the .American Institute 
of Architects and other similar .American 
associations. He is one of the three foreign 
architects belonging to the Society of St. 
Luke, an Italian body of artists which has 
the distinction of being the oldest society of 
its kind in the world. He is a member of 
the Institute of British Architects, the Cen- 
tral Society of French Architects, and the 
Architects and Engineers' Society of Vienna. 
He recently received the gold medal of the 
Institute of British .Architects, conferred by 
Queen Victoria, being one of seventeen 
foreigners to be so honored. He was several 
years president of the New York Chapter of 
the .American Institute of Architects, and 
was elected to the presidency of the Insti- 
tute on the death of the late Thomas V. 
Walter in 1887. 

Among Mr. Hunt's principal works are : 
Lenox Library building, New York City ; 
Presbyterian Hospital, New York City ; 
Delaware & Hudson Canal building, New 
York City ; Tribune building. New York 
City ; residences for William K. Vanderbilt, 
Esq., New York City and Newport, R. I. ; 
residence for Ogden Goelet, Esq., Newport, 
R. I. : residence for C. O. D. Iselin, Esq., 
New York City ; residence for Henry G. 
Marquand, Esq., New York City ; chateau 
at Baltimore, N. C, for George W. Vander- 
bilt : U. S. Academic building, West Point, 
N. Y. ; U. S. Gymnasium building. West 
Point, N. Y. ; U. S. Naval Observatory, 
Washington, D. C. ; Yorktown monument, 
Yorktown, ^'a. ; Liberty monument. New 
York harbor and Soldiers and Sailors monu- 
ment, Portland, Me. 

He received the degree of LL. 1). from 
Harvard LTniversity in 1892. 

The New York Sun, in a recent editorial, 
says of him : "We congratulate our dis- 
tinguished fellow-citizen, Richard Morris 
Hunt, the architect, upon his election as a 
foreign associate member of the most illus- 
trious body of artists, the .Academic des 
Beaux-.Arts, of the Institute of France. It is 
a merited honor. He is a worthy member. 
Mr Hunt is a man of genius, and his works 
bear the seal of it. He has devoted his life 
to the noblest of all the fine arts, that art 
which, sufficient unto itsell", takes both 



HUNTINGTON. 



HUNTINGTON. 



sculpture and painting as its adjuvants. I'"or 
forty years he has stood foremost among 
American architects. He has rendered 
matchless service to the art of architecture 
in our country, an art, which, at the time he, 
when but fifteen years old, began to study it, 
had hardly an existence among us. We need 
not sound the praises of the artist who left 
the Green Mountain state in his boyhood, 
and within the past half century has won a 
name of pre-eminent rank among the archi- 
tects of the world, and now modestly wears 
the honors that belong to a member of the 
Institute of France, as well as those that ap- 
pertain to the membership of British, Aus- 
trian and Italian associations of artists. 
Long live our accomplished and amiable 
friend, and may yet other honors be his." 

HUNTINGTON, De Witt Clinton, 

of Lincoln, Neb., son of Ebenezer and 
Lydia (Peck) Huntington, was born in 
Townshend, April 27, 1830. His parents 
were from Connecticut. His father was a 
member of the Windham countv bar, but 




owned a farm, and gave each of his sons a 
practical education in that useful industry. 
Dr. Huntington was educated in the schools 
of his native town, and afterward in a course 
in ancient and modern languages at Roches- 
ter, N. Y. 

In early life he connected himself with 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and in 1853 
was received into its ministry. During his 



residence in \'ermont he served churches of 
that denomination in Thetford, Proctorsville, 
and Brattleboro. At the close of his pastor- 
ate at Brattleboro he was transferred to the 
conference which included the western part 
of New York and a portion of Pennsylvania. 
Within this territory he has spent three years 
in Syracuse, N. Y., five in Bradford, Pa., four 
in Buffalo, N. Y., and thirteen in Rochester. 
In 1868 the Genesee College conferred ipon 
him the degree of D. D. He has twice 
filled the office of presiding elder, and has 
represented his annual conference in the 
legislative body of the church at six success- 
ive quadrennial sessions. In 1881 he was 
appointed a delegate to the Ecumenical 
Methodist Conference held in London, dur- 
ing which year he made a somewhat ex- 
tended tour through the different countries 
of Europe. In 1891 he accepted the invi- 
tation of Trinity Church, in Lincoln, Neb., 
to become its pastor, which church is his 
field of labor at the present time. 

Dr. Huntington has written largely for the 
religious journals of his denomination and 
frequently for the secular press. Quite a 
number of his sermons ha^e been published 
in pamphlet form, chiefly upon questions of 
the day. Those upon "The Death of Presi- 
dent Lincoln," "The Wrongs of the Liquor 
Traffic," "The Cotton King and the Rum 
King," "Hell Not Reformatory," and "Selfish 
Religion," have been widely circulated and 
extensively quoted. He has practiced the 
theory which he avows : that the pulpit is an 
educating force, and that all subjects which 
concern vitally the well-being of man belong 
to its discussions. This view has led him not 
only to a wide range of topics in his own 
pulpit, but frequently to address meetings 
upon political and other public questions. 

He began his citizen life by voting for a 
Free Soil candidate for President, and from 
its organization to 1876 was a firm adherent 
of the Republican party. At that time he 
severed his connection with the Republican 
and ga\e his influence to the Prohibition 
party believing, as he said, that the Republi- 
can party would never take up the temper- 
ance reform. For the success of the Pro- 
hibition party he has since labored with pen 
and voice. In 1886 he was placed in nom- 
ination for Congress by the Prohibitionists of 
the Thirty-fourth Congressional district of 
New York, and received the unprecedented 
support of something more than 5,500 votes. 
In the following year his name was placed at 
the head of the Prohibition state ticket as 
secretary of state and received nearly 42,000 
\otes. Both these nominations were, how- 
ever, against his ad\ice, and the latter in the 
face of his positive declinature. 

Mr. Huntington has been twice married. 
His first wife was Miss Mary E. Moore, daugh- 



HUTCHINSON. 



HCn HINSON. 



93 



ter of Salmon J. and l-',lisabeth ^[oore, of 
Chelsea, by whom he has two living children : 
Thomas M., cashier of the Maverick iiank, 
Gordon, Neb., and Horace 1)., a merchant 
in the same town. His second wife was 
Miss Frances H. Davis, daughter of Hiram 
and Harriet F. Davis, of Rochester, N. V., 
by whom he has one daughter : Mary 
Frances. 

HUTCHINSON, HENRY E., of Brooklyn, 
N. Y., was born at Windsor in 1S37. He is 
the son of Rev. Elijah Hutchinson and 
Laura Manning Skinner. The Rev. Elijah 
Hutchinson was pastor of the Baptist church 
at Windsor for many years, and held the 
offices of president of the Vermont Baptist 
Convention, chaplain of the state prison, 
trustee of the public schools, and was widely 
known in the state. Rev. Elisha Hutchin- 
son, the grandfather of H. E. Hutchinson, 
was a member of the first class which took 
the full course at Dartmouth College, grad- 
uated in 1775, was a chaplain in the war of 



m m^. 





HUTCHINSON. 



1812, and preached through an active minis- 
terial life in the states of New Hampshire, 
Connecticut and New York. Mr. Hutchin- 
son's grandfather on his maternal side, John 
Payson Skinner, was one of the prominent 
citizens of \Mndsor in the first half of the 
century, owning stage lines before the days 
of railroads. 



Henry E. Hutchinson, the subject of this 
sketch, fitted for college at the Windsor 
high school, entered Dartmouth where he 
remained two years, and was transferred to 
Amherst where he graduated with honor in 
1858. He went to .-Mabama and taught for 
a time in the Franklin .Academy at Mont- 
gomery, read law and was admitted to the 
bar. Returning to the North he entered the 
law office of Rufus F. Andrews, in New 
York, and was admitted to the New York 
bar on examination, in 1862. Meanwhile 
he had been made assistant to the notary of 
the Broadway Bank, and was soon after ap- 
pointed assistant assessor of United States 
Interna! Revenue for the fourth district of 
the state of New York. Mr. Hutchinson's 
residence has been in Brooklyn since he 
came from Alabama, and a few years after 
he went to that city he became secretary of 
the Mechanics' Savings Bank, a position 
which he filled until 1877, when the bank 
closed its business, going into voluntary lii|- 
uidation and paying all claims in full. On 
Good Friday, 1877, Mr. Hutchinson was ap- 
pointed cashier of the Brooklyn Bank and 
remaining in this position until elected 
president in 1S90, upon the retirement of 
Elias Lewis, Jr. During his connection with 
the bank it has greatly prospered. He is 
also a trustee of the Hamilton Trust Co., 
and of the Long Island Safe Deposit Co. 

Mr. Hutchinson has long been prominent 
in the social and musical life of Brooklyn. 

In 1S63 he was married to Miss Ella Staf- 
ford, a daughter of J. R. Stafford of Brook- 
lyn. Of this marriage two sons and two 
daughters are living and four children have 
died. 

Mrs. Hutchinson is a trustee of the Brook- 
lyn nursery and is active in the charitable 
work of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson 
are communicants in the Protestant Episco- 
pal church and for thirteen years Mr. Hutch- 
inson was organist and choir-master of St. 
Peter's Church. He was also one of the or- 
ganizers and first musical director of the 
Brooklyn Amateur Opera Society, organized 
in 1875, whose performances have achieved 
a metropolitan re])utation. Mr. Hutchinson 
has been treasurer and president of the 
Brooklyn Choral Society, one of the largest 
musical societies in the country, and owing 
its honorable position largely to his efforts. 
He is a member of the L'nion League Club 
of Brooklyn ; joined the .Alpha Delta Phi 
secret society in college and is a member of 
the Alpha Delta Phi Club in New York ; is a 
member of the New England Society of 
Brooklyn ; of the Brooklyn Society of \'er- 
monters : a trustee of the Brooklyn Dispen- 
sary, and is a trustee of the Union Church at 
Arveme-by-the-Sea, Long Island, his summer 
home. 



94 



IDE, George Henry, of Milwaukee, 

Wis., son of Joseph A. and Lucretia Ann 
(Fairbanks) Ide, was born Jan. 21, 1839, at 
St. Johnsbury. 

Mr. Ide was a farmer's boy and li\ed at 
his birthplace until eleven years of age when 
the family moved to Newport, where they 
lived eight years. In the meantime he at- 
tended the district school and Derby Acad- 
emy. The family again returned to St. 
Johnsbury, and he was fitted for Dartmouth 
College, where he was graduated, and in iS6g 
graduated from the Andover Theological 
Seminary. 



dren were born to them : Carrie Sanborn, 
and Charles Edward. 

In 1876 Mr. Ide was again married to 
Kate Emma, daughter of Chandler C. and 
Hannah (Cogswell) Bowles of Newport. 

The following from the Chicago Inter- 
Ocean gives an insight into the character 
and personality of Mr. Ide : " Rev. Dr. Ide, 
the pastor, is extremely popular out of his 
church as well as in it. He is a scholar, an 
orator, an all-round athlete, a conscientious, 
hard-working pastor, and a genial gentleman 
— a fortunate and unusual combination. He 
is reasonably proud of his church and people, 
as his people are of him. Mr. Ide may be 
described as a tolerant theologian rather than 
a liberal theologian. He is considered to be 
rather conservative in a doctrinal way, but 
there is none of the intolerance about him 
which distinguishes many who are more lib- 
eral as to doctrine." 

INGALLS, Daniel Bowman, of Clin- 
ton, Mass., son of James and Mary (Cass) 
Ingalls, was born in Sutton, May 25, 1829. 




GEORGE HENRY 



His first pastorate was in Hopkinton, 
Mass., where he remained seven years. At 
the close of this period he was called to the 
Central Church in Lawrence, Mass., and 
labored there four years, when he was called 
to the Grand Avenue Congregational Church 
of Milwaukee, Wis., his present pastorate, 
and where he has won more than local fame. 

Mr. Ide enlisted in 1862 and was orderly 
sergeant of Company K, isth Vt. Regt., 
Col. Proctor commanding. The service of 
this regiment was mostly confined to Vir- 
ginia. He is a member of Wolcott Post, G. 
A. R., of Milwaukee. He is a trustee of 
Beloit College and a corporate member of 
the American board. 

Mr. Ide was married March 16, 1871, to 
Mary J., daughter of Dr. Thomas and Har- 
riet Sanborn, at New])ort, N. H. Two chil- 




DANIEL BOWMAN INGALLS. 

He received his education in the common 
schools, and upon his father's removal to 
Connecticut, when he was sixteen years of 
age, he was apprenticed to learn the trade of 
machinist, but at the end of two years his 
employers failed and he removed to Clinton, 
Mass., where Horatio and E. B. Bigelow were 
starting the manufacture of ginghams and 



inckaha.m. 



95 



carpets, and in these mills, Mr. Ingalls wiirked 
on machinery until 1849, when he again 
changed his locality to \\'indsor, \'t., where 
he found similar employment in the gun 
factory of Messrs. Robbins & Lawrence. 
While here he was impressed with the won- 
derful stories of the California gold dis- 
coveries and went to the Pacific coast and 
for two years he labored in that region, 
partly in the mines and partly at his trade in 
Sacramento. 

On his return to Clinton, he commenced 
the study of dentistry and later graduated at 
the Boston Dental College. His profession 
has engaged his attention since 1S59, and as 
a proof of his success may be mentioned the 
fact that he has been president of the Massa- 
chusetts Dental Society and also of the Mer- 
rimac Valley Dental Association. He had the 
honor of being a member of the state World's 
Fair committee, which prepared for the great 
dental congress held in Chicago Sept. 10, 
1893. 

Mr. Ingalls was married in Newbury, Oct. 
22, 1850, to Rebecca Nelson, daughter of 
Mason and iNIary (Nelson) Randall. They 
have had six children, all of whom have 
passed into the silent land. 

A staunch Republican, Mr. Ingalls was a 
member of his town committee when Abra- 
ham Lincoln was first elected. He was sent 
to the Massachusetts House of Representa- 
tives in 1880 and to the Senate in 1 881 -'8 2, 
serving upon the public health committee 
and was chairman of the committee on 
claims. 

For a number of years he was a member 
of the investment committee of the Clinton 
Savings Bank, and was a director in the 
Lancaster National Bank, Clinton, to within 
one year of the time that bank was wrecked 
by its president, and at the time of his re- 
tirement from office he made a written state- 
ment to the stockholders in relation to the 
irregularities of that officer, who at the time 
held the office of cashier. Mr. Ingalls is now 
president of the Clinton Co-operative Bank. 

For thirty years Mr. Ingalls has been a 
member of the Baptist church in Clinton, 
and for more than that period a Free and 
Accepted Mason, having served as Master 
ofTMnity Lodge of that town and twice ap- 
pointed D. D. O. M. under the Crand 
Lodge of Massachusetts. 

Though an adopted citizen of the old l!ay 
state, Mr. Ingalls still retains an ardent affec- 
tion for his native hills and this motive led 
him more than a decade ago to take an ac- 
tive part in the organization of a Vermont 



society, of which for many years he was the 
honored president. 

INGRAHAM, William H., of Water- 
town, Mass., was born in Peacham in iSiS, 
the son of Paul and 'I'hankful (Sears) Ingra- 
ham. His father came from New Bedford, 
where the Ingrahams are well-known settlers. 

He received his education at the Cale- 
donia county grammar school, where he 
was fitted for college. Instead of continuing 
a collegiate course he went to Framingham, 
Mass., to work for his older brother, who 
owned a store. Here he remained until he 
was twenty-one years of age. Six months 
later, in company with his second brother, 
he bought out the store, and they carried on 
the business for several years. Later they 
branched out in the manufacture of shoes, 
and at one time employed fifty men. The 
firm prospered until the well-remembered 
financial difficulties in 1848, when, with 
numerous other small houses, they were 
crippled and obliged to sell out. Mr. In- 
graham then went to \\'atertown, where he 
has since lived, and was engaged in various 
pursuits until 1879, when he opened an 
insurance office in W'atertown, which he still 
conducts. 

Mr. Ingraham is a highly respected citizen 
of Watertown, and as such has been honored 
by nearly every office in the gift of the 
people. In i848-'i852 and i88o-'93 he 
served as one of the assessors ; 1874, 1875 
and 1879 as selectman ; town clerk, 184S- 
'62 and i88o-'9o; he was a representative 
from his town for two terms, 1879 and 1880, 
in the General Assembly ; a justice of the 
peace for a quarter of a century and a trus- 
tee of the Watertown Savings Bank, being at 
the present time a member of its board of 
investment. 

Mr. Ingraham was married at Wayland, 
Mass., in 1S43, to Caroline C, daughter of 
F^phraim and Caroline (Hubbard) Brigham. 
Their children are : Ralph \\'aldo, Francis, 
and .-Mice Choate. 

Socially Mr. Ingraham has been very 
prominent. He is a member of the Water- 
town L'nitarian Club connected with the 
First Parish Church, was its treasurer in 
1 88 1 and is at present a trustee of the 
ministerial fund ; is a member of the Water- 
town Historical Society and has been a 
prominent member of the I. O. O. F. for 
forty years. A recent article in the Boston 
Herald says of him : " He is kind and 
generous and never fails to act when charity 
so demands. He is one of the most re- 
spected and honored men in the vicinity." 



96 



JOHNSON, Harvey A., was bom in 
Vermont, and having removed to Ohio was 
elected a representative in Congress from 
that state from 1S53 to 1855. 

JONES, Gamaliel Leonard, of Audu- 
bon, Minn., son of Norman and Elizabeth 
(Gibbs) Jones, was born April 11, 1S43, in 
Hubbardton. 




LEONARD JONES- 



Mr. Jones was educated in the common 
schools, Castleton Seminary, and Middlebury 
College, graduating from college in 1868, at 



the age of twenty-five. Since that time he 
has almost constantly been occupied in 
teaching, passing many years in the vicin- 
ity of Dayton, Ohio, and becoming principal 
of Winchester (Ohio) Union School in 1873. 
Upon the death of his father in 1S74 he 
went to Lake Eunice, Minn., purchasing a 
large tract of land, which he carried on while 
attending to his great work as a teacher in 
the vicinity. For four years he was princi- 
pal of Lake Park graded school, and was 
afterwards principal of the Audubon graded 
school, at the same time doing much work of 
a public nature as town clerk and justice of 
the peace, county superintendent of schools, 
member of a committee for selecting text- 
books for the schools of his county, and as 
president of the temperance association, and 
secretary of his church for the Northern 
Minnesota district. 

Social and political organizations have also 
taken his attention to some extent and his 
work for the grange in its early days was 
prominent. In 1882 he was made an honor- 
ary member of Lake Park Literary Society, 
and has contributed many articles to the press, 
and often by request has delivered public 
addresses of a political, religious, educational 
or scientific nature. It has ever been the 
aim of his life to aid in giving liberty and re- 
lief to the oppressed, establishing equal rights 
and impartial justice for all ; promoting every 
measure which tends to the prosperity of his 
country as a whole, and elevating the masses, 
morallv and intellectually. 

Mr. Jones was married August 19, 1868, to 
.Mthea Maria Pike, in Weston, daughter of 
Josiah Wooster and Nancy Maria (Har- 
mon) Pike. They have five children : Joseph 
Charles, Mary Caroline, Edward Harrison 
(deceased in infancy), Earl Grant, and Lulu 
Althea Julia. 



KASSON, JOHN ADAM, of Des Moines, 
Iowa, was born at Charlotte, Jan. 11, 1822 ; 
graduated at the University of Vermont ; 
studied law in Massachusetts, and practiced 
the profession in St. Louis, Mo., until 1857, 
when he removed to Iowa. In 1858 he was 
appointed a commissioner to report upon 
the condition of the executive departments 
of Iowa; assisted in 1859 in organizing the 
State Bank of Iowa, and became director for 
that state. In 1S61 he was appointed As- 
sistant Postmaster-Cieneral, which office he 
resigned in 1862, when he was selected a 
representative from Iowa to the Thirty- 
eighth Congress, serving on the committee 
of ways and means. During the summer of 



1S63 he was appointed by President Lincoln 
a commissioner to the International Postal 
Congress at Paris, returning in .August. Re- 
elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress ; in 
1867 again a V. S. postal commissioner to 
Europe, where he made postal treaties with 
seven European go\ernments ; six times a 
member of the Iowa Legislature ; again 
elected to Congress in 1872 and re-elected 
in 1874 ; he declined a renomination and in 
1877 was appointed envoy to negotiate treat- 
ies with Servia and Roumania ; was again 
elected to Congress in 1880 and 1882 ; re- 
signed in 1884 to accept the appointment of 
Minister Plenipotentiary to Germany ; rep- 
resented the L'nited States at the Congo 



KELLOGG. 

Conference in Berlin : was chief of the Sa- 
moan Commission at Berlin. He now de- 
votes his time to literary pursuits. 

KELLOGG, William Pitt, of New 

Orleans, La., was born at Orwell, Dec. 8, 
1831. His grandfather, Saxton Kellogg, 
married Sallie Fuller, a descendant of Ben- 
jamin Franklin, and when a comparatively 
young man removed from Connecticut to 
Vermont. His father was the Rev. Sherman 
Kellogg, a well-known Congregational cler- 
gyman, located for many years at Montpelier. 
Many of his relati\es now reside in Vermont 
and have since an early day been identified 
with this state. 




PITT KELLOGG. 



He was educated at the Norwich Military 
University. In 1850 he removed to Peoria, 
111., where he read law with E. G. Johnson, 
a prominent lawyer formerly of Vermont ; 
was admitted to the bar in 1853 and prac- 
ticed law until March, i86i,when President 
Lincoln appointed him chief justice of Ne- 
braska. 

On the breaking out of the war, at the 
request of Governor Yates, he returned to 
Illinois and raised the 7th Regt. of 111. Cav- 
alry, President Lincoln, at the request of 
Governor Yates, having given him six 
months' leave of absence for this purpose. 
In July, 186 r. Governor Yates having com- 
missioned him colonel, his regiment was 
mustered into service and ordered to report 
to General Grant at Cairo. Mr. Kellogg 



KELLOGG. 97 

was soon after ordered by ( leneral Grant to 
take command of Cape Girardeau, Mo. He 
was in command of that ])ost until (leneral 
Pope moved on Fort Thompson, when Mr. 
Kellogg with his regiment joined him, tak- 
ing part in the operations resulting in the 
capttire of Fort Thompson and New Mad- 
rid until ordered to Pittsburg Landing im- 
mediately after the battle of Shiloh. Hecom- 
manded a cavalry brigade under General 
Granger, composed in part of his own regi- 
ment, in the operations about Farmington, 
Corinth, and Grand Junction. In the sum- 
mer of 1862, his health having completely 
failed, he became so much of an invalid that 
he was compelled to resign. 

President Lincoln having allowed the 
position of chief justice to remain open Mr. 
Kellogg returned to Nebraska and remained 
until January, 1863, discharging the duties 
of chief justice, when he was requested by 
Governor Yates to return to Illinois and 
accompany the Governor on a tour of inspec- 
tion of the Illinois soldiers in the field. 
They visited General Grant's headquarters, 
and on Feb. 15, 1863, Mr. Kellogg was re- 
quested by General (Jrant to proceed im- 
mediately to Washington with important 
papers, from General Grant to President 
Lincoln. He accepted the mission, and 
armed with the following pass, written by 
General Grant, which Mr. Kellogg still re- 
tains, he went to Washington and delivered 
the papers : 

Headquarters Department of 
Tennessee before Vicksburg, 
Feb. 15, 1863. 

The bearer hereof. Colonel Kellogg, is 
permitted to pass through all parts of this 
department, stopping at such military posts 
as he may desire, and travelling free on 
chartered steamers and military railroads. 
Good until countermanded. 

[Signed] IT. S. Grant, 

Major-General Commanding. 

Mr. Kellogg held the office of chief justice 
of Nebraska until .April, 1865, when Presi- 
dent Lincoln tendered him the appointment 
of collector of New Orleans. Mr. Kellogg 
continued to serve as collector until July, 
1868, when a Republican State Legislature 
having been chosen, he was elected LI. S. 
Senator from Louisiana, taking his seat July 
17, 1868. He served on the committee on 
commerce and Pacific railroads, was chair- 
man of the committee on levees of the Mis- 
sissippi river, the first committee on the sub- 
ject appointed by the Senate under a reso- 
lution introduced by Mr. Kellogg. He was 
the author of the Texas Pacific railroad act, 
having introduced that bill and was foremost 
in securing its passage. He remained in 
the \J. S. Senate until the fall of 1872, when 
having been nominated for Crovernor bv the 



Republican party, he resigned. 'Ihe long 
and notable struggle that followed as a con- 
sequence of that gubernatorial contest, re- 
sulting in Mr. Kellogg's recognition as Gov- 
ernor of Louisiana by both houses of Con- 
gress, is a matter of general history. 

Mr. Kellogg served as Governor of Louis- 
iana until June, 1877, when he was again 
elected to the L'. S. Senate, and served as 
senator until 1883. He ser\ed on the com- 
mittees on commerce and territories, and 
was chairman of the committee on Pacific 
railroads. At the end of his second term as 
U. S. Senator he was elected to the House of 
Representatives from the great sugar district 
of Louisiana, receiving nearly the entire vote 
of the planting interests of that district. In 
1884, at the expiration of his term in the 
House, Mr. Blaine having been defeated for 
President, Mr. Kellogg retired from active 
politics. 

Mr. Kellogg was a delegate in the conven- 
tion that organized the Republican party in 
Illinois in 185 J. He was a delegate at the 
convention in Bloomington which nominated 
Governor Bissell, the first Republican Gov- 
ernor elected in Illinois. He also led the 
delegation from Fulton county in the Repub- 
lican state convention in i860, which nomi- 
nated Governor Yates, the war Governor, and 
he was himself chosen by the same conven- 
tion as one of Mr. Lincoln's presidential 
electors. He was a delegate-at-large to the 
Chicago national convention in 1868, which 
nominated General Grant the first time. He 
has since been a delegate and chairman of 
the Louisiana delegation at every Republican 
national convention, including the last con- 
vention of June, 1892, at Minneapolis. 

He was one of the 306 delegates who 
voted for General Grant to the last in the 
national convention of 1S80. 

He was married, June 6, 1865, to Mary E., 
daughter of Andrew Wills, who emigrated at 
an early age to Illinois from Pennsylvania, 
and who was a member of the famous Wills 
family connected with the history of Gettys- 
burg, Pa. They have no children. Mr. 
Kellogg has four sisters residing in Iowa 
and one sister and a brother residing in 
Kansas — they all have children. 

Mr. Kellogg now resides a portion of the 
year in Louisiana, where he is connected 
with sugar planting, and the remainder of 
the year in Washington, D. C, where he has 
large real estate interests. 

KIDDER, JEFFERSON P., was born at 
Braintree, was trained to agricultural pursuits, 
taught school, received a classical education, 
graduating at the Norwich LIniversity, and 
was a tutor therein : received in 1848 the de- 
gree of M. .A. from the L'niversity of Ver- 
mont ; studied and practiced law ; was a 



member of the state Constitutional Conven- 
tion in 1847 : was a member of the state 
Senate of \'ermont in 1847 to 1848; was 
Lieutenant-Governor of \'ermont in 1853- 
1854 ; removed to St. Paul, Minn., in 1857; 
was elected a provisional delegate from Da- 
kota Territory while visiting there in 1859; 
was a member of the Minnesota House of 
Representatives in )86i, 1863,-1864; was 
appointed in 1865 an associate justice of the 
Supreme Court for Dakota Territory, and re- 
moved there, and was re-appointed in 1869 
and again in 1873, and resigned after having 
discharged the duties of that office for ten 
years ; and was elected a delegate from Da- 
kota in the Forty-fourth Congress as a Repub- 
lican : was re-elected to the Forty-fifth Con- 
gress. 

KNAPP, CHAUNCY L., was born in Ber- 
lin, Feb. 26, 1S09. He commenced life by 
serving an apprenticeship in a printing office 
in Montpelier ; was elected reporter for the 
Legislature in 1833 ; was co-proprietor and 
editor for some years of the State Journal ; 
was elected secretary of the state in 1836, 
in which capacity he served four years ; and 
removing to Massachusetts, he was elected 
secretary of the Massachusetts Senate in 
1851 ; and was elected to the Thirty-fourth 
and re-elected to the Thirty-fifth Congress. 
To him was awarded the credit, while edit- 
ing the Journal, of first nominating General 
Harrison for the presidency, which resulted 
in his obtaining the electoral votes of Ver- 
mont four years before he was really elected. 

KNAPP, Dexter J., of Sioux Falls, 
South Dakota, son of Gardner and Fanny 
(Alton) Knapp, was born in Dummerston, 
Nov. 30, 1844. 

Availing himself of the ordinary school 
advantages of his native place, and with an 
inherent high sense of honor and integrity 
such as has placed many Green Mountain 
boys in eminent positions in life, Mr. Knapp 
began his business career as a dealer in silks 
at New Haven, Conn., in i860. Prospering 
in this he went westward in 1867 and locat- 
ed at Minneapolis, Minn., and engaged in 
the loan and lumber business. Profiting by 
his experience in the past and his connec- 
tion with large business transactions, he 
remained here until 1877 when he went to 
Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory, and began ac- 
tive operations in real estate. This town, at 
the time but a mere hamlet, afforded a fine 
field for his business sagacity and he began 
buying large tracts of lands adjacent to 
Sioux Falls, also building dwellings on the 
plateaux overlooking the Big Sioux river, 
which a rapidly increasing population made 
necessary. January i, 1894, Sioux Falls had 
a population of 15,000, and is located in one 



99 



of the finest wheat and corn behs hi the 
world. 

Mr. Knapp was married, Dec. 24, 1S77, 




DEXTER J. KNAPP. 

to Fanny M. Harmon, of Sioux Falls, South 
Dakota, and has two daughters : Bessy, and 
Helen. 

KNAPP, Lyman E., of Sitka, Alaska, 
son of Hiram and Elvira (Stearns) Kna])p, 
was born in Somerset, Nov. 5, 1837. He 
was the fourth in direct line of descent from 
Capt. Joseph Knapp, of Taunton, Mass., 
who commanded a company in Colonel Tit- 
comb's regiment, war of the Revolution. 
His grandfather, Cyrus Knapp, remoxed to 
Dover about the beginning of the nineteenth 
century. His first ancestor in this country 
came from Yorkshire, England, and settled at 
Brighton, Mass., in 1640. 

The subject of this sketch prepared for 
college at Burr Seminary, Manchester, and 
graduated with honors from Middlebury 
College in 1862. Directly after graduation 
he enlisted as a private in Co. I, i6th Regt. 
Vt. \'ols., for nine months, but was elected 
and commissioned captain of the company 
before mustered into the United States ser- 
vice. He received his baptism of fire in the 
battle of Gettysburg and was wounded in his 
right shoulder by a bullet from a spherical 
case shot during the famous bayonet charge of 
the 1 6th Vt. Regt., to meet the rebel charge 
under Pickett. The wound proved not to 
be serious, and after discharge from his 



first service he re-enlisted, raised a company 
of volunteers at Townshend, which was 
assigned as Co. F, to the 1 7th Regt. Vt. 
Vols., and in command of that company he 
served in Grant's famous Wilderness cam- 
paign of 1864. The 17th saw very severe 
service, was engaged in fourteen of the 
historic battles of the war and suffered 
greater losses in killed and wounded, during 
its si.xteen months service, than most of the 
regiments which put in their full terms of 
three and four years. Captain Knapp was 
engaged with his regiment in all these bat- 
tles and was wounded in two of them, 
Spottsylvania and the capture of Petersburg, 
though not severely. He was promoted 
major, Oct. 25, 1864, and lieutenant-colonel 
a few days later. He also received a brevet 
commission from the President "for gallant 
and meritorious action " in the battle of 
Petersburg, April 2, 1865. 

At the close of the war he engaged for 
a short time in teaching at Burr & Burton 
seminary, Manchester, then assumed the 
control and management of the Middlebury 
Register, and he was editor of that journal 
for thirteen years. During his work in con- 
nection with that paper, he read law, was 
admitted to practice in the Vermont courts 
in 1876, which practice he continued, resid- 
ing in Middlebury, until his removal to 
Alaska to assume the duties of Governor of 
that territory, to which he was appointed on 
the 1 2th day of April, 1889. 

In i872-'73 he was oneof theclerks of the 
Vermont House of Representatives. In 
i886-'87 he was an influential member of 
the same body. For twenty years, from 
1869 to 1889, he was the trial justice of the 
peace of his county, before whom the more 
important and difficult cases were brought 
for adjudication. He was register of pro- 
bate for two years and became judge of the 
same court in 1879, which office he held by 
successive elections until he resigned in 
1889, to accept the office of Governor of 
.•\laska. 

He was chairman of the Republican com- 
mittee of his county eight years, and has 
served as member of the school board for his 
district ; chairman of the county temperance 
society ; vice-president of the Western Ver- 
mont Congregational Club ; town clerk for a 
number of years ; treasurer of the .Addison 
county grammar school ; chairman of the 
business committee of the Middlebury Con- 
gregational Religious Society ; town assessor 
of taxes ; chairman of the county evangeliza- 
tion committee, and connected with every 
movement for the promotion of morals and 
philanthropy which came within his reach. 
Sometimes he made addresses on occasions 
like the Fourth of Tuly, Memorial Day, relig- 
ious conventions, temperance meetings and 



KNOWLTON. 



KXOWLTON. 



society anniversaries, and wrote editorial 
articles and communications for periodicals 
and newspapers other than his own. These 
articles were highly appreciated and much 
sought after. 

In college he was a member of the Delta 
Upsilon fraternity and belonged to the hon- 
orary Alumni society, Phi Beta Kappa, after 
graduation, and has held the ofifice of presi- 
dent of the local chapter. Soon after the 
war he became a member of the G. A. R. 
and served several terms as commander of 
his post. His interest in the work of the 
learned societies never flagged. He is still 
a member of four historical societies, includ- 
ing the Alaska Historical Society of which 
he is president, of the National Geographic 
Society, of one ethnological society, of the 
American Institute of Civics of New York, 
whose object is to promote a higher and 
purer citizenship ; and has made geology and 
mineralogy the special study of many of his 
summer vacations. 

In addition to his professional and official 
work he had an extensive loan business of 
which he conducted the eastern and western 
agencies in Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Da- 
kota, and Washington, and he had the man- 
agement of several trust estates. All these 
business connections he laid aside in 18S9 
on leaving for Alaska. 

He became Governor of Alaska on taking 
the oath of office, April 20, 1S89, since 
which time he has conducted the business 
of the executive of that territory. The 
duties of that ofifice have been exceedingly 
onerous, and the responsibilities heavy and 
wearing. He has made four extended 
annual reports, w-hich have been published 
and have become the authority on matters 
embraced therein. 

Politically his sympathies were ever with 
the Republican party. His first vote for 
President was cast for Abraham Lincoln in 
i860. 

He became a member of the Congrega- 
tional church at the age of fifteen, and he 
ever remained devotedly attached to the 
principles of that faith. 

He was united in marriage, Jan. 23, 1865, 
at Washington, D. C, with Martha A., 
daughter of Ebenezer and Corcina (Jones) 
Severance. .'Vs the fruit of this marriage 
they have : George E., Frances A., Lyman 
Edwin, and May A. 

KNOWLTON, Frank Hall, of Wash- 
ington, D. C, son of Julius A. and Mary 
Ellen (Blackmer) Knowlton, was born Sept. 
2, i860, at Brandon. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Brandon and Middlebury College, graduating 
from the latter institution in July, 1884, with 



the degree of B. S., the first conferred by 
this college, and in 1887 received the de- 
gree of M. S. from the same college. In 
1894 he obtained the degree of Ph. D. from 
the Columbian L^niversity in Washington, 
D. C. This degree was the first one of the 
kind granted by the university as represent- 
ing a course of study accomplished. 

Immediately after graduation in August, 
1884, he went to Washington, D. C, to be- 
come an assistant in the department of bot- 
any in the U. S. National Museum, a posi- 
tion which he held until July, 1887, when he 
was made assistant curator of the depart- 
ment. He continued in this position until 
.April, 1889, when he resigned to assume 
charge of the botany of the Century Diction- 
ary, but his health failed and the following 
six months from July, 1889, were spent in 
active field work in New Mexico, Arizona 
and California as assistant paleontologist of 
the U. S. geological survey. In 1887 he was 
elected professor of botany in Columbian 
University, Washington, D. C, w-hich posi- 
tion he now holds. He was also engaged in 
preparing the botanical definitions for the 
Standard Dictionary, a work now approach- 
ing completion, and has written over 20,000 
definitions for it. He is one of the editors of 
the American Geologist, and has written many 
valuable scientific papers, notably, " Fossil 
Wood and Lignite of the Potomac Forma- 
tion," " Fossil \\ood of Arkansas," " Addi- 
tions to the Flora of Washington," " Birds of 
Brandon, Vt.," " Flora of Nushagak, Alaska" ; 
a complete bibliography of his works would 
number 125 articles, including papers and 
reviews. His contributions to leading scien- 
tific journals have been extensive and include 
the American Journal of Science ; American 
Geologist, geological survey bulletin ; Journal 
of Geology ; The Auk ; Proceedings LI. S. 
National Museum: Smithsonian Reports; 
The Botanical Gazette ; Forest and Stream ; 
Garden and Forest, etc. 

At college he was a D. K. E. and has since 
been elected to membership in the following 
named societies : American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, American 
Geological Society, American Ornithologists' 
Union, Society of Naturalists of Eastern 
L'nited States, Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion, Philosophical, Biological, Geological, 
Botanical and Ornithological societies of 
Washington, D. C. 

Prof. Knowlton was married at Kingman, 
Kan., Sept. 27, 1887, to Annie Sterling, 
daughter of William A. and Lydia Moorhead. 
She died Jan. 26, 1890, leaving one child: 
Margaret. He was married a second time 
at Laurel, Md., Oct. 3, 1893, to Rena Geni- 
veve, daughter of Isaac B. and Lizzie W. 
Ruff. 



LADl), Charles Douglass, of san 

Francisco, Cal., son of Seneca and Mary S. 
(Varnuni) Ladd, was born in Danville, Sept. 
3, 1849. 

He was educated at the publfc schools of 
Danville during the years of his minority, 
and learned the blacksmith's and gunsmith's 
trades. In 1869 he went to California, and 
for several years worked as gunsmith and 
blacksmith, until in 1877 he established him- 
self in business at San Francisco as a dealer 
in firearms and sporting goods. In 1881 he 
removed to his present large establishment 
at 529 Kearney street, where he still con- 
ducts the same business in connection with 
the fur business, which he has added during 
the last few years. Mr. Ladd is the owner of 
several schooners which are engaged prin- 
cipally in the fur trade. 

He is independent and liberal in regard 
to politics, and votes with the party having 
the best candidate for otifice ; hence, he says, 
" I am both Democrat and Republican." 

Mr. Ladd married Mary S. Lyon of Wood- 
stock, Conn. 

LANGDON, William Chauncy, 

grandson of the late Hon. Chauncy Langdon 
of Castleton, and son of John Jay and Har- 
riette Curtis (Woodward) Langdon, being 
descended on the mother's side from the 
Wheelocks and Woodwards of Dartmouth 
College, N. H., w-as born in Burlington, 
August 19, 1 83 1. 

His childhood and youth were almost 
wholly passed at the South, chiefly in New 
Orleans, where he was educated by his moth- 
er. He fitted for college at Castleton (Vt.) 
Seminary and in 1850 graduated at Transyl- 
vania L'niversity, Le.xington, Ky. 

Giving his early manhood to scientific pur- 
suits, he was for a few months instructor in 
astronomy and chemistry at Shelby College, 
Ky., from which post he was appointed in 
1851, asaistant examiner, and, afterwards, 
chief examiner, in the V. S. Patent Office. 
He resigned this office in 1856 ; practiced as 
a councilor in patent law for two years ; and, 
in 1858, was ordained to the ministry of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. 

During his residence in Washington, Mr. 
Langdon was actively interested in the 
Voung Men's Christian Associations, of which 
he was one of the earliest American pioneers 
and the leader in the organization of these 
societies in a national confederation, as well 
as in securing international relations between 
them and European bodies. 

In the ministry, after a year as an assis- 
tant in a Philadelphia church, Mr. Lang- 
don went in 1859 to Rome, Italy, and as 
chaplain of the V. S. Legation near the 
Holv See founded and was first rector of 



the American Episcopal Church in that city ; 
also about the same time starting a similar 
church in Florence. Returning to the 
Ignited States at the outbreak of the civil 
war, he accepted in 1862 the rectorship of 
St. John's Church, Havre de (Irace, Md. 
.\t the close of the war he was sent back to 
Italy as secretary of a joint committee of 
the Ceneral Convention of the Episcopal 
Church, charged to inquire into the religious 
and ecclesiastical aspects and results of the 
Italian Revolution then in progress. In this 
charge, he made his residence in Florence, 
coming into intimate personal relations with 
the principal leaders of the Liberal Catholic 




CHAUNCY LANGDON 



party in the Italian church, before and dur- 
ing the period of the Vatican Council, as well 
as with some of the early leaders of liberal 
Catholicism in (lermany. In i873Mr. Lang- 
don was transferred to C.eneva, Switzerland, 
where he founded Emmanuel Episcopal 
Church, and co-operated in German, French 
and Swiss religious movements. He was 
present at the Old Catholic Congress of 
religious movements, of Cologne, 1872 ; of 
Constance, 1873 ; of Friburg, 1874; and he 
was a participant member of the re-union 
conferences of Bonn in 1874 and 1875. He 
received the degree of Doctor in Divinity 
from Kenyon College, Gambler, O., in 1874, 
"in recognition of his distinguished services 
in Italy." 



Towards the close of 1875, Dr. Langdon 
returned again to the United States ; was 
rector of Christ Church, Cambridge, Mass., 
in iSyC-'yS ; and of St. James' Church, Bed- 
ford, Pa., from 1883 to 1890; since which 
year, in consequence of impaired health, he 
has withdrawn from parish duty and has 
been living with his eldest son. Prof. Court- 
ney Langdon, of Brown University, Provi- 
dence, R. I. 

Mr. Langdon married, in 1858, Hannah 
Agnes, daughter of E. S. Courtney of Balti- 
more, Md., and has had five children, all 
still living : Prof. Courtney Langdon, George 
W. Langdon of Nevvburyport, Mass., William 
C. Langdon, Jr., an instructor in Brown 
L^niversity, and two daughters. 

Dr. Langdon has so far published but two 
small volumes '' Some Account of the Catho- 
lic Reform Movement in the Italian Church," 
London 1868; and "Seven Letters to the 
Baron Ricasoli," in Italian, Florence, 1S74. 
He has, however, for some years been 
engaged upon a work of some magnitude — 
" The Modern Crisis of Latin Christianity." 
But he has published a succession of reports 
during his residence in Europe, a number 
of pamphlets on religious and ecclesiastical 
subjects, and a few sermons ; and he has 
also been, of later years, a frequent contrib- 
utor to the Church Quarterly and the Politi- 
cal Science (Quarterly, to the International 
and Andover Reviews, to the Church, At- 
lantic, Century and L'niversity Magazines, 
and to other periodicals. 

LAWRENCE, CHARLES B., late of Chi- 
cago, was the son of Villa Lawrence, a mer- 
chant of Vergennes, and was born in that 
city about 1819 to 1820. 

After the proper preparation he entered 
jNIiddlebury College, where he continued till 
the end of the junior year, when he entered 
the senior class in Llnion College, Schenec- 
tady, N. Y., from which he graduated in 
1840, and in the winter following he com- 
menced teaching an academy in either Dal- 
las or Lowndes county, Ala., and remained 
so employed until 184.2, when he entered 
the law office of Hon. Alphonso Taft, an 
eminent lawyer of Cincinnati, Ohio, after- 
ward attorney-general of the L'nited States 
under President (Irant. 

In the fall of 1843 he went to St. Louis, 
Mo., and studied in the law office of ( leyer 
& Dayton, till his admission to the bar in 
St. Louis in the beginning of the year 1844. 
Henry S. Geyer of the firm of Geyer & Day- 
ton, stood at the front of the St. Louis and 
Missouri bar, and succeeded Thomas H. 
Benton in the ignited States Senate. In 
February, 1844, Mr. Lawrence formed a part- 
nership with Melvin L. Gray, from Vermont, 
just then beginning practice. As both mem- 



bers of this firm were young and inexper- 
ienced and had few acquaintances and their 
practice was mostly waiting and seeking em- 
ployment, Mr. Lawrence was induced to go 
to Quincy, 111., and form a partnership with 
David L. Hough, son of Prof. John Hough, 
for many years of the faculty of Middlebury 
College. This partnership was soon termin- 
ated by the appointment of Mr. Hough to 
the land agency of the Michigan and Illinois 
canal. Then Mr. Lawrence became the part- 
ner of the Hon. Archie Williams, one of the 
leading attorneys of northwestern Illinois, 
with whom he continued until iSs6. Dur- 







ARLES B. LAWRENCE, 



ing this period the firm did a large and 
profitable business and Mr. Lawrence at- 
tained a high rank for learning, professional 
skill and ability, and for integrity and up- 
rightness of character. 

In the meantime he had married Miss 
iMargaret Marston, a young English lady, 
whose parents had become residents of 
Quincy. Being in poor health — a life-long 
sufferer with asthma— in 1856 he closed his 
business, and after attending as a delegate to 
the national convention that nominated John 
C. Fremont for the presidency, he spent a 
winter in Cuba and the two years following 
in Europe, and on his return to this 
country settled on a farm in Warren county, 
111., but was soon elected circuit judge of his 
circuit, in which position he showed such 
marked judicial qualities that he was soon 
elected one of the supreme judges of the 



I03 



state and served in that capacity for many 
years. As a judge his standing was one of 
the highest, for great powers of analysis, in- 
tegrity, uprightness and legal attainments. 
His opinions are characterized by clearness, 
close logic, perspicuity and force, and are 
models of their kind. He was regarded, both 
in and out of the state, as one of the strong- 
est and ablest jurists that ever sat on the 
Supreme Court bench of Illinois. On the 
closing of his judicial career, he resumed 
practice in Chicago, where it became large 
and profitable. 

In the controversy for the presidency be- 
tween Tilden and Hayes, he was sent as one 
of the commissioners to Louisiana to investi- 
gate the results of the election in that state, 
and subsequently was much talked of as U. 
S. Senator from Illinois. He was originally 
a Democrat, but his residence in the South 
had convinced him of the e\ils and dangers 
of slavery, and he became thereafter a 
Republican. 

In February, 1SS5, to avoid the inclem- 
ency of the weather on the lake, he started 
on a trip to reach the more genial climate of 
the South, but was overtaken by death at 
Decatur, Ala. 

He had three children, two sons and a 
daughter. The eldest son and daughter 
died on reaching adult years, and in his life- 
time. The youngest son survived him, but 
died soon after his father's death, while a 
student in Yale College. His wife alone sur- 
vives, and is now residing in England. 

LEE, JOHN StEBBINS, of Canton, N. V., 
son of Eli and Rebekah (Stebbins) Lee, was 
born Sept. 23, 1820, at Yernon. 

He was educated in the common schools 
and fitted for college in Deerfield, Shelburne 
Falls and Brattleboro ; entering Amherst Col- 
lege in 1 84 1, he graduated with honors in 
1845. He taught his first school when 
eighteen years of age at Guilford. From 
1845 to 1847 he was principal of Mount 
Caesar Seminary at Svvanzey, N. H., and for 
two years principal of Melrose Seminary at 
West Brattleboro, and at the laiter place was 
ordained to the Universalist ministry June 
23, 1847. He held brief pastorates in \Vest 
Brattleboro, Lebanon, N. H., and Mont- 
pelier, where be became assistant editor of 
the Christian Repository, associated with 1 )r. 
Eli Ballou. 

In March, 1S52, he took charge of the 
Oreen Mountain Institute at South Wood- 
stock and labored there twenty-one terms in 
succession until 1857, when wearied with 
constant work he removed to Woodstock 
village. He served as pastor of South Wood- 
stock, Bridgewater and Woodstock parishes 
for seven years, and in April, 1859, he was 
called to take charge of the St. Lawrence 



L'niversity at Canton, N. Y., where he has 
since resided. For nine years he was act- 
ing president of the collegiate department 
and college and in .April, 1869, he was trans- 
ferred to the theological department and 
appointed professor of ecclesiastical history 
and biblical archaeology which position he 
now holds ( 1894). For nearly fifty-five years 
he has been an able and successful teacher, 
passing through all grades from common 
schools to college. 




JOHN STEBBINS LEE. 



In July, 1 868, seeking rest from his ardu- 
ous labors he obtained leave of absence and 
travelled extensively in England and on the 
Continent, Egypt and the Holy Land. His 
work and varied historical reading had pre- 
pared him to study intelligently classical 
scenes and Bible lands, historic and anti- 
quarian relics, and the results of his obser- 
vations were written out for several publi- 
cations while abroad. L'pon his return, 
improved in health and mind, stored with 
valuable knowledge, he lectured upon his 
travels to large audiences in many states. 
In 1 87 1 he published a work entitled, 
"Nature and .\rt in the Old World," and in 
1877 another volume entitled, "Sacred 
Cities," devoted to biblical scenes. In ad- 
dition to these he has written many articles 
for the Ladies' Repository, the L^niversalist 
Quarterly and other journals. 

In 1848 the degree of A. M. was conferred 
upon him by Amherst College, and in 1875 



104 



the honorary degree of D. D., by Buchtel 
College, Akron, O. 

Mr. Lee was married, Feb. 22, 1848, to 
Elmina Bennett, of Westmoreland, N. H. 
Six children have been born to them : the 
eldest, Ida Elmine, died in infancy : the 
other five, Leslie Alexander, John Clarence, 
Frederic Schiller, Florence Josephine and 
Lulu Gertrude Lottie are living and all have 
taken up the profession of their father and 
occupy prominent positions. 



LYON, Lucius, was born in Vermont, 
but emigrated to Michigan when quite a 
young man ; devoted himself for several 
years to the business of surveying the wild 
lands of the territory ; was a delegate in 
Congress from that territory during the years 
1833, -'34, -'35, and a senator in Congress' 
from Michigan from 1836 to 1840, and a 
representative in Congress from 1843 to 
1845. His last public position was that of 
surveyor-general in the Northwest. Died at 
Detroit, September 25, 185 i. 



MARTIN, Moses MELLEN, of .AUegan, 
Mich., son of Deacon Moses and Almira 
(Dana) Martin, was born in Peacham, .April 
8, 1834. He inherits sterling qualities and 
sound judgment from a good stock of ances- 
tors, counting among them the Chamber- 
lains and Mellens of Hopkinton, Mass., his 




MOSES MELLEN MARTIN. 

great-grandfather, Samuel Chamberlain, hav- 
ing married Martha Mellen, daughter of 
Deacon Henry Mellen of that town. His 
grandparents, .\shbel and Lydia (Chamber- 
lain) ^lartin, were among the first settlers 
of Peacham, having built one of the first 
frame farm houses in the town. 

Mr. Martin received the rudiments of 
his education in the country district where 
his father lived : he fitted for college at 
Peacham .\cademy and graduated from Mid- 



dlebury College in 1 86 1 , and from the Prince- 
ton Theological Seminary in 1864. He was 
licensed to preach at Peacham by the Minis- 
terial Association of Caledonia county in 
May, 1864, and was ordained at Middletown 
where was his first pastorate in 1S65. He 
entered upon home missionary work in Wis- 
consin the following year and has held pas- 
torates over Congregational churches in 
Prescott, and Mazomanie, Wis., and in I'hree 
Oaks, and Allegan, Mich., where now he is 
pastor of the First Congregational Church. 

He has always taken a deep interest in 
educational matters, serving for many years 
as school inspector and in this capacity visit- 
ing schools, advising teachers and stimulat- 
ing pupils to make the most of themselves, 
to desire above everything good character. 
Through his influence the town library of 
Three Oaks grew to be one of the best in 
southwestern Michigan. In college he was 
from the first opposed to secret societies and 
allied himself with the Delta L'psilon frater- 
nitity the highest offices of which he held. 
He is an honorary member of the A. B. C. F. 
M. His Princeton classmates made him a 
life member of the Bible Society ; he received 
the title of Doctor of Divinity from Olivet 
College, Mich. 

In the ministry his labors have been marked 
by great earnestness and excellent judgment 
so that although in every instance his charges, 
though at the outset unpromising, became, 
under his wise and able leadership, strong 
and flourishing churches ; and as an instance 
of the regard of his people, one of his 
churches, in rebuilding fifteen years after he 
left it, called him back to preach the dedica- 
tory sermon and surprised him with their 
beautiful " Martin memorial window." One 
of his most striking characteristics is extreme 
modesty, and every pastorate and every 
honor have been unsought. .An honor which 
he greatly prizes was his election by ballot 
by the state association composed of between 
three and four hundred churches, to preach 
in .Ann .Arbor the opening sermon at one of 
the most important conventions during the 



I05 



fifty years of Congregationalism in Michigan 
when the subject of state self-support was 
to be introduced and acted upon. One of 
the members of the body said the sermon, 
the subject of which was " Opportunity," 
presented the initial of all the intense and 
able discussions which followed. He was 
also appointed by the church at I'eacham to 
deliver the historical address at its centen- 
nial celebration. 

His great kindliness, geniality and ready 
wit make him a favorite in all social circles. 
His popularity, like that of Lord Mansfield, 
is "that which follows, not that which is run 
after." 

Mr. Martin was married Jan. ig, 1865, to 
Miss Laura A. Kellogg, who tiled in August, 
1S70. Mary Louise, the only child of this 
union, died in infancy. He was again mar- 
ried in October, 1871, to Margaret Johnston, 
daughter of Joseph Johnston, one of the pio- 
neers of Chicago, who died in 1878. He 
was married to his present wife, Mary, 
daughter of Alva W. and Lydia (.Atwood) 
Pierce, of Londonderry, in June, 1880. Of 
this union are four children : Pauline, 
Persis Lydia, Mellen Chamberlain, and 
Blanche Elizabeth. 

MASON, George, of Washington, 
D. C, son of Ephraim Hubbard and Pru- 
dence (Hills) Mason, was born in Putney, 
Dec. 31, 1 83 1. His parents removed to 
Brookline in 1832, where they resided for 
more than thirty years, and where his father 
died, having been a prominent man in the 
town which he represented in the Legisla- 
tures of 1835 and 1S36. His grandfather. 
Anthony Mason, moved to P^rookline from 
Warren, R. I., in 1796. He married Elizabeth 
Temple, of Dummerston, and raised a large 
family, of whom F^phraim Hubbard was the 
eldest. The maternal grandfather of George 
Mason, Samuel Hills, was a soldier in the 
Continental army in the war of the Revolu- 
tion. He was taken prisoner at (^)uebec and 
paroled, but never exchanged. His two 
brothers, Nathaniel and William, were al.so 
sodiers during the Re\olution. Their father, 
Nathaniel, li\ ed in Swanzey, N. H., where he 
and his wife were much esteemed, 'i'he 
Mason family were of English descent. 

George Alason grew up very much like 
other Vermont boys of fifty years ago, at- 
tending school a few months in summer and 
in winter, and working on his father's farm 
in spring and autumn. He thus, in boy- 
hood, acquired some knowledge of the ele- 
ments of an English education and of farming. 
As he grew older he became ambitious of 
obtaining a more liberal education, and he 
succeeded without assistance in mastering 
the principles of algebra and surveying, while 
with assistance of Prof. L. F. Ward, at 



Saxton's Ri\er and at Westminster, he ac- 
quired such knowledge of other branches as 
was necessary for admission to Vermont 
University. He graduated from the univer- 
sity in the class of 1858, and has since 
received the honorary degree of A. M. from 
his alma mater. During his four years at 
the university and even before that time he 
earned a great part of the means to pay his 
bills by teaching for a part of each year, 
and after graduation he continued to teach 
for several years, principally in Worcester 
county, Mass. 




GEORGE MASON. 

In 1862, June 11, he married Josephine 
Augusta, daughter of Col. Moses and Louisa 
(Pkts) Buffum of Oxford, Mass. Of this 
marriage he has two sons : H. Harry Buffum, 
and George Ernest. 

In 1S59 he was made a Master Mason, in 
Putney. In i860 he became a charter mem- 
ber of the Oxford Lodge in Massachusetts, 
and its first worshipful master. He was sub- 
sequendy re-elected and installed by the 
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. In 1863 
he removed to Washington, D. C, where he 
received an appointment in the office of the 
paymaster general of the army, and served 
for five years, reading law meanwhile, and 
graduating from the law department of Col- 
umbia College with the degree of LL. B. 
He was admitted, on graduation, to the bar 
of the District Supreme Court, and practiced 
his profession for some years, making a 
specialty of bankruptcy law. He subse- 



io6 



quently withdrew from practice and engaged 
in the real estate business. In 1869 he was 
elected a member of the school board of 
Washington, L). C, serving one year. 

In 1889 he visited Europe with his family, 
and spent the summer of that year in Paris 
at the P.xposition. He afterwards traveled 
in Great Britain and on the Continent, visit- 
ing several European countries, witnessing 
the celebrated passion play at Ober Ammer- 
gau, and spending some time in Munich, 
Vienna and other capital cities, viewing 
their treasures of art and relics of antiquity, 
and studying the social and industrial con- 
ditions of the people as developed under 
their various political institutions. In the 
winter of 1S90 he returned to his native 
land, a more ap]5reciative and ardent lover 
of its free institutions. 

Republican in politics, his sympathies are 
with and for the race which owes its en- 
franchisement to that party, and with the 
struggling masses rather than with the fa- 
vored few. 

MEIGS, Henry B., of Baltimore, Md., 
son of Captain Luther, and grandson of 
Benjamin (pioneers of that town), was born 
in Highgate, Nov. 23, 1844. 

Remote from the district schools of the 
locality, his education was very limited, but 
upon attaining the years of manhood he 
became a great reader of current literature 
and substantial standard works almost ex- 
clusively of history, biography and travel, 
and has pursued all through life a self- 
directed course of study and reading of 
standard and classical authors. Thus stor- 
ing his memory with facts that have uncon- 
sciously but admirably fitted him for a life 
of usefulness. 

In 1862 he enlisted as a private soldier in 
Co. K, 13th Vt. Vols., Col. F. V. Randall 
commanding, and was with his command 
and in the ranks until the mustering out of 
the regiment, and participated in all of the 
varying experiences of his regiment during 
its service, including the march to and the 
battle of Cettysburg. 

Upon the conclusion of the war. Captain 
Meigs emigrated to the wilds of the far West 
and for six years was engaged in ranching, 
merchandising, gold-mining and freighting 
across the plains in the days when Indians 
were numerous and railroads were unknown 
in that country. In 187 1 he returned east 
and engaged in the manufacture of lime, and 
merchandising until 1874 in northern New 
York. 

In politics Captain Meigs has never been 
interested as an active partisan, with the 
single exception of having been a member 
of the city council of Julesburg, Col., in 
1867. While residing in northern New 



York, Captain Meigs organized the first G. 
A. R. Post (William D. Brennan) at Malone, 
in Franklin county, and was its commander 
five successive terms, during which time the 
post grew to be the largest in all northern 
New York. While in command of his own 
post, he was continuously serving in some 
capacity upon the staff of the department 
commander, or of the commander-in-chief, 
and during those years organized nine posts 
and personally mustered into the Grand 
■Army more than one thousand members. 
When a young man he became identified 
with the Baptist denomination and has 
always been actively interested in the church 
of his choice. 




Special work in life requires special pre- 
paration, and sometimes the training begins 
very early. It would seem so in the case of 
Captain Meigs, whose early life and sur- 
roundings admirably fitted him for the work 
he was to accomplish in the general field of 
life insurance. In 1876 Captain Meigs 
adopted life insurance as his life's work, and 
has since followed it with increasing success, 
first in New \'ork and later in Baltimore 
until the present time. 

He went to Baltimore to take charge of 
the Southeastern department of the .E'tna 
Life Insurance Co., in 18S8, and the success 
of this department has been phenomenal. 
From a small beginning he has built up one 
of the largest general agencies on the con- 
tinent, the territorv comprising the states of 



MERRIFIELU. 



107 



Maryland, \'irgii"iia, West \'irginia, Delaware 
and 1 )istri(:t of Columbia. By his own 
endeavors he has steadily pushed to the 
front and now stands among the foremost in 
his chosen profession. Is a member of the 
e.xecutive committee, Baltimore Life Under- 
writers Association, and is vice-president of 
the National .'\ssociation of Life Under- 
writers. 

It is a treat to be in company with Cap- 
tain Meigs when he is in a reminiscent 
mood ; from his memory flows a stream of 
humorous stories and interesting personal 
history which entertain, instruct and benefit. 

In 1872 Captain Meigs was married to 
Alvira, daughter of .-Xbijah Stanley of Ban- 
gor, N. Y. 

MERRIFIELD, WEBSTER, of Grand 
Forks, N. D., son of John A. and Louisa \V. 
Merrifield, was born at Newfane, luly 27, 
1852. 

He attended the common schools at Will- 
iamsville, the Powers Institute at Bernards- 
ton, Mass., the Wilbraham (Mass.) Aca- 
demy and graduated with the degree of B. .\. 
at Vale College in class of 1877. From 
1877 to 1879 he was a teacher in a private 
school atNewburgh, N. Y. In 1879 he went 
to Xorth [Dakota with expectation of remain- 
ing there permanently and opened up a 
farm, while reading law in the office of a 
local attorney, but in the fall returned to 
New Haven and accepted a position on the 
faculty of Yale College. 

In the early days of the territory he served 
as postmaster and justice of the peace. The 
State University of North Dakota, at Grand 
Forks, has been the scene of his great work 
There he was professor of Greek and Latin 
from 1 884 to 1 89 1, and subsequently, pro- 
fessor of political and social science. In 
1 89 1 he became president of the University. 
By nature, by his literary attainments and by 
practical business experience. President Mer- 
rifield is eminently qualified for the duties 
of this responsible position. He is naturally 
keen, active and earnest and broadened by 
collegiate training and years of study and 
foreign travel. He has been connected with 
the University from its start and has always 
been an influential member of the faculty. 
The uniform success of the pupils in his 
classes long since demonstrated his posses- 
sion of rare faculties as an instructor, while his 
active engagement in business pursuits in- 
sures him the possession of practical ideas, 
well adapted to the needs of the University. 

President Merrifield is a member of the 
Phi Beta Kappa Society ; the .American 
Oriental Society, as well as various other 
learned societies. Yale College conferred 
the honorary degree of ^L A. upon him in 
1892. 



MILLARD, Stephen C, of Bingham- 
ton, N. Y., was born at Stamford, Jan. 14, 
1841 ; was educated at Williams College, 
graduating in the class of 1865 ; read law at 
Harvard Law School, and in the office of 
Pingree & Baker, Pittsfield, Mass., and was 
admitted to the bar of the state of New 
York in May, 1867, at Binghamton : has 
been in constant practice of the law at Bing- 
hamton from date of his admission to the 
bar to the present time ; was chairman of 
the Republican county commission 1872- 
'79, and was elected to the Forty-eighth 
Congress as a Republican ; was re-elected 
to the Forty-ninth Congress. 

MOORE, HEMAN Allen, was born in 
Plainfield in 18 10 ; studied law in Rochester, 
N. Y. ; removed to Columbus, (). ; obtained 
distinction as a lawyer : was appointed ad- 
jutant-general of the state militia, and was a 
representative in Congress from that state 
from 1843 to the time of his death, which 
occurred in Columbus, April 3, 1844. 

MORTON. LEVI Parsons, ll. d., 

ex-Yice President of the L^nited States, the 
youngest son of the late Rev. Daniel Oliver 
.Morton, was born at Shoreham, May i6, 
1824. He is a direct descendant of George 
Morton, of Bavvtry, Yorkshire, Eng., one of 
the Pilgrim Fathers who landed at Plymouth, 
^Iass., from the ship Ann, in 1623. The 
Rev. Mr. Morton, his father, was one of 
those noble, old-fashioned, deep-thinking 
New England clergymen, who did God's 
work as it came to his hand in pious earnest- 
ness ; and, although he had a salary of only 
six hundred a year, he managed to give all 
his children, six in number, a good education. 
The subject of this sketch was named after 
his motiier's brother, the Re\-. Levi Parsons, 
a man of strong intellectual ability, who was 
the first -American missionary that went to 
Palestine, where he served with great zeal. 

Mr. Morton's early life differed little from 
that of most .American boys who ha\e risen 
to fame and fortune. Having finished his 
education at the academy in his native place, 
he decided on adopting a mercantile career, 
and at the age of twenty he engaged in busi- 
ness at Hano\er, N. H., where he remained 
about five years. In 1849 he removed to 
P)oston and entered the house of James 
M. Beebe & Co., as a clerk. He was ad- 
mitted to partnership at the same time that 
Mr. Morgan, the successor of George Pea- 
body & Co. of London, joined the firm. In 
1854 he removed to New York and established 
the dry goods commission house of Morton 
& Grinnell. In 1863 he engaged in the 
banking business, founding the now well- 
known house of Morton, lUiss & Co., of New 
\'ork, and in company with Sir John Rose, 




7^^-^^^^^^^^<^ 



formerly finance minister of Canada, that of 
Morton, Rose & Co., of London, I'^ngland. 
After engaging in the business of banking, 
Mr. Morton carefully studied the financial 
transactions of the government, and his firm 
was one of the several syndicates which so 
successfully funded the national debt and 
made resumption of specie payment possible 
at the date fixed by law. Morton, Rose & 
Co., of London, were the first fiscal agents of 
the United States government from 1873 un- 
til 1 884, and reappointed in i88g. Mr. 
Morton's firms were also active in the syndi- 
cates that negotiated the United States bonds, 
and in the payment of the Geneva award of 
^15,500,000 and the Halifax fishery award 
of 55,500,000. 

Mr. Morton was appointed by President 
Hayes, honorary commissioner of the United 
States to the Paris Exhibition in 1878, 
and in the same year was elected to the 
Forty-sixth Congress from "Murray Hill" 
(eleventh) L^istrict, in New York, as a Re- 
publican, receiving 14,078 votes against 
7,060 votes for his opponent, a Tammany 
Democrat. He was again returned in 1880, 
from the same district, by a largely increased 
vote. Mr. Morton entered Congress, it is 
said, as a diversion, but he found the office 
to be one of dignity and responsibility 
if conscientiously administered. He was 
elected from the wealthiest district in the 
United States, and devoted himself with 
scrupulous attention to the interests of his 
constituents and to the affairs of the nation 
at large. No man in Congress led a busier 
life. His special aptitude for finance natur- 
ally led him to pay particular attention to 
this department of legislation, and his 
speeches in the House on this subject were 
notable for their straightforward, plain, busi- 
nesslike presentation of facts and for the 
speaker's logical inferences based thereon. 
Personally he was one of the most popular 
men in Congress. Among its members, 
comprising men of all parties and profes- 
sions and from every walk in life, he had no 
personal enemies. No suspicion of jobbery 
e\er attached to his name. Possessed of 
ample means and culture, he stood in our 
halls of legislation a typical American, the 
blending of the patriot, the gentleman, and 
the business man. 

Fond of society and the good things and 
pleasures of life, he yet faithfully devoted 
himself to his duties first, attaching no less 
importance to his public demands than to 
his private business. Indeed, he labored as 
diligently in Congress as if his sup])ort de- 
pended upon it. At the time of the present- 
ation of the so-called " Warner Silver Bill " 
in Congress, when the bullion value of the 
silver dollar was about eighty-five cents, he 
took strong grounds against its vmlimited 



coinage and the unlimited issue of silver cer- 
tificates against silver bullion, and in a 
speech delivered on May 15, 1879, declared 
that he regarded the measure as a \irtual 
repudiation of one-sixth part of all indebted- 
ness, public and private, and could only 
designate it as a "bill for the relief of the 
owners of silver mines and silver bullion of 
the United States and Europe." He advo- 
cated in a subsequent speech a suspension of 
the coinage of silver until some action could 
be taken joindy with European governments, 
which, in his opinion, would alone enable the 
United States to maintain a double, or gold 
and silver standard. Notable among his 
other Congressional speeches was one on 
" Fish and Fish Culture, Its Importance to 
the Industries and Wealth of the Nation," and 
also on " Immigration, Its National Char- 
acter and Importance to the Industries and 
Development of the Country." In the latter 
he took strong ground in favor of the en- 
couragement of immigration, and advocated 
the ])assage of a uniform national law for the 
protection of immigrants coming to our 
shores. 

He took a deep interest in international 
politics and in the relations of the L'nited 
States with foreign countries, which fact 
doubtless led to his appointment as a mem- 
ber of the committee of foreign affairs in 
the Forty-sixth Congress. At the Chicago 
convention in 1880, after the nomination of 
General Garfield, Mr. Morton was tendered 
the nomination for Vice-President by dele- 
gations from Ohio and other states but 
declined to accept on the ground that he 
preferred the more active duties of a mem- 
ber of Congress. Shortly after the election 
of General Ciarfield to the presidency, a 
large number of the newspapers of the 
country favored his selection as Secretary of 
the Treasury. When the cabinet was being 
made up, Mr. Morton was offered his choice 
of a seat in it as Secretary of the Na\y or 
the French mission. He chose the latter, 
and his name being sent to the Senate by 
the President, his appointment as envoy ex- 
traordinary and minister plenipotentiary of 
the United States to France was unanimous- 
ly confirmed on March 17, 1881. Resign- 
ing his seat in the Forty-seventh Congress he 
proceeded to France and presented his cre- 
dentials to President Grevy, on .-Xugust i, 
1 88 1. To the duties of that important mis- 
sion Mr. Morton brought conceded abilities 
and qualities which peculiarly fitted him for 
the position. These, together with his 
wealth and hospitatity, speedily endeared 
him to the I^rench people and government, 
to whom he proved acceptable in every par- 
ticular. Through his intercessions the re- 
strictions upon the importation of American 
pork were removed by the French govern- 



ment in an official decree published Nov. 
27, 1883, but the prohibitory decree was 
subsequently renewed by the legislative 
body. He secured also the recognition of 
American corporations in France. Mr. 
Morton drove the first rivet in the Bartholdi 
statue "Liberty Enlightening the World," 
and accepted the completed statue for his 
government on July 4, 1884. He was .Amer- 
ican commissioner general to the Paris 
Electrical Exposition, and the representa- 
ti\e of the United States at the Sub-Marine 
Cable Convention. Mr. [Morton resigned 
the mission to France after the inaugura- 
tion of President Cleveland, in 1885, and 
returned to the United States in July of 
that year. 

He was nominated for the vice-presidency 
by the Republican convention at Chicago in 
1888, receiving 581 votes against 234 votes 
for other candidates. He was elected in 
November, 188S, and inaugurated as Vice- 
President on March 4, 1889. He proved a 
model presiding officer, discharging the du- 
ties of the exalted position with an ability, 
impartiality, and dignity which gained the 
praises of all without regard to party dis- 
tinctions, even at a time when party spirit 
ran high over most important measures com- 
ing before the United States Senate. At the 
great encampment of the Grand Army of 
the Republic at \\'ashington in September, 
1882, in the name of the United States ; like- 
wise at the dedicatory service of the World's 
Columbian Exposition at Chicago, Oct. 21, 
1S92, he made the address of welcome, ac- 
cepting the buildings "in the name of the 
government of the United States" and dedi- 
cating them to "humanity." Mr. Morton is 
noted for his hospitality, and his historic resi- 



dence in Washington and his home, Ellerslie, 
at Rhinecliff on the Hudson, are all appointed 
and conducted with taste and elegance. He 
has been likewise prominent in works of 
charity. 

When Congress placed the United States 
ship Constellation at the disposal of those de- 
siring to send stores for the relief of starving 
Ireland during the great famine there, and 
when the project of forwarding the bread- 
stuffs and provisions seemed likely to fail, 
Mr. Morton came forward and offered to pay 
for one-fourth of the cargo, although his inti- 
mate friends knew it was his intention to pay 
the entire cost rather than have the project 
miscarry. .Another well remembered case in 
which Mr. Morton's bounty was timely and 
of great ser\ice to a large number of work- 
ingmen was that of the Rockaway Beach 
Improvement Co. The originators of that 
organization became involved in financial 
ruin. .At least five hundred workingmen 
were unable to obtain their wages and 
were experiencing all the sad consequences 
of such deprivation. Certificates of indebt- 
edness were issued instead of money, but 
these were of no value to the men who 
needed food for the suffering families. .At 
this critical juncture Mr. Morton's banking 
house joined that of Messrs. Drexel, Morgan 
& Co., and the two houses contributed 
Si 00,000 for the immediate relief of the 
workingmen. 

The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon 
Mr. Morton by Dartmouth College July 14, 
1881, and by Middlebury College in 1882. 

Mr. Morton was married in 1873 to .Anna 
L. Street, and has five children, viz : Edith, 
Lina K., Helen, .Alice, and Mary. 



NASH, Henry H., was born at Benson, 
August 19, 1821, the son of Levi and Abigail 
(Howard) Nash. His boyhood was passed 
on his father's farm, and his education was 
received in the public schools. 

-At the age of eighteen he began life for 
himself as clerk in a dry goods store at 
Whitehall, N. V., afterwards serving as teller 
in the Whitehall Bank. Having accumulated 
a small capital, he became interested in the 
operation of a line of boats on the Hudson 
River Canal and Lake Champlain, under 
the firm name of Stark, Nash & Tisdale. 
Great prosperity for a time followed this 
enterprise, but disaster overtook it, and Mr. 
Nash found the accumulation of years sud- 
denly swept away and was obliged to begin 
life anew. 

-After an experience of two years in the 
manufacturing business at Owego, N. V., he 



determined to move West, and in 1857 
located in Chicago, his judgment convinc- 
ing him that it was destined to become the 
metropolis of the West. His first employ- 
ment was in the land department of the 
Illinois Central Railroad Co. He made 
good use of his opportunities, and by close 
attention soon established a reputation as a 
careful and reliable man, and held a high 
place in the confidence and esteem of his 
employers. In 1864 he severed his connec- 
tion with the railroad company to accept 
the position of cashier at the L'nited States 
sub-treasury, which had been recently estab- 
lished at Chicago. This office, with the 
sub-treasuries at Cincinnati and St. Louis, 
were the principal offices for the disburse- 
ment of Government funds in the NN'est and 
Northwest. .After the commencement of 
the war, the citv of Chicago was made a 



point for the purchase and distribution of 
supplies for the army, and the office became 
one of much importance, the receipts and 
disbursements during the term of Mr. Nash's 
service amounting to upward of forty million 
dollars. He resigned his position in the 
sub-treasury to accept the cashiership of the 
National Bank of Illinois, a position which 
he held for eight vears. 




Association of the Sons of \'ermont, in the 
growth and success of which he took a deej) 
interest. 

Mr. Nash was well versed in literary mat- 
ters ; kept himself in touch with the trend of 
current thought, and this, combined with his 
clear knowledge of men and things, gained 
from travel and observation, made him a 
most engaging and instructive con\ersation- 
alist. He made friends easily, and in all his 
varied relations sustained the character of a 
high-minded, genial gentleman. He was 
reared under Congregational influences, but 
his religious views were untrammeled by nar- 
rowness. He regularly attended the Third 
Presbyterian Church of Chicago. In politics 
he was an ardent Republican. 

C)n Sept. 6, 184S, he married Miss Lydia, 
a daughter of Mr. Floras I). Meacham, of 
Whitehall, N. V., who survives him. 

Henry H. Nash attained to an honorable 
jilace among Chicago's successful business 
men, by energy, enterprise and a strict 
adherence to correct business principles. 
In his decease, which occured in Novem- 
lier, 1S92, Chicago lost an honored citizen, 
and those in close relation with him, a 
trusted friend. 

NEWELL, Henry Albert, of New 

York City, son of Oliver Porter and Orilla 
M. (Perkins) Newell, was born April 26, 
1841, at Londonderry. 



He was one of the founders of the Chicago 
National Bank, which began business in 1882. 
He served as cashier of this institution for 
five years, when he was chosen vice-presi- 
dent and held that office at the time of his 
decease. During his connection with the 
bank he was president of the Chicago Clear- 
ing House for two terms. 

Mr. Nash was always a busy man and in- 
terested himself in all matters of public im- 
portance. In commercial circles he was re- 
garded as one of the shrewdest and safest of 
financiers. His word was as good as gold. 
He was a man of retiring disposition, but 
genial, kind-hearted and charitable almost to 
a fault. He took the keenest interest in all 
that related to Chicago, its history, growth 
and development, and was for many years an 
active member of the Chicago Historical So- 
ciety, of which he was treasurer up to the 
time of his death. He was a member of the 
Sons of the Re\olution, and L'nion League 
and Illinois Clubs. In early life he belonged 
to the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. He 
was a devoted son of the Green Mountain 
state, was one of the founders of the Illinois 




Mr. Newell was brought up on a farm 
until fifteen years of age, and recei\ed the 



advantages of the district schools and acad- 
emies, when he went to Boston to enter the 
employ of an uncle in the milk business. 
After three years' service, he was employed 
by the Metropolitan Railroad Co. of that 
city, and remained two years. He then, in 
1 86 1, joined the R. Sands Great American 
Circus, and eight years later became super- 
intendent of the Broadway and Seventh Ave- 
nue R. R. of New York, which position he 
held until the acquisition of that property by 
the Metropolitan Street Railroad Co., which 
operates the Broadway cable road, as well as 
the Seventh Avenue, University Place, Twen- 
ty-third Street, Thirty-fourth Street, Fulton 
Ferry, Brooklyn Bridge, Bleecker Street, Sixth 
Avenue, Vesey Street, Desbrosses Street 
Ferry, Amsterdam Avenue, and South Ferry, 
and of which roads he has been the superin- 
tendent since they came under this com- 
pany's control. He is also a director in the 
South Ferry R. R. 

Mr. Newell is a prominent Mason, and 
member of the Hope Lodge, 244, of which 
he has for many years been treasurer and a 
trustee. He is also an Odd Fellow and 
member of Lodge No. 119. In religious 
preference he is a Presbyterian. 

He was married in Granville, N. Y., June 
23, 1870, to Mattie R. Manley, daughter of 
R. F. and Nancy J. Manley. They have five 
children. 

NEWTON, Charles Marshall, of 

Middletown, Conn., son of Marshall and 
Nancy (Tufts) New-ton, was born Oct. 31, 
1846, at Newfane. 

Mr. Newton's father, grandfather, and his 
uncle, Rev. E. H. Newton, I). I)., are promi- 
nently mentioned in the history of Newfane. 
The Rev. James Tufts, his grandfather, for 
forty years the pastor of the Congregational 
church at ^Yardsboro, was "a strong man of 
wise influence" says the History of Wards- 
boro. The patriotism of the family is shown 
by the service of Marshall Newton, Sr., his 
great-grandfather, an officer in the French 
and Indian war ; the seven years service of 
his grandfather, Marshall Newton, Jr., in the 
war of the Revolution ; the service of his 
brothers, John — four years in the i8th U. S. 
Inft., and James Holland — two enlistments, 
at eighteen and twenty, in the 9th and 1 7th 
Vt. \'ols., who was killed while leading his 
company in the last grand charge at Sjiott- 
sylvania. May 12,1864. 

The subject of this sketch attended the 
district and select schools until the age of 
sixteen, when (July i, 1S63) he enlisted in 
Co. L, ist Vt. Heavy Artillery. Mr. Newton's 
company was ordered to Rutland to enforce 
the draft, thence to Ft. Slocum, Md., and in 
the spring of 1864 his regiment was assigned 
to the I St \'t. Brigade, Sixth Corps, Armv of 



the Potomac, in whose battles and hardships 
he participated to the close of the war. He 
was mustered out as sergeant August 23, 1 865. 
June 23, 1864, while before Petersburg, 
Sergeant Newton, though disabled and on 
hospital roll, insisted on going into action 
with his company. During the action 
Major Fleming, noticing his condition, or- 
dered him to the rear with his horse, to 
which circumstance he owes his escape from 
capture and imprisonment in Andersonville, 
being the only man of his company who 
went into the action who was not taken 
prisoner. In August following, being dis- 
abled, he narrowly escaped capture by Mos- 
by's men in the Shenandoah Valley. He 
was picked up by an ambulance and con- 
veyed to Harwood Hospital, Washington, 
and on the ist of January following, with his 




ARLES MARSH 



wound unhealed, he voluntarily joined his 
company before Petersburg, to share its 
hardships and participate in the closing 
scenes and final victory at Appomattox. 
These incidents are referred to and highly 
commended by his commanding officer, 
Lieutenant-Colonel D. J. Safford, in his en- 
dorsement of Mr. Newton's army record, 
filed at Washington, but now in Mr. New- 
ton's possession. .^ pension, to date from 
his discharge, was issued to Mr. Newton 
April 24, 1885. 

Since 1872 Mr. Newton has conducted a 
clothing business in Middletown, Conn., and 
enjoys the confidence of his townsmen as 



"3 



shown by his service for several terms in the 
court of common council. In 1890 he re- 
ceived a strong endorsement for postmaster, 
but accepted the appointment of United 
States postal card agent, which office he 
held from Feb. 10, 1890, to June 15, 1893. 

In 1 8 70 and 1S71 he was appointed 
assistant inspector G. A. R., Department of 
Massachusetts. He was a charter member 
of Dexter Post, No. 38, Brookfield, Mass., 
and is now a charter member of Mansfield 
Post, No. 53, Middletown, Conn. He is 
also a member of the Society of the Army of 
the Potomac, the /\rmy and Navy Club of 
Connecticut, Vermont Officers' Society, and 
First Vermont Heavy Artillery. Mr. New- 
ton is a prominent member of the Republi- 
can Club and is also a member of McDon- 
ough Lodge Knights of Honor. 

He was married, March 26, 1874, to Mary 
C, daughter of Timothy and Julia (Stratton) 
Boardman, and has one son, James Holland 
Newton. 

NEWTON, WILLIAM HENRY, of Wall- 
ingford, Conn., son of Marshall and Nancy 
(Tufts) Newton, was born June 25, 1850, at 
Newfane and received his education there 
and at Rev. James Tufts's school at Monson, 
Mass. 

In 1869 Mr. Newton began his business 
life with Winslow & Park and remained there 
and with their successors, J. D. Holbrook & 
Co., until 1872. He then mo\ed to Middle- 
town, Conn., and became a clerk for his 
brother, C. M. Newton, until 1875, when he 
was appointed to a clerkship in the First 
National Bank, a position he had desired 
since boyhood. His sterling qualities w^ere 
rewarded in the fall of 1881 by his present 
position of cashier of the First National Bank 
of VVallingford, which institution began busi- 
ness Jan. I, 1882. 

Mr. Newton is an ardent Republican and 
takes an active part in local, state and national 
campaigns. He was elected town treasurer 
in 1885, receiving a flattering majority, al- 
though the normal vote is usually strongly 
Democratic. He also served as treasurer of 
the Borough in 1889, was elected to the court 
of Burgesses, and the following year was made 
warden of the Borough of Wallingford. To 
this office he was re-elected in 1891 and again 
in 1892. In the 1894 elections Mr. Newton 
was again elected to this important position, 
and the following is from the Meriden Repub- 
lican : 

"The result of Saturday's election is a fine 
tribute to the high regard the people of the 
borough have for its warden. Mr. Newton 
has now held the office three terms success- 
ively, and, although his personal wishes are 
and ha\e been to drop the responsibilities of 
the chief office of the borough, his fellow citi- 



zens have been unwilling to permit him to 
do so. His administration of the office has 
been characterized by the utmost fairness and 
respect for everybody's rights. Possessed 
of rare business qualifications they have been 
exercised for the welfare of the borough, the 
result being seen in the showing made in the 
annual reports. The fact that his adminis- 
tration of the municipal government is so 
overwhelmingly endorsed by so large a ma- 
jority of the residents of the borough, not- 
withstanding an organized effort to defeat 
him, is certainly a cause for congratulation, 
in which the Republican heartily joins. Mr. 
Newton is a staunch Republican in politics, 
and the borough is overwhelmingly Demo- 
cratic. But in his administration of affairs 




JAM HENRY NEWTON. 



he has known neither Republican nor Demo- 
crat, and this with his personal popularity 
gave him a majority hever before exceeded." 

Mr. Newton has also taken an active part 
in the military service of his state. In 1887 
he was appointed paymaster of the 2d Regt. 
C. N. G., by Colonel Leavenworth, and 
served on the latter's staff with rank of 
second lieutenant for two years and received 
a re-appointment by Colonel Leavenworth's 
successor, Col. John B. Doherty, and re- 
signed his commission in 1892. 

Mr. Newton is a member of the First 
Congregational Church, and in social organ- 
izations he is prominent, being a Past Mas- 
ter of Compass Lodge, F. & A. M., and 
member of Keystone Chapter, of Meriden, 



114 



and of the Republican League Club, of New- 
Haven, and Arcanum Club, of Wallingford. 
Mr. Newton was married, Oct. 13, 1881, 
to Alice E. Dickenson, daughter of Dana 
D. and Eliza A. Dickenson, of Williamsville. 
They had two children : Elsie M., and 
Mabel S. (deceased). 

NEWTON, Daniel H., of Holyoke, 

Mass., son of James and Esther (Hale) 
Newton, was born in Hubbardston, Mass., 
Tune 22, 1827. 







He removed to Greenfield, Mass., in 1835, 
and to Holyoke in December, 1873. Mr. 
Newton was educated at Goodale Academy 
and Williston Seminary, and is one of the 
successful firm of Newton Bros., who have 
done so much toward the development of 
the Deerfield Valley. Mr. Newton was first 
engaged in the lumber business with his 
father from 1848 to 1871, and then for ten 
years was a member of the firm of D. H. & 
J. C. Newton, mill engineers, builders, and 
contractors at Holyoke, and in this connec- 
tion did much toward the upbuilding of that 
city. But the greatest work of Mr. Newton 
was performed in connection with his two 
brothers, John C. and Moses Newton, in the 
development of the Deerfield Valley, in the 
business enterprises of which he has been a 
leading proprietor and owner. 

Mr. Newton was a member of the Green- 
field school committee in 1855, and the 
treasurer of Franklin county, Mass., from 
1 86 1 to 1864. He was elected representa- 



tive in 1S69 to the Great and General Court 
at Boston, and was chairman of Holyoke 
Board of Health from 18S0 to 1883. 

Mr. Newton is president of the Hoosac 
Tunnel & Wilmington R. R., director in the 
Massachusetts Screw Co., the Chemical Paper 
Co., and the Home National Bank of Hol- 
yoke. Mr. Newton is also a director of the 
Holyoke Board of Trade, and a fellow of the 
American Geographical Society. 

NEWTON, John C, of Holyoke, 
Mass., son of James and Esther (Hale) 
Newton, is, by adoption at least, a Vermon- 
ter. His identification with the interests of 
our state and the great work of development 
which the Newton brothers have pursued in 
the southern part of the state entitles them 
to recognition in this work. Mr. Newton 
was educated at Westminster, Vt., and the 
State Normal School at Westfield, Mass. 
The great building and lumber operations of 
the firm of James Newton & .Sons in Hol- 
yoke, Mass., resulted in the construction of 
the Hampden Paper Mills, among other ex- 
tensive works, of which Mr. ]. C. Newton 




was the projector. Of this corporation he 
was the treasurer until the mill was sold in 
1871. In 1S73, in order to supply the great 
needs of the firm for spruce lumber, the ex- 
tensive steam saw mill at Newport, Vt., was 
purchased. Mr. Newton's activity and busi- 
ness sagacity have been leading factors in 
the great enterprises carried on in this state. 



The scene of their principal operations in 
the state to-day is on the Deerfield River, 
where just below the junction of East Branch 
and two miles west of the village of Wil- 
mington, a large dam is being erected to 
furnish power for a wood pulp and saw mill 
which the Newtons are about to build. 

Mr. Newton is president of the Massachu- 
setts Screw Co. ; president of the Chemical 
Paper Co. ; director in the Norman Paper 
Co. ; director of the Home National Bank of 
Holyoke ; director in the Hoosac Tunnel &: 
Wilmington R. R. Co. ; director in the Peer- 
field River Co. : the National Metal Edge 
Box Co., of Readsboro, Vt. ; president of the 
Wilmington Grain and Lumber Co., and is 
vice-president and general manager of the 
Des Moines & Kansas City R. R. Co., of 
Iowa. 

NEWTON, Moses, of Holyoke, Mass., 
son of James and Esther (Hale) Newton, was 
born in Hubbardston, Mass., Oct. 27, 1833. 




^OSES NEWTON. 



Mr. Newton was educated at Deerfield, 
Mass., and at Westminster, and was asso- 
ciated with his father and brothers in the 
manufacture of lumber from 1848 to 1867, 
and in 1868 first engaged in making paper 
in Holyoke, Mass. 

Mr. Newton became interested in the en- 
terprises of his brothers in the Deerfield 
Valley in 1S82 and the great dam at Reads- 
boro, having a fall of eighty feet, and the 
pulp mill at this jioint were built the same 



year. The narrow gauge railroad from 
Readsboro to Hoosac Tunnel Station on the 
Eitchburg railroad was opened in 1S85 and 
the steam saw mill at Readsboro built. In 

1887 the Readsboro Chair Company was 
organized. In connection with the state of 
\'ermont and the town of Readsboro the 
railroad constructed the high iron bridge, 
375 feet long, and the railroad extended 
though the village of Readsboro in 1890. In 

1888 finding a storage of water necessary for 
the use of the mills upon the stream, the 
overflow of the Sadawga Pond was raised 
six feet, at a large expense. In 1888 the 
\\'ilmington Grain and Lumber Co. was or- 
ganized. 

In 1889 the Hotel Raponda was built. This 
was enlarged in 1892 to accommodate one 
hundred guests, and Hosea Mann, Jr., was 
the principal owner and manager. The rail- 
road was extended to Wilmington in 1891. 

Mr. Newton was a member of the Board 
of Holyoke \\'ater Commissioners from 1S86 
to 1892, and is at the present time president 
of the Newton Paper Co., of the George C. 
Gill Paper Co., treasurer of the Chemical 
Paper Co., and director of the Home Na- 
tional Bank, of Holyoke, and president of 
the Deerfield River Co., the National Metal 
Edge Box Co., and the Readsboro Chair Co., 
director in the Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington 
R. R., and the \Mlmington Grain and Lum- 
ber Co. 

NOBLE Henry Smith, of Middletown, 
Conn., son of A. Smith and Susan (Patrick) 
Noble, was born Oct. 8, 1845, ^t Hinesburgh. 

Dr. Noble made full use of the common 
schools and the academy of his native town 
in beginnitig his education and also the Green 
Mountain Institute at South ^Voodstock, 
where he was a teacher, at the same time fit- 
ting himself for matriculation at Tufts Col- 
lege. At this college he received the degree 
of A. B., graduating second in the class of 
1869. He then began the study of medicine 
with Dr. D. W. Hazleton of Cavendish, and 
took the first course of lectures at Vermont 
L'niversity, Burlington, and the second course 
and degree of M. D. at the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons in New Vork City in 
1871. 

Following graduation he passed a year at 
the Hartford, Conn., City Hospital and began 
the practice of his profession at Chester in 
1872, where he remained until the fall of 
1879. In 1880 he was appointed second as- 
sistant physician at Hartford retreat and in 
1880 became assistant at the Connecticut 
Hospital for Insane and occupied the same 
position in the Michigan Asylum for Insane 
in 1882, returning to the Connecticut Hos- 
pital in 1884. 



Dr. Noble passed the summer of 1886 in 
study and recreation in Europe and while 
abroad received his present appointment of 
first assistant physician of the Connecticut 
Hospital for the Insane. 

He is a member of Olive Branch Lodge, 
F. & A. M., Chester, and of the Middlesex 
County Medical Society, and Connecticut 
State Medical Society, the .•\merican Acad- 
emy of Medicine, and of the American 
Medico-Psychological Association. 

Dr. Noble was married March 14, 187 1, 
at Rochester, to Edna J. Chaffee, daughter 
of John and Rose Lowell Chaffee. 



NORTON, Jesse O., was born in 
Vermont ; graduated at Williams College ; 
emigrated to Illinois in 1839 : studied law 
and came to the bar in 1840; was a mem- 
ber, in 1847, of the state constitutional con- 
vention ; was a member of the state Legis- 
lature in 185 1 and 1852; was elected a 
representative from Illinois to the Thirty- 
third and Thirty-fourth Congresses; in 1857 
was elected judge of the eleventh judicial 
district of Illinois, holding the office until 
1862 ; and in 1863 was re-elected a repre- 
sentative to Congress. 



OLDS, EDSON B., was born in Vermont, 
and a representative in Congress from Ohio, 
from 1849 to 1855. In 1862 he was for a 
short time imprisoned in Fort Lafayette for 
supposed disloyalty, and while there con- 
fined, he was elected a member of the 
Assembly of Ohio, having previously served 
six years in the state Legislature, and has 
been speaker of the Senate. 

OTIS, JOHN Grant, of Topeka, Kan., 
was born in Danby, Feb. 10, 1838, took an 
academic course at Burr Seminary, attended 
one year at Williams College, and one year 
at Harvard Law School ; was admitted to the 
bar of Rutland county in the spring of 1859 ; 
removed to Kansas in May, same year, and 
located at Topeka, where he has since re- 
sided : took an active part in recruiting the 
first colored regiment of Kansas in 1862 ; 
was a member of infantry company in 2d 
Regt. of Vols, at the time of Price raid ; was 
an ardent supporter of Abraham Lincoln ; 
since the war closed has been a most un- 
compromising Greenbacker and advocate of 
a new American monetary system in the inter- 



est of the industrial classes ; for over twenty 
years has been engaged in dairy business 
near Topeka ; has been a member of the 
Grange for eighteen years ; is also a member 
of the Farmer's Alliance and Industrial 
LTnion ; was state agent for the Grange from 
1873 to 187s, and the state lecturer from 
1889 to 1 89 1 ; has always supported prohi- 
bition and equal suffrage ; was elected to the 
Fifty-second Congress as a People's Party 
candidate. 

OLIN, Abraham B., was born in Shafts- 
bury in 181 2 ; graduated at \Villiams College 
in 1S35 ; commenced the practice of law at 
Troy, N. V., in 1838 ; was for three years 
recorder of the city of Troy, and was elected 
a representative to the Thirty-fifth Congress 
from New York ; re-elected to the Thirty- 
seventh Congress also. In 1863 he was ap- 
pointed by President Lincoln a judge of the 
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. 
His father, Gideon Olin, was in Congress 
from Vermont during the administration of 
President Jefferson. [See Part I for a sketch 
of Gideon Olin. I 



PAGE, Frank Wilfred, of Boston, 

Mass., son of Lemuel W. and Susan G. 
(Saunders) Page, was born in East A\'ilton, 
N. H., August 24, 1843. 

His father being a native of Burlington, he 
returned with his parents to Burlington when 
two years of age, after having also lived with 
them a short time in Boston, Mass. He was 
educated in the private schools of Burling- 
ton and at the L'nion high school or Bur- 
lington Academy, entering the I'niversity of 
Vermont in i860, and graduated therefrom 
in the class of 1864, receiving the degree of 
A. B. and that of A. M. in 1869. He began 
the study of medicine during his junior year 
in college, and after graduation continued 
the study of medicine in the office and under 
the tutelage of the late Dr. Samuel ^\'hite 



Thayer. He attended lectures in the medi- 
cal department of the I'niversity, and at the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, New 
York City, graduating from the former in 
June, 1866. 

He began the practice of his profession 
in St. Peter, Minn., where he remained one 
year. Returning in the fall of 1S67 he 
associated himself in partnership with Dr. 
Olin G. Dyer, of Brandon. For nearly 
eleven years he continued in the active 
duties of his profession in Brandon. While 
a resident of Brandon he became interested 
in educational and kindred matters, and for 
several years was chairman of the town 
school board. Becoming interested in ner- 
vous and mental diseases, on May i, 1878, 
he gave up private practice to accept the 



117 



position of first assistant physician on the 
medical staff of McLean Asylum for the 
Insane, at Somerville, Mass. On retirement 
of the medical officer in charge, June i, 
1S79, he became superintendent, a position 
he relinquished in December to open for the 
managers, Feb. i, 1880, the new .Adams 
Nervine .Asylum, an institution situated at 
Jamaica Plains, Mass., and founded by the 
late Seth Adams, a wealthy sugar refiner, for 
the benefit of nervous people not insane. 
He remained in charge as superintendent 
and resident physician until May 13, 1885, 
when, after making the institution a great 




LFRED PAGE. 



success, he declined a re-election. The 
managers m their report for 1855 said of 
him : "He has had charge of the asylum 
during the whole period of its active exis- 
tence, more than five years, and its useful- 
ness and great success are largely due to his 
professional skill and his faithfulness, energy 
and administrative capacity. The managers 
desire to acknowledge the indebtedness of 
the institution to him for his valuable ser- 
vices, and to wish him a prosperous and 
successful future." 

On his retirement from the superintend- 
ency of the .Adams Asylum he was elected 
one of the board of consulting physicians, 
a position he still holds. Since May, 1885, 
he has been engaged in the practice of his 
specialty, that of nervous and mental dis- 
eases, in the city of Boston. In 1889 he 
was elected bv the trustees of Darners Hos- 



])ital for the Insane a member of the board 
of consulting physicians. 

Dr. Page was married, in August, 1S70, to 
Annah .Amelia, daughter of Dr. Olin G. 
Dyer, of Brandon. .She died in FJoston, 
Sept. 1 1, 1892. 

He is a member of various medical socie- 
ties, and in politcs is naturally a staunch 
Republican. 

PARKER, A. X., of Potsdam, N. V., was 
born in .Addison county in 1831; removed 
to Potsdam, N. V., at an early age ; gradu- 
ated from St. Lawrence .Academy ; read law 
and commenced practice at Potsdam in 1856 ; 
was a member of the New York .Assembly in 
1863; was postmaster under President Lin- 
coln ; was state senator in 186 7, -'69, and the 
first elector-at-large upon the Republican 
ticket in 1876; was a member of Congress 
in 18S3. He still practices his profession at 
Potsdam. 

PARKER, George H., of Watertown, 
South Dakota, son of Orrin C. and Julia 
(Dickinson) Parker, was born at Montgom- 
ery, .April 5, 1841. 




He was educated in the common schools 
and at Black River .Academy at Ludlow, and 
the New Hampton Institute at Fairfax where 
he studied for the ministry. 

Mr. Parker was ordained to the Baptist 
ministry at Montgomery Center, Jan. 1 31, 
1866. He served as pastor for varying pe- 



ii8 



riods of one to five years at Berkshire Center, 
Pamton, Felchville, Grafton, and North Troy, 
at the latter place serving two pastorates cov- 
ering a period of seven years. During these 
long terms he did much active and valuable 
work organizing churches and securing need- 
ed accommodations and members. At East 
Franklin and South Jay he organized churches 
and at the latter place assisted in the erec- 
tion of a church edifice. In 1886 he settled 
in Watertown, South Dakota, and served 
with marked success for three years. 

In 1876-7 he was a member of the Legis- 
lature from the town of Reading, Vt., and 
served on the committee on state prison. 
Again from the town of Troy he was elected 
in 1884, serving on the committee on educa- 
tion and took an active part in all work. In 
1890 he was elected county superintendent 
of schools, for Codington county. South Da- 
kota. He was again elected on the Repub- 
lican ticket in 1892, receiving the largest 
vote ever cast. 

Mr. Parker enlisted at Bakersfield, August 
26, 1861, as corporal of Company A, 5th 
Regt. Vt. Vols., and was with the charge at 
Lees Mills, in the battle of Williamsburg and 
the Peninsula campaign ; was severely wound- 
ed in the Seven Days fight before Richmond 
at Goldens Farm. He was a prisoner at 
Belle Isle and released August 3 and dis- 
charged by reason of his wounds in 1863. 

Mr. Parker was twice commander of 
Bailey Post, G. A. R., North Troy, and of 
Freeman Thayer Post, Watertown, S. D. 

He was married at East Enosburg, Au- 
gust 14, 1864, to Arvilla E. Davis, daughter 
of Talmon K. and Emma J. Davis, who died 
April 23, 1873, leaving three children. He 
was again married Nov. 14, 1874, at Wethers- 
field to Minerva E. Mitchfell, daughter of 
James and Dolly Mitchell. 

PARKER, Isaac Augustus, of Gales- 
burg, 111., son of Isaac and Lucia (Wood) 
Parker, was born in South Woodstock, Dec. 
31, 1825. 

His early life was spent upon the farm and 
in acquiring such an education as the dis- 
trict schools of the time afforded, and at sev- 
enteen he was a teacher in the common 
schools in the vicinity of his native place. 
Fitting for college at the Black River Acad- 
emy, Hancock (N. H.) Scientific and 
Literary Institute (in which he taught 
mathematics at the same time), and the 
Green Mountain Liberal Institute, he entered 
Dartmouth College in 1849 and graduated 
with the class of 1853. Mr. Parker while in 
college was a member of the Alpha Delta 
Phi Society and at graduation was elected a 
member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. 

Soon after his graduation he accepted the 
principalship of the Orleans Liberal Institute 



at ( ;iover, which he successfully filled for five 
years. Hon. W. W. Grout, S. C. Shurtleff, O. 
L. French, and others, who have attained posi- 
tions of influence, were students in the institute 
under his instruction. In 1858 Mr. Parker re- 
signed his position to accept a larger field of 
activity and became professor of ancient lan- 
guages in Lombard University and held this 
position for ten years, when he was elected 
Williamson professor of Greek in the same in- 
stitution and still holds this position. Profes- 
sor Parker has been for more than thirty-fi\e 
years connected with Lombard University 
and is recognized on all sides as one of the 
leading instructors of the country, always 
striving to inculcate habits of industry and 
teaching young people to depend upon 
their own resources for that success in life 
which is the aim of every young man. 




ISAAC AUGUSTUS PARKER. 

Dr. Parker is a member of the board of 
trustees of the Galesburgh Public Library and 
was honored with the degree of Doctor of 
Philosophy from Buchtel College, Akron, O., 
in 1S92. 

February 18, 1856, Mr. Parker was married 
to Sarah A., daughter of \Villiam and Par- 
thena (Whitmore) Labaree of Hartland. Of 
this union were two children : Izah T., de- 
ceased, and William A., a civil engineer in 
Chicago. Mrs. Parker deceased in June, 
1889. 

PARKER, M^'RON M., of Washington, 
D. C, was born in Fairfax, in 1843, son of 



119 



Melvin V. and Eineline (Story) Parker; 
grandson of Robert and Sophia Cross 
Parker ; great-grandson of Robert Parker, a 
private in the Revolutionary army ; grandson 
of Elija and Cressy Story ; great-grandson 
of Elija Story of Fairfax, a soldier of the 
Revolution : great-grandson of Joseph and 
Persis Wheeler Cross (Joseph Cross who 
died in 1850, at the age of 103, served at 
Lexington and Bunker Hill) ; great-grand- 
son of John Cressy, a native of Connecticut, 
who served with the Continental army at 
lirooklyn. White Plains, Brandywine, Ger- 
mantown, and Vorktown. 




MYRON M. PARKER. 

Young Parker was preparing for college at 
the breaking out of the war, when he left 
school and enlisted in the ist Vt. Cavalry, 
with which command he served until the 
■close of the war, and his record as a soldier 
is one of the most brilliant. He located in 
Washington, and in 1865 he received an ap- 
pointment in the War Department, where he 
served several years. 

In 1876 he graduated from the law depart- 
ment of the Columbian L'niversity, and has 
ever since taken a lively interest in that in- 
stitution, donating annually to the post- 
graduate class the "Myron M. Parker" 
prize. In 1879 he was appointed assistant 
postmaster of the city of Washington. He 
was secretary of the Washington committee 
on the ceremonies incident to the laying of 
the corner stone of the Yorktown monument. 
He was grand master of Masons in i884-'85 



and officiated as such at the dedication of 
the Washington monument. He was chair- 
man of the triennial committee to receive 
and entertain the (Irand Encampment 
Knights Templar of the United States at its 
twenty-fourth conclave held in Washington. 
He is the grand representative of the Grand 
Lodge of Ireland and the Grand Lodges of 
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Delaware. He 
was a member of the executive committee 
having in charge the inauguration of Presi- 
dent Garfield, and was \ice chairman of the 
inaugural committee for President Harrison ; 
he was also chairman of the committee on 
civic organizations, and was marshal of the 
fifth division in the inaugural parade. At 
the second inauguration of President Cleve- 
land he was a member of the citizens' com- 
mittee, and was a special aid on the staff of 
General McMahon, the chief marshal. 

Like nearly all Vermonters Mr. Parker is 
a Republican, and during the second cam- 
paign of President Harrison was appointed 
on the advisory committee of the national 
committee. 

He has always been interested in the ad- 
\'ancement of Washington and has taken a 
leading part in all public enterprises, con- 
tributing largely of his time and means. He 
was one of the promoters of the proposed 
constitutional convention in 1889, the World's 
Columbian Exposition in 1892, and was one 
of the three selected to present the claims of 
Washington before the committee of Con- 
gress. He is secretary of the Washington 
Memorial Association. 

Mr. Parker has been an enthusiastic ex- 
ponent and belie\er in the future greatness 
of Washington, and has been closely identi- 
fied with her growth. In 1880 he actively 
engaged in the real estate business, meeting 
with great success, his annual transactions 
running into the millions, and in which he 
has massed a fortune. He has been identi- 
fied with many of the financial institutions. 
He is also a director in the Columbia Na- 
tional Bank, the American Security and 
Trust Co., the Columbia Fire Insurance Co., 
the Columbia Title Insurance Co., the Eck- 
ington and Soldiers Home R. R., the Atlantic 
Building Co. and the Ignited States Electric 
Light Co. He was vice-president of the 
Brightwood R. R., and in charitable insti- 
tutions is a director in the Washington 
Hospital for Foundlings, the Training School 
for Nurses, and the Emergency Hospital. 
He was one of the organizers of the Wash- 
ington Board of Trade, and for several years 
was its president. 

In 1876 he married Miss Nellie L. (Jris- 
wold. They have four children, three girls 
and one boy, and reside on Vermont avenue. 

Mr. Parker retains all his old time affec- 
tion and loyalty to his native state, has 



PARWELEE. 



PARTRIDGE. 



always retained interests there, and pays 
annual visits to his home in Cambridge, 
where his mother and only brother and 
sister reside. 

Mr. Parker was appointed by Governor 
Fuller a delegate at large to the National 
Ship Canal Convention in 1893. 

Mr. Parker was appointed by President 
Harrison commissioner of the District of 
Columbia on Feb. 14, 1S93, and is at present 
serving his term of office. 



to carry the undertaking, he arranged its 
printing in Hartford, Conn., with an edition 
at both places. It was edited by D. W. 
Bartlett, since noted in journalism, and \V. 
H. Burleigh. It was a beautiful monthly 
quarto, its writers eminent in literature, and 
had a large circulation, but lived only one 
year, ending 1850. This interesting period 
of his life is narrated to make a record of 
the press of Randolph. 



PARMELEE, EDWARD CARROLL, of 
Denver, Colo., son of Lucius and Ann \V'al- 
lace Parmelee, was born at Waterbury, May 
16, 1835. 

Mr. Parmelee was educated at the public 
schools of his native town and at Johnson 
Academy and during his younger days was a 
clerk in the village store. Seeking to widen 
the field of his operations he went West in 
the spring of 1853 and for the past thirty 
years has been extensively engaged in mining 
and in abstract business. 

The esteem in which Mr. Parmelee is held 
by his fellow'-citizens is shown by the import- 
ant positions given him at various times. In 
1872 he was a member of the Territorial 
Legislature from Clear Creek county ; and 
from 1878 to 1882 he held the office of post- 
master at (Georgetown. 

Mr. Parmelee is prominent in Masonic 
circles, holding the title of Grand Secretary, 
F. & A. M., from 1866 up to the present, and 
also of the Royal .'\rch Masons since 1875. 
He is also (irand Recorder of the Knights 
Templar, holding the office since 1876, and 
has received the 33d degree, Scottish Rite. 

PARTRIDGE, GEORGE, of San Fran- 
cisco, son of Oramel and Lucy (Capron) 
Partridge, was born in Randolph Centre, 
August 22, 1829. His father was a native of 
Norwich, and a relative of Capt. Alden Part- 
ridge, first superintendent of \\"est Point, 
and founder of Norwich L^niversity. His 
mother was born in Williamstown. 

In his boyhood he learned the trade of his 
father, a leading manufacturer of furniture 
and sleighs. His mechanical tastes led him 
into an adventure, when seventeen years old, 
which proved a serious episode in his life, 
and changed his future plans. For diversion 
he made a printing press, though he had 
never seen one, and printed a paper called 
the Autumn Leaf. After three issues he made 
a larger press, got more type, and launched 
the Enterprise, with the help of a few boys. 
The editors were the late Rev. G. V. Max- 
ham and Prof. Truman H. Safford, then in 
their teens, the latter then a prodigy in 
mathematics. This was printed one year, 
about one thousand circulation. It was suc- 
ceeded by The Nonpareil, but unable alone 




GEORGE PARTRIDGE. 



During this play with type and papers, 
which proved very serious work, Mr. Part- 
ridge fitted for college at the village academy, 
impro\ing vacations with the profound law- 
yer and scholar, William Nutting, and in 1850 
entered Amherst College, graduating in 1854. 
He went at once to Alabama as a private tutor. 
The next year he was professor in Tuskegea 
Female College, and then principal of Hous- 
ton (Tex.) Academy, the first graded high 
school of that city. In 1859 he settled in 
St. Louis as a lawyer, having qualified mean- 
time and been admitted to the bar. When 
the war began, it was his fortune to be ap- 
pointed by General Fremont as attorney of the 
first military commissions organized by him 
for the trial of some two hundred rebel pris- 
oners. This done he was appointed to sim- 
ilar duty in the department of the provost 
marshal general for Missouri, being promoted 
to assistant. He had special charge of the 
cases of the prisoners in the famous Gratiot 
prison. This position he held under Fre- 



PEARSONS. 



PEARSONS. 



mont, Halleck, Schofield, Curtis and Keti h- 
um, retiring in 1S63. 

During liis residence in the South he wrote 
letters for the Springfield Republican on 
Southern life and politics, and also in St. 
Louis a current history of the war in Mis- 
souri, in all eight years connected with that 
paper as correspondent. In 1872 he was 
nominated by the Republicans of St. Louis 
for the Legislature. 

In 1865 he became interested in the 
petroleum industry, desiring a more active 
life, and put down nine wells in Kentucky 
and Ohio, only one yielding oil and that the 
heavy grade practically worthless for want 
of market. At this juncture he visited Ran- 
dolph, in 1866, and placed a few barrels 
with mills and notably induced the incredu- 
lous Vermont Central R. R. to risk ten gal- 
lons. This was the first petroleum lubricat- 
ing oil ever used in Vermont. In a few 
months it became universal. He returned 
to St. Louis, introduced it there, and also 
the first high test burning oil, erecting the 
third refinery west of Cleveland, and built 
up a large wholesale trade. \Vhen, in 1877, 
the Standard Oil Co. secured nearly all the 
refineries in the United States he sold his 
refinery to that company, and soon after 
retired from the oil business. He then en- 
gaged in silver mining in Leadville, Col., 
erected a smelter and became as proficient 
in mining as he had been in oil. He is now 
engaged in oil and mining business in San 
Francisco. He is vice-president of the 
Pacific Coast Vermont Association. 

In i860 he was married to A. Augusta 
Thompson, of West xAvon, Conn., who 
became widely known for her Sunday school 
writings and work. They have four daugh- 
ters : Jennie, Alice and Grace (twins), the 
latter now Mrs. Ira C. Hays, and Nellie, all 
residing in San Francisco. 



able financial condition, and thus restored 
the credit of Chicago. 

Dr. Pearsons is one of the shrewdest busi- 
ness men in that city and a man of great 
benevolence as well, devoting the same at- 
tention to his benevolence as to his business ; 
in all he has given over S 1,000,000. His first 
great gifts to educational institutions were in 
recognition of the Christian ministry of the 
primitive New England stamp, the founders 
of academies and colleges, and the leaders of 
elevated public opinion. His career of 
giving began in 1887 when he gave the 
McCormick Theological Seminary $50,000 
to establish a permanent fund in aid of 




PEARSONS, Daniel Kia\ball, of 

Chicago, 111., was born in Bradford in 1820. 
His mother was a descendant of Israel Put- 
nam. 

He was educated in the common schools 
and at sixteen years of age began his career 
as a school teacher, which he continued five 
years. With the funds saved he took a 
medical course at Woodstock, Vt., and he 
practiced medicine in Chicopee, Mass., 
until 1853. In 1857 he went to Illinois and 
engaged in farming, but removed to C'hicago 
and engaged in real estate business and soon 
acquired a reputation as a financier. 

He was elected alderman of the first ward 
in Chicago. While in this capacity through 
pledges on behalf of the city and himself he 
secured a large loan at the East, much 
needed by the city, which was in a deplor- 



young men studying for the ministry. To 
the Presbyterian Hospital he donated $60,- 
000, besides superintending the construction 
of the building. He gave $100,000 to Lake 
Forest and §100,000 to Beloit College, and 
at an expense of $25,000, built Chapin Hall, 
afterwards giving the college Si 00,000 as a 
single gift. He has since erected Pearsons' 
Science Hall for the same institution at a 
cost of over S6o,ooo. Taking into account 
the rise in value of real estate donated by 
him to Beloit, his benefactions may be esti- 
mated at §200,000. Dr. Pearsons gave 
Knox College $50,000, and at last com- 
mencement offered a like amount on con- 
dition that the directors should raise S200,- 
000 in two years. In the spring of 1892 Dr. 
Pearsons became interested in the life and 
labors of the late 1 )r. Ward of Nankton Col- 



lege, South Dakota, and offered the trustees 
of that college ^50,000 with which to con- 
struct a hall to bear the name of Dr. \\'ard, 
on a condition which they easily fulfilled ; a 
similar offer of 550,000 was made to Colo- 
rado College, and still another of ^50,000 to 
Drury College. 

Dr. Pearsons has been an extensive tra\- 
eler within his own and in foreign lands. 
He has visited Europe three times and but 
recently returned from Egypt. 

Dr. Pearsons is a director of the Chicago 
City Railway Co., the American Exchange 
National Bank and other financial institu- 
tions of Chicago. His favorite investments 
have been in real property. He purchased 
large tracts of timber lands in Michigan 
which yielded immense profits. Dr. Pear- 
.sons is the original founder of the society 
Sons of Vermont in Chicago. He was the 
fourth president of the society, always a prom- 
inent advocate and influential adviser in mat- 
ters of interest to \'ermonters and the Vermont 
society. A quotation or two from Dr. Pear- 
sons' speech, at the fourteenth annual ban- 
quet of the society, might serve as an illustra- 
tion of what his experience has been : "The 
successful men of the country are not those 
whose cradles were rocked by hired nurses, 
and who never knew an ungratified wish as 
children ; they are those who as boys did 
chores for their keep, and were glad to get 
the job ; laid stone wall, ploughed rough 
fields and fought their way through school 
and college poorly clad, fed and housed." 
Speaking of some of the successful men of 
Vermont, Dr. Pearsons said : "They went 
from the hills and from the meadows of Ver- 
mont with muscles toughened, not by the 
use of the oar, but that of axe and plow, and 
with wits sharpened by the privations of 
their boyhood." In closing. Dr. Pearsons 
made the following characteristic remarks : 
"Grit makes the man, the want of it the 
chump ; the men who win lay hold, hang on 
and hump." 

Dr. Pearsons was married in 1847 to Miss 
Marietta Chapin, of Massachusetts, a woman 
of the true New England type, who enters 
heartily into her husband's method of bene\- 
olent work. She presides with womanly 
grace over his elegant and happy home in 
Hinsdale, one of Chicago's beautiful suburbs. 

PERRY, Aaron F., was born at Leicester, 
Jan. I, I Si 5 ; received a common school and 
academic education ; studied law at the Vale 
Law School ; practiced at Columbus, and af- 
terwards at Cincinnati ; was a member of the 
state House of Representatives of Ohio in 
1847 and 1848 ; and was elected a represen- 
tative from Ohio in the Forty-second Con- 
gress as a Republican. 



PERRY, Daniel, of Maysville, Mo., was. 
born in Wardsboro, Nov. 8, 1839, the son of 
James T. and .\my (^\'illis) Perry. 

Daniel was reared on the farm of his par- 
ents, and attended the district schools, se- 
curing a good education when a boy. He 
afterward attended the Westminster Acad- 
emy and Powers Institute at Bernardston, 
Mass., and later the Albany Law School at 
.•\lbany N. Y., graduating in 1868. 

In September, 1861, he enlisted in the 
Federal army, joining Co. F, Vt. company 
of Berdan's Sharpshooters of the Army of 
the Potomac, and served in many of the 
principal battles in which his regiment par- 
ticipated. He became a favorite of Colonel 




Berdan and other officers of his regiment,, 
and was well known as the "Tall Corporal 
on the Right." He is six feet four inches 
tall and is said to have been one of the best 
marksmen in the army. He returned to 
Vermont in the winter of 1863, and taught 
as the principal of the high school at Jack- 
sonville and North Bennington. 

He went \\'est in 1872 and was connected 
with school work in the higher graded schools 
until about 1880, then entered the law, 
abstracting, real estate and loan business in 
Maysville. He has been very successful in 
business, being recognized as one of the best 
real estate lawyers in the West, and a very 
successful dealer in real estate. His business 
has amounted to hundreds of thousands of 
dollars, and it is his pride, that he has never 



lost a dollar to a client in investments, dur- 
ing his business experience. At present he 
is employed extensively in examining securi- 
ties and titles for capitalists residing in the 
East, and in loaning money. 

In October, 18S5, he was united in mar- 
riage, with a daughter of Mr. J. L. Darden, 
of Southern Georgia. She is a grand-niece 
of Commodore Nicholson, the first com- 
mander of the old "Constitution." One 
daughter has blessed this union. 

Mr. Perry has held many important offices, 
among them, county superintendent of 
schools, public administrator and mayor of 
Maysville, Mo., his home, where he is attend- 
ing to his business interests, enjoying the 
fruits of long and faithful service in civil life. 

PETTEE, Lyman P., son of Anson I,, 
and Lucy (Bartlett) Pettee, was born in Wil- 
mington .August 14, 1849. Both his grand- 
fathers were for many years active officers in 
the old state militia, and his father, Dr. A. L. 
Pettee, was one of the most prominent phy- 
sicians in Windham county. 

Young Pettee received his early education 
in the public schools of Wilmington and later 
on attended the Burnside Military School at 
Brattleboro. He, early in life, came to the 
conclusion that he preferred to finish his edu- 
cation in the more practical channels of busi- 
ness experience and accordingly became 
engaged in several minor enterprises long 
before he had arri\ed at his majority. .At 
the age of twenty-three he left Vermont to 
accept a position with the New York Pie Co., 
of New York City, and remained with them 
one year, after which he embarked in the 
baking business on his own account in the 
city of Brooklyn. This venture was for a 
time successful, but a universal panic in bus- 
iness so discouraged him that he finally, in 
1S80, sold out. Mr. Pettee entered the em- 
ploy of Crandall & (lodley. New York, in 
1 88 1, the firm enjoyining the distinction of 
being the largest dealers in bakers' and con- 
fectioners' supplies in the world. From this 
time his strides along the pathway of success 
were rapid. He soon became superinten- 
dent of the business, and within two years 
was admitted as a partner with a modest in- 
terest. He accepted every opportunity to 
prove his value to the firm, so that when the 
senior member, Mr. .A. B. Crandall, died, 
Mr. Pettee found his opportunity. Since 
then, 1887, the firm has more than doubled 
its business. In 1892 they were succeeded 
by the Crandall & Codley Co., and Mr. 
Pettee was at once elected vice-president and 
treasurer, which position he now holds. 

Mr. Pettee has engaged in many other 
large and important enterprises, being presi- 
dent of the Geysers Natural Carbonate 
Acid Gas Co., operating at Saratoga .Springs, 



N. V'., and New York City, which shi])s its 
product to all parts of the world. He is 
also president of the Supply World Publish- 
ing Co., which issues the recognized leading 
trade paper in the interests of bakers and 
confectioners. 

Mr. Pettee is proprietor of the Deerfield 
stock farm at West Brattleboro, now one of 
the recognized institutions of Windham 
county, on which are some of the most 
highly bred horses in this country, and where 
he spends the time he has at his command 
for recreation. He is also the inventor and 
patentee of several useful articles of recog- 
nized merit. 

He is a Mason and in politics is a staunch 
1 )emocrat but has never permitted partisan 
principle to blind his eyes to the mistakes of 
his own party. 

Mr. Pettee was united in marriage in 
1871 to Imogene S., daughter of Frank and 
Sophia Prouty, who died, 1880. She bore 
him two children : Harry E., and L. Grace. 
The latter met an accidental death, being 
drowned while on a visit to Wilmington. In 
1883 he was again united to Mary E., 
daughter of William and Elizabeth Thresher. 
Four children have blessed this marriage : 
W'illie C, Lyman E., Elmo C, and George 
Mortimer. 

PETTIGREW, Richard Pranklin, of 

Sioux Falls, S. D., was born at Ludlow, July, 
1848; removed with his parents to Evans- 
ville, \Ms., in 1854 ; was prepared for college 
at the Evansville Academy, and entered Be- 
loit College in 1866, where he remained two 
years ; was a member of the law class of 
1869, LTniversity of Wisconsin ; went to 
Dakota in July, 1869, in the employ of a 
LTnited States deputy surveyor as a laborer ; 
located in Sioux Falls, where he engaged in 
the surveying and real estate business ; 
opened a law office in 1875, and has been in 
the practice of his profession since ; was 
elected to the Dakota I-egislature as a mem- 
ber of the Council in 1877, and re-elected in 
1879 ; was elected to the Forty-seventh and 
Forty-eighth Congresses as delegate from 
Dakota Territory ; was elected to the Terri- 
torial Council in i884-'85 ; was elected 
LTnited States Senator Oct. 16, 1889, under 
the provisions of the act of Congress admit- 
ting South Dakota into the Union ; took his 
seat Dec. 2, 1889. His term of service will 
expire March 3, 1895. He is president of 
the Sioux Falls Terminal Railroad Co. : the 
Sioux Falls Street Railway Co., and of the 
Sioux Falls, Yankton & Southwestern Rail- 
way Co. 

PHELPS, Charles E., was born in 
(luilford. May 1, 1S33 : removed with his 
parents to Pennsylvania in 183S, and to 



124 



Maryland in 1841 ; graduated at Princeton 
College in 1853; studied law, and came to 
the Maryland bar in 1855 ; admitted to 
practice in the United States Supreme Court 
in 1859. In i860 he was a member of the 
city council of Baltimore. In 1861 he was 
commissioned a major of the Marj'land 
Guard, which post he resigned. In 1862 he 
was made Lieut. -Col. of the 7th Md. Vols., 
and honorably discharged on account of 
wounds in 1864, and was soon afterwards 
elected a representative from Maryland to 
the Thirty-ninth Congress. He was subse- 
quently commissioned brevet brigadier-gen- 
eral for gallant conduct at the battle of 
Spottsylvania. 

PHELPS, George HOVEY, of Fargo, 
N. D., son of Simonds Fowler Phelps and 
Susan Critchett Phelps, was born July 17, 
1862, at Lowell. His education was received 
in the district schools of his native town, 
Albany Academy, Johnson State Normal 
School, and St Johnsbury Academy. 




GEORGE HOVE 



The years from 1883 to 1885 were spent 
in teaching in New Hampshire and Vermont, 
and in the fall of 1885 he entered the law 
office of Hon. L. H. Thompson at Irasburg, 
and commenced the study of law. In 1887 
he became deputy clerk of court at St. Johns- 
bury and remained in that position until he 
removed to Fargo, North Dakota, in 1888, 
where he took charge of the loan and collec- 
tion department in the office of Burleigh 



F. Spalding. During the year 1890 he 
held the position of deputy clerk of the dis- 
trict court of Cass county and, in 1891, 
formed a law partnership with Burleigh F. 
Spalding, which firm was succeeded in June, 
1893, by the present firm of Newman, Spald- 
ing & Phelps. Mr. Phelps has confined him- 
self strictly to business, paying particular at- 
tention to commercial and real estate law, and 
through his energy and fidelity to his partic- 
ular line has earned for himself a foremost 
rank, and holds for his firm a large clientage 
among the leading wholesale houses through- 
out the country. 

He is a member of Shiloh Lodge, No. i, 
F. & A. M. ; Keystone Chapter, No. 5, R. A. 
M. : Casselton Council, No. i, R. S. M. ; 
Auvergne Commandery, No. 2, K. T. ; El 
ZagarTemple, A. A. O. N. M. S. : Mecca 
Chapter, No. 5, O. E. S., and Fargo Consis- 
tory, 32d degree A. A., Scottish Rite. He 
is past high priest of Keystone Chapter, has 
served three years as deputy grand secretary 
of the Grand Lodge, F. & A. M., and Grand 
Chapter of R. A. M. of North Dakota and is 
the grand representative of the Grand Lodge 
and Grand Chapter of \'ermont, near the 
like Grand bodies of North Dakota. 

Mr. Phelps was married at Irasburg, Oct. 
12, 1 88 7, to Julia Lucy, daughter of Ethan 
Allen and Abigail Jane Leach. They have 
one child : Kenneth Allen. 

Mr. and Mrs. Phelps keep open house for 
all natives of Vermont and retain at all 
times their loyalty to the state of their birth. 

PHELPS, James T., of Boston, Mass., son 
of James T. and Lucy J. (Mitchell) Phelps, 
was born May 24, 1845, at Chittenden. 

He was educated in the public schools of 
Burlington, and of Chelsea, Mass. In 1857 
Mr. Phelps entered the Boston office of the 
National Life Insurance Co. of Montpelier, 
which was then conducted by his father, and 
pursued his studies under paternal direction. 
During the years of 1861 to 1863 he was a 
clerk in a country store at Fair Haven, then 
returned to Boston, and, with the exception 
of a year or two in the West, has been in the 
service of the National Life Insurance Co. 
contiuously since. L'nder the firm name of 
James T. Phelps & Son, he formed a partner- 
ship with his father in 1869, and in 1870, at 
the death of his father, assumed and has since 
had entire control of the Massachusetts bus- 
iness of the company, with great success. 
In 1870 he was made a director of the com- 
pany, and is now on the board. 

Mr. Phelps has been in the insurance busi- 
ness practically during the entire period of 
its history in America and has acquired a 
considerable distinction as a writer on the 
subject and is an acknowledged authority on 
life insurance matters. 



Mr. I'helps has served in the city council 
of Chelsea, Mass., two years in each branch, 
as councilman and aklerman, with honor to 
himself and his constituents. 



-jsal^^**' 




JAMES T. PHELPS. 

He was married Oct. 19, 1879, at Fair 
Haven, to Juliza A., daughter of the late Otis 
Hamilton, and has two living children, both 
daughters. 

PIERCE, Leroy Matthew, of Hlack- 
stone, Mass., son of Alvah \^"arren and J.ydia 
(.Atwood) Pierce, was born at Olney, 111., 
Jan. 14, 1842, and became a Vermonter by 
adoption. The removal of his parents from 
Londonderry to Illinois and their subsequent 
return a few years later when their son was 
three or four years of age, explains the situ- 
ation. 

His education began at the old time acad- 
emies in Londonderry and Springfield and 
he entered Middlebury College in 1861 but 
did not graduate until 1S66, for while a 
student he passed some time away as a dele- 
gate of the Christian commission in the 
hospitals of Washington, D. C, City Point, 
Va., and in the .Army of the Potomac. Re- 
turning to Middlebury he resumed his 
studies in a succeeding class. At college he 
was prominent in society work and was 
president of the fraternity of the various 
chapters in the different colleges of Delta 
LTpsilon and a member of the Phi Beta 
Kappa. He was the salutatorian of his 
class and also received the U'aldo prize for 
scholarship and good behavior. 



Shortly after graduation at .\ndo\er 'i'heo- 
iogical Seminary of .Massacusetts, where he 
had passed the years from 1866 to 1869, he 
went to (Henwood, Mo., where he was ordain- 
ed Feb. 4, 1870, and labored as a home mis- 
sionary for about two years. In 1871 he re- 
turned East and received a call to preach in 
the Congregational church at Provincetown, 
Mass., which he accepted and served there 
until failing health caused an interruption of 
his ministry after about a year's occupancy 
of the pastorate. He resumed the work of 
the ministry at Bernardston, Mass., becom- 
ing pastor of the Congregational church, 
and remained there for ten years, from 1873 
to 1883. In the summer and autumn of 
1883 he visited Europe in company with 
Mrs. Pierce. In the spring of 1884 he be- 
gan his present connection as the pastor of 
the Coneresrational church in Bkickstone, 




'."•i^?* 




LEROY MATTHEW PIERCE. 

Mass. While a busy minister, Mr. Pierce 
has devoted considerable time to private 
study, especially botany, and the Hebrew 
Bible, in both of which he has attained pro- 
ficiency for one who is not a teacher of those 
branches. 

Mr. Pierce was married, May 24, 1876, to 
Catherine, daughter of the late Hon. William 
and Abbie Hard Billings of .Arlington. 

PIERCE, WiLLARD Henry, of Creen- 
field, .Mass., son of Nathan G. and Roxana 
(Reach) Pierce, was born in Westminster, 
Nov. 2 I, 1864. 



126 



The early educational advantages of .Mr. 
Pierce were received at the district schools 
of his native town and from private instruc- 
tion, as well as a course at Sa.xtons River 
(Vt.) Academy. He entered the University 
of Vermont, medical department, with the 
class of 18S3, and graduated M. D. in 18S5. 

Dr. Pierce commenced the active practice 
of his profession at the age of twenty- one, at 
Bernardston, Mass., and on Jan. i, 1893, he 
removed to Greenfield, Mass., where he has 
since resided and built up an excellent 
practice. Although a general practitioner, 
J)r. Pierce has a special aptitude for surgical 
work, and receives many calls from the pro- 
fession in Vermont, New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts. A\'hen twentv-five vears of 



i^ 




age he had performed a large number of the 
most difficult operations, including the suc- 
cessful removal of one kidney. Dr. Pierce 
enjoys the distinction of having performed 
the first operation known as laparotomy, 
done by a resident of Franklin county. 

.\lthough a staunch Republican, he has 
been too busily engaged with his profes- 
sional duties to devote much time to politics. 
While in Bernardston he was a member of 
the town committee, and was frequently sent 
as delegate to state and other conventions. 

He became a Free Mason in 1886, and is 
now a member of all the bodies of that 



order. \Vas president of the Library .Asso- 
ciation and trustee of Powers Institute while 
in Bernardston. He is a member of the 
Connecticut Valley Medical .Association, of 
the Massachusetts Medical Society, and for 
two years president of the Franklin county 
district of the latter. During the time of 
his membership he has contributed a large 
number of essays to these societies. 

Dr. Pierce was married at Bernardston, 
Mass., Sept. 5, 1888, to Nellie May, daughter 
of Ormando \V. and Roxcena (.Arnold) (Iray. 
They have one daughter : Roxy. 

POLLARD, Henry M., was born at 
Plymouth, June 14, 1836; received a com- 
mon school and academic education, gradu- 
ating in 1857 at the scientific department of 
Dartmouth College : ser\ed in Union army 
during the war as major of the Sth Regt. Vt. 
Vols. ; located in Chillicothe, Mo., in the fall 
of 1865, and has since resided there, prac- 
ticing law ; was elected a representative from 
Missouri in the Forty-fifth Congress as a 
Republican. 

PROCTOR, William Henry, son of 

Asa and Lorena (Proctor) Proctor, was born 
in Cavendish, Oct. 19, 1827. Both the 
paternal and maternal grandfathers of Mr. 
Proctor served in the Revolutionary war, and 
the latter was present at the skirmish on the 
village green at Lexington, and later partici- 
]iated in the battle of Bunker Hill. 

^^'hen he was eight years of age, the 
parents of Mr. Proctor removed to Kalama- 
zoo county, Mich., and eight years later to 
Columbia county. Wis. He attended the 
schools of his native town, and afterwards 
studied m Schoolcraft, Mich., and Azatlan, 
Wis. 

Mr. Proctor has always followed the voca- 
tion of a general farmer, and to this has 
given the greater part of his time and atten- 
tion. He has settled in the town of Foun- 
tain Prairie, a locality which is much admired 
by all who visit this charming spot. 

He was married Nov. 8, 1857, to.Angeiine 
E., daughter of the late Samuel and Mary S. 
(Durfee) Lashier. Nine children are the 
issue of this marriage : Nettie .\. (deceased), 
I'lUen Lorena, John S., William R., Mary E., 
Walter A., Clara M., Alfred H., and Ade- 
laide L. 

For several years Mr. Proctor held the 
office of town supervisor and was also chair- 
man of the town board and for eight years a 
member of the county board of supervisors. 
In 18S2 he was elected to the state Legisla- 
ture of Wisconsin, representing the second 
assembly district of Columbia county. 



127 



RAMSDELL, William Martin, of 

Brooklyn, N. Y., son of Horac;e 1). and 
Lucretia (Holt) Ramsdell, was born Nov. 
14, 1851, at Montpelier. 

He receiv'ed his early education at the 
public schools of his native town, and began 
early in life to exhibit a strong liking for 
mechanics. At the age of eighteen he en- 
tered the establishment of Fisher & Colton, 
manufacturers of saddlery hardware, at Mont- 
pelier, and served an ai^prentii^eship in the 




WILLIAM MARTIN RAMSDELL. 

silver plating department. Immediately 
afterward he went to Portland, Me., and 
entered the employ of A. H. Atwood, manu- 
facturing dealer in silver plated ware, and 
remained three years, spending such time as 
could be spared in preparing himself for a 
professional career which he had decided 
upon entering. 

In 1875 he returned to Montpelier and 
began the systematic study of dentistry under 
the tuition of the late Dr. O. P. Forbush. 
After two years Dr. Ramsdell located in 
West Randolph and remained three years in 
successful practice, when, desiring a larger 
field, he formed, in 1880, a partnership with 
Dr. Charles D. Cook, a prominent dentist of 
Brooklyn, N. V., with whom he remained in 
pleasant business relations two years, a part 
of which time was spent in pursuing a course 
of study in the Indiana Dental College at 
Indianapolis from which he graduated with 
honors. 

Dr. Ramsdell at this time entered busi- 
ness upon his own account in Brooklyn, 



where he has developed a successful practice. 
He is a member of the Brooklyn Dental 
Society, the First District Dental Society of 
the state of New York : the Brooklyn Kthical 
Association ; and of the Brooklyn Society of 
\'ermonters. 

Dr. Ramsdell was married at Montpelier, 
Sept. 2, T879, to Ida, daughter of Lorenzo 
I), and Nancy Frost Hill. 

RANNEW Ambrose A., son of Wait- 
still R. and Phcebe (Atwood) Ranney, was 
born in Townshend, April 16, 1821. 

He fitted for college at Townshend Acad- 
emy and was graduated from Dartmouth Col- 
lege in the class of 1844. His early life was 
spent on the home farm until he was nineteen 
years of age. His father was the leading 
physician of his native place, and was for two 
years Lieutenant-Governor of the state of 
Vermont. 

After graduation he studied law with Hon. 
Andrew Tracy in Woodstock, and was admit- 
ted to the bar of ^"ermont in December, 
1847. He immediately removed to Boston 
and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in June, 
1848. 

Mr. Ranney was married in (_'avendish, 
Dec. 4, 1850, to Maria I)., daughter of Addi- 
son and Maria (Ingalls) Fletcher. Of this 
union were four children : Fletcher Ranney, 
now a partner in his father's law firm ; Maria 
v., Helen M., and Alice Ranney, now Mrs. 
Thomas Allen. 

He was city solicitor for Boston, 1855 and 
'56; member of the House of Representa- 
tives 1857, '63 and '64 ; elected to Congress 
in 1880, as a Republican, from the third 
congressional district, and twice re-elected, 
serving through the Forty-seventh, Forty- 
eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses. He 
joined the Republican party at its organiza- 
tion, and has since remained a staunch and 
active worker in its ranks. While in Con- 
gress he served two terms on the committee 
on elections, investigating frauds and render- 
ing most valuable service in the interests of 
fair elections and the integrity of the ballot- 
box. During the last term he was a mem- 
ber of the judiciary committee, and the head 
of a special committee on the Republican 
side of the house to investigate the famous 
pan-electric scheme, involving the reputation 
and conduct of high government officials 
and exciting great public interest. His ser- 
vices on this committee are a matter of hon- 
orable record. 

His absorbing aim and ambition was, 
however, in the profession of the law, where- 
in, previous to his congressional career he 
had achieved eminent success. He had been 
only a few years at the bar when the office of 
city solicitor was conferred upon him, and 
his duties therein were most creditably dis- 



128 



REDIXGTDN. 



charged. He had little taste for politics, and 
political honors ha\'e at all times been thrust 
upon him, rather than sought for. But during 
his legislative service, both state and national, 
he won the respect and esteem of all parties, 
and impressed the public generally by his 
manly bearing, his fidelity to duty, as he un- 
derstood it, and his great ability as a profound 
lawyer, and a successful legislator. He may 
be said to have achieved a national reputa- 
tion. While his return to private life, and 
his chosen profession, may have been more 
congenial to him, the loss to the public ser- 
vice was the cause of deep regret among all 
who knew his virtues. 



Lieut, of Co. I until mustered out, July 14, 
1863. President Lincoln appointed him 
additional paymaster U. S. Vols, with the 
rank of major, Feb. 24, 1S64, and he re- 
mained on duty with the .\rmy of the Poto- 
mac until June 24, 1865, when he was 
ordered to Springfield, 111., to pay mustered- 
out troops. He served there until Nov. 30, 
1865, and was mustered out at the close of 
the war. From 1866 to 187 1 he was em- 
ployed by the Kansas Pacific Railway Co. as 



RAY, OSSIAN, of Lancaster, N. H., was 
born at Hinesburgh, Dec. 13, 1835. Here- 
moved to Irasburgh in early childhood, and 
there and at Derby received an academic 
education. He studied law, was admitted 
to the bar in 1857, and has since practiced 
at Lancaster, N. H., where he removed soon 
after his admission to the bar. In 1868 he 
was a member of the state Legislature, and 
also in 1869. From 1862 to 1872 he was 
solicitor for Coos county, and was L^nited 
States attorney for the district of New 
Hampshire from Feb. 22, 1879, to the fol- 
lowing December, when he resigned, upon 
his nomination to fill vacancy on the Forty- 
sixth Congress consequent upon the death 
of Hon. Evarts W. Farr. He was elected to 
that Congress, and was re-elected to the 
Forty-seventh Congress as a Republican. 

READ, ALMON H., was born in Shel- 
burne, June 12, 1790; graduated at Williams 
College ; studied law and removed to Penn- 
sylvania ; was frequently elected to the state 
Legislature ; also to the Senate ; in 1 840 was 
appointed treasurer of the state, and in 
1 84 1 was elected to fill a vacancy in the 
National House of Representatives, and re- 
elected to the succeeding Congress. He 
died at Montrose, Penn., June 3, 1S44. 

REDINGTON, EDWARD Dana, of 
Evanston, 111., son of Edward C. and Caro- 
line D. (Stearns) Redington, was born Nov. 
12, 1839, at Chelsea. 

Mr. Redington was educated in the schools 
of Chelsea, and at the St. Johnsbury Acad- 
emy, and graduated with the class of 1861 
at Dartmouth College. After graduating, he 
became a teacher in St. johnsbury Academy 
for a year. In the winter of i863-'64 he 
served as assistant cashier of the Passumpsic 
Bank. 

From 1862 to the close of 1865 Mr. Red- 
ington was actively engaged in the defense 
of the Union. He enlisted in the 12th Vt. 
Vols., August 23, 1862, and was sergeant- 
major to Feb. 23, 1863, and afterwards 2d 




ARD DANA REDINGTON. 



cashier and paymaster, residing at Wyan- 
dotte, Leavenw'orth, and Lawrence, Kan. 
From 1 87 1 to 1875 ^^ "^^^^ engaged in the 
lumber business in Lawrence, Kan., and 
from 1875 to 1887 in Chicago, 111. Since 
1 888 he has been connected with the Provi- 
dent Life and Trust Co. of Philadelphia, Pa., 
in their Chicago agency. 

Mr. Redington is a Repubhcan in pohtics, 
though while in Kansas he was the Pro- 
hibition candidate for mayor of Lawrence in 
1873. In the same city he was a member 
of the school board from 1872 to 1875. 

In the G. A. R. Mr. Redington has been 
prominent, serving as aid on Commander 
Veazey's staff in 1891. He is a member of 
the Illinois Commandery, Loyal Legion, of 
the \\'estern Society of the Army of the Po- 
tomac, and of the Sons of the American 
Revolution. He has been president of the 
Chicago Alumni Association of Dartmouth 
College ; is president of the Chicago Associ- 
ation Sons of ^'ermont for 1894, and Jan. 



REDINGTON. 



129 



22, 1894, he was elected president of the 
Chicago Congregational Club for the ensu- 
ing year. 

Mr. Redington was married twice, his 
first wife being Mary Ann, daughter of F.ph- 
raim and Mary Ann Chamberlain of St. 
Johnsbury, whom he married Nov. 15, 1864. 
From this union there are three children 
living : Lizzie Stearns, John Chase and 
Paul Goodwin (twins). Mrs. Redington 
died in April, 1880. May 18, 1882, he mar- 
ried Mary Julia, daughter of Ezra and Julia 
R. Towne of Topsfield, Mass., by whom he 
has one child ; Theodore Towne. 

RICE, Edmund, of St. Paul, Minn., was 
born in Waitsfield, Feb. 14, 1819; received 
a common school education ; went to Kala- 
mazoo, Mich., November, 1838 ; read law ; 
was appointed register of the court of chan- 
cery in 1S41 for the third circuit; was 
appointed master in chancery ; was appoint- 
ed clerk of the Supreme Court, third circuit ; 
served as register and master until 1S45, 
when the court was abolished, and clerk 
until 1849 ; in 1S47 enlisted to serve in the 
Mexican war ; was commissioned ist Lieut. 
Co. .A, ist Regt. Mich. Vols. ; was detailed 
as acting assistant commissary subsistence, 
and acting assistant quartermaster : was 
mustered out in August, 1848; removed to 
St. Paul, in July, 1849, and practiced law 
until 1856 ; was president of the Minnesota 
& Pacific Railroad Co., from 1857 to 1863, 
St. Paul & Pacific R. R., 1S63 till 1872, and 
trustee till 1879 ; president St. Paul & Chi- 
cago, 1863 till 1877 ; was a member of the 
territorial Legislature 185 1 ; was state sena- 
tor 1864-66, 1874-76 ; was a member of the 
state House of Representatives 1867, 1872, 
1877 and 1878 ; was mayor of St. Paul 
1881-83, re-elected in 1885 and resigned in 
February, 1887 ; and was elected to the 
Fiftieth Congress as a Democrat. 

RICE, Henry M., was born in Vermont ; 
emigrated to Pennsylvania when it was a ter- 
ritory, and after that time lived in three other 
territories, viz., Iowa, Wisconsin and Minne- 
sota, much of his life having been spent 
among the Indian tribes of the Northwest ; 
in 1840 he was appointed a sutler in the 
army ; has been employed as commissioner 
in making many Indian treaties of great im- 
portance : in 1853 he was elected a delegate 
to Congress from Minnesota ; re-elected in 
1855, having secured the passage of the act 
authorizing the people of Minnesota to form 
a state constitution: and in 1857 he was 
elected a senator in Congress from Minne- 
sota for the term of six years. 

REDINGTON, LYMAN W. , of New York 
City, son of George and Loraine W. (Shel- 



don) Redington, was born at Waddington, 
N. v., ^L'lrch 14, 1849, and is a direct 
descendant on his father's side of John 
Redington, who came from the vicinity of 
Hemel-Hempstead, near Windsor, England, 
prior to 1640, and located in Topsfield, 
Mass. He died there in 1690, and his 
descendants lived there and in the adjoining 
town of Boxford, and in Windsor and Rich- 
mond, Mass., for many years. Lyman W. 
Redington's grandfather, Jacob Redington, 
was a Revolutionary soldier. He lived for 
some years in Vergennes, and held a number 
of local offices in the early history of that 
city, being a member of the first common 
council of the first city government of Ver- 
gennes in 1 794. He emigrated from Ver- 
gennes in iSoo to ^\'addington, N. Y., where 
with his family he lived and died. Mr. 
Redington, on his mother's side, was a 
great-great-grandson of Capt. .Amasa Shel- 
don, of the Revolutionary war, and a direct 
descendant of Samuel IJass, of Plymouth, 
Mass., whose wife was a daughter of the 
historical John Alden. The father of the 
subject of this sketch was an able lawyer and 
judge of the Court of Common Pleas of St. 
Lawrence county, and for several terms a 
member of the New York Legislature, where 
he wielded considerable influence. He aided 
very materially in the construction of the 
Northern R. R., from Ogdensburg to Rouse's 
Point, and was one of its directors. He 
was an energetic business man of large 
capacity, and highly respected for his sound 
judgment and upright, straightforward deal- 
ing. He was a staunch Democrat. Lyman 
W. Reddington's mother was a daughter of 
Medad Sheldon, of Rutland, and a sister of 
Charles Sheldon, deceased, of Rutland, head 
of the firm of Sheldon & Sons, marble 
dealers. 

L. W. Redington prepared for college at 
Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Mass., 
and entered Vale College in 1866, but ill- 
health prevented him from completing the 
collegiate course. He attended law school 
at Columbia College, New York City, and 
concluded his professional studies in the 
office of the late L'nited States Senator 
Matthew H. Carpenter, in Milwaukee, Wis. 
He was admitted to the Milwaukee bar in 
1 8 7 1 , and for some time afterward made an 
extensive tour of Europe, to regain his 
health and round out his education, remain- 
a year abroad. In 1875 he located in 
Rutland. In 1876 he was elected to the 
oflice of grand juror, which position he 
held for five years, and then refused to stand 
longer. He was the nominee of the Demo- 
cracy for representative at Rutland in 1876, 
'78, '80 and '82. In 1878 he was elected to 
the Legislature, and was the Democratic 
nominee of the House for speaker. He was 



RICHARDSON. 



RICHAKUSON. 



a delegate-at-large for Vermont to the Dem- 
ocratic national convention in 1880, and was 
the nominee of the Democracy in Congress 
in 1882. He was chairman of the Demo- 
cratic state convention in 1882, and on 
the 17th of March, 18S4, was appointed 
municipal judge for Rutland, to fill the 
vacancy occasioned by the death of Martin 
G. Everts, and re-elected in 1885. He was 
corporation attorney for Rutland for the 
year iS83-'84, and was president of the New 
England Fire Insurance Co., of Rutland, 
which was organized under a Vermont char- 
ter in 1881. In 1884 he was the Demo- 
cratic candidate for Governor, and made a 
spirited canvass, cutting down by several 
thousand the normal Republican majority in 
the state. He was appointed postmaster of 
Rutland July 17, 1885, by President Cleve- 
land. 

Mr. Redington was married Oct. 6, 1875, 
to Catherine Russell Merrill, daughter of Col. 
George .\. Merrill, of Rutland, and has three 
children : Mary Patterson, Thomas (iregory, 
and Paul Merrill. 

He is a man of many scholarly attainments, 
with a broad and healthy sympathy, with 
democratic ideas, a powerful speaker, an in- 
dependent and progressive thinker. In the 
Legislature of 1878 he was the author of the 
•" Redington Bill," so called, for a local op- 
tion law to apply to the liquor traffic ; of 
course the bill was defeated, but his speech 
in its advocacy was most masterly. 

In 1889 he resigned the office of post- 
master, and moved to New York City to prac- 
tice his profession. He is a member of the 
Tammany Hall general committee ; of the N. 
V. Society of the Sons of the Revolution ; of 
Kane Lodge and Coeur de Lion Command- 
ery, Knights Templar, and is president of the 
Powhatan Club. 

RICHARDSON, David NELSON, of 
Davenport, Iowa, son of Christopher and 
Achsah Richardson, was born March 19, 
1832, at East Orange. 

The common schools and three terms at 
the Franklin Academy, Malone, N. V., were 
his early educational advantages, while farm 
life, teaching, and a printing office filled his 
life until the age of twenty-three, when he 
became editor and co-proprietor of the ]iaper 
which he still continues to edit and own. 

Iowa people say of him : " Nowadays in 
Iowa when it becomes necessary to give con- 
sideration of matters of literature and art, 
whenever the opinion is needed of an expert 
of good judgment, who has knowledge and 
practical common sense, the thought of all 
instinctively turn towards Mr. D. N. Rich- 
ardson. In the broad range of acquaintance 
with books, with architecture, with art, with 
traveled knowledge and with the many 



things that go to make up the culture of life, 
he is easily the first citizen of the state. 
]'-ver ready to interest himself in these mat- 
ters where the good of the state is concerned 
and in his charming, modest manner, to 
give the public the benefit of his learning 
acquired bv travel all over the world, with its 
accompanying personal investigation, be- 
sides by the more ordinary method of study, 
no undertaking of statewide scope is deemed 
to be on its best footing unless his co-opera- 
tion is secured. He has interested himself 
in the State University for the past eighteen 
years, and had done as much as many others 
together to put that splendid institution on a 
firm basis, and to bring it out of difficulties. 
When it was decided to erect a monument 
to the soldiers of Iowa that would be a credit 
to the state as a work of art, Mr. Richardson 




DAVID NELSON RICHARDSON. 



was naturally selected as a member of the 
commission to have charge. More than any 
other member has he interested himself, and 
given the project the benefit of his learning 
and investigation of memorial structures the 
world over. .So, too, when an association 
was formed to further the progress of art in 
Iowa, he was made its president. We have 
writers in Iowa who, perhaps, have made 
more of a name among the reading public of 
the nation : artists who in their specialties 
have acquired more renown ; but, taken all 
together, in literature, university extension, 
monumental architecture, art and other forms 
of culture, no man in Iowa surpasses Mr. 



132 



Richardson. He is a citizen of whioni the 
state is proud." 

Mr. Richardson has been a busy man. He 
is editor and co-proprietor of the Daven- 
port Daily Democrat, and president of the 
Northwestern Associated Press : also of the 
Richardson Land and Timber Co. ; of the 
Iowa Art Association. For twenty-five years 
he has been a director of the Citizens Na- 
tional Bank; also of the Lindsay Land and 
Lumber Co.; the Davenport Water Co., and 
of the Davenport & Rock Lsland Ferry Co., 
and is interested in five banks, and many 
other commercial institutions. For eighteen 
years he has been regent of the State L^ni- 
versity of Iowa. 

In Masonic circles he has reached high 
honors, was master of Trinity lodge No. 20S, 
and in Scottish Rite Masonry has reached 
the 32d degree. 

Mr. Richardson was married April 15, 
1858, in Groton, to Jennette, daughter of John 
and Janet Darling, and is blessed with a 
family of four children, both of his sons be- 
ing engaged with him in business. 

ROBBIE, Reuben, was born in Ver- 
mont, and, having settled in New York, was 
elected a representative in Congress from 
that state from 1S51 to 1853. 

ROBINSON, George Stewart, of 

Sycamore, 111., son of (leorge and Harriet 
(Stewart) Robinson, was born at Derby, 
June 24, 1824. 

Judge Robinson received his early train- 
ing in the schools and academy of Derby, 
and worked on a farm until about twenty 
years of age except when teaching. He 
studied law with Hon. S. B. Colby and Hon. 
Lucius B. Peck, and was admitted to the 
bar at Montpelier, in 1846. Failing health 
compelled him to go south in 1847, where 
he became a teacher in Hamilton, Ga. He 
was admitted to the bar in Cuthbert, Ga., in 
1852 and practiced until 1866. During the 
civil war he maintained his pronounced 
L^nion principles and openly opposed seces- 
sion, and at a great pecuniary sacrifice kept 
out of the Confederate service. 

In July, 1866, he took up his residence in 
Sycamore and engaged in the practice of his 
profession, occupying a leading position and 
Isecoming city attorney and drafting many 
important ordinances. In 1873 he was ap- 
pointed to the office of master in chancery, 
which he held until he was elected judge of 
the county court in 1877. In 1869 he be- 
came a member of the board of state com- 
missioners of public charities and served 
nearly fifteen years, and was for eight years 
president of the board, spending two to 
three months annually in its service without 
compensation. 



Judge Robinson has taken the Blue Lodge, 
Chapter and Knights Templar degrees in 
Masonry and has been master, high priest of 
the chapter and is now prelate' fin the 
Knights Templar Lodge. 




GEORGE STEWART ROBINSON. 

He was married Oct. 13, 1853, at Derby 
to Olive A. Colby, daughter of Nehemiah 
and Malinda L. Colby. None of their three 
children survive. 

ROLFE, Herbert Percy, of Great 

Falls, Mont., son of Gustavus and E. L. 
(Martston) Rolfe, was born at Tunbridge, 
August 30, 1849. 

Judge Rolfe as a youth worked his way 
through the best institutions of learning that 
his means could reach. He attended Essex 
Academy, and graduated from the State Nor- 
mal School at Randolph in 186S, and from 
Kimball LTnion Academy (N. H.) in 1870. 
At Dartmouth College he was graduated from 
the classical department in 1874, and in 
1877 received the degree of A. M. He then 
began his legal education in the ofifice of 
Henry Noble, Esq., at Columbus, Ohio. He 
afterwards studied with ex-Governor Edger- 
ton of .\kron, Ohio, in 1875 and 1876, and 
with Senator Sanders of Helena, Mont., in 
1877, and was admitted to practice at Helena 
in 1878. 

As a teacher Judge Rolfe passed much 
time while working his way along, and at- 
tained much proficiency both in the East 
and \Yest. He was principal of Lancaster 



133 



(N. H.) Academy in 1S73, and senior 
teacher of the Institute for the HHnd at Col- 
umbus, Ohio, from 1874 to 1876. He served 
as superintendent of the city schools of 
Helena, Mont., from 1876 to 1879. 

As a journalist he edited the Butte (Mont.) 
Daily Miner in 1879. From 1880 to 1884 
he practiced law at i'ort Benton, Mont., and 
was first judge of Cascade county from 18S7 
to 1 888. In 1888 he became interested in 
journalism again and has since been editor 
and proprietor of the Great Falls (Mont.) 
Daily and U'eekly Leader. He is also a 
director of a national bank. 




Sidney Edgerton and .Mary (Wright) I'^dger- 
ton, and has seven children. 

ROY, JOHN ALEXANDER, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of Nathaniel and Margarfet 
(Gilfillman) Roy, was born in Barnet, July 
I, 1832. 

He received his education in the public 
schools of his native town, and at intervals 
worked on his father's farm during the 
years of his minority. On Jan. 2, 1854, he 
left the home of his boyhood to seek his 
fortune in the gold fields of California, going 
there via the isthmus. Having reached his 
destination he at once engaged in mining in 
Tuolumne and Calaveras counties, until 
June, 1858, when he went to Eraser's River, 
where he followed the same occupation 
until July, 1S59, when he returned to San 
Francisco and purchased a "water route." 
This was at a time in the history of the city 
when the greater part of it was supplied by 





Judge Rolfe has always been active in 
politics and was first to organize the Repub- 
licans of Choteau county, Mont., in 18S0. 
He was the secretary of the first county com- 
mittee and is frequently a delegate to county 
and state conventions, and has been many 
times chairman of the conventions. In 
social organizations he is a leader. He was 
W. M. of Cascade Lodge, F. & A. M. during 
the years 1887 and 1888, and H. P. of (Ireat 
Falls Chapter No. 9 R. A. M. in 1892 ; emi- 
nent commander of Black Eagle Command- 
ery No. 8, K. T., in 1894. In i888 he was 
M. W. of Great Falls Lodge, A. O. U. W. He 
built the first house at Great Falls in 1884, 
which now has 1 2,000 population, and is the 
owner of the Black Eagle F"alls addition. 

judge Rolfe was married at Akron, O., 
August 8, 1876, to the daughter of ex-Gov. 



watermen who conveyed the aqueous fluid 
from house to house in barrels. Mr. Roy 
found this to be a lucrative Imsiness and fol- 
lowed it until 1863, when on account of ill- 
ness, he returned to Vermont. In 1865 he 
returned to San Francisco and established a 
milk dairy in the southern part of the city, 
and after several years formed a partnership 
with C. W. Taber, L. A. Hayward, Frank H. 
Johnson and Oliver Crook. This company 
was incorporated and is known as the 
Guadaloupe Dairy Co. J. A. Roy was 



134 



elected its first president, which office he has 
since held. 

Mr. Roy owns besides his interest in the 
Guadaloupe Valley, property in San Mateo 
county, and a dairy ranch of 985 acres in 
Marin county. 

He has always been a member of the Re- 
publican party, but has never held any 
office, except to serve as one of the county 
committee. 

For many years he has been a member of 
the Pacific Coast Association Native Sons of 
Vermont ; also an Odd Fellow, a Mason and 
he belongs to the A. O. U. W. 

Mr. Roy has been married twice. His 
first wife was Rebekah, daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. Andrew Lackey, a native of Vermont, 
who died in San Francisco many years ago ; 
and in 1878 he was united to Barbara, 
daughter of John Walker and Barbara Hun- 
ter, of Rothesay Island, of Bute, Scotland. 
Of this latter union is one son : Allan J. 

RUSSELL, William Augustus, of 

Lawrence, Mass., son of U'illiam and Almira 
(Heath) Russell, was born in Wells River, 
April 22, 1 83 1. The Russell family is of 
pure English blood, and allied to a family 
honored in Anglo-Saxon history. 

Mr. Russell, while at his home in Frank- 
lin, N. H., to which town his father had 
removed, attended the public schools and 
the Franklin Academy, occupying his vaca- 
tions at work in the paper mills of Peabody 
&: 1 )aniels until the age of sixteen. He 
subsequently attended a private school in 
Lowell, w'hich completed his early educa- 
tional training. In 184S he commenced 
work in his father's paper mill, where he 
remained until 1851. Two years later the 
father and son formed a copartnership and 
moved their works to Lawrence. The senior 
Mr. Russell's health failing, he was compelled 
to retire from active business, leaving the 
entire interests in the hands of his son, who 
proved equal to the task, and began to meet 
the growing demands of the business by 
leasing, in 1S56, two mills in Belfast, Maine. 
In 1 86 1 he purchased a mill in Lawrence of 
a firm that had failed in business, and later 
on two mills fell into his hands, having pre- 
viously been overtaken by misfortune. 

Having found by costly experiments that 
wood-pulp was the fibre needed for improv- 
ed machinery and rapid work, he established 
a wood-pulp mill in Franklin, N. H., in 
1869, for the production of this new fibre. 
He succeeded in this where many had failed, 
and instituted an entirely new department of 
industrial art in this country. He began to 
convert the product of his pulp mills into 
paper by the purchase, in 1879, of the 
Fisher & Aiken mills in Franklin. He also 
erected one the same year at Bellows Falls. 



To carry out his scheme successfully, he 
was obliged to purchase the entire water 
power here, build a new dam and enlarge 
the canal. Through his enterprise, this 
small town grew into one of the thrifty 
towns of the state, ranking third in valua- 
tion. Mr. Russell's principal works are at 
Bellows Falls and Lawrence. He has also 
large interests in other mills at several 
points in Maine. 




JAM AUGUSTUS BUSSEL 



Politically, Mr. Russell began life as a 
Whig. At the dissolution of that party he 
allied himself with the Republican party and 
has unwaveringly supported it since. He 
uniformly declined to accept any public 
office until 1867, when he was elected alder- 
man in the city of Lawrence. The follow- 
ing year he was chosen a member of the 
state Legislature. In 1868 he was also 
chosen a delegate to the national Republi- 
can convention in Cincinnati. 

He was elected to the Forty- sixth Congress 
from the seventh Massachusetts district ; 
served on the committee on commerce, and 
was a member of a sub-committee to investi- 
gate the cause for the decline of American 
commerce. His report showed a thorough 
knowledge of the subject, and resulted in 
Massachusetts leading off in a change of the 
laws in relation to the taxation of property 
in ships. He was re-elected to the Forty- 
seventh Congress, serving on the committee 
of ways and means, a position he was amply 



'35 



■qualified to fill. Here he achieved distinc- 
tion during the discussion of the tariff issues 
from the protection standpoint. Yielding to 
the demands of his constituents, he was 
again nominated by acclamation and elected 
to the Forty-eighth Congress. In his church 
connections ^lr. Russell is a Congrega- 
tionalist. 

He was married in Bradford Feb. i, 1859, 



to Elizabeth Haven, daughter of William 
Hall. Of this union were three children : 
Mary Frances, .-^nnie Elizabeth, and Grace 
Dunton Russell, deceased. Mrs. Russell 
died at St. Paul, Minn., Dec. 18, 1866. 
June 25, 1872, Mr. Russell married Frances 
Spafford, sister of his first wife. Their chil- 
dren are : William Augustus, Jr., Elizabeth 
Haven, and Richard Spafford. 



SANBORN, Benjamin Hyde, of Bos- 
ton, Mass., son of Seth C. and Sarah C. San- 
born, was born at Morristown, May 11, 185 i. 
Mr. Sanborn graduated at the academy of his 
native town, began preparation for the law, 
and had passed some time in its study when 
he entered Dartmouth College. 




In 1872 he became connected, as he sup- 
posed temporarily, with the publishing house 
of Robert S. Davis & Co., Boston. Meeting 
with a business life most congenial to his 
tastes and making therein rapid and success- 
ful promotion, he decided to abandon his 
plan of a college course and the uncertain- 
ties of a profession and continued with this 
publishing house for eleven years. 

In 1883 he became a member of the firm 
of Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, publishers of 
school and college text books. The firm 
have houses in Boston, Xew York, and Chi- 
cago, and control an extensive list of nearly 



two hundred standard works, devoted to 
nearly all departments of education, from the 
primary school to the university, and edited 
or written by educators connected with 
many of the leading educational institutions 
of the United States and Europe. 

Mr. Sanborn has always closely devoted 
himself to business, and while he has served 
for several years upon the school committee 
of his town and upon the visiting board of 
a leading educational institution, he sought 
no political or public honors. He is a 
Mason, and a member of the Wellesley and 
Congregational Clubs ; the Aldine Club, 
New York ; of the American Philological 
Association ; the American Educational 
Association ; and the National Institute of 
Instruction. 

Mr. Sanborn married, Nov. 24, 1875, Ida 
A., daughter of Hiram and Hannah A. 
Doty, of Elmore. They have one child : 
Alice D. 

SARGENT, Ja.WES, of Rochester, N. Y., 
son of William and Hannah Sargent, was 
born Dec. 5, 1824, in Chester. 

He remained upon the farm, having the 
usual district educational facilities, until 
eighteen years of age. His mind was of a 
mechanical turn and he went into a woolen 
factory in Ashuelot, N. H., where he was 
placed in charge of a weaving room and re- 
mained until 1848. He then became a 
traveling daguerreotypist with marked suc- 
cess, which occupation he followed four 
years and then engaged in manufacturing at 
Shelburne Falls, Mass., in the firm of Sar- 
gent & Foster, making apple parers. His 
mechanical skill and business sagacity re- 
sulted in a highly successful prosperity until 
1857, when he became associated with the 
Yale & Greenleaf Lock Co., selling Yale 
locks. His peculiar genius had found a 
congenial field. He soon became the mas- 
ter of the most intricate devices and saw his 
golden opportunity to invent a lock which 
should be proof against his own skill, as well 
as that of others. After years of work he de- 
veloped the Sargent automatic bank lock, 
the prevailing lock in use today. In 1873 
he perfected his first time lock, famous the 



1.^,6 



world over and universally used in financial 
institutions. The factories of his firm are 
located at Rochester, N. V. Other intricate 
and valuable devices have been invented by 
Mr. Sargent, among them a smoke preventer. 
The practical side of Mr. Sargent's life 
shows what strict integrity, inflexible deter- 
mination, persistent industry and high pur- 
pose will accomplish. His personal charac- 
teristics show an irrepressible individuality, 
aggressive, practical, versatile and generous. 




Burlington, there attending the public 
schools until 1S78. 

At this period he was engaged as clerk in 
a general store at North Ferrisburgh and 
lived with his grandfather Newell, attending 
school in winter at Charlotte Seminary. 

In 1880 he entered the employ of the 
Sutherland Falls Marble Co., which is largely 
owned by Hon. Redfield Proctor, at Suther- 
land Falls (now Proctor) . After two years 
in Governor Proctor's employ at this point 
and at Rutland he left to pursue his further 
education, this time at the well-known 
Phillips Exeter Academy, at Exeter, N. H. 
He remained here two years, and in 1884 
removed to Chicago, 111., and entered the 
employ of the Chicago & Northwestern 
R. R. Co., in the freight auditor's office. In 
1885 he removed to Cavvker City, Kan., and 
entered the employ of H. P. Churchill & Co., 






JAMES SARGENT. 



Mr. Sargent has never been in politics. 
While living in Shelburne Falls, Mass., he 
became an Odd Fellow ; though maintaining 
high respect for the order he withdrew 
therefrom, upon removing to Rochester. He 
is a member of the F. & A. M., joining a 
lodge in Greenfield, Mass., in Rochester 
identifying himself with the Monroe Com- 
mandery ; receiving his 32d degree as a 
Knight Templar. 

Mr. Sargent was married at Ashuelot, N. 
H., April 29, 1847, to Angelina M., daugh- 
ter of Job and Hannah Foster. They have 
one adopted daughter : Josephine. 

SATTLEY, Elmer C, of Kansas City, 
Mo., son of Robert P. and Harriet Foot 
(Newell) Sattley, was born Feb. 3, 1863, at 
Ferrisburgh. 

His parents were Vermonters and of New 
England lineage and remote English ances- 
try. He attended the district schools until 
1873 when he remo\ed with his parents to 







/lER C. SATTLEY 



negotiators of farm loans, as private secre- 
tary to the manager, but after a few months 
was himself made manager. In 1886 he 
removed to Kansas City to take the manage- 
ment of the safe deposit department of the 
Kansas City Safe Deposit and Savings Bank. 
The following summer he was promoted to 
the position of assistant cashier of the bank 
in addition to his position as safe deposit 
manager. .\t this time the bank had a cap- 
ital of $50,000 and deposits aggregating 
§400,000. In the fall of the same year he 
was made cashier, having in the meantime 
resigned the position of safe deposit man- 



ager, because of the rapidly increasing busi- 
ness of the savings department requiring his 
full time and services. The Kansas City 
Safe Deposit and Savings Bank grew to be 
one of the best known and most ]3opular in- 
stitutions in Kansas City. Its business in- 
creased steadily until it enjoyed the distinc- 
tion of being the largest savings bank in 
Missouri, having a capital of $300,000, de- 
posits aggregating S2, 000,000 and depositors 
numbering over eight thousand. The bank, 
however, was forced to close its doors during 
the panic of 1893 and Mr. Sattley is still in 
Kansas City engaged in straightening out 
the affairs of the bank. The subject of this 
sketch is well-known for his gentlemanly 
bearing, his high manly qualities, his accur- 
ate methods of business and his strict atten- 
tion to its details, and to him in great 
part much of the success of the bank was 
due. There can be no doubt, moreover, 
that his future will be one of prominence and 
distinction and real usefulness. 

In social organizations Mr. Sattley is prom- 
inent. In Masonic orders he takes great 
interest, and is a member of the Oriental 
Commandery, No. 35, the Ararat Temple, as 
well as of the lower orders. He also belongs 
to the B. P. O. Elks, No. 26, and has hetd 
various ofifices in these orders. 

He is a member of the Commercial Club 
and the Kansas City Club. With his three 
brothers he operates the large farm known 
as Sattley Brothers' Stock Farm at Ferris- 
burgh, Vt., under the charge of his father. 

Mr. Sattley was married, Nov. 23, 1S92, at 
Sedalia, Mo., to Ida Belle Nevvkirk, daughter 
of Hon. Cyrus and Rebecca Newkirk of that 
place. 

SATTLEY, WINFIELD NEWELL, of Chi- 
cago, 111., son of Robert Preston and Harriet 
Foot Sattley, was born June 19, 1859, at 
Ferrisburgh. 

Mr. Sattley began his education in the old 
red schoolhouse in Ferrisburgh which stood 
near the old homestead, that for more than 
a century has been the ancestral home. 
Later he attended the graded school at Bur- 
lington and graduated from the business col- 
lege in that city in 1877. He then began 
to read law in Julius W. Russel's office, and 
in December, 1878, entered the office of the 
Vermont Life Insurance Co. and became its 
chief clerk. In 1881 he became the super- 
intendent of the company's western depart- 
ment, with ofifices in Chicago ; this position 
he held until February, 18S4, when he ac- 
cepted the appointment of general agent of 
the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance 
Co. In April, 1887, he became the Illinois 
superintendent of agents for the New York 
Life Insurance Co. of New York. In 1889 
he became manager of the western depart- 



SAWVKK. 137 

ment of the Manhattan Life Insurance Co. 
of New York, which ])Osition he still holds. 
During this wide experience in business life 
Mr. Sattley has acquired the reputation of a 
skillful financier and successful man, and 
has large real estate interests in Chicago, 
Kansas City and Thousand Islands. 




WINFIELD NEWELL SATTLEY. 

He is a Republican in politics and is 
prominent in social organizations being first 
vice-president of the Hamilton Club. He is 
also a member of the Washington Park Club, 
the Chicago Athletic Association and Mil- 
tona Club, the Oriental Lodge, Palestine 
Council, the Lafayette Chapter, the Apollo 
Commandery, the Oriental Consistory, and 
Medina Temple, and also Chicago Lodge 
and Club of Elks. 

Mr. Sattley was married to May Eva 
Kelly in June, 1884, and has two young 
children : Ethelwyn May, and Winfield New- 
ell, Jr. 

'^SAWYER, JOHN GILBERT, of Albion, 
N. Y., was born at Brandon, June 5, 1825 ; 
was educated at the common schools and at 
Millville Academy : studied law, was admitted 
to the bar, and has since practiced : was a 
justice of the peace from Jan. i, 1852, to 
.\pril, 1858 : was district attorney of Orleans 
county from Jan. i, 1863, to Jan. i, 1866; 
was judge and surrogate of Orleans county 
from Jan. i, 186S, to" Jan. i, 1S84, and was 
elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a 
Republican : was re-elected. 



i-,8 



SAWYHR, Philetus, of Oshkosh, Wis., 
was born Sept. 22, 1S16. His father was a 
farmer and blacksmith, a man of scanty 
means and humble ambition. 

Prominent among the class of men who 
have worked their way from lowly and hum- 
ble beginnings to places of leadership in the 
commerce, the great industries, and manage- 
ment of the traffic and exchanges of the 
country and who are found among the 
trusted leaders and representatives in the 
councils of the state and nation, is Philetus 
Sawyer. 

" Choring " around the farm, lumbering 
in a primitive way in the Adirondacks, until 
at the age of seventeen he purchased his 
time of his father, and a few terms at the 
district school, were the early experience of 
the man. Soon in business for himself 
running a saw mill, and fourteen years after 
purchasing his majority, and thirty-one 
years of age, he joined the tide of emigration 
flowing westward, having a capital of about 
two thousand dollars, and an education ob- 
tained by observation and experience, he 
located on a farm in Fond du Lac county. 
Wis. Two years here satisfied him, and he 
removed to .\lgonea, now in Oshkosh, and 
began operating a saw mill. In 1853 he 
formed the partnership of Brand & ( )lcott, in 
Fond du Lac, for the manufacture of lum- 
ber, with marked success, becoming sole 
owner of the business in 1862, and a year 
later taking his only surviving son into the 
business. 

He had developed a character of far-reach- 
ing sagacity, and was called into public 
service, and repeatedly served on the city 
council, acting with the Republican party. 
In 1857 he became a representative in the 
Legislature, where the same sound judgment 
which made his private business so success- 
ful was applied to affairs of state, and in 1861 
he became again the choice of his party, 
rendering great service in electing Judge 
Howe to the Senate. In 1863 and 1864 he 
served as mayor of Oshkosh, during the try- 
ing period of the civil war. In 1864 he was 
elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and 
sat in the House of Representatives the ten 
following years, with constantly increasing 
influence ; as the late James G. Blaine said 
of him, "honest, industrious, generous, true 
to every tie, and every obligation of life." 
In the House he served on important 
committees, notably that of commerce, and 
of Pacific railroads, and voluntarily retired 
from Congress in 1875. In 1876 he became 
interested in the \\'est Wisconsin R. R , 
which, acquiring four other lines, was con- 
solidated into the Chicago, St. Paul, Minne- 
apolis & Omaha Railroad Co., of which Mr. 
Sawyer was vice-president and director until 
18S0. In iS8r his friends and leading Re- 



publicans in the Legislature elected him to 
the L'nited States Senate, succeeding Hon. 
Angus Cameron. In 1887 he was re-elected. 
He was chairman of the Senate committee 
on railroads in the Forty-seventh and Forty- 
eighth Congresses. In the Forty-ninth Con- 
gress he was chairman of the committee on 
pensions, and has been an active member 
since 1886, reporting over a thousand special 
bills and claims, and in the Fiftieth, Fifty- 
first, and Fifty-second Congresses was chair- 
man of the committee on postofifices and 
post roads. 

Mr. Sawyer's liberality as a citizen has been 
conspicuous in many ways. His contribu- 
tions to churches and educational institutions 
and deserving objects have marked his ca- 
reer. 

His private life was a singularly happy one, 
marred only by the loss of his wife in 1888, 
forty-seven years after marriage. Mrs. Saw- 
yer was a woman whose memory will live long 
in the hearts of the poor ; of a kind and 
benevolent nature ; a good woman — a lady 
in every sense, by every impulse of her na- 
ture. Air. Sawyer was married before he was 
twenty-five years of age, in 1841, to Melvina 
M. Hadley. Their family consisted of one 
son, Edgar P., the senator's partner ; and 
two daughters : Mrs. Howard G. White, of 
Syracuse, N. V., and Mrs. W. O. Goodwin, of 
Chicago, 111. 

SCOTT, Oscar D.,of Texarkana, .\rk., 
son of \\'alter and .Aurilla (\\'hite) Scott was 
born August 30, 1843, at Townshend. 

Mr. Scott was educated at Leland Semi- 
nary of Townshend and entered Middlebury 
College in 1S58 and remained through the 
freshman year. In 1865 he returned and 
graduated with honor in the class of 1868. 
After graduation he read law in the office of 
Hill & Safford of St. .Albans and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in October, 1868. Dur- 
ing these years of study he taught school in 
Londonderry, Townshend, Middlebury, Bris- 
tol, Wallingford and St. .-Mbans. 

In 1868 he entered the law office of Hon. 
C. Mutzner of Aurora, Ills., and after a short 
time went to Magnolia, Ark., where he re- 
mained until the fall of 1873. He then re- 
moved to Lewisville, .Ark., and practiced law 
until May, 1875, when a new county being 
formed, Texarkana was selected the county 
seat, and to this place he moved and has 
since been engaged in practice. 

In 1871 and 1872 he was the attorney for 
Columbia county, and has often been special 
judge of the circuit court. In 1S86 he was 
Republican nominee for justice of the 
Supreme Court and in 188S was on the joint 
ticket of the Republican and Union Labor 
party as the nominee for chief justice of the 



SKVERANCE. 



'39 



Supreme Court, but in both cases was 
" snowed under." 

In 1863 he enlisted in Co. F, lyth Regt. 
Vt. Vols., and mustered in as corporal, .April 
12, 1S64. He was with his regiment at the 
Wilderness when 23 per cent, of its men 
were killed and wounded ; again at Spott- 
sylvania when the loss was 25 per cent. He 
was severely injured at Cold Harbor, losing 
his right foot, and remained in the hospital 
until May, 1865. 

In social matters Mr. Scott is a member 
of the Chi Psi college fraternity. He has 
been W. M. of Texarkana Lodge, A. F. & 
A. M., and H. P. in Texarkana Council, R. A. 
M., and E. C. of Cceur de Leon Com- 
mandery, No. 6, at Texarkana. He has 
also been N. G. of Gate City Lodge, I. O. 
O. F., and is a member of the Elks. He 
has also been post commander of Dick 
Yates Post, G. A. R. 

He was married at Wallingford, Jan. 27, 
1875, to Cornelia F., daughter of Dr. E. G. 
Hulett, and has four children living : (Irace 
A., Hulett, Carrie A., and Walter E. 

SESSIONS, Walter L., was born in 

Brandon ; received a common school and 
academic education ; studied law and has 
practiced the profession ; was commissioner 
of schools for several years ; was a member 
of the Assembly of the state of New York in 
1853 and 1854 ; was a member of the state 
Senate of New York in 1859, and in 1865 ; 
was elected a representative from New York 
in the Forty-second Congress as a Uepubli- 
can ; was re-elected to the Forty-third Con- 
gress. 

SEVERANCE, CLAUDIUS MiLTON, of 
Keyoto, Japan, son of Milton Leonard and 
Emily Augusta (Spencer) Severance, was 
born in West Salisbury, Nov. 3, 1861. Born 
of good old New England stock, and the son 
of a clergyman and an accomplished mother, 
it was natural that his education should be- 
gin at home. .At the age of nine he began 
the study of Latin with his mother and when 
thirteen was nearly fitted for college in that 
language. .As the opportunity of taking ad- 
vantage of a teacher of special ability in the 
select school at Orwell occurred, Claude was 
sent hither. With work on the farm, a term 
as a page in the House of Representatives at 
Montpelier, and a short period as clerk in a 
store, were the early years of approaching 
manhood passed. In June, 1879, he gradu- 
ated from Berman Academy and entered 
Middlebury College in the fall. Obtaining 
a scholarship from general proficiency, and 
leading the class in Greek and Latin, were 
the features of his university life u]) to 
graduation, in 1883. 



Mr. Severance now began the earnest work 
of life and found his special ability in Greek 
and modern languages, recognized by a posi- 
tion as professor thereof at Burr & Burton 
Seminary at Manchester. .After two years 
here, during which he completely reviewed 
his previous course of education, a trip to 
I'Airope was arranged. Matriculating at the 
I'niversiiv of Goettingen, and visiting Ber- 




CLAUDIUS MILTON SEVERANCE. 

lin, Dresden and Leipzig, six weeks were 
spent at I3onne. .After further sight-seeing, 
and passing some lime in Paris, the return 
home via London and Liverpool was accom- 
plished. 

In 1 886 Professor Se\erance received a 
call from Oahu College, Honolulu, taking the 
chair of French, ancient history and elocu- 
tion. The influences which since childhood 
to lead him into the ministry, here seemed 
to culminate, and at the end of a delightful 
year of teaching his resignation was handed 
in and he entered the Yale Divinity School 
as a student in 1887. .After a year's study, 
and during vacation, he preached at various 
places in Nebraska, and April 9, 1889, the 
Centri? .Association of Congregational Pas- 
tors of New Haven, Conn., granted Mr. 
Severance a license to preach upon a full 
examination of his theological beliefs. In 
the early part of 1890 he was commissioned 
a missionary of the American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign ^Missions, to Japan. 
In May of this year his graduation took 
place at the Divinity School, and he was or- 



dained in September at Eliot Church, New- 
ton, Mass., and sailed for Japan. 

\\"hile in Japan his marriage to .\lmona 
Gill, daughter of Kdward and Esther Gill, of 
North Monroeville, Ohio, took place July 12, 
1892. Mrs. Severance is an accomplished 
and charming woman, a graduate of Ober- 
lin ((Jhio) College, and herself a missionary 
at this time. The sturdy and aggressive 
character of the Vermonter still manifests 
itself in his character and his work in 
Japan, where his rapid acquirement of the 
language and his earnest work have earned 
for him a remarkable reputation, and he is 
greatly endeared. 

SHAW Henry, was born in Windham 
county ; studied law with Judge Foote, in 
Albany, N. \'., and settled in practice in 
I^anesborough, Mass., at the age of twenty- 
two ; he was nominated for Congress before 
he was eligible, and was subsequently elected, 
in 18 1 6, to the Sixteenth Congress, and voted 
for the Missouri compromise, which pre- 
■ vented his re-election. He was a member of 
the Massachusetts Legislature for eighteen 
years, also a member of the (Governor's coun- 
cil, and was the pioneer in the manufacturing 
prosperity of Western Massachusetts. In 
1833 he was also a presidential elector. In 
1848 he removed to New York, and resided 
at Fort ^^"ashington, on the Hudson ; was a 
member of the board of education in New 
York City, and two years in the common 
council, and in 1853 was a member of the 
.Assembly. He removed to Newburg in 1854, 
where he resided until within a few months of 
his death which occurred at Peekskill, Oct. 
17) i8S7> aged seventy-nine years. 

SHERMAN, Elijah B., of Chicago, was 
born in Fairfield, June 18, 1832. His father, 
Elias H. Sherman, was of English descent 
and his mother, Clarissa (Wilmarth) Sher- 
man, of .Anglo- Welsh ancestry. 

Until twenty-one years of age he had the 
usual experience of a farmer's boy in Ver- 
mont, hard work and plenty of it, tempered 
by the luxury of attending the district 
schools in the winter. In 1854 Mr. Sher- 
man became a clerk in a drug store in Bran- 
don, and in 1855 began fitting for college in 
Brandon Seminary, afterwards continued his 
studies at FJurr Seminary, Manchester. He 
entered Middlebury College in 1856, and 
was graduated with honors in 1S60. » 

.'^fter teaching in South Woodstock and 
Brandon Seminary, he enlisted, in May, 
1862, a private in Co. C, 9th Vt. Infantry, 
was soon after elected lieutenant, and served 
with his regiment until January, 1S63, when 
he resigned, the regiment having been cap- 
tured at Harper's Ferry, being then in en- 
forced idleness at Camp Douglass, Chicago. 



Entering immediately upon the study of 
law, he graduated from the law department 
of the University of Chicago in 1864 and 
entered upon the successful practice of his 
profession. In 1876 he was elected repre- 
sentative to the Illinois Legislature and re- 
elected in 1878. His thorough training and 
ripe scholarship, coupled with his experience 
at the bar and profound knowledge of the 
law, gave him a high rank as a legislator. In 
1877 he was commissioned by Governor 
CuUom as judge advocate of the first brigade 
of the Illinois National (juards, with rank of 
lieutenant-colonel and performed the duties 
of that office for several years. In 1879 Mr. 
Sherman was appointed one of the masters in 
chancery of the circuit court of the L'nited 




States for the northern district of Illinois, a 
position he still holds. His thorough famil- 
iarity with the principles and procedure 
of chancery courts, coupled with unusual 
habits of industry, application and accuracy, 
enabled him to achieve eminence in this im- 
portant branch of judicial labor. In 1882 
he became president of the Illinois State Bar 
.-Association, and delivered the annual ad- 
dresses before that body. For several years 
Mr. Sherman has been a member and an 
officer of the .American Bar Association, and 
has taken an active part in the deliberations 
of that national body. 

In 1885 he received from Middlebury Col- 
lege the honorary degree of LL. D., a recog- 
nition prized the more highly because that 



conservati\e institution confers the degree 
upon very few of its many distinguished 
sons. Mr. Sherman, not content with being 
a lawyer and jurist, has taken deUght in 
scientific research and Belles Lettres. Pos- 
sessed of a fine literary taste and being mas- 
ter of a style at once incisive, perspicuous 
and pleasing, his literary productions and 
public addresses have given him high rank as 
a literateur, orator and critic. 

In TS74 Mr. Sherman was elected grand 
master of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows 
of Illinois, and in 1875 a representative to 
the Sovereign Grand I,odge. He is a mem- 
ber of the linion League Club, a 3 2d degree 
Mason, a member of the Military Order of 
the Loyal Legion, and of the Grand Army. 
He has been president of the Illinois Asso- 
ciation of the Sons of Vermont, and has de- 
livered several addresses at their banquets, 
full of tender pathos and genial humor. 

In 1866 he married Miss Hattie G. Lov- 
ering of Iowa Falls, Iowa. His only son, 
Bernis W. Sherman, following his father's 
example, graduated at Middlebury College 
in 1890, from the Union College of Law, 
Chicago, in 1892, was immediately admitted 
to the bar, and entered upon the practice of 
the law-. 

SHERMAN, Edgar Jay, of Lawrence, 
Mass., son of David and Fanny (Kendall) 
Sherman, was born in Weathersfield, Nov. 
28, 1834. About 1632 Edmund Sherman 
and wife emigrated to America from Dedham, 
E^ngland, and setded in Watertown ; removed 
to Weathersfield, Conn., and finally fixed 
their abode in New Haven, where they died. 
There are two distinct branches of the Sher- 
man family in this country. From the branch 
whose ancestor is recorded above sprang the 
paternal ancestry of Gen. William T. Sher- 
man and United States Senator John Sherman 
of Ohio, as well as that of the subject of this 
sketch. 

Mr. Sherman attended the district schools 
of Weathersfield until he had attained his six- 
teenth year, and was then sent to study in the 
AVesleyan Seminary in Springfield. Here he 
remained until his parents removed to Law- 
rence, Mass. There he entered upon a 
course of private study under the tuition of 
Professor Pike, which he prosecuted for 
several years, teaching school during the 
winter months in Barnstable county, Mass. 

He began the study of law in 1855, and in 
March, :858, was admitted to the bar. He 
immediately began legal practice and formed 
a copartnership with Hon. Daniel Saun- 
ders. These relations lasted until 1864. 
He was subsequently associated with John 
K. Tarbox (member of Congress and in- 
surance commissioner of Massachusetts), 
until 1870, after which he was in ])ractice 



alone until 1878, when he formed a partner- 
ship with Charles U. Bell, which terminated 
in 1887. Mr. Sherman was clerk of the 
Lawrence police court from 1859 to 1861, 
when he resigned. 

. iln 1862 he enlisted as a private in the 
48th Regt. Mass. Vols., and was soon elected 
and commissioned captain of Co. F. He 
was sent to the department of the Gulf, do- 
ing excellent service, notably at the second 
assault on Port Hudson, for which he was 
breveted major for gallant and meritorious 
conduct. At the expiration of his term of 
service, he returned home, and when the 
enemy attempted a raid on Washington, he 
organized a military company at two days 




EDGAR JAY SHERMAN. 

notice, and again went to the front as rap- 
tain in the famous 6th Mass. Regt. With it 
he completed the required term of service 
and then returned once more to civil life. 

In 1865 Mr. Sherman received his first 
election to the House of Representatives. 
In 1866 he was re-elected; and was ap- 
pointed judge advocate the same year upon 
the division staff, state militia, with the rank 
of major. In 1867 he was promoted to the 
position of assistant adjutant-general and 
chief of Major General B. F. Buder's staff, 
with the rank of colonel. This office he 
held until 1876. 

In 1868 Colonel Sherman was elected dis- 
trict attorney for the eastern district of 
Massachusetts, and received the honor of 
five consecutive re-elections. He resigned 



14 = 



this office to accept that of attorney-general 
of the commonwealth, to which office he had 
been nominated and elected in 1882 on the 
Republican state ticket, and was re-elected 
to this office five consecutive times. This 
office he resigned Oct. i, 18S7, to accept 
the appoinment of associate justice of the 
superior court, which position he now holds. 
In 1884 he received from Dartmouth Col- 
lege the honorary degree of A. M. He was 
appointed by Chief Justice Chase a register 
in bankruptcy under the U. S. bankrupt law, 
and held that office from 1867 to 1876. 
For many years he was a member of the 
standing committee of the Essex Bar Asso- 
ciation. He was a director in the Lawrence 
National Bank from 1872 to 1888; and a 
trustee of the Broadway Savings Bank sev- 
eral years. 

Judge Sherman is indebted for his brilliant 
success to his own native abilities, assiduous 
self-culture, indomitable persistence and com- 
mendable self-reliance. 

Mr. Sherman was married, Nov. 24, 1868, 
to Abbie Louise, daughter of Stephen P. 
and Fanny B. Simmons of Lawrence. Of 
this union were six children : Fred Francis 
(now chaplain in the navy), Fannie May, 
Elizabeth (now Mrs Henry Souther), Mal- 
vina (now Mrs. Frank D. Carney), Roland 
Henry, and Abbie Maude. 

SHERMAN, LINUS E., of Colorado 
Springs, Col., son of Elias H. and Clarissa 
(\\'ilmarth) Sherman, was born in Fairfield, 
June 30, 1835. 

His early education was acquired by at- 
tending the district schools and at twenty 
he prepared for college at Bakersfield Acad- 
emy and Burr & Burton Seminary ; entered 
Middlebury College and graduated with the 
class of '61, taking the degree of A. yi. in 
course. 

Mr. Sherman was principal of Black River 
Academy in 1866, and in 1S67 engaged in 
the drug business in which he successfully 
continued until 1876, when he removed to 
Colorado where he followed mercantile pur- 
suits for several years, and afterward en- 
gaged in legal practice before the L^nited 
States Land Office at Denver, and was ad- 
mitted as an attorney before the interior de- 
partment, and now enjoys an extensive and 
lucrative practice as a mineral land attorney 
and pension lawyer. 

Mr. Sherman has always been too fully 
occupied with business affairs to devote 
much time to politics, although he has al- 
ways performed his duties as a citizen. He 
was a member of the Vermont constitutional 
convention in 1869, and was a member of 
the city council at Colorado Springs, Col., 
in 1879. 



Mr. Sherman married, May 16, 1866, at 
Dunham, 1^ Q., Jennie C, daughter of R. 
L. and Pamelia Galer. Of this union were 
three children : Clarence G., Agnes ^L, and 
Gertrude C. JSIrs. Sherman died Nov. 1 7, 
1877. He was again married, Jan. 20, 1881, 
to Louise B., daughter of Charles P. ancl 
Naomi P. Gould of Salem, Mass. Of this 
union is one daughter : Marian H. 





LINUS E. SHERMAN. 

Mr. Sherman was the first man in Franklin 
county to respond when the call of May, 
1862, was made for troops. He enlisted in 
Co. A, 9th Vt. Vols., was elected lieutentant 
and subsequently promoted to captain, in 
which capacity he served until the surrender 
of Lee. He was in all the battles in which 
his regiment engaged except that of Harper's 
Ferry, when he was sick and a prisoner at 
Winchester, Va. ; was detailed upon staff 
duty and was provost marshal at Newport 
Barracks, N. C. A member of the G. A. R. 
since 1868, he has been a member of the 
department council of administration and is 
at present past post commander of the Colo- 
racio Springs Post. He is a member of the 
First Baptist Church of Colorado Springs and 
has served as deacon for twelve years. 

SHERMAN, Socrates N., was born in 
Vermont, and elected a representative from 
New York to the Thirty-seventh Congress, 
serving on the committee on expenditures 
in the Interior Department. 



143 



SMITH, Emerson Hall, of Fargo, 

North Dakota, son of Major Richard and 
Frances (Hall) Smith, was born in Tun- 
bridge, April 8, 1854. His grandfather, 
Eben Smith, Esq., was English, an e.\tensi\ e 
land holder and one of the early settlers in 
Cabot. His grandmother, .Abigail (Steele) 
Smith, was a niece of Dr. Shurtleff who was 
for so many years connected with Dart- 
mouth College, and was aunt to the late 
Judge Benjamin H. Steele. She was of 
Scotch and English descent. Her ancestors 
located the present city of Hartford, Conn. 
His mother was a sister of the Hon. Emerson 
Hall of St. Johnsbury, whose parents were 
English and Scotch. 




€- 



.* mBt 



During Mr. Smith's boyhood he worked 
on his father's farm and attended the public 
schools. Later he attended the Randolph 
Normal School, St. Johnsbury Academy, and 
graduated from the Meriden (N. H.) .Acad- 
emy. In 1882 he graduated from Dartmouth 
College. 

He was principal of the Newmarket (N. 
H.) high school from 1882 to 1884; from 
1884 to 1 89 1 he was superintendent of the 
public schools of the city of Fargo, North 
Dakota. With characteristic energy and 
ability he raised these schools to a standard 
unsurpassed by the best New England 
schools. In 1890 he was offered the state 
superintendency of public instruction for 
North Dakota, but declined the appointment. 
In T892 he was elected a trustee and a mem- 



ber of the executive committee of Fargo 
College. During the same year he was 
elected mayor of the city of Fargo, in which 
election he carried every ward in the city. 
This office he still holds. In politics he is 
a Republican. 

Mr. Smith was married, .August 16, 1882, 
to Ella, daughter of .Aldice E. and Elizabeth 
( Drew) Knight of Irasburgh. Of this union 
there is one daughter : Helen Eliza. 

SMITH, H. BOARDMAN, was born at 
W'hitingham, August 18, 1826 ; graduated at 
Williams College in 1847 ; studied law, and 
practiced ; was appointed by the Cio\ernor 
of New York judge of the Chemung county 
courts, September, 1859, and in the following 
November was elected to the same office ; 
was elected a representative from New York 
in the Forty- second Congress as a Repub- 
lican ; was re-elected to the Forty-third 
Congress ; Liberal and Democrat. 

SMITH, Hezekiah B., of Smithville, N. 
J., was born at Bridgewater July 26, 1816 ; 
received a common school education ; 
learned the trade of a cabinet maker : for 
many years has been engaged in perfecting 
woodworking machinery ; is the inventor of 
a number of wood-working machines; since 
1865 has been largely engaged in the manu- 
facture of wood machinery at Smithville, N. 
J. ; never has held any public position pre- 
vious to his election to the Forty-sixth Con- 
gress as a Democrat and Greenbacker. 

SMITH, JOHN BUTLER, of Hillsborough, 
N. H., was born in Rockingham, .April 12, 
1838, and was the son of Ammi and Lydia 
(Butler) Smith. His paternal ancestor was 
Lieut. Thomas Smith, a sturdy representa- 
ti\e of the race known as Scotch-Irish. 

His parents removing to Hillsborough, 
N. H., when he was nine years of age, he 
received his educational training at the pub- 
lic schools of that town, and subsequently 
entered Francestown .Academy, where he 
graduated in 1S54. He first obtained em- 
ployment at Henniker, then at Manchester, 
and later at New Boston. In 1863 he began 
his business career by the purchase of a 
drug store in Manchester, which he success- 
fully conducted for a year, when he estab- 
lished in the town of Washington a factory 
for the production of knit goods. A year 
later he leased the Sawyer woolen mill at 
North Weare, and in 1866 he built at Hills- 
borough Bridge a small mill, which was the 
beginning of the extensive knit goods factory 
now owned and operated by the Contoocook 
Mills Co., of which he is the president and 
])rincipal owner. For seventeen years, from 
1863, Mr. Smith resided in Manchester, 
although his business was elsewhere, and he 
is now largely interested in the real estate 



144 



of that city and otherwise identified with its 
people. Since iS8o he has been a resident 
of Hillsborough, and has also been engaged 
in the commission business (knit goods) in 
Boston and New York since 1884. 

Mr Smith was united in marriage, Nov. i, 
1883, to Emma K., daughter of Stephen 
Lavender, of Boston, Mass. Of this union 
were three children : Butler Lavender 
(deceased), Archibald Lavender, and Nor- 
man. 




In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican, 
earnest, uncomjiromising, ready and willing. 
He was one of the Republican electors of 
the state in 1884; a member of Governor 
Sawyer's council in i887-'89 ; and chair- 
man of the Republican state committee in 
the early part of the campaign of 1S90. 
September 6, 1892, he was nominated by 
acclamation in full convention the candidate 
of his party for the gubernatorial seat of 
the state of New Hampshire, and was elect- 
ed in the following November by a majority 
of the votes of the people, without recourse 
to the Legislature, as had been the case for 
ten years past. Governor Smith has now 
held the exalted position for over a year 
and has served to popular acceptance, con- 
ducting the affairs of state in a manner in 
which all Vermonters may lake a just pride. 

.\ member of the Congregational church. 
Governor Smith takes a deep interest in 
matters religious and gives liberally of his 
means for the upholding and upbuilding of 



mankind. He is affiliated with the Masonic 
body of his town. 

Of a bright and genial personality, Gov- 
ernor Smith not only commands the respect, 
but wins the love of all who come in con- 
tact with him. 

SMITH, John Sabine, of New York, 
son of John S. and Caroline (Sabine) Smith, 
was born April 24, 1843, at Randolph. His 
father was a practicing physician in that 
town for over fifty years. 

His early education was received at the 
Orange county school and he was graduated 
at Trinity College in 1S63, at the head of his 
class. 

.After graduation he taught school at Troy, 
N. Y., and studied law with Hon. George 
Gould, e.x-judge of the Supreme Court, and 
was admitted to the bar at Poughkeepsie in 
1868. He located in the practice of law in 




JOHN SABINE SMITH. 

New York City in 1S69, at first as associate 
with Hon. William E. Curtis, who afterward 
became chief justice of the Superior Court. 
He has since been engaged in general im- 
]3ortant cases and representing large financial 
interests. 

Mr. Smith has always been a Republican. 
He had charge as chairman of the Repub- 
lican League of the state of New York in the 
campaign of 1888. He was chairman of 
the campaign committee of the Republican 
Club of the city of New York in 1S92 and 
was a candidate for the office of surrogate of 



sou'inwdkrii. 



145 



the city and county of New York the same 
year, receiving the highest vote of any can- 
didate, national, state or local, on the ticket. 
He is now (1893) president of the Repub- 
lican Club of the city of New York and of 
the Republican county committee of the city 
and county of New York. In the Reisub- 
lican state convention of 1S93, he receiveil 
the almost unanimous vote of the great dele- 
gation of New York county for candidate for 
judge of the Court of Appeals of the state of 
New York. 

Mr. Smith is a member of the L'ni\ersity 
Club, the Lawyers' Club, the Church Club 
and several other social institutions. He is 
president of the Association of the Alumni of 
Trinity College and a member of the Phi 
Betta Kappa Alumni Society of New York 
City. He is also president of the Society of 
Medical [urisprudence. 



Subsequently he received the appointment 
of assistant melter and refiner in the United 
States Mint, which position he held for about 
fifteen years, through various changes of ad- 
ministration. His health compelled him to 
retire, however, and he spent nearly two 
years in the company of his family, traveling 
in various parts of the United States. L'pon 
his return to San F"rancisco he was solicited 
to assume his old position for the purpose of 



fff- flSkt' 



SOMERS, Harvey C, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of James and Elizabeth 
(Hall) Somers, was born in Danville, Jan. 
24, 1841. 

He was educated in the district schools 
and at Phillips Academy. In 185S, when 
but seventeen years old, he went to Califor- 
nia, and was engaged in the water business 
for two years, and was in the employ of the 
United States for one year. Subsequently 
he went to Arizona on a mining e.\i)edition. 
He returned to San Francisco, and in March, 
1864, established the hay and grain business 
under the firm name of Rider, Somers & Co., 
which firm continued for twenty-two years. 
He is now engaged in the same business 
under the firm name of Somers & Co. The 
firm are members of the San Francisco Pro- 
duce Exchange Board and do an extensive 
business in their line, having large ware- 
houses at 534 and 536 Sixth street and 
Pier 22, Stewart street. 

Mr. Somers was married to Miss Eliza F. 
Waterman, ofThomaston, Me., in 1866, and 
they have three children — a daughter and 
two sons. 

SOMERS, William James, of San 

Francisco, Cal., son of James and Elizabeth 
(Hall) Somers, was born Dec. 21, 1830, at 
Danville. 

He received his education in his native 
town, and on the day he attained his majority 
started for California by way of Panama. 
On arriving in San Francisco he immediately 
made arrangements to go to the mines in 
Sonora county, where he spent one season in 
mining, and then returned to San Fancisco. 
Here he acquired an interest in the water 
business, the supply at that time being con- 
fined to a few wells, from which consumers 
were supplied by carts. 




AM JAMES SOMERS. 



organizing the melting and refining depart- 
ment in the new mint. He accepted the 
position, stipulating that he might employ 
his old associates. When the department 
was thoroughly organized he retired from 
that position, and has since devoted himself 
to real estate interests. 

SOUTHWORTH,, HILAND, of Abilene, 
Kan., son of Seymour W . and Rachael (Sher- 
man) Southworth, was born Sept. 26, 1849, 
at Clarendon. 

Mr. Southworth's parents removed to Mid- 
dletown when he was quite young, and in the 
district schools of the town and the Fort Ed- 
ward (N. Y. ) Collegiate Institute, he prepared 
to enter Middlebury College, and graduated 
from the latter institution with the class of 

i«75- 

Shortly after graduation he removed to 
Rosendale, Wis., and taught school, and in 
1876 he went to Kansas. Taking up the law, 
he successfully pursued its study and was ad- 
mitted to practice in the spring of 1878, and 
continued in active business imtil 18S5. He 



146 



then became financial correspondent for East- 
ern capitalists and is now engaged in that 
business. 

Mr. Sotithworth is prominent in social or- 
ganizations and a member of the Presby- 
terian church. 



^ SBit. 




He was married to P^lla E. Walker, the 
eldest daughter of Noah S. and Sarah A. Walk- 
er, of Chi]3penhook, Vt., June 14, 1882. 

SPARROW, BRADFORD P., of Hart- 
wood, son of .\bner Doty and .\lmira I\[. 
(Shepard) Sparrow, was born April S, 1843, 
at Calais. 

Mr. Sparrow received his education in the 
common schools until twenty years of age. 
At twenty-three he continued study at the 
Washington county grammar school, under 
Prof. D. D. Gorham, at the same time teach- 
ing in the vicinity and acting as messenger 
at the state library during two sessions of 
the Legislature, to obtain the means. Hav- 
ing been drafted from the town of Elmore, 
July 17, 1863, military service postponed a 
continuance of his studies during the inter- 
vening period. .At Middlebury College he 
obtained a scholarship and graduated with 
the class of 1S74. In the same year he en- 
tered Columbian Law School, graduating in 
1876. 

Mr. Sparrow's experience in the army and 
southern prisons greatly injured his health 
and interfered with his life's plan. Joining 
Co. K, 4th ^'t. Vols., at the age of twenty 



years, he passed two years in the field and 
was discharged from McDougall Hospital in 
New York harbor June 17, 1865, as unfit for 
service. He participated in all the engage- 
ments of his regiment while a member of it, 
including the battles of the Wilderness ; and 
on the 23d of June, 1864, with 2,000 of his 
comrades was captured near Petersburg, Va., 
and hurried through Richmond and Belle 
Isle to .Andersonville prison in Georgia. 
Here he remained until .April 1 8, 1865, when 
he was e.xchanged and delivered to Union 
officers near Jacksonville, Fla., so emaciated 
and weak as to be unable to march, barely 
escaping with his life after a captixitv of 
o\er ten months. 

In July, 1876, he became the assistant 
clerk of the Supreme Court of the District 
of Columbia, performing the duties of 
clerk for the criminal department of the 
court until 1880, when considerations of 
health made it advisable to exchange city 
for country life. In 1882 he purchased a 
tract of land in Caroline county, Virginia, 
and engaged in lumbering and farming 
operations. He is now an enthusiastic Vir- 
ginian, in love with its climate and re- 
sources. 

SPALDING, Burleigh F., of Fargo, 
North Dakota, was born to Rev. Benjamin 
P. and Ann (Folsom) Spalding, in Crafts- 
bury, Dec. 3, 1S53. His ancestors, both 
paternal and maternal, came to America 
from England about the year 1630, settling 
in the Massachusetts colony. His mother 
died when he was but eight years of age, 
but so tender, yet potential, had been her 
home training during those brief years that 
the early sorrow served but to intensify in 
the mind of the lad the earnest longing to 
sometime accomplish the fulfillment of the 
lofty ideal of which her life had been to him 
the living example. 

Ambitious of acquiring something more 
than a common school education — all that 
the family circumstances afforded — he reso- 
lutely set himself to the task of procuring, 
by his own efforts, not only the means but 
the preparatory fitting to enable him to 
enter upon a collegiate course, and he grad- 
uated from Norwich LTniversity in 1 87 7. In 
the same year he became principal of 
.Albany .Academy, resigning his position in 
1878 to enter the law office of Gleason & 
Field, Montpelier. 

.Admitted to the Washington county bar 
in 1S80, and much impressed with the rapid 
development of the far West, he at once 
removed to Fargo, a small but growing town 
on the Red River of the North, in the then 
territory of Dakota. 

In November, 1S80, he was united in 
marriage to .Alida Baker, daughter of David 



'47 



and I'hiiils' (Cutler) ISaker, of (Hover. Of 
this union are four children : Deane Baker, 
Frances Folsom, Roscoe Conkling and Bur- 
leigh Mason. 

In 1 88 1 he formed a law partnership with 
Charles F. Templeton, a young Vermonter, 
and this relationship continued until the 
latter's appointment to the Supreme Bench 
of the territory by President Cleveland. 
Then followed a partnership with George H. 
Phelps, also from Vermont, and later on 
association with Hon. Seth Newman in the 
present legal firm of Newman, Spalding & 
Phelps, recognized as one of the leading law 
firms in the Northwest. 



much to secure the adoption of tliis measure ; 
served as a member and chairman of many 
important committees, the judicial depart- 
ment, school and public lands and the joint 
commission provided by Congress to divide 
the archives and property of the Territory 
between the new states. He is now chair- 
man of the Republican state central com- 
mittee and is credited with being one of the 
most skillful organizers in the state. Mr. 
Spalding is a clear, concise and convincing 
speaker, both at the bar and in debate, and 
is a man of strong individuality e.xerting a 
marked influence in all proceedings, in which 
he participates. He is a genuine Yankee 
and has never been ashamed of the place of 
his nativity. 




In 1890 he organized the Merchants State 
Bank of Fargo and became its president and 
attorney. 

In politics Mr. Spalding has always been 
a Republican and is among the leaders of 
that party in the Northwest. He has never 
sought office, bu4 has been elected to several 
of importance. He was superintendent of 
public instruction of Cass county in 18S2- 
'83 ; a member of the commission to re- 
locate the capital of the territory and con- 
struct capitol buildings in 1883, to which 
office he was elected by the Legislature with- 
out his knowledge ; a member of the Con- 
stitutional Convention in 1889, where he was 
commended for his opposition to many of 
the extreme measures proposed, and was one 
of the originators of the movement to locate 
the public institutions by constitution, doing 



SPRING, Leverett Wilson, of WiU- 

iamstovvn, Mass., son of Edward and Martha 
(Atwood) Spring, was born in Grafton, Jan. 
5, 1840. 

Doctor Spring received his theological 
education at Hartford Theological Seminary. 
His early education was received at Burr & 
Burton Seminary at Manchester, where he 
fitted for Williams College, receiving his de- 
gree at the latter institution with the class of 
1 863. He was a graduate student at Andover 
Theological Seminary during most of the year 
i866-'67, at the same time supplying for a 
period the pulpit of the Congregational church 
in Castleton. In the winter of 186S he sup- 
plied the church in Middlebury when a call 
was accepted to a projected church in Fitch- 
burg, Mass. A church was soon organized 
and a fine house of worship erected and a 
large congregation gathered under the name 
of the Rollstone Church. 

Dr. Spring, in consequence of ill-health, 
resigned in 1875, and in the summer of 1876 
removed to Lawrence, Kan., and became 
pastor of Plymouth Church, the oldest, and 
for many years the largest church in the 
state. He resigned this pastorate in 1881 
to accept the chair of English literature in 
the University of Kansas. In 1885 he pub- 
lished a history of Kansas, a book in which 
the writer endeavored to set down the truth, 
although aware that it might not be accept- 
able to various e.vcitable factions of the pop- 
ulation. On resigning, in 1886, to accept 
the chair of English literature in Williams 
College, he received from the Cnixersity the 
degree of D. D. 

Dr. Spring's literary work is quite exten- 
si\'e. In 1888 he ])ublished a monograph 
entitled "Mark Hopkins' Teacher," and has 
contributed various magazine articles. 

September 25, 1867, Dr. Spring married 
Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Prof. Will- 
iam Thompson of Hartford Theological 
Seminarv. 



148 



SQUIRE. 



SQUIRE. 



SQUIRH, John Peter, late of Boston, 
Mass., was the son of Peter and Esther 
Squire and was born in the town of Weath- 
ersfield, May 8, 18 19. 

The years of his boyhood were spent at 
his home, attending the public schools and 
working on the farm. May i, 1835, he went 
to work for Mr. Orvis, who kept the \illage 
store at West Windsor. He left this posi- 
tion in the fall of 1837 and attended the 
academy at Unity, N. H. He tanght school 
at Cavendish during a part of the winter of 



% 




PETER SQUIRE. 



March 19, 1838, he went to Boston and 
entered the employment of Nathan Robbins 
in Faneuil Hall market. He left Mr. Rob- 
bins April 30, 1842, and formed a copart- 
nership with Francis Russell and carried on 
the provision business under the style of 
Russell & Squire until 1847, when the firm 
was dissolved, and Mr. Squire continued 
alone at the same place until the year 1855, 
when he formed a copartnership with 
Hiland Lockwood and Edward D. Kimball 
under the name of John P. Squire & Co. At 
this time Mr. Squire bought a tract of land 
situated on Miller's river in East Cambridge, 
and built a slaughter house where the hogs 
were slaughtered for the firm of John P. 
Squire & Co. .Additional pieces of land 
were bought from time to time adjoining 
this first parcel and situated in Somerville on 
the other side of Miller's river, which are 
now included in the tract of land covered by 



the large refrigerator, packing house and 
other buildings used in connection with the 
business of John P. Squire & Co. Several 
men were associated with Mr. Squire in the 
pork packing business as his partners up to 
the 30th of .-April, 1892, when the business 
was transferred to John P. Squire & Co. 
Corporation ; the other members of the cor- 
poration at the time of his death were two of 
Mr. Squire's sons, Frank ( ). and Fred F. 
Squire. 

Mr. .Squire was always a man abreast of the 
times and from a small and modest begin- 
ning built up a pork-packing business, which 
now ranks the third in the United States. 
If it is any credit to have brought things to 
pass, surely to have developed the business 
from its small beginning to its present pro- 
portion reflects lasting credit on Air. Squire, 
the founder and late senior member. The 
same energy and ability which Mr. Squire 
showed in his business would have been 
likely to bring him success in nearly any 
other walk in life, but Mr. Squire seemed to 
have been born for a business life, for, when 
he returned to his native state early in life to 
resume his studies, the allurements of a busi- 
ness life, of which he had had a slight taste 
in his sojourn at Boston, seriously interfered 
with his ability to apply his mind to his 
studies again and resulted finally in calling 
him away therefrom to the metropolis of 
New England again to take up that occupa- 
tion, which finally resulted in placing him in 
the position which he occupied in financial 
and commercial circles at the time of his 
death. 

He was always a firm believer in real es- 
tate and had large interests in Revere, Som- 
erville, Cambridge, Boston, Arlington and 
Belmont. He was a man of strong will and 
great tenacity of purpose and of very modest 
and unassuming demeanor. He joined the 
Mercantile Library Association when he 
first went to Boston and spent a good deal of 
his spare time in reading, of which he was 
always very fond. 

In 1843 he married Kate Green Orvis, 
the daughter of his old employer. Eleven 
children were born of this marriage, nine of 
whom are living : George W., Jennie C, 
Frank O., Minnie E., John^A., Kate I., Fred 
F., and Bessie E. Charles G. died in in- 
fancy and Nellie G. died Oct. 13, 1S91. 

Mr. Squire in 1848 moved to West Cam- 
bridge (now called Arlington), and built 
one of the most beautiful homes in the town, 
where he lived surrounded by his charming 
family up to the time of his death which 
occurred Jan. 7, 1893. 

A man of great intellect, unassuming, 
modest and courteous to all, he won the re- 
spect and friendship of all with whom he 
came in contact. 



STANbiSH, John Van Ness, of 

(lalesburg, 111., son of John W. and Caroline 
W. (Myrick) Standish, was born at Wood- 
stock, Feb. 26, 1825. 

Mr. Standish attended the Liberal Insti- 
tute of Lebanon, N. H., and was for several 
years under the instruction of Prof. }. C. C. 
Hoskins, and graduated from Norwich LTni- 
versity, then under the management of Gen. 
T. B. Ransom, in July, 1847. During his 
college course, he obtained the means there- 
for bv teaching in the winter months-. 




STETSON. 149 

1893, the degree of LL. I), by St. Lawrence 
I'niversity. 

President Standish was married March 
24, 1859, to Harriet .\ugusta, daughter of 
Francis and Rebecca (Stowe) Kendall. 

STETSON, Emrie Benjamin, of 

Charlestown, Mass., son of P^zra and Clarissa 
(Adams) Stetson, was born Jan. 2, 1825, at 
Wilmington. 

Mr. Stetson's career is in many ways typi- 
cal ; possessed of the training of the common 
schools of his home, a long career, character- 
ized by integrity and energy has brought him 
to the honored consideration of his fellows. 
Remaining on the farm until of age, he 
sought for advancement in Boston. His first 
employment was in driving a bread-cart for 
Orin Gilmore, of Charlestown. He passed 
two years at this occupation and then worked 
a few months in various cai)acities at the 
Perkins Institution for the Blind and at the 



The profession of a teacher Mr. Standish 
has followed with success and enthusiasm 
for more than half a century. In 1854 he 
commenced his work at Lombard as pro- 
fessor of mathematics and astronomy, a po- 
sition he filled with credit and usefulness for 
nearly forty years. Since 1892 he has been 
president of Lombard University. 

President Standish has thrice visited Eu- 
rope, in 1879, 1S83, and 1892, and during 
his second visit he traveled over forty thous- 
and miles, visiting interesting and historic 
points in nearly every European country. 
Northern Africa, Egypt and Palestine. 

President Standish is a Republican. He 
has a very fine and extensive library and has 
given much thought to political subjects, but 
has never sought or accepted office, devot- 
ing all his energies to a comprehensive prep- 
aration for the duties of his profession 
which he has made a life work. In June, 
1883, the degree of Ph. D. was conferred 
upon him by Knox College, and in June, 




EMRIE BENJAMIN STETSON. 

hotels of Boston, finally returning home, to 
the town of Dover, and engaged in black- 
smithing. After four years he sold out and 
returned to Boston and became a partner 
with his first employer in the baking business. 
Success attended him in this and after ten 
years he went into business upon his own ac- 
count and has carried it on for thirty years, 
acquiring fortune and the esteem of his asso- 
ciates. For many years he has been a 
director and one of the committee of in- 
vestment of the Charlestown Five Cent Sav- 



ings Hank. He is also a director of the 
Charlestown Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and 
was president of the Odd Fellows Mutual 
Benefit Society in iS9i,-'92, and '93. 

In politics he was a Whig during the life 
of the party, and then a Republican ; to-day 
he votes for the best man, regardless of his 
affiliation. 

In social organizations he has long been 
prominent, having occupied the chairs in 
the Bunker Hill Lodge, I. O. O. F., and 
Bunker Hill Encampment ; in the Knights 
of Honor, Daughters of Rebeckah and other 
organizations. 

Mr. Stetson was married, Feb. 3, 1852, at 
West Dover, to Mirriam Owen, and has four 
children : Florence Adelaide Bickford, Clara 
.\della Howard, Eva .\ngelea (deceased), 
Walter Emrie, and Gertrude Miriam Fitch. 



" will be so good to me, and bear me in their 
strong arms, when you two mighty men are 
gone?" Such a question implied nothing 
short of a sense of intellectual immortality. 

When he had taken to his bed for the last 
time, a visitor told him he was looking well. 
" Oh, John," was the quick reply, " It's not 
my appearance, but my disappearance that 
troubles me ! " 

One day a member of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, who was noted for his uncertain 
course on all questions, and who confessed 
that he never investigated a point under 
discussion without finding himself a neutral, 
asked for leave of absence. " Mr. Speaker," 
said Stevens, " I do not rise to object, but to 
suggest that the honorable member need not 
ask this favor, for he can easily pair oft' with 
himself ! " 



STEVENS, HIRAM S., was born at 
Weston in 1S32 ; received a common school 
education there ; remo\ed to New Mexico in 
1 85 1 and in 1S56 located in that part of 
Mexico now known as Arizona ; was a mem- 
ber of the territorial Legislature from Arizona 
1868-1873 : was elected a delegate from 
Arizona in the Forty-fourth Congress as an 
independent candidate ; was re-elected to the 
Forty-fifth Congress. 

STEVENS, THADDEUS, was born in 
Caledonia county, April 4, 1 793 ; graduated 
at Dartmouth College in 18 14; during 
that year he removed to Pennsylvania, stud- 
ied law and taught in an academy at the 
same time ; in t8i6 was admitted to the 
bar in Adams county ; in 1833 was elected 
to the state Legislature, and also in 1S34, 
1835, 1837 and 1841 ; in 1836 was elected 
a member of the convention to revise the 
state constitution ; in 1838 was appointed a 
canal commissioner; in 1842 he removed 
to Lancaster ; and in 1848 was elected a 
representative from Pennsylvania to the 
Thirty-first Congress, also to the Thirty- 
second ; and in 1858 was re-elected to the 
Thirty-sixth Congress, and also to the 
Thirty-seventh ; in 1862 he was re-elected 
to the Thirty-eighth Congress ; he was also 
a delegate to the Baltimore convention of 
1864; and re-elected to the Thirty-ninth 
Congress. 

Many a joke, good and bad, is credited to 
Thaddeus Stevens. One of the very keenest 
of his jests, which is undoubtedly authentic, 
is so commonplace in sound that one might 
easily be forgiven for failing to take in its 
meaning. In his last days David Reese and 
John Chauncey, two employes of the House 
of Representatives, used to carry him in a 
large arm chair, from his lodging across the 
public grounds, up the broad steps of the 
capitol. "Who," he said to them one day. 



STONE, ASHLEY, late of Hinsdale, N. 
H., son of Ebenezer and Lydia (Streeter) 
Stone, was born in Hinsdale, July 7, 1816. 




He attended the district schools of his 
native town until fifteen years of age. Leav- 
ing home in August, 1S31, he walked to Mil- 
ford, Mass., where he learned the painter's 
trade. By working at his trade he earned 
means to study at the Milford Academy, but 
was not able to take a college course. Mr. 
Stone was endowed with a keen, logical 
mind, a good memory, and a desire for 
knowledge. Throughout his busy life he 
made study his recreation and so supple- 



151 



merited his scanty early advantages that few 
college graduates were so thoroughly well 
read as he. 

For several years he worked at his trade 
in Milford and Dorchester, Mass. ; the win- 
ter of 1836-37 was spent in Virgina and 
the city of \\"ashington for a publishing 
house in placing "A Magazine of Lseful and 
Entertaining Knowledge." In the spring 
of 1837 he went to Searsburg to care for his 
father's family and he carried on his trade 
in that and neighboring towns until the fall 
of 1S43. He then went to JSoston to assist 
J. M. Dexter in taking account of a stock of 
merchandise and subsequenriy closed out a 
bankrupt stock of goods at Cambridge, N. 
\'., as agent for Boston creditors. 

In the spring of 1844 Mr. Stone bought 
out the general store of Flavins T. and Vol- 
ney Forbes in Wilmington, and he continued 
an interest in mercantile business in WW- 
mington for over thirty years. In 1850 he 
went to California for a company who 
shipped spruce lumber around Cape Horn. 
While there he engaged successfully in 
mining and general trade. Returning to 
Wilmington in May, 185 t, he became ex- 
tensively interested in real estate operations. 
He erected many of Wilmington's best build- 
ings, improved • a number of surrounding 
farms, and for many years was a buyer or 
seller in a large majority of the real estate 
transactions of that town. In 1864 and 
1S65 he carried on an extensive and pros- 
perous baking business in Baltimore, Md. 
He was guardian and administrator of many 
large and intricate estates, and frequently 
held positions of trust. In 1877 he left 
Wilmington and returned to his native town 
of Hinsdale, where he bought land and 
erected houses to rent. Mr. -Stone was 
always an exceedingly active man, and he 
also read extensively. Although he had 
remarkable physical endurance, his health 
at last failed from the great strain, and his 
eyes began to trouble him. He consulted 
the best medical authority in this country, 
submitted to three difficult surgical opera- 
tions, but became totally blind in 18S4. 
This forced him to abandon active business 
life. He kept his home in Hinsdale, N. H., 
but spent the last few winters in Washington, 
Philadelphia, Mohawk, N. Y., and New York 
City. 

Mr. Stone was stricken with paralysis July 
28, 1893, from which he never recovered, and 
died at Hinsdale Dec. 15, 1893. 

i\Ir. Stone had been a Free Soiler, a Whig 
and a Republican. He cast his first presi- 
dential vote for \\'illiam Henry Harrison in 
1 840 and voted for every U'hig and Repub- 
lican presidential candidate, including Ben- 
jamin Harrison in 1892, except voting for 
Horace Creeley in 1872. He represented 



tlie town of Searsburg as a \\ hig in the 
Legislature of 1840 and was re-elected in 
1 84 1, being the youngest member of each 
House when serving, and was probably the 
only surviving member of the Legislature at 
the time of his death. He was elected by 
the Whigs state senator from Windham 
county in 1S52, and re-elected in 1853, 
serving on the committee of education in 
both sessions and being chairman of this 
committee in 1853. .^t the time of his death 
there were only six ex-members of the Ver- 
mont Senate who had served earlier than 
Mr. Stone and only two who served with 
him in i852-'53. He was for several years 
deputy sheriff for Windham county and for 
many years town superintendent of schools 
and held other town offices in Searsburg and. 
Wilmington. 

Mr. Stone united with the Baptist church 
of \\'ilmington in 1850, just before leaving 
for California, having been baptized in the 
Deerfield river by Rev. Mr. Chase. He was 
for many years clerk of the church and super- 
intendent of its Sunday school, and one of its 
oldest members when he died. 

He was philanthropic and self-sacrificing, 
and had always been an active supporter of 
education, morality, and temperance. His 
funeral was held in his home church at \\'i\- 
mington, and very fully attended by his old 
neighbors and friends, the sermon being 
preached by his old pastor. Rev. A. \\. 
Goodnow, the text being from Job 23-10: 
"When he hath tried me, I shall come forth 
as gold." 

Mr. Stone was married in \\'ilmington, 
June 6, 1844, to Harriet Ann, daughter of 
Lewis and Eleanor (Dexter) Lamb. They 
had six children : Lewis Porter, Byron Ash- 
ley, and Dexter Lyman (who are now active 
business men), Harriet Louisa, Albert Eben, 
and Lydia Eleanor, all three of whom died 
young. Mr. Stone afforded his three oldest 
sons the means for a liberal education. 

STONE, Byron Ashley, of Mohawk, 

N. v., son of Ashley and Harriet A. (Lamb) 
Stone, was born June 15, 184S, at ^^'il- 
mington. 

He attended the schools of his native 
town and later the Wesleyan L^niversity at 
Wilbraham, Mass., and Eastman's Business 
College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he 
graduated with highest honors in 1868. 

Mr. Stone's business life began in the store 
of \y. iNI. Harris at South Deerfield, Mass., 
Sept. 22, 1868, but possessing an active dis- 
position he sought more stirring employment, 
and on March 22, 1869, entered tfie employ 
of Pease & Ruddock of the same town, man- 
ufacturers of pocket books, and began trav- 
eling to sell their products. In 1871 Mr. 
Ruddock died and the business was con- 



152 STONE. 

ducted un<ler the firm name of Pease & 
Stone until bought out, with the services of 
the partners, by the Charles Arms Manufact- 
uring Co. Mr. Stone was steadily progress- 
ing and in December, 1S80, a wider oppor- 
tunity offering in the same business, he ac- 
cepted an offer from Langfeld Bros. & Co., 
of Philadelphia, where he is still connected. 
During twenty-five years of constant travel 
Mr. Stone has visited nearly all the cities of 
this country, and has occupied a lucrative 
position of responsibility. In March, 1887, 
a corporation known as the Mohawk Valley 
Knitting Mills (limited), was organized by 
himself and associates, and he became vice- 
president of the company. Great success 
following this business, it led to the organi- 




V 



BYRON ASHLEY STON 



zation of a second company called the Knit- 
ting Company of Mohawk (limited), and 
Mr. Stone was elected president of this 
company. Both mills have been prosperous, 
their business being exclusively knitting 
children's underwear. Mr. Stone is also a 
director of the National Mohawk Valley Bank. 

In church work Mr. Stone is an active 
member of the Reformed church, and has 
been an elder in the same for twelve years. 
He was also a member of the board of edu- 
cation for three years and a trustee of the 
graded school, and did much toward secur- 
ing the present elegant school building. 

"He married, at Mohawk, N. Y., Feb. 14, 
1872, Ella E., daughter of Justus S. F. and 
H arriet.'X. (Talcott) Crim. He then selected 
M ohawk as his permanent home, and has 



since built his residence there. He has had 
four children : Ross Byron, Louis Talcott, 
Marjorie Dexter, Bertha Douglas, all living 
except the oldest, Ross B., who died August 
21, 1886. Mr. Stone has had a busy, happy, 
and successful life. 

STOWELL, William H. H., was born 
at Windsor, July 26, 1840; was educated at 
the grammar and high schools of Boston ; 
engaged in mercantile business ; .settled in 
Virginia in May, 1865, and was appointed 
collector of internal revenue for the fourth 
district in May, 1869 ; was elected a repre- 
sentative from Virginia in the Forty-second 
Congress as a Republican : was re-elected to 
the Forty-third and Forty-fourth Congresses. 

STOWELL Walter Lester, of San 

Francisco, Cal.. son of Palmer Franklin and 
Clara (Goodell) Stowell, was born in North 
Tunbridge, July 10, 1852. 

His education was commenced in the 
public schools of his native place and com- 
pleted in the Oakland Military .Academy of 
California, having moved to that state in 
February, i860. Soon after finishing his 
studies at school young Stowell received an 
appointment in the Custom House at San 
Francisco, which position he held for two 
years, until a change of the administration, 
when he eagaged in buying, storing, selling 
and shipping grain, also farming, until 1883, 
when he received an appointment in the 
postoffice at San Francisco, which place he 
has held, with the exception of brief inter- 
vals, to the present time and still holds. 

Mr. Stowell has taken much interest in 
agricultural and horticultural pursuits and 
owns a fruit and grain farm of four hundred 
and eighty acres in the Sacramento valley. 

He has been a member of the Pacific 
Coast Association Native Sons of Vermont 
for several years. 

STRATTON, CHARLES C, of Fitch- 
burg, Mass., was born in Fairlee, August 22, 
1829, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Stur- 
tevant) Stratton. His father was a leading 
citizen of the town, which he represented in 
the Legislature. 

The early education of Charles C. was 
obtained in the district schools, supple- 
mented by a course at Thetford Academy. 
In the fall of 1846 he started out in life, and 
secured his first employment in the office of 
the Democratic-Republican of Haverhill, N. 
H., where he acquired a thorough knowledge 
of the art preservative. Later he was em- 
ployed as a printer in Newbury, Boston, and 
New York until 1854, when he connected 
himself with the Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel, 
and has since been connected with that estab- 
lishment, with the exception of three months, 



when he was with the 2d Mass. Ca\alry, and in 
the Christian Commission at City Point, \'a. 
In March, 1867, he purchased a half inter- 
est in the office, and a few years later he rec- 
ognized and urged the importance of publish- 
ing a daily paper in Fitchburg. With this 
object in view the ]:)artnership with John E. 
Kellogg was formed in the spring of 1873, 




CHARLES C. STRATTON 



and the first number of the Daily Sentinel 
was issued on the 6th of the following May. 
Results proved that the time had come for 



such a \enture. The Daily Sentinel was 
started May 6, 1873, as a four page paper, 
and was several times enlarged until in De- 
cember, 1892, it had become an eight page 
se\en-column sheet with all the accessories of 
the regular metropolitan journal. The Senti- 
nel has proved an important factor in the de- 
velopment of Fitchburg, and was never more 
prosperous than at the present time. The 
office is in one of the finest buildings in the 
city. 

He is prominently identified with the re- 
ligious and social elements of his adopted 
city, and is a member of the local Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights 
of Honor. 

Mr. Stratton married at Fitchburg, Mass., 
June II, 1873, Maria S., daughter of John 
and Sophronia C. Putnam. Of this union is 
one daughter : Louise S. 

A man of sterling qualities, Mr. Stratton is 
one of the leading citizens of Fitchburg, and 
enjoys the confidence and respect of a large 
acquaintance. 

SWEET, Willis, of Moscow, Idaho, 
was born at Alburgh Springs, Jan. i, 1856 : 
was educated in the common schools, and 
attended the Nebraska State University 
three years : learned the printer's trade at 
Lincoln, Neb. : located at Moscow, Idaho, 
in September, 1881, where he engaged in 
the practice of law ; was appointed United 
States attorney for Idaho, in May, 1888; 
was appointed associate justice of the Su- 
preme Court of Idaho, Nov. 25, 1889, which 
position he held until the admission of 
Idaho into the I'nion ; was elected to an 
un-expired term of the Fifty-first Congress 
as a Republican. 



TABOR, H. A. W., of Denver, Col., son 
of Cornelius D. and Sarah (Terrin) Tabor, 
was born in Orleans county, Nov. 26, 1830. 
Educated only at the public schools he re- 
moved to Quincy, Mass., and learned the 
trade of a stone cutter, and after acquiring 
sufficient means, took up the study of the 
law and removed to Kansas, taking active 
part in the stirring events of the times when 
Kansas was agitated over the anti-slavery 
■question. Here he became a member of 
the state Legislature, and in 1859 removed 
to Colorado, where he has since resided. 
He was the first mayor of Leadville, and has 
been the treasurer of Lake county ; was the 
first Lieutenant-Governor of the state in 
1878, and in 1883 was chosen by the Col- 
orado Legislature as a United States senator. 



TAYLOR, Henry W., of Washington, 
D. C, son of Daniel \V. and Almyra (Tyr- 
rell) Taylor, was born in Sherburne, May 
20,1855. 

He was educated in the schools of his 
native town and at Black River Academy ; 
taught school two years in Windsor county. 
Selecting the trade of machinist, he com- 
pleted the apjarenticeship, and in 1S78 took 
charge of the machine sho]5 of the Suther- 
land Falls Marble Co., which place he re- 
tained when that company was merged into 
the Vermont Marble Co. In 1881 he re- 
signed to accept an appointment in the 
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where 
he remained until the following year, when 
he was appointed by Speaker Keifer, assist- 
ant engineer of the House of Representa- 
tives, and has since held this i)osition. 



154 



Mr. Taylor's services are in demand as an 
expert machinist. He was employed to 
conduct secret tests of plate printing of bank 
notes before a committee of the Treasury 
Department, and also by the engineer, James 
B. Eads, to operate and repair the costly 
model of the Tehuantepec Ship Railway, 
while on exhibition at the U. S. Capitol. He 
superintended the construction of the exten- 
sive terraces on the west front of the capitol, 
for the Vermont Marble Co., during which 
his gallant rescue of a workman's life ex- 
cited much comment. 




Mr. Taylor was married at Pittsford, in 
1884, to ^Iary E., daughter of Joseph B. and 
Caroline (Hall) Tottingham." Their chil- 
dren are : Caroline K., and Florence M. 

TEMPLE, EDALBERT J., of Hinsdale, N. 
H., son of Willis Haynes Temple and Dolly 
Ann (Merchant) Temple, was born June 3, 
1856, at Wilmington. 

Mr. Temple received his early education 
in the common schools of his native town 
and at Brattleboro Academy, where he was 
graduated in 1877. He then entered Will- 
iams College, but soon left to engage in 
teaching. He began the reading of law with 
Hosea W. Brigham, Esq., then of \Vhiting- 
ham, and afterward entered the office of Hon. 
Oscar E. Butterfield of ^\'ilmington, and 
there pursued his labors until he became a 
member of the bar, in March, 188 1. In the 
following year he opened a law and insur- 



ance office at Hinsdale, N. H., and has since 
remained there, actively and successfully en- 
gaged in his business. 

As a citizen of Wilmington he was enter- 
prising and public-spirited, and in educa- 
tional matters took great interest and became 
superintendent of schools in 18S0. In his 
adopted home Mr. Temple has been active 
in public matters and the evidence of the 
esteem of his fellow townsmen is to be noted 
in the various offices bestowed upon him. 
In 1891 he was elected moderator and again 
in 1892, the first moderator elected in Hins- 
dale under the Australian system of ballot- 
ing, and still holds that office. In 1893 he 
was made a member of the board of educa- 
tion for three years and is chairman of 
the board. He is also one of the auditors 
of Cheshire county and is a strong Repub- 
lican and president of the Republican club 
of Hinsdale. 

In religious preference he is a Universal- 
ist, and is treasurer of that society. Mr. 
Temple is a prominent member of Golden 
Rule Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 77, and was 
its representative to the Grand Lodge of the 
state in 1889. 

Mr. Temple was married, at \\hitingham, 
March 22, 1881, to Eva C, daughter of 
Hon. Hosea W. and Flora R. (Farnham) 
Brigham. The family consists of three 
children : Charles Hosea, Mabel Eva, and 
Madelion Merchant. 

THOMAS, ORMSBY B., of Prairie du 
Chien, ^^'is., was born in Sandgate, .August 
21, 1832; went to Wisconsin in 1836; re- 
ceived a common-school education : studied 
law, and graduated at the National Law 
School of Poughkeepsie, N. V. ; was admit- 
ted to the bar at .-Mbany, N. V., in 1856; 
has been district attorney of Crawford county. 
Wis., several times : was a member of the 
Wisconsin .Assembly in 1862, 1865, anct' 1867, 
and of the Wisconsin state Senate in 1880 
and 1881 ; was presidential elector in 1872 ; 
was in the L^nion army, and served as cap- 
tain of Co. D, 3 1 St Regt. Wis. Vol. Inft. ; was 
elected to the Forty-ninth, and re- elected to 
the Fiftieth Congress as a Republican. 

THURSTON, JOHN Mellen, of 
Omaha, Neb., son of Daniel Sylvester and 
Ruth (Jilellen) Thurston, was born in Mont- 
pelier, .August 2r, 1847. His father's fam- 
ily removed from Montpelier to W'isconsin 
in 1854. In 1861 his father volunteered in 
the 17th Wisconsin Infantry, and died in 
the service of his country in the spring of 
1863. .At this time young Thurston was 
compelled to undertake almost any kind of 
employment in order to assist in the sup- 
port of his family and to secure an educa- 
tion for himself. In 1865 he went to Chi- 



IHlTRSrON. 



TIURSTON. 



•55 



cago and spent a year as driver of a grocery 
wagon. At the end of this period he re- 
turned to his mother at Beaver Dam, \Vis., 
and engaged in fishing and trapping, em- 
ploying a nimiber of boys to help him, and 
shipping his wares to Chicago for sale. This 
venture proved successful and resulted in 
the accumulation of enough money to en- 
able him to attend school. 




JOHN MELLEN THURSTON. 

In 1866 he entered Wayland University 
at Beaver Dam, and remained until the 
institution closed in i868. He now deter- 
mined to study law, and entered the office of 
E. P. Smith, an eminent attorney of Wis- 
consin, then a member of the bar at Beaver 
Dam. On the 21st of May, 1869, after an 
examination by the Hon. Alva Stuart, circuit 
judge at Portage, Wis., Mr. Thurston was ad- 
mitted to the bar. His necessities compelled 
him, however, to again engage in farming 
and manual labor until the end of the season 
when, in company with another young attor- 
ney, he determined to locate at Omaha, Neb., 
where he arrived Oct. 5, 1869, and began bus- 
iness in the office of \Villiam H. Morris, then 
a lawyer and trial justice. The new firm 
found insufficient business for their support, 
and Mr. Luthe, who was married, went to 
Denver. Mr. Thurston, true to his charac- 
teristics, stuck to his office, and during his 
novitiate was reduced to the necessity of 
sleeping upon a buffalo robe in his office and 
eked out a bare subsistence. Varying suc- 
cess attended his struggles. In 1 87 i, upon 



the resignation of Judge Morris, Mr. Thurs- 
ton was ap])ointed to fill the \acancy, and 
removed to larger offices. He then con- 
tinued his efforts until the spring of 1873 
when he resigned his office of justice to form 
a law partnership with Hon. Charles H. 
Brown. The previous spring Mr. Thurston 
hafi been elected a member of the city coun- 
cil in Omaha, which office he filled two con- 
secutive years, acting as president of that 
body and chirman of the judiciary committee. 
In the spring of 1874, upon the expiration of 
his term as alderman, he was ajjpointed city 
attorney by Mayor C. S. Chase, which posi- 
tion he filled three years, resigning finally to 
accept the assistant attorneyship of the Union 
Pacific R. R. under the Hon. A. J. Popple- 
ton, general solicitor of the corporation. Mr. 
Thurston was also elected a member of the 
Nebraska Legislature of 1875, ^f'd served in 
that body as chairman of the judicial com- 
mittee and acting speaker. In the fall of 
1885 he was the Republican candidate for 
judge of the Third Judicial District of the 
state of Nebraska and was defeated. 

For fifteen years Mr. Thurston has been 
identified with a majority of leading cases 
in the courts of Nebraska. While Mr. 
Thurston has not devoted himself to crimi- 
nal practice, but has rather avoided than 
sought employment in criminal cases, yet he 
has been called upon to defend fourteen 
persons charged with murder and has the 
almost unprecedented record of final ac- 
quittal in every case. 

\Vhen he became general solicitor of the 
Union Pacific R. R., he had perhaps the 
largest general practice of any lawyer in this 
section. .Since accepting this position, the 
responsible duties of which office he assum- 
ed on the first of February, x888, he has 
retired from general practice, as the business 
of the railway system which is now all under 
his supervision occupies his entire time and 
attention. 

In 1880 Mr. Thurston was one of the 
presidential electors for Nebraska and 
electoral messenger. In 1884 he was dele- 
gate-at-large to the Republican national 
convention at Chicago, and chairman of his 
state delegation. In 188S he was also tem- 
porary chairman of the national Republi- 
can convention which nominated deneral 
Harrison for President. His speech in 
opening the convention was pronounced a 
masterpiece by the press of the country, 
and at its conclusion he received such an 
ovation as few men have ever been accorded, 
and in a single hour he acquired a great 
national reputation as an orator. 

Mr. Thur*on has delivered many memor- 
able addresses in different parts of the coim- 
try. His oration on the Centennial Anni- 
versary of Constitutional Indejaendence at 



156 



Chicago in 1889, his eulogy on General 
Grant before the Union League Club, his 
address on Abraham Lincoln, in 1890, and 
his tribute to the "man who wears the 
button," are among the most remarkable. 
The press of the whole country has seemed 
to unite in commendation of his abiUties as 
a powerful and eloquent public speaker. _ He 
was urged by the greater portion of the entire 
\\est for appointment as Secretary of the 
Interior in the cabinet of President Harri- 
son, and, although he made no effort to se- 
cure the position, it was at one time believed 
that his selection was certain. He has twice 
been a leading candidate for L'nited States 
Senator from Nebraska. On one occasion 
he almost secured the Republican nomina- 
tion, which would have been equivalent to 
an election, and again, in 1893, he received 
the nomination of the Republican caucus 
and came within one vote of an election. It 
is belie\ed that as soon as another oppor- 
tunity presents itself the people of Nebraska 
will insist upon his going to the United 
States Senate, and he has been urged by 
many for a still higher place. 

The record Mr. Thurston has made thus 
early in life is one not often met. He has at- 
tained his legal eminence as the result only 
of natural ability and close application to 
his profession. Manly, loyal and affection- 
ate, he enjoys in a remarkable degree the de- 
voted love of his friends. There are many 
who are willing to administer to his fortunes. 
Besides these multitudes there are some who 
are nearer to him, whom circumstances or 
personal relations have brought into the in- 
ner circle of his affections, whose devotion 
is never weary or relaxed. 

On Christmas, 1872, Mr. Thurston was 
married to Miss Martha Poland, daughter of 
Col. Luther Poland, of Omaha, a most 
estimable lady whose family were, like her 
husband's, originally from Vermont. Her 
uncle was the honorable and venerable Luke 
P. Poland, for many years chief justice of the 
Green Mountain state, a representative in 
Congress for several terms and United States 
Senator. Of six children born of this mar- 
riage, four were sons and two daughters. Two 
of the sons died of diphtheria, leaving two 
sons and two daughters, who now, with his 
estimable wife, compri.se Mr. Thurston's 
family. 

TINKER, Charles AL.MERIN, of Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., descended from John Tinker, one 
of the early settlers of Windsor, Conn. His 
grandfather removed to Vermont previous 
to the Revolution and was one^of the volun- 
teers'who went to the defense of Bennington. 
His father and mother, Almerin Tinker and 
Sophronia B. Gilchrist, lived for many years 



at Chelsea, where Charles A. Tinker, their 
oldest son, was born Jan. 8, 1838. 

Mr. Tinker was taken by his parents, in 
infancy, to Michigan, where he had only the 
advantage of a common school education, 
but returning to his native state in 1S51, 
established their residence in Northfield. 
He subsequently attended school at New- 
bury Seminary, but owing to sickness did 
not complete his course. In 1852 he ob- 
tained a position as clerk in the postoffice 
at Northfield, and was there taught the Bain 
system of telegraphy. In 1S55 he obtained 
a position as operator with the Vermont & 
Boston Telegraph Co. at Boston, and soon 
after with the Cape Cod Telegraph Co. in the 
Merchants' lixchange, having in the mean- 
time acquired a knowledge of the Morse 
system. In January, 1S57, he went to Chi- 
cago, accepting a position there in the office 
of the Caton lines, and soon after became 
manager of the Illinois & Mississippi Tele- 
graph Co.'s office at Pekin, 111. 

During this period he made the acquain- 
tance of Abraham Lincoln. At Mr. Lin- 
coln's request, Mr. Tinker explained to him 
the methods of the telegraph system, and an 
intimacy thus begun was renewed later 
when Mr. Lincoln was President, and Mr. 
Tinker was employed as telegraph operator 
in the War Department at Washington. Mr. 
Lincoln was a frequent visitor at Mr. Tin- 
ker's office during the war, and received 
from him the first news of his re-nomination 
as President and that of .Andrew Johnson as 
Vice-President. A word uttered by Mr. 
Lincoln on this occasion, intimating his 
preference for Mr. Hamlin was recalled in 
later years by Mr. Tinker, and was the means 
of settling the important controversy that 
arose after Mr. Hamlin's death. 

In the summer of 1S57 Mr. Tinker re- 
turned to Chicago from Pekin, 111., and en- 
tered the service of the Chicago & Rock Island 
R. R. Co., and two years later that of the Ga- 
lena & Chicago LTnion R. R. Co., as book- 
keeper and telegraph operator. During this 
period he joined the Chicago Light Guard, 
and served with his company as escort to 
Stephen A. Douglas to the Wigwam where he 
made his last great speech for the Union, 
and two weeks later as guard of honor in 
the procession which laid his remains away 
to rest on the banks of Lake Michigan. 

At the breaking out of the war he was 
offered the lieutenant-colonelcy of a regi- 
ment, but declined the proffered honor. He 
soon after entered the United States military 
service in the War Department at Washing- 
ton, and was almost immediately ordered to 
service in the field under General Banks, and 
opened the military telegraph office at 
Poolesville, Md. He performed similar ser- 
\ices under General U'ardsworth at Upton 




c 



f^/f^^L^ 



Hill, where he was selected as one of the 
eight operators to serve under General Mc- 
Clellan on the steamer Commodore, and 
afterwards in the army headquarters in front 
of Vorktown, and before Richmond. He 
was present at the evacuation of Vorktown, 
and at the battle of \\'illiamsburg, and finally 
at General Heintzelman's headquarters at 
Savage Station after the battle of Fair Oaks. 
During his services at the front he lost his 
health, and returned to Vermont for one 
month, when he had regained health, and 
was then appointed by Major Kckert to the 
responsible position of cipher operator in 
the War Department at Washington, having 
for one of his associates A. B. Chandler of 
West Randolph. Here he remained until 
the close of the war, when he was appointed 
manager of the U. S. Military Telegraph, 
continuing until it was closed up and its lines 
turned over to the telegraph companies. 

He was then appointed manager of the 
Western Cnion Washington office, serving 
therein until January, 1872, when he became 
superintendent of telegraph and general train 
dispatcher of the Vermont Central R. R., at 
St. Albans, with jurisdiction over the lines of 
the Western Union and Montreal Telegraph 
Cos. on that railway system. In 1S75 he was 
appointed general superintendent of the 
Pacific Division of the Atlantic and Pacific 
Telegraph Co., with headquarters at Chicago. 
In 1879 this company having fallen under the 
control of the Western Union company, he 
resigned and accepted the management of the 
telegraph lines of the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad Co. While holding this position 
he became one of the incorporators with Jay 
Gould, of the American Union Telegraph 
Co., and received from Mr. Gould a check 
for two and a half millions of dollars to pay 
for his subscription to its capital stock. He 
was also superintendent of a division of that 
company. In 1881, after the consolidation 
of the Western Union and American Union 
Telegraph Cos., he was recalled to the service 
of the Western Union Telegraph Co., and on 
Feb. I, 1882, he was made general superin- 
tendent of the Eastern division, comprising 
all the territory from Washington, D. C, 
north to the Canada line, west to the Ohio 
river and east to Cape Breton. This posi- 
tion he still holds. 

He is vice-president of the .-Xmerican Dis- 
trict Telegraph Co., of New Vork City, and 
a director and vice-president of the Ver- 
mont and Boston Telegraph Co., and an 
officer of numerous other telegraph and 
telephone companies. 

He has for some years been prominent in 
the religious and social circles of Brooklyn. 
He was one of the organizers and is now 
vice-president of the Brooklyn Society of 
Vermonters ; he is a member of the Illinois 



Society of the Sons of Vermont, and has 
been for several years an officer and trustee 
of the ^Vashington Avenue Baptist Church 
and of the Lincoln Club of Brooklyn. 

He was married, in 1863, to Miss Lizzie 
A. Simkins, of Ohio, who deceased in .\pril, 
T890, leaving three grown children, two 
others having died in infancy. 

He is a man of fine physique, still in the 
prime of manhood, capable of great endur- 
ance, and fully equal to the arduous and re- 
sponsible duties connected with his position. 

TOWLE, Allen, of Towle, Cal., eldest 
son of Ira and Annis (Doe) Towle, was 
born in Corinth, July 26, 1833. 




He was educated in the district schools, 
and in Corinth Academy. At the age of 
nineteen he went to New York where rela- 
tives of his mother were engaged in the ice 
business and with whom he remained some 
two years. In the meantime his father had 
made the discovery of copper in Corinth, 
and in 1853 a start was made with outside 
capital to develop the mine, and he was sent 
to Vermont by a New Vork company to look 
after their interests in that locality. He 
took kindly to the pursuit of mining but the 
scope was hardly broad enough, when com- 
pared with the Munchausen-like tales which 
were at that time being sent home by his 
fellow townsmen, many of whom were 
among the first to seek gold in California, 
and in December, 1855, he sailed from New 
Vork, via Panama, arriving in San Fancisco 



•JOWNSKNl)- 



159 



in lanuary, 1856. Here he lost no time but 
proceeded at once to the mines and com- 
menced operations at Steep Hollow, Placer 
county, where he cleaned up a few hundred 
dollars which he used to run a tunnel into 
a gravel claim at Thompsons Hill near 
Dutch t'lat. For this business he seemed 
to have a natural bent, and although in 
those early days it was rather rough sailing 
he was prosperous. In the mean time a 
wagon road was built from Dutch Flat to Don- 
ner Lake, by which to reach the Comstock 
mines, which were then in the height of their 
success — and he built another mill near 
Blue Canyon. This wagon road was but the 
forerunner of the trans-continental railroad, 
the Central Pacific line passing through 
Dutch Flat, Blue Canyon, and on to the 
summit, and the Towle saw-mills became 
veritable mints. They supplied lumber to 
the railroad for ties, snow sheds, culverts 
and camps, and literally turned their lumber 
into gold. Their receipts from the railroad 
amounting at times to twenty-five thousand 
dollars per month. 

Mr. Towle was followed to California at dif- 
ferent dates by his two brothers, who became 
his partners, but he has retained the man- 
agement. He has built at different times 
fifteen saw mills ; he has also built thirty 
miles of narrow gauge railroad, supplied with 
five locomotives and eighty-five cars with 
which to handle lumber from the mills off 
the line of the Central Pacific. He has five 
lumber yards in different localities in Cali- 
fornia and another in Tucson, Arizona ; also 
a box factory in Sacramento, which is chiefly 
employed in making orange boxes. 

At Towle are situated a planing mill, 
sash, door, blind and box factory, and a 
pulp mill. This mill runs day and night and 
is lighted by electricity, the dynamo for 
which also furnishes lights for the town. 'I he 
Towles own 24,000 acres of land in Cali- 
fornia, including the town, which has a town 
hall, hotel, boarding houses, one store, shops 
for car building and blacksmithing, and 
numerous dwelling houses. Has one hun- 
dred and eighty voters, with a school of 
seventy-five pupils. They decline to sell a 
foot of land lest a saloon should be located ; 
no liquor can be bought or sold on land 
owned by them. They employ in the busy 
season four hundred men, some of whom 
have been in their employ for over a quarter 
of a century, and who are independent as 
far as money is concerned. For many years 
Towle has been a sure place of employment 
for any young man from Vermont, and scores 
of well-to-do men on the Pacific coast date 
their prosperity from the start they got here. 
'Mr. Towle is a member of the Olive Lodge, 
L O. O. F., No. 81, of Dutch Flat, and of 
.•\uburn p]ncampment. 



He is a Re])ublican and has been delegate 
to both county and state con\entions many 
times, but has never aspired to any office. He 
was appointed by the Governor a delegate 
to the Irrigation Congress which met in Salt 
Lake City in September, 1891 ; he was also 
appointed by the Ciovernor a member of the 
\'iticultural Commission for Fl Dorado dis- 
trict, and elected by the commissioners as 
their treasurer. He is also president of the 
Gold Run Ditch and Minirig Co. and of the 
Feather River Canal Co., incorporated for 
furnishing water for irrigation in Butte county. 

Mr. Towle was married at Dutch Flat, Cal., 
March 3, 1869, to Ella W., daughter of 
Stephen Young and Lydia K. (Richey) 
Halsey, and has four children : George G. 
(who was married in 1892 to Miss Kate 
Meister, of Sacramento) and is bookkeeper 
for his father, Orra H., .AUeen L., and Sadie 

The family have a beautiful home in Sac- 
ramento where they spend most of the year 
on account of schools, but retain their resi- 
dence at Towle where they go for the sum- 
mer and where they entertain troops of 
friends. 

It has been a marvel to many how Mr. 
Towle has stood the care of such large and 
varied enterprises. The secret seems to his 
biographer (who has known him from child- 
hood), to lie in his ability to lay aside care. 
When he goes to his home he leaves his 
business in the office. The Towle family (a 
brother and two sisters) are all settled in 
California, but the old farm in Corinth where 
he and his father before him, first saw light 
(although it has like many another in ^'er- 
mont, ceased to be a source of income ) is 
still one of the cherished possessions of the 
Towle family. Great executive ability and 
integrity, coupled with a kindly and charit- 
able nature, have placed him in the foremost 
rank of California's adopted sons. 

TOWNSEND, JOHN, of San Francisco, 
Cal., son of Moses and Azubah W. ( Hatha- 
way) Townsend, was born Nov. 17, 1857, at 
Pittsfield. 

His education was begun in the common 
and high schools of his native town, and his 
technical training acquired in the Massachu- 
setts College of Pharmacy, the California 
Medical College, the Hahnemann Medical 
College of San Francisco, and the Post 
Graduate Medical College of Chicago. 

Until seventeen years of age he worked 
upon his father's farm and attended school, 
and then engaged as attendant at the Mc- 
Lean .Asylum for Insane at Somerville, Mass., 
where he remained a year. He then entered 
the employ of Dr. J. D. Mansfield, of Wake- 
field, Mass., and by close devotion to his 
duties he became a druggist, and was soon 
head clerk and general manager of the store. 



i6o 



TWITCHELL. 



TWITCHELL. 



\\hile here he attended lectures at the Massa- 
chusetts College of Pharmacy. After three 
years' service in Wakefield, he practiced his 
profession in leading establishments of Bos- 
ton, and continued his course of instruction 
at the college. 

In 1876 Mr. I'ovvnsend established a phar- 
macy at Weymouth, Mass., and in a short 
time built up a large and successful business. 
In 1877 he graduated at the head of the 
class from the Massachusetts College of 
Pharmacy. In 1881 he removed to San 
Francisco, and visited Oregon and Washing- 
ton, and the following spring again took up 
the study of medicine and in October, 1S84, 
graduated from the Hahnemann Medical 
College, and received the first diploma 
granted from a homcepathic college on the 
Pacific coast. He was then appointed resi- 
dent physician and surgeon of the San 
Francisco Homeopathic Hospital, and the 
next year received the same appointment at 
the St. Luke Hospital, and the further dis- 
tinction of professor of chemistry and 
demonstrator of anatomy at the Hahne- 
mann Medical College. After two years of 
hospital service he engaged in private prac- 
tice and now has a large and increasing 
business among the best people of San 
Francisco. 

Dr. Townsend has always taken an active 
part in fraternal and social orders ; is an 
Odd Fellow and Knight of Honor, and a 
member of various other organizations, and 
is vice-president of the Pacific Coast Asso- 
ciation of Sons of Vermont. 

In his professional labors he has invented 
several valuable instruments for use in treat- 
ment of diseases of the throat and lungs, 
and the application of electricity both in 
therapeutics and surgery. 

TWITCHELL, MARSHALL HARVEY, of 
Newfane, resident of Kingston, Canada, son 
of Harvey and Elizabeth (Scott) Twitchell, 
was born in Townshend, Feb. 28, 1840. 

He was educated in the common schools 
and Leland Seminary. Like many young 
men of Vermont he taught school winters, 
worked on the farm and attended the semi- 
nary the other portions of the year. 

In 1 86 1 he enlisted with Co. I, 4th Regt. 
Vt. Vols. He was in fourteen battles with 
the old Vermont Brigade and was severely 
wounded at the battle of the Wilderness, be- 
ing at the time in command of the com- 
pany. In the winter of 1863-64 he made 
application and was appointed captain in 
the 109 LL S. C. T. and was in the column 
which broke Lee's line at Petersburg and 
finally surrounded his army at .Appomattox 
court house. In October, 1865, he was ap- 
pointed provost marshal and agent of Freed- 
man's Bureau with head(]uarters at Sparta, 



North Louisiana. Here, twenty-fi\e miles 
from the nearest post, with no experience in 
civil government, he was legislator, judge, 
jury and sheriff. His government was so 
satisfactory that he was elected almost with- 
out opposition to represent the parish 
(county) of Bienville in the constitutional 
convention of 1868. He was appointed 
judge of the parish of Bienville in 1868. 
Elected to the state Senate for a term of four 
years in 1870 and re-elected for a second 
term in 1874. During his eight years in the 
Senate he was the principal agent in the 
creation of the parish (county) of Red 
River, building of the town of Couchatta 
and the organization of the public schools 
in the parishes of Bienville, Red River and 
De Sota. 




He protected colored schools by the threat 
that as president of the school board he 
should refuse to sign the warrant for the 
pay of the teachers. The 2d of May, 1876, 
an' attempt was made to assassinate him, 
from which he received six bullets, necessi- 
tating the amputation of both arms just above 
the elbow ; his brother-in-law, George A. 
King, was killed at that time. His only 
brother, Homer, and his other two brothers- 
in-law, Willis and Holland, had been pre- 
\iously murdered in what is known as the 
Couchatta Massacre of 1874, Had the as- 
sassination been successful the result would 
have been to change the majority in the 
state Senate, which would have recognized 



i6i 



a different House of Representatives, de- 
clared a different ("lovernor and elected a 
different L'nited States Senator. April, 1878, 
he was appointed Consul of the l'nited States 
at Kingston, Canada. 

In 1868 he purchased a cotton ])lantation 
on Lake Risteneau. In 1869 took the 
direction of two plantations belonging to his 
father-in-law. In 1870 he purchased "Star- 
light " plantation on Red river, every year 
adding to his business, either by lease or 
purchase. He directed as principal owner 
two stores, two sets of mills, the hotel and 
the only newspaper established in the parish. 
His large property interests were partially 
abandoned after his attempted assassination 
in 1876, and entirely abandoned after the 
murder of John W. Harrison, his last agent, 
at " Starlight," in the fall of 1875. 

In 1864 he joined Blazing Star Lodge, F. 
& .A. M., at Townshend. After the war 
he was J. W. of Silent Brotherhood Lodge, 
scribe of Chapter No. 35, and member of 
Jacques De Molay Commandery, all of 
Louisiana ; he is also a member of Burchard 
Post, G. A. R., and Loyal Legion of Ver- 
mont. 

In 1866 he married .Adele, daughter of 
Colonel Coleman, one of the large cotton 
planters of North Louisiana. By this wife 
he has one son : Marshall Coleman. In 
1876 he married Henrietta Day of Hamp- 
den, Mass., by whom he has one son : 
Emmus G. 

TYLER, George Washington, of 

Alameda, Cal., son of William B. and Mary 
(Hall) Tyler, was born in Warren, Jan. 16, 
1827. 

He attended the public schools of his na- 
tive town until he wentto Kalamazoo, Mich., 
in the fall of 1844, and prepared for college 
at a branch of the University of Michigan, 
under the auspices and at the expense of the 
Baptist Association of that state. In 1847, 
when prepared to enter the sophomore 
class, finding that he could not consistently 
preach the doctrines of that church, he re- 
paid the Association and returned to Ver- 
mont. He taught school in \\'arren during 
the winter that followed and in the spring of 
1848 commenced the study of law in the 
office of O. H. Smith of Montpelier. 

He went to California in 1849, sailing 
from Boston on the ship Leonore, in the 
spring of that year, and arriving in the Gold- 
en state on the 5th day of July, his course 
having been around Cape Horn. 

In April, 1850, upon the organization of 
the state of California, he was elected sheriff 
of Volo county, but in the fall of that year re- 
signed that office and went to Vreka, Syski- 



you county, where he held the office of dis- 
trict attorney for one and one-half years, after 
which he practiced criminal law as a spe- 
cialty until May, 1856, when he returned to 
Vermont, and in September of that year he 
entered the law school of Cambridge, Mass., 
and graduated in July, 185 8, returning 
shortly after to Vreka. 

He was county judge of San Joaquin 
county, from 1861 to '63, and was a member 
of the Assembly from Alameda county in 
iSSo. 




GEORGE WASHINGTON TYLER. 



He was mustered into the service of the 
United States by Captain Alden (formerly in 
charge of Military Academy at West Point), 
in Rogue River Valley, Oregon, as one of the 
staff of Gen. Joseph Lane, with the rank of 
lieutenant ; fought during the Rogue River 
Indian war of 1853, having gone there from 
Vreka, Cal., at the first outbreak. He was 
in command of a company that fought the 
battle of "Bloody Point" at which one-half of 
his command were killed or wounded, he re- 
ceiving two slight wounds. 

Judge Tyler is a Master Mason in good 
standing, and ranks high as a lawyer in his 
adopted state. 

In August, 185 1, Mr. Tyler married Miss 
.Alia Jane, daughter of \Villiam and Anna 
(Lovett) Frazier, in Cambridge, Mass. Of 
this union there are four living children : 
William B., George Norton, Alia Frazier, and 
Maud G. 



\AN \'LIET. 



VAN VLIET, Stewart, of Washington, 
D. C., son of Christian and Rachael Van 
VHet, was born July 21, 1815, at Ferrisburg. 

General Van Vliet, as he is everywhere 
known, received the educational advantages 
of the home of his youth, Fishkill, N. Y., and 
entered the United States Military Academy 
at West Point in 1836, graduating in 1840, 
in the class in which was Cieneral Sherman 
and other famous men whose names have 
become prominent in history. He was ap- 




STEWART 



pointed second lieutenant in the third artil- 
lery, then in Florida, and served there two 
years during the Seminole war. He was in 
several engagements, in one of which he 
killed an Indian chief in a hand to hand 
tight. Subsequently he was engaged in the 
Mexican war and was with Cieneral Taylor at 
Monterey, where he led the final charge and 
received the flag of surrender. At Vera 
Cruz he commanded a battery under Gen- 
eral Scott. From Mexico he was ordered to 
Fort Leavenworth and built forts Kearney 
and Laramie on the Platte river. He was in 
the Sioux expedition and in the batde of the 
Blue Water. Under Sydney Johnson he 
organized the expedition to Utah, and went 
to Salt Lake. Gen. Stewart Van Vliet served 
with distinction in the civil war. He was 
chief quartermaster of the Army of the Poto- 



mac, and was with McClellan in all the bat- 
tles of the Peninsula ; and was afterwards 
stationed in several of the large cities of the 
country. He was retired at the age of sixty- 
four, and received the brevets of brigadier- 
general and major-general in the regular 
army and in the \'olunteers. He now lives 
with his family in N\'ashington, D. C, and 
during the summer months at Shrewsburv, 
N. J. 

General ^'an Miet is fond of society. His 
genial and hearty manner makes companion- 
ship with him most enjoyable. He is a 
member of many clubs and organizations, 
among them the Aztec Club, of which he is 
Ijresident ; the Holland Society, of which he 
is vice-president ; the St. Nicholas Society ; 
the Loyal I^egion ; and the G. A. R. 

General Van Vliet was married at Fort 
Laramie, March 6, 1851, to Sarah Jane 
Brown, the daughter of Maj., Jacob Brown 
(who was killed by the Mexicans while de- 
fending a fort opposite Matamoras. The 
fort and city. Fort Brown and Brownsville, 
were named after him). He has two sons : 
Dr. Frederick C, and Lieut. Robert C. of 
the loth \J. S. Infantry. 

VILAS, William P., of Madison, Wis., 
was born at Chelsea July 9, 1840 ; removed 
with his father's family to Wisconsin and 
settled at Madison June 4, 185 1 ; was grad- 
uated at the State L^niversiiy in T858, and 
from the law department of the L'niversity of 
Albany, N. Y., in i860; was admitted to the 
bar by the Supreme Court of New York and 
by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin in the 
same year, and began the practice of law 
July 9, i860 ; was captain of Co. A, 23d Regt. 
Wis. Inf. Vols., and afterwards major and 
lieutenant-colonel of the regiment ; has been 
one of the professors of law of the law de- 
partment of the State L'niversity since 1868, 
omitting four years, 1885 to 1889; was one 
of the regents of the university from 1880 to 
1885 ; was one of the three revisers ap- 
pointed by the Supreme Court of \Visconsin 
in 1875 ^^ho prepared the existing revised 
body of the statute law adopted in 1878; 
was a member of Assembly in the Wisconsin 
Legislature in 18S5 : was a delegate to the 
Democratic national conventions of 1S76- 
'8o-'84, and permanent chairman of the 
latter : was postmaster-general from March 
7, 1885, to Jan. 16, 1888, and Secretary of 
the Interior from the latter date to March 6, 
1889 ; received the unanimous nomination 
of the Democratic legislative caucus and was 
elected Jan. 28,1891, L'nited States Senator 
to succeed John C. Spooner, Republican. 



WAKEMAN. 



163 



WAKEMAN, SETH, was born at Frank- 
lin, Jan. 5, 18 1 1 ; studied law, and practiced 
at Batavia, N. V. ; was district attorney of 
Genesee county, N. V., from 1851 to 1857 ; 
was a member of the Assembly of the state 
of New York, 1S56-57 ; was a member of 
the state constitutional convention of New 
York in 1807-68, and was elected a repre- 
sentative from New York in the Forty-sec- 
ond Congress as a Republican. 

WALBRIDGE, David S., was born in 
Bennington, July 30, 1802 ; received his 
education from the common schools of the 
vicinity ; has devoted himself to the various 
employments of the farmer, the merchant, 
and the miller ; he removed to Michigan in 
1842, and was elected a representative in 
Congress from that state in 1854 and ser\ed 
until 1859. 

WALDEN, Hiram, was born in Rutland 
Co., Aug. 29, t8oo ; received a limited educa- 
tion, and having removed with his father to 
New York, devoted himself to the business 
of cloth dressing and wool carding ; he took 
an interest in military affairs, and attained 
the office of major-general of militia ; in 
1836 he was elected to the state Legislature ; 
in 1842 he was elected a supervisor in the 
county of Schoharie ; and was a representa- 
tive in Congress from New York from 1849 
to 185 I. 

WALKER, George H., of Boston, Mass., 
son of Ralph S. and Jane (Long) Walker, 
was born at Springfield, Jan. 24, 1852. 

Mr. \Valker received his early training in 
the district schools of Yermont and also at- 
tended the Stevens high school of Clare- 
mont, N. H. He began his business life in 
a dry goods establishment in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
but in the fall of 1873 he became interested 
in the publishing business, contracted with a 
New York firm and was engaged with them 
in various works until 1878, when he went 
into business for himself in Boston. The firm 
of George H. Walker & Co. was established 
at 61 Hanover street, for the publication of 
real estate atlases. In 1880 he extended his 
business by establishing a lithographic branch 
at 81 Milk street, but soon outgrowing their 
quarters, they removed to 1 60 'Fremont street, 
where they have since remained, adding new 
floors and presses, until 1888, when the build- 
ing was enlarged for their benefit. The es- 
tablishment is one of the finest of its sort 
in New England, employing only the best 
artists. In addition to their other works the 
State .\tlas of Massachusetts is pronounced as 
fine a work of its class as was ever ]niblished. 

In 1891 Mr \Valker established, with head- 
quarters in Boston, opposite Trinity Church, 



the \Valker-Gordon Milk Laboratory for the 
scientific feeding of infants, which has proved 
a remarkable success and many thousand in- 
fants have been fed. The milk is supplied 
only upon physicians' prescriptions. A similar 
laboratory has been established at 626 Madi- 
son avenue, New York, and others are to be 
established in all large cities. 

Mr. Walker was married in 1885, to Irene 
L., daughter of Robert K. and Irene (White) 
Loud, of Weymouth, Mass. 

WALKER, ALDACE p.. of Chicago, 111., 
son of Aldace Walker, L). I)., and Mary .\. 
(Baker) Walker, was born May 11, 1S42, in 
West Rutland. 

He was educated at Kimball Union Acad- 
emy, Meriden, N. H., and at Middlebury 
College, graduating in 1862. His legal 
training was acquired after the war, at 
Columbia Law School in New York City. 

In July, 1862, the year of his graduation 
from Middlebury College, Mr. Walker en- 
listed in Co. B, 1st Artillery, nth Yt. \'ols., 
and was elected first lieutenant. He after- 
wards became captain of Co. C and Co. D ; 
and subsequently was major and lieutenant- 
colonel of the regiment. In 1S64 he was 
breveted lieutenant-colonel for gallantry at 
the battles of the Opiquan, Fisher's Hill and 
Cedar Creek, and was mustered out in June, 
1864, with his regiment upon its return to 
Burlington after the conclusion of the war. 

In 1S69 he published a book of war remi- 
niscences entitled " The \'ermont Brigade in 
the Shenandoah Valley." 

He is a member of the Illinois Com- 
mandery of the Loyal Legion, and has been 
president of the Vermont Officers .'Associa- 
tion. 

Mr. Walker's legal career has made him a 
national reputation. He was admitted to 
practice in 1867, in the city of New York 
and at first was managing clerk for the law 
firm of Strong & Shepard, having their office 
at 90 Broadway. He was afterwards ad- 
mitted to partnership and became a member 
of the firm in 1870. They were engaged in 
a general practice and did a considerable 
business, largely connected with railways. 
Important work was done by Mr. \\'alker in 
obtaining land titles for the .Spuyten I )uvvil i\: 
Port Morris railway, connecting the Hudson 
River R. R. with the Harlem R. R., from 
Spuyten Duyvil to Mott Haven. In 1873 
the firm was broken up by the death of the 
senior partner, Hon. Theron R. Strong ; and 
Mr. Walker removed to Rutland, becoming 
a member of the law firm of Prout, Simons 
& Walker. 'I'hey transacted a general busi- 
ness and were the counsel of some impor- 
tant corporations, including many banks and 
insurance companies and the Rutland R. R., 



WASIiRUKN. 



i6: 



the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., the \'er- 
montiS: Canada R. R., the bondholders of the 
Vermont Central R. R., etc. In 1884 Mr. 
N. P. Simons withdrew from the firm and the 
name was changed to Prout &: Walker and 
so remained until Mr. \\'alker removed to 
Washington in .April, 1887. 

In politics Mr. Walker is a Republican, 
and he was a member of the state Senate 
from Rutland county in 1882-3, being chair- 
man of the judiciary committee. In 1887 
Mr. Walker was appointed by President 
Cleveland a member of the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission on the organization of 
that body, being one of the two Republican 
members. His associates upon the commis- 
sion were Hons. T. M. Cooley, William R. 
Morrison, .Augustus Schoonmaker and W. 
L. Bragg. Mr. Walker resigned in 1889, 
and became chairman of the Interstate 
Commerce Railway Association composed of 
various railroad lines west of Chicago, with 
headquarters in that city. Subsequently he 
became chairman of the Western Traffic 
.Association, a similar organization. He was 
afterward chairman of the joint committee 
composed of all roads north of the Ohio 
and between the Mississippi river and the 
seaboard. He resigned the latter office in 
December, 1893, and is now practicing law in 
Chicago. In addition to his opinions report- 
ed in the first two volumes of the Interstate 
Commerce Commission Reports he has writ- 
ten largely for publication in the Forum and 
other periodicals, chiefly on railway legisla- 
tion and other kindred topics. 

Mr. Walker was married at Wallingford, 
Sept. 6, 187 1, to Katherine, daughter of 
Hudson and Diantha Roberts Shaw. They 
have had four children : Richard (deceased), 
Roberts, Harold, and Ruth. 



Mr. Walker was married at Orwell, July 16, 
1851, to Miss Kllen (i., daughter of Reuben 
and Zylpha Herbert. 

WASHBURN, HENRY D., was born in 
\Vindsor, March 28, 1832, and during that 
year was removed by his father to Ohio, was 
early apprenticed to the trade of a tanner, 
but not liking the business, became a school 
teacher, which occupation he followed until 
his twentieth year, studied law, and gradu- 
ated at the New York State and National Law 
School in 1853. He subsequently settled in 
Indiana, and in 1854 he was appointed 
auditor of Vermillion county ; elected to the 
same position in 1856, serving as such until 
1 86 1. In July of that year he raised a com- 
pany for ser\ice in the war ; was promoted 
to the command as colonel of the iSth Ind. 
Vols, in 1862 ; and in 1864 was bre\etted to 
a brigadier-general, and was mustered out of 
the service in 1865 ; and was elected a rep- 
resentative from Indiana to the Thirty-ninth 
Congress. 

WATERMAN, ARBA N., of Chicago, 111., 
son of Loring F. and Mary (Stevens) Water- 
man, was born Feb. 5, 1836, at Greensboro. 



^^ «Pf 



WALKER, Lucius W., of Chicago, 
111., son of Whitfield and Martha (Hall) 
Walker, was born at Whiting, Sept. 4, 1823. 

For many years and up to 1852 Mr. 
Walker was a builder, when he removed to 
Chicago. His early training having been 
that of a civil engineer, he was engaged by 
the Illinois Railroad Co., and was located at 
Champaign, 111., until 1863, in the com- 
pany's employ. He then became a manu- 
facturer of furniture and continued in the 
business until 1880, which he then closed 
out and became connected with the Pullman 
company at Pullman, III., where he remained 
two years as foreman of the wood working 
machine shop. From February, 1883, to 
1 89 1 he has been engaged in superintending 
the construction of fine residences in Chicago. 

Mr. Walker became an inspector of pub- 
lic buildings for the United States govern- 
ment in 1 89 1. 



\-- 



W- 



-^■^sn^^yf^l^**' \ 



At the academies and schools in Peacham, 
Johnson, Montpelier and (leorgia, Judge 
Waterman began his education and gradu- 
ated in the class of 1853 from Norwich L"ni- 
versity. Determining upon a legal career he 
selected the .Albany school and after pursu- 



1 66 



ing his studies there was admitted to the 
bar in Albany, X. Y., in 1861. He soon 
went west and the year of his admission to 
practice located at Joliet, Ills. 

Upon the breaking out of the war he en- 
tered the army, enlisting in Co. G, looth 
111. Vols, as a private, in 1862. He was en- 
gaged in the campaign against Bragg in the 
fall of 1862 and was in the battles of Chica- 
mauga, Dalton, Altoona and Houston. At 
Chicamauga he was sexereh' wounded and 
had his horse killed under him. Judge 
Waterman's military career was full of honor 
and his services received recognition by pro- 
motion to captain of his company and later 
as lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. 

Returning west at the close of the war, in 
1865 he began the practice of his profession 
in Chicago, which he continued with success 
and distinction. In 1S86 he was elected 
judge of the circuit court, and in 1890 re- 
ceived the appointment of judge of the 
apellate court. 

In politics he is a Republican. In social 
life his varied tastes and broad acquirement 
are indicated by his membership in various 
societies. He was in the Philosophical, Law, 
and Social Science congresses of the World's 
Columbian Exposition. He is a member of 
the Psychical Research, and the Philosophical 
societies, and of the Union League, Liter- 
ary, Alliance, and Irving clubs. He is a 
comrade in U. S. Grant Post, G. A. R., in 
the Loyal Legion, and the Veteran Associa- 
tion. 

Judge Waterman was married, in Chicago, 
in December, 1862, to Ella Hall, daughter 
of Samuel and Rebecca Hall. 

WATSON, AUSTIN H., of Stamford, 
Conn., son of Patrick J. and Caroline La- 
throp \\"atson, was born April 24, 1842, at 
Wilmington. 

After attending the public schools he 
passed his early life about his father's mills, 
and one year in the army. In 1864 he 
secured a junior clerkship with the Western 
L^nion Telegraph Co., at Rochester, N. V., 
and in 1S66 was appointed storekeeper in 
charge of main supply depots of the com- 
pany at New York. Continued advance in 
his salary made this an agreeable position, 
which he retained until he resigned in 1879, 
to become junior member of the firm of 
James E. Vail, Jr., & Co., dry goods commis- 
sion merchants and manufacturers' agents. 
Worth street, New York. Six years later he 
purchased Mr. Vail's interest and became 
senior member of the present firm of Wat- 
son, Bull & Co., who have largely extended 
the business dealings with leading wholesale 
houses throughout the country. He is also 
president of the Connecticut Witch Hazel 



Co., whose production will equal three 
thousand barrels yearly. 

In August, 1862, he enlisted as private in 
Co. F, 1 8th Regt. Vt. Vols. Upon the pro- 
motion of one of his comrades he became 
the clerk of the regiment, and was thereby 
relieved of all equipment and company duty. 
.\t Gettysburg he selected one of the many 
abandoned muskets on the field, and with a 
handful of cartridges sought out his company 
at the front, where he remained throughout 
the battle. His conspicuous bravery was 
known to all the officers of the regiment, 
and Colonel Veazey, recognizing that this 
youth was the only detailed man who volun- 
tarily exposed himself on this sanguinary 
field, appointed him quartermaster-sergeant 
of the regiment, the highest honor at his 
command. 




^*%s 




Mr. Watson enjoys the genial, social side 
of life, and in this way has had many duties to 
perform connected with various associations. 

He was the first treasurer of the well 
known Apollo Glee Club, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; 
secretary of the Oxford Club of Brooklyn, 
1883 to '85, and of the Telegraphers Mutual 
Benefit Association, 1876 to '79 ; a director 
of Stamford Social Club, 1889 to 1892, and 
is now its president (1893). He is vice- 
president of the Forest and Stream Club, of 
Wilmington, and also a director of the Stam- 
ford Yacht Club : he is also president of the 
Clover Club in New York City. 

He w-as singularly fortunate in his marriage, 
Oct. 28, 1879, to Julia Brainerd ^'ail, a very 



167 



attractive and noble woman, daughter of 
James Everett and Ridel ia Kenyon \'ail, of 
Brooklyn, N. V., where they resided till i<SS6, 
removing thence to Stamford, Conn. Their 
home, "Oakdale," on the banks of Rippa- 
wanna river, while unpretentious, is noted for 
the cordial, hearty welcome and kindly good 
cheer extended to all. 

WATSON, Benjamin Franklin, of 

Cambridge, Mass., son of David and Mary 
(Wilder) Watson, was born at W'oodstock, 
April 8, 1S23. 

He attended the Woodstock village school, 
and for three winters an evening school for 
apprentices, established by the Massachu- 
setts Charitable Mechanic Association at 
Boston. David Watson, the father of Ben- 
jamin, was born at Kennebunk, Me., was 
educated in the public schools of Boston, 
where he obtained a Franklin medal in 1801. 
After serving an apprenticeship at the 
printer's trade, he established an office at 
Hanover, N. H., in 1815, but removed three 
years later to Woodstock, where he started 
the Weekly Observer, which he published 
for several years. He returned to Boston in 
1834, and in 1840 removed to Concord, N. 
H., where he was city clerk for many years, 
and died there March 25, 1867, at the age 
of seventy-eight. He married, in 1820, 
Mary, the daughter of Capt. Jacob Wilder, 
a Revolutionary soldier, a native of Lancas- 
ter, Mass., who settled in \\'oodstock in 
1790 and died there July 19, 1848, aged 
ninety-one years. 

Benjamin Franklin \Vatson went to Boston 
in 1836, and learned the printer's trade in 
the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry, 
where his father was proof-reader. In 1840 
the family moved to Concord, N. H. Ben- 
jamin worked in the New Hampshire Patriot 
office fifteen years, and then in 1855 re- 
turned to Boston and entered the office of 
the Boston Journal, where he has been em- 
ployed as proof-reader for thirty-nine years. 
He was at one time captain of the ist Co., 
nth Regt. N. H. Mihtia. 

Mr. W'atson was married, Nov. 16, 1848, 
to Mary A. Whipple of Hebron, N. H., who 
died Nov. 24, 1872, leaving three children : 
Frank I.., Alice F., and Edward P. 

WEAVER, George Sumner, of Can- 
ton, N. Y., son of John and Asenath (Wiley) 
Weaver, was born Dec. 24, 181S, at Rock- 
ingham. 

Mr. Weaver passed through the schools of 
his vicinity and studied law, yet after seven 
years of study and teaching he took up the 
ministry. He was early interested in science 
and joined the American Geological Associa- 
tion in Albany, N. V., and has ever since 
■ continued his scientific studies. 



At the age of twenty-seven he entered the 
ministry of the Cniversalist church at Spring- 
field, Ohio. Two years later he settled in 
Marietta, Ohio, and built an academy, out 
of which grew Lombard University at Cales- 
burg, 111., and Buchtel College at Akron, O., 
at both of which places he was for a time 
settled as pastor. While at Marietta, Mr. 
Weaver began publishing. His first two 
books were first given as lectures to his 
students. The first work was entided " Lec- 
tures on Mental Science," the second was 
" Hopes and Helps for the Young." These 
were followed in after years by " Ways of 
Life," " Christian Household," " Moses and 
Modern Science," "Aims and Aids for Girls 
and Young Women," " The Open Way," 
"The Heart of the ^^'orld," "The Lives and 
(Iraves of the Presidents," "Looking F"or- 
ward," "Heaven," "The Life of J. H. Chapin," 
besides a number of pamphlets. 

Mr. Weaver has had pastoral settlements 
in St. Louis, Mo., Lawrence, Mass., Canton, 
N. Y., East Providence, R. I., in addition to 
the places already mentioned. He has 
labored earnestly for temperance, education, 
woman's suffrage, legal and prison reform 
in which he has stood in advanced move- 
ments for humanity. 

In politics, Mr. Weaver was raised a Dem- 
ocrat, was borne into Republicanism by con- 
versation, and into prohibition by necessity. 

A life-long peace-man he gave himself to 
the support and prosecution of the war for 
the Union. Three times was his congrega- 
tion thinned out by enlistments, and from 
it was lost the first man killed in the war — 
Sumner H. Needham — and Mr. Weaver 
preached the first sermon over the body of 
a rebel-slaughtered soldier. 

Mr. Weaver is an Odd Fellow, and a 
Mason, and a member of the Sons of Tem- 
perance. 

He was married, in 1848, to Susan Stay- 
man, of Ohio, who lived but a few months. 
Three years after his loss he married Sarah 
Jane Kendall, of Massachusetts. They had 
two children : Clara, and Earnest K. The 
latter, a young lawyer in Buffalo, died by 
accident, Feb. 5, 1894. 

WEBBER, George W., of lonia, 
Mich., was born in Newbury, Nov. 25, 1825 ; 
removed at an early age to New ^■ork state, 
and in 1S52 to Michigan, and located in 
Ionia county in 1S58, and identified him- 
self to the development of the Grand River 
\"alley ; has large interests in manufacturing, 
banking, and lumbering concerns ; has twice 
been mayor of Ionia, and a member of the 
Forty-seventh C'ongress. 

WHITCOMB, James ARTHUR, oflSal- 
timore, Md., son of Robert McKavand Dor- 



i68 



WHITCOME. 



WHITCOIIB. 



cas Ann (McDole) Whitcomb, was born 
March 26, 1854, at Underbill. 

His early education was received in the 
common school in Jeffersonville, the semin- 
ar}' at Underbill, but with indomitable per- 
severance and application he passed through 
the Spencerian Business College and the Law- 
Department of the National University at 
Washington, D. C, where he graduated. He 
also graduated from the Department of Min- 
eralogy of the Smithsonian Institute, and, 
learning shorthand, became the principal 
and proprietor of the School of Phonography 
and Typewriting at Washington. Mr. Whit- 
comb's tastes have ever been studious as is 
evinced by his Icnowledge of the French and 
Spanish languages and of the study of medi- 
cine, to which he has devoted much of his 
leisure time. 




JAMES ARTHUR 



As a boy he deserted the parental roof 
and worked at farming, then as a weaver and 
then learned a trade. In 1874 he entered 
the citv post office at Washington, D. C, and 
rose gradually to a clerkship, which, through 
the courtesy of Chief Clerk Bell of the Inte- 
rior Department, he exchanged for that of 
night watchman in order that he might have 
time to pursue his law studies. He was 
shortly transferred to the Pension Bureau 
to perform clerical duties and rated as mes- 
senger. In this bureau he faithfully served 
the government for nine and one-half years, 
retiring by resignation from the position of 
acting chief clerk of Board of Pension Ap- 



peals under Secretary Lamar, to enter into 
business. This change was forced upon him 
from disease of eyes brought on by work at 
night. 

Mr. Whitcomb's honorable progress in the 
department, aside from his first appointment, 
was entirely without political influence though 
his faithful abilities were known and recog- 
nized by Senators Edmunds, Morrill, Blair, 
Logan, and many others. 

He has served in the militia of the r)istrict 
of Columbia, Maryland and elsewhere, about 
eighteen years. Is a veteran of the 5 th Regt. 
Md. National Guards, and is at present a 
member of the Fifth Maryland Veteran Corps, 
and attached to the Gattling Gun as an active. 

In social organizations he is an I. O. O. F. 
of Lodge No. i, L^. C, and a member of 
Harmony Lodge, F. & A. M. 

Mr. Whitcomb was married at Washington, 
April 23, 18S2, to Virginia Hunter, daughter 
of John J. Commack, of Washington, and 
Margaret Hunter, of Fairfax, Va. They 
have three young children. 

WHITCOMB, JONADAB Baker, of 

Berkeley, Cal., son of Col. Carter and Lucy 
(Baker) Whitcomb, was born Get. 2, 1823, 
at Saxtons River. 

Mr. Whitcomb received his early educa- 
tion till twelve years of age in his native 
village : later at Swanzey, N. H. ; later, up 
to age of seventeen, at the Keene Academy. 

In 1840 he was a hotel clerk at Fitchburg ; 
m 1S42 he was in the same vocation at 
Cambridgeport, Mass.; in 1843 ^^ Provi- 
dence, R. I., and in 1844 he was in the 
calling in New Vork City, making headway 
all the time. He was head clerk at the 
famous New York Hotel in 1848 when he 
heard of the discoveries of California and 
resolved to go. In company with others, he 
organized the New Vork Mining Co., with 
one hundred members, and bought and 
equipped the barque Strafferd, which sailed 
from New York Feb. 4, 1849, for San Fran- 
cisco, Cal. Mr. Whitcomb, however, trans- 
ferred his share to his brother Byron, and 
secured for himself passage on the Portland 
brig Columbus, and sailed Feb. 3, 1849, for 
Vera Cruz, Mexico. He became one of a 
party and arrived at San Diego .August 4, 
after a terrible trip by sea. He secured 
passage for himself and others on the 
steamer Panama, and arrived at San Fran- 
cisco .'\ugust 18. (Full account of the voy- 
age was published in a volume by Dr. J. B. 
Stillman, published by .A. Raman & Co., 
1877, entitled "Seeking the Golden Fleece 
and Voyage of the Schooner Dolphin.") 

In company with C. W. Dannals he left for 
the Yuba River, via Sacramento City and 
arrived at Rases Bar September i, secured a 
location and mined for six weeks clearing 



.69 



^2,ooo, returned to Sacramento in Novem- 
ber, all mining on the river being stopped 
by reason of freshets and rainy season. 
Here he found his New York Mining Co., 
and brother Byron, who, with Mr. Dannals 
and himself concluded to purchase the lot, 
corner of K and 2d streets and go into trade ; 
but again high water flooding the city Jan. 
2, 1S50, he decided then to go back again 
to the mountains and mines, arriving at 
Fosters Bar, Yuba River, in February, 1850, 
where they engaged in mining and trading. 
Late that fall he had put in a wing dam in 
the canyon, one mile up stream, which 
promised well, and in the spring of 185 1, 
after many months of hard labor by whip 
sawing made sufficient lumber to flume the 
river five hundred feet and turned it from 
its bed in August and after eight weeks of 
])rodigious work, secured for himself and 
others ^90,000, in gold dust ; his brother 
returned to the states, he alone remaining. 
Much money was lost and won that season. 

In 1853 he was impressed by a blind man 
in Marysville with an idea how to bring 
water to the high bar at Fosters, which was 
to go down the river a few miles to the 
mouth of Oregon Creek and by a ditch take 
the water up the river ; he did this work by 
assistance of miners who promised, and did 
take their pay in water ; this project was 
unique at the time and profitable for a num- 
ber of years. In i860 we find him in Marys- 
ville with his family comfortably situated in 
his home, yet in 1862 he joined the throng 
going to Oregon and Idaho on a mining 
expedition. In 1864 he removed to San 
Franci.sco and engaged in the business of 
real estate, residing in Berkeley with his 
daughter, Mrs. W. S. Wattes. 

He married Cynthia A. Cutter of Grafton, 
April 5, 1855. She was the daughter of 
Capt. James and Harriet (Goodridge) Cut- 
ter. Their children are : Alice Harriet, 
Frank Randolph, Caroline Goodridge, Hat- 
tie Demming, and Ralston. 

WHITE, MlLO, of Chatfield, Minn., was 
born in Fletcher, August 17, 1830; was ed- 
ucated at common schools ; is a merchant : 
was elected to the state Senate of Minnesota, 
1872, 1876, and i88i-'82, and was elected 
to the Forty-eighth Congress as a Republi- 
can ; was re-elected to the Forty-ninth 
Congress. 

WHITE, Nehe.MIAH, of Galesburg, 111., 
son of Justin Morgan and I.ydia (F.ddy) 
White, was born Jan. 25, 18:55, at Walling- 
ford. 

Professor White's career as an instructor, 
remarkable as it is, was made possible by the 
most thorough and extended preparation in 
the schools of the state. In 1857 he gradu- 



ated at Middlebury College with the degree 
of A. B., and immediately began his work as 
associate principal of the Green Mountain 
Perkins .Academy, and continued there dur- 
ing iS57-'58. The year i859-'6o was passed 
as principal of the Clinton (N. Y.) Liberal 
Institute, and from 1864 to 1865 as principal 
of the Pulaski (N. Y.) .'\cademy. The St. 
Lawrence Uni\ersity at Canton, N. Y., ob- 
tained his services from 1865 to 1871, as 
professor of mathematics and natural science 
and from 1873 to 1875 he served the Buchtel 
College at .Akron, Ohio, as professor of 
ancient languages. In 1876 he received the 
degree of Ph. I), from St. Lawrence Univer- 
sity. As president of the Lombard Univer- 
sity at (jalesburg. 111., he passed the years 
from 1875 to 1892 and resigned his office 
only at the last commencement to take 
charge of another department of the I'nixer- 
sity, the Ryder I)i\inity School. 

Professor \\'hite has given special attention 
to comparative philology, and in addition 
to a knowledge of the classic tongues, has 
made acquaintance with the Sanscrit, He- 
brew and Anglo-Saxon, as well as most of 
the cultivated languages of modern Europe. 
Besides sermons and lectures Professor 
White has written very little for the press. 
The most that has been published in a more 
permanent form consists of articles in the 
interests of denominational literature. Among 
them may be cited : " Greek Synonyms of the 
New Testament" (L^niversalist Quarterly, 
April, 1882), and "Love the Basis of Educa- 
tion," one of a series of addresses published 
in a volume entitled, " The Columbian Con- 
gress of the Universalist Church." 

Mr. White was ordained to the ministry of 
the Universalist church in 1875. In 1889 
there was conferred upon him by Tufts Col- 
lege the degree of D. D. This is the outline 
of a busy, earnest life, reflecting at all times 
honor and credit, and affording an example 
for emulation. 

Mr. White was married, May 11, 1858, at 
South Woodstock, to Frances M., the daugh- 
ter of Orsamus and Eluthera (Sumner) 
White, of Huntington. She died .April 29, 
1864, leaving one daughter, who died Jan. 
I, 1882. Mr. White was again married, in 
187 1, to Inez Ling, daughter of Lorenzo 
Ling, of Pulaski, N. V. They have two 
children : ^Villard Justin (a graduate of 
Lombard University of the class of 1S91), 
and Frances Cora. 

WHITE, Welcome, of Baltimore, Md., 
was born in Wardsboro, Dec. 22, 1826, the 
son of Daniel and Mary (Durant) White. 

Mr. White spent the years of his minority 
on the farm of his father, and in acquiring 
such an education as the district schools 
aftbrded. Being of a mechanical turn of 



mind he became a carpenter and followed 
this vocation for five years, and then, in 1852, 
removed to Baltimore where he engaged in 
the baking business. This business was 
successfully continued for six years, when 
Mr. White returned to his native place where 
he resided for four years. Returning to 
Baltimore in 1862 he once more embarked 
in business at his old stand, where he re- 
mained until 1865. The growth of the 
business then necessitated a change which 
resulted in removal to the large and commo- 
dious establishment he still occupies. Con- 
tinued additions and improvements have 
rendered it a most convenient and well 
equipped plant. A Baltimore paper sums 
up his business career there as follows : 
"Thirty-four years of unbroken prosperity 
marks the history of the well-known and 
popular baking establishment of Welcome 
White." 

A Republican in belief, he has never 
sought office or devoted much time to poli- 
tics. He has, however, been twice a candi- 
date for a seat in the city council. 

Mr. White married, at Baltimore, Oct. 20, 
1857, Marietta F., daughter of Davis and 
Lucinda (Davis) Read of Wardsboro. Their 
children were : Clara M., Flora E., Jennie I., 
\Vilbur H. (deceased), Minnie M., Wallace 
D., and Lelia M. 

A Universalist by faith, Mr. ^\■hite was for 
several years an active worker in the Third 
Church, being a trustee and its treasurer. 



and has become a standard on the subject 
of Tennessee land laws. 

In the fall of 1893 Mr. Whitney accepted 
the position of general agent for Connecti- 
cut for placing the investments of the Cum- 
berland Building Loan Association of Chat- 
tanooga, making Bridgeport his home. 



^ 



•W 




WHITNEY, HENRY DOUGLAS, of 
Bridgeport, Conn., son of Henry and .Almira 
J. (Bowker) Whitney, was born in Wilming- 
ton, Sept. 13, i865. 

His education was obtained in the com- 
mon schools, at C.lenwood Seminary, ^Vest 
Brattleboro, and at the St. Johnsburv Acad- 
emy, graduating from the latter institution 
in 1886. His preparation was for Harvard 
College, but the course was abandoned in 
order that he might earlier engage himself 
in the study of his profession. He taught 
school for three years successfully, being 
principal of the high school at ^V'ells River, 
and later principal of the grammar school at 
East Dennis, Mass. 

Mr. \\'hitney began the study of law in 
1888 in the office of FJates cNcMay of St. 
Johnsbury and went to Chattanooga, Tenn., 
in the fall of 1 88g, there entering the office of 
Russell & Daniels, a leading law firm of that 
city. The following year he was admitted 
to the bar, and has since pursued an active 
and successful career. Mr. Whitney's liter- 
ary abilities and tastes have found expres- 
sion in a legal work, " \\'hitney's Land Laws 
of Tennesee." This work has received the 
highest endorsement of both bench and bar 



HENRY DOUGLAS WHITNEY. 

In politics Mr. Whitney is an independent 
Democrat, and in religion a free thinker. 

He was married in Wilmington, June 6, 
1890, to Kale J., daughter of Judge George 
C. and Rebecca Todd Harrison of ^^'est 
Cornwall, Conn. To her large helpfulness 
and encouragement he owes much of his 
success. One son, Burke Emerson, born 
Feb. I, 1894, has come to their home. 

WHITNEY, Samuel BRENTON, of Bos- 
ton, Mass., son of Samuel and Amelia (Hyde) 
Whitnev, was born in Woodstock, lune 4, 
1842. 

His early education was obtained in the 
public schools. He afterwards attended the 
Vermont Episcopal Institute, studied music 
first with local teachers, afterwards with Carl 
Wels and later still with John K. Paine, tak- 
ing lessons on the organ, pianoforte, com- 
position and instrumentation. 

Mr. Whitney has been organist and director 
of music of Christ Church, Montpelier : St. 
Peter's, Albany, N. V., and St. Paul's Church, 
Burlington ; is at present and has been for the 
past twenty-two years, organist of the Church 
of the Advent, Boston, the choir of which 
church has become quite celebrated under 



his direction. He lias frequently been en- 
gaged as conductor of choir festival asso- 
ciations in Massachusetts and Vermont ; is 
first vice-president and one of the organ ex- 
aminers of the American College of Musi- 
cians ; has written church music quite exten- 
sively, also piano and miscellaneous music. 
He has been conductor of many choral 
societies in and around Boston, and has the 
reputation of being very successful in train- 
ing and developing boys' voices. In this 
position he has heen identified with liturgi- 
cal music, vested choirs, and a reverent per- 
formance of church music. 




The late Dr. J. H. Wilcox once said in 
this connection, after hearing Mr. \\'hitney 
play a very small organ : "It takes a much 
more gifted organist to play a small organ 
than it does to play a large one, where every 
resource is at hand." Another musical au- 
thority in Boston has said : "Mr. Whitney, by 
his wonderful mastery of the preludes, fugues 
and toccatas of Bach, most of which are so 
impressed upon his remarkable memory 
that he rarely uses notes ; by his style so 
brilliant and pleasing, and his improvisations 
so solid and rich, has won much credit in 
and beyond professional circles." Mr. 
Whitney was for a time teacher of the organ 
in ihe New England Conservatory of .Music. 
He also established in this institution for 
the first time, a church music class, in which 
not onlv were the \ocal jnipils taught how to 
properly interjiret sacred music, but the or- 



gan pupils as well were instructed as to the 
management of the organ in church. 

Among Mr. Whitney's compositions are a 
trio for piano and string, many solos and 
arrangements for both piano and organ, as 
well as several church services, Te Deums 
and miscellaneous anthems and songs, both 
sacred and secular. Some of Mr. Whitney's 
organ compositions have been reprinted in 
England, by London publishers. 

WILLARD, George, was born at Bol- 
ton, March 20, 1824 ; received a liberal edu- 
cation and was a professor for two years in 
Kalamazoo College ; was editor and pub- 
lisher of the Battle Creek Journal ; was a 
member of the Michigan State Board of 
Education from 1857 to 1863; was elected 
regent of the Universitr of Michigan in 
1863, and re-elected for eight years in 1865 ; 
was elected to the state Legislature in 1866 
and the following year a member of the state 
constitutional convention, serving in both 
bodies as chairman of the committee on 
education ; was a delegate at large from 
Michigan to the national Republican con- 
vention in 1872 ; was elected a representa- 
tive from Michigan for the Forty-third Con- 
gress as a Republican ; was re-elected to the 
Forty-fourth Congress. 

WIN SLOW, HORACE SPENCER, of 
Newton, Iowa, son of Elhanan S. and Elmina 
(Kingsley) Winslow, was born July 18, 1837, 
at Pittsford. 

Judge Winslow received such advantages 
.!> were offered at the common schools and 
■-eminaries in Rutland county, and began his 
legal education at the Poughkeepsie Law 
School, and graduated July, 1856, from the 
Polan (Ohio) Law School. 

Immediately upon graduation, he went to 
Newton, Iowa, where he opened a law oflfice, 
Sept, I, 1856, having just passed his nine- 
teenth birthday. Since that time, for thirty- 
seven years, he has enjoyed a successful and 
lucrative practice, owning, probably, the lar- 
gest private law library in the state. During 
the exciting years of the civil war, he was 
district attorney of the sixth judicial dis- 
trict of Iowa, then com]irised of the counties 
of Jasper, Poweshiek, Marion, \\'ashington, 
Mahaska, and Jefferson, ha\ ing been elected 
to that office in the fall of 1862. In 1868 
he received further distinction by election as 
judge of the second circuit of the sixth judi- 
cial district of Iowa, which was then com- 
posed of the counties of Jasper, Marion, and 
Mahaska. At the end of one year's service 
he resigned and resumed his ])ractice. In 
1874 he was elected judge of the sixth dis- 
trict and remained in the service four years. 

Judge Winslow became a Mason, and a 
member of Newton Lodge, No. 59, A. F. & 



172 



WOODRL'FF. 



A. M., in 1858; later he became a Royal 
Arch Mason, Knight Templar, and has re- 
ceived the Scottish Rite degrees. In 1876 
he was elected M. E. Grand Priest of the 
Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of 
Iowa, and was elected grand commander of 
the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar 
of Iowa in 18S0. 




HORACE SPENCER WINSLOW. 



Judge ^\'inslow was married, Nov. 7, 1858, 
to Sarah E. Dunklee of Pittsford. They 
have two children : Kate E., and Jessie L. 

He is a member of the First Congrega- 
tional Church, one of its trustees, and at 
present writing superintendent of its Sunday 
school. 

WOOD, Thomas Waterman, of New 

York, son of John and Mary (Waterman) 
Wood, was born Nov. 12, 1823, at Mont- 
pelier. 

His early education was obtained in the 
schools of Washington county, while his art 
training was acquired in the great cities of 
Boston, London, Paris, Florence and Rome. 

Mr. Wood's fame as an artist and a por- 
trait painter has been exercised in many of 
the principal cities of America, notably in 
Quebec and Toronto in 1855 ; in \Vashing- 
ton in 1856; in Baltimore in 1857 and 
1858; and in Nashville and Louisville sev- 
eral years, up to 1865 ; two years, from 1S58 
to i860, being spent in study abroad. 

In 1866 he located in New York City, 
and in 1869 was elected an associate of the 
National .Academy of Design, and academi- 



cian in 1871. From 1879 to 1890 he was 
vice-president of the academy, and is now 
president of that institution. From 1S78 
to 1887 he was president of the American 
Water Color Society. 

Mr. Wood is a member of many of New 
York's social institutions ; among them the 
Aldine Club, of which he is an e.x-president ; 
the Salamagundi and Country Clubs ; he is 
also an honorary member of the .\pollo 
Club, of Montpelier. 

He was married in Burlington, Sept. 24, 
1850, to Minerva Robinson, of \Vaterbury, 
daughter of Rev. Sylvanus Rpbinson, of 
Northfield. Mrs. Wood died in New York, 
May 15, 1859. 

WOODRUFF, Charles Albert, of 

Ignited States Army, son of Erastus (de- 
scendant in seventh degree, from Matthew 
Woodruff, one of the original proprietors of 
the town of Farmington, Conn., where he 
settled in 1640), was born in Burke, April 26, 
184s. 




^^i^ts;:; 




ARLES ALBERT WOODRUFF. 



He was educated in the district schools of 
Burke, the academies at Lyndon and St. 
Johnsbury and graduated at Bryant & Strat- 
ton's Business College, Burlington, and at 
the L'nited States Military Academy, West 
Point, N. Y. He first enlisted, June 5, 
1862, in Co. A, loth Vt. Yols., and became 
corporal June 3, 1863, and was promoted 
second lieutenant 1 1 7th L^. S. C. T., but was 
not mustered on account of wounds received 



WOODKCI'K. 



WOODWARD. 



173 



while serving in tiie y\ and 6th corps of the 
Army of the Potomac ; was slightly wounded 
three times at Cold Harbor, Va., June i, 
1864 ; he was captured and escaped same 
night. He was severely wounded June 3, 
1864, and never rejoined his company, but 
was discharged for disability caused by 
wounds, August 18, 1865. 

Passed a competitive e.xamination and 
entered U. S. Academy, West Point, July i, 
1867; graduated number eleven, June 12, 
187 I ; promoted same date 2d Lieut. 7th U. 
S. Inft. ; served on frontier duty in Montana ; 
in command of mounted detachment from 
May, 1S72, to August, 1S73 ; in command 
of reconnoissance to Washington Territory 
August to October, 1873; acting assistant 
adjutant-general District of Montana, and 
acting regimental adjutant July, August, and 
September, 1874; in command of company, 
Judith Basin, Mont., June to October, 1875 ; 
adjutant of battalion in Indian campaigns of 

1876 and 1877; with General Gibbon's 
command that rescued survivors of Custer's 
command ; severely wounded three times at 
Big Hale, Mont., August 9, 1877 ; on sick 
leave; promoted first lieutenant August 9, 

1877 ; appointed captain and commissary of 
subsistence March 28, 1878 ; in office of 
commissary general to August, 1878; depot 
commissary. Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to 
October, 1S79, and acting chief commissary, 
and acting assistant adjutant-general Depart- 
ment of Missouri summer 1879 ; chief com- 
missary District New Mexico, Santa Fe, N. 
M., to November, 1884, and acting assistant 
adjutant-general and acting engineer officer 
at different times ; chief commissary depart- 
ment of Columbia and depot and purchasing 
commissary Vancouver Barracks, Wash., to 
August, 1889, and acting assistant adjutant- 
general, acting judge advocate of department, 
acting ordnance officer, and acting signal 
officer for several months ; in the field with 
General Gibbon, suppressing riots against 
Chinese ; purchasing and depot commissary, 
San Francisco, CaL, to March, 1894: pro- 
moted major and commissary of subsistence 
Dec. 27, 1892; assistant to commissary gen- 
eral, Washington, D. C, since March, 1894. 

Major Woodruff, as the foregoing record 
shows, is a valiant soldier, is no less an 
orator and accomplished gentleman. His 
orations, delivered upon Memorial days and 
other occasions, have drawn the highest 
encomiums from the press. By unanimous 
resolution of George H. Thomas Post, No. 2, 
Dept. of California, G. A. R.., ten thousand 
copies of Captain \\'oodruff's address, on 
"American Patriotism," were ordered printed 
for general distribution, " as an incentive to 
patriotism, and as inculcating a spirit of 
reverence for our country's flag, and respect 
for our countrv's laws." Commander of the 



Commandery of the State of California, 
Military (Jrder of the Loyal Legion of the 
Ignited States. 

WOODWARD, Tyler, of Portland, 
Oregon, son of Krastus and Sarah (Gilson) 
Woodward, was born Ian. 19, 1835, at Hart- 
land. 

He attended school at Kimball L'nion 
-Academy at Meriden N. H., and at Chelsea 
and Newbury. Mr. Woodward's family is of 
Puritan origin and his grandfather, Gideon 
Woodward, served in the Revolutionary war. 
Mr. Woodward was born and raised on a 
farm and when twenty-one years of age 
taught school at Hartland Three Corners, 
near his home. He remained on the farm 
until the spring of i860, when he sold out 




TYLER WOODWARD. 



his stock and set sail for California, from 
New York, with his youngest sister and 
together they went to Marysville, CaL, to the 
home of their brother, keeping the Western 
Hotel at that place. For a few months Mr. 
Woodward remained with his brother, acting 
as clerk in the hotel, when the latter removed 
to San Francisco, and Mr. \\'oodward was 
employed in tlie ice business, superintending 
the harvest in the mountains near the town 
of Laporte, where snows often fell to the 
depth of twenty feet. Thus ^[r. ^^■oodward 
began one of the most interesting, exciting 
and fairly successful careers in the far west 
and northwestern country, trading. His ad- 
ventures and hairbreadth escapes from 



174 



whites during a long residence in the moun- 
tains would fill a book. Success attended 
his efforts everywhere and after nearly ten 
years of this life he sold out his mercantile 
business near Missoula, Mont., and went to 
Portland, Ore., in 1869, and engaged in the 
real estate business, where he already had 
considerable interests. He purchased an in- 
terest in the firm of Parrish & Atkinson, the 
firm becoming Parrish, Atkinson & Wood- 
ward. In this firm he remained three 
years. 

In 1872 he married Marv, the daughter 
of Sherry Ross, a pioneer who crossed the 
plains and settled in Oregon in 1845. He 
has now one daughter fifteen years of age. 

In the spring of 1873 Mr. Woodward went 
to Walla Walla, and became interested with 
Dr. D. S. Baker, in a railroad from that point 
to AVallaula, which afterwards became a por- 
tion of the Union Pacific system. Again re- 
turning to Portland he speculated in real 
estate and became interested in the passen- 
ger transfer business, operating a large number 
of carriages, the firm name being Woodward 
& Magoon. Later, in connection with others, 
he organized a company and constructed and 
operated the street railways known as the 
Third Street line. Mr. Woodward was presi- 
dent of th€ company and its manager for 
several years. About 1890 he with his asso- 
ciates organized the City & Suburban Railway 
Co., of which he is a director and vice-presi- 
dent and purchased the East and West side 
lines which were converted into electric lines 
and constitute a system of fifty miles of elec- 
tric and steam roads. 

In the spring of 1891, upon the organiza- 
tion of the United States National Bank, Mr. 
Woodward became a director thereof and was 
elected vice-president with an active position, 
to which he is now devoting his attention. 
During his residence in Portland, Mr. Wood- 
ward has served as county commissioner and 
two terms in the city council of which he was 
elected president. 

WRIGHT, Cyrus Smith, of San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., son of John and Irene (Smith) 
Wright, was born in Norwich, Oct. 3, 1836. 

He was educated in the scientific depart- 
ment of Dartmouth College, graduating in 
1857 as a surveyor and civil engineer. In 
the fall of 1859 he went to Boliver county. 
Miss., as assistant engineer on the Mississippi 
levees. In 1S62 he was forced to join the 
28th Miss. Cavalry. He was injured in 1864 
and driven to the U. S. gunboat for medical 
treatment, and was taken to Memphis, Tenn., 
and then sent North. 

In 1865 he went to California, and finding 
no other employment engaged with his old 
friend and classmate, Henry M. Gray, in 
the undertaking business, which he has fol- 



lowed ever since, becoming a partner in the 
firm in 1876, and sole proprietor in 1886, 
and still conducts the business under the 
old firm name of N. Gray & Co. 

Mr. \\'right belongs to the Republican 
party ; is a past grand of Cosmopolitan 
Lodge, No. 194, I. O. O. F. ; a life member 
of California Lodge, No. i, F. & A. M. : a 
member of California Chapter, No. 5 ; 
Golden Gate Commandery, No. 16 ; Knights 
Templar, Mystic Shrine (Islam Temple), 
Pacific Coast Association Native Sons of 
Vermont, First Presbyterian Church, San 
Francisco Theological Seminary, Y. M. C. 
A., and the California Bible Society. He 
holds the office of trustee in the last four 
organizations, and is highly esteemed by all. 
In business he is energetic, prompt, and 
reliable. 

Mr. Wright was married, in San Francisco, 
on Thanksgiving Day, 1874, to Emma A., 
daughter of Nathaniel and Emeline A. Gray. 
Thev have two children : Helen Edith, and 
Harold Lincoln. 

WRIGHT, Riley E., of Baltimore, Md., 
son of Erastus and Mary A. (Fairbrother) 
Wright, was born July 24, 1839, in Westmin- 
ster. 







Mr. \\'right was educated in the common 
schools and academy of Derby, and at Glover 
and Coventry. He fitted for college at Pow- 
ers' Institute, Bernardston, Mass., where he 
was both student and French instructor. 



having perfected himself in that language by 
residence and study at St. Hyacinth and St. 
Rosalie, Canada, in 1859. He was admitted 
to Dartmouth College, expecting to pursue a 
course there, but afterwards decided to go to 
Middlebury College, where he remained until 
the fall of 1862, and during his sophomore 
year he felt it to be his duty to enlist in the 
army, and left college for that purpose. 
During the years he was attending the acade- 
my and college, at the age of seventeen and 
after, he taught school in winter. 

Upon his return home from the army he 
entered upon the study of the law in the of- 
fice of the late Judge Benjamin H. Steele, at 
Derby Line, and was admitted to Orleans 
county bar Dec. 31, 1864. He soon r re- 
moved to Baltimore, and entered upon the 
practice of law, which he has continued to 
the present day with success. He is con- 
nected with several corporations as counsel, 
and defended Gen. E. B. Tyler in the investi- 
gation of charges against him while post- 
master at Baltimore, during President Hayes' 
administration, which lasted many weeks 
and attracted general attention throughout 
the country. The President personally re- 
viewed the testimony, and General Tyler was 
completely exonerated. 



voi'NG. 175 

In jjolitics he is a Republican, and takes a 
lively interest in the political fpiestions of 
the day, occasionally going on the stump. 
He was in 1893 the candidate of his party 
for judge of the supreme bench of Baltimore 
city. 

He left college in 1862 and returning to 
his home at Coventry, in a week's time he 
recruited a company of volunteers known as 
Co. H, 15th \'t. Vols., of which he was unan- 
imously elected a captain and served until 
mustered out June 16, 1863. After the St. 
Albans raid, under order from the Governor 
of Vermont, he enlisted and commanded a 
company of militia to protect the banks and 
other property from apprehended danger. 

Mr. \\right is a Mason. He is also Past 
Commander Custer Post, G. A. R., and was 
at one time judge advocate general of the 
department. For many years he has been a 
member of the board of managers of the 
Society for Protection of Children ; likewi.se 
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals. 

He was married at Newport, Sept. 1 1, 
1866, to Mary E., daughter of Isaac and Abi- 
gail (Stevens) Collier. Their only child 
died in infancy. 



YOUNG, John, was born in Chelsea in 
1802 ; when quite a boy he removed with his 
father to New York state and received a 
common school education at Conesus ; 
studied law and was admitted to the bar in 
1829 ; was in the state Legislature in 1831, 



1844 and 1845 ; was a representative in 
Congress, from New York, from 1841 to 
1S43; Governor of the state from 1847 to 
1849, and assistant treasurer of the United 
States in New York City, at the time of his 
death, which occurred April 23, 1852. 



INDEX TO BIOGRAPHIES. 



PART 1. 



THE FATHERS. 



PAGE 

Allen , Eth,all 20 

Allen, Eben^zer 53 

Allen, Irii 43 

Allen, Heraan 53 

A Group of Tories, 69 

Breakenridge, Jaraes 50 

Baker, Remember 51 

Bowker, .Joseph Gl 

Bayley, Gen. Jacob 61 

Chittenden, Tfhomas 39 

Cochran, RoBen .52 

Clark, Nathail 61 

Carpenter, Beiijamin 63 



PAGE 

Chandler, Thomas 65 

Dewey, Rev. Jedediah 58 

Enos, Gen. Roger 69 

Fay, Dr. .lonas 50 

Fay, Col. Joseph 51 

Fassett, Capt. John 59 

Fletcher, Gen. Samuel 66 

Herrick, Col. Samuel 49 

Haewell, Anthony 64 

Hazeltine, John 66 

.Tones, Dr. Reuben 67 

Know Hon, Luke 59 

Marsh, Joseph 62 



PAGE 

Payne, Elisha 64 

Phelps, Charles 68 

Robinson, Samuel '. 54 

Robinson, Gov. Moses 55 

3obiusou, rjonathau 57 

Robinson, John .* 57 

Rowlev , Thomas 58 

Safford, Gen. Samuel 66 

Spaulding, I.ieut. Leonard 68 

Townshend, Micah 67 

Warner, Seth ,35 

Walbridge, E benezer 52 



THE GOVERNORS. 



Brieham.Paul 71 

Butler, Ezra SO 

Chittenden, Martin 76 

Crafts, Samuel C SI 

Converse, Julius 100 

Coolidge, Carlos SS 

Dillinffbam, Paul 96 

Eaton, Horace 87 

Fairbanks. Erastus 89 

Fletcher, Ryland 92 



Fairbanks, Horace 101 I Royce, Stephen 01 

Galusha, Jonas 74 | Sla'de, William S6 

Hall. HiKind 03 Smith,. John Gregorv 96 

.Jcnnison, Silas H S4 ' Smith, Israel ." 73 

Mattocks, John S5 Skinner, Richard 77 

Palmer, William .A S2 Tichenor, Isa.ac 72 

Paine, Charles S5 i Van Ness, Cornelius P 78 

PaBe,,IohnB OS I Willi.ams, Charles Kilborn 88 

Peck, Asahel 100 Washburn, Peter T 99 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 



Bradley, Stephen R 104 Fisk, .James 

Brainerd, Lawrence 120 Foot, Solomon 

Ohipman, Nathaniel 108 Paine, Elijah 107 

Chase, Dudley Ill Prentiss, Samuel 114 | Uphi 

Collamer, Jacob 121 Phelps, Samuel S 116 



land, LukeP 124 

lis I Seymour, Horatio 113 

"" ~ ift, Benjamin 115 

William 117 



REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 



Allen, Heman 144 

Allen, Heman, of M ilton 147 

Buck, Daniel 129 

Buck, D. Azro 129 

Bradley, William V 136 

Bartlett, Thomas, Jr 1-53 

Baxter, Portus 156 

Barlow, Brjidley loS 

Cahoon, William 14S 

Chamberlain, William 133 

Chipmau, Daniel 140 

Deming, Benjamin F 149 

Denison, Dudley C I5S 

Everett, Horace 14S 

Elliot, James 13.1 

Fletcher, Geu. Isaac 140 

Hunt, Jonathan 14s 

Henry, William 151 

Hebard, William 152 



Hubbard, Jonathau H 1.35 l 

Hunter, William 144 

Hodges, George T 154 

•Janes, Henry F 149 

Jewett, Luther 141 

Keyes, Elias 146 

Lyon, Matthew 130 

Laugdon, Chauucy 141 

Lvou,A6a 142 

Morris, Lewis R 132 

Mecch,Ezra 146 

Mallory,Roliin Carlos 145 

Marsh, Charles 143 

Merrill, Orsamus C 144 

Marsh, George Perkins l.'.O 

Muecbara, James 152 

Miner, Ahiman L 1.52 

Nile>. Nathaniel 127 

Noyes, John 143 



Olin, Gideon 134 

Oliu, Uenrv 139 

I'cck, Lucius B 151 

Rich, Charles 139 

Richards, Mark 144 

Royce, Homer E 155 

Shaw, Samuel 135 

Strong, William 135 

Smith, John 149 

Sabiu, Alvah 1,54 

Smith, Worthingtou C 1,57 

Tracy, Andrew 153 

Withorell, James 134 

White, Pbineas 146 

Wales, George E 140 

Walton, Eliakim P 154 

Woodbridge, Frederick E 156 

Willard, Charles W 1.57 

Young, Augustus 160 



rnnGR-\PHiEs. 



JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 



Aldi. 



Ai kens, Asa 1 

Aldis, Asa Owen 1 

Bravton, William 1 

Baylies, Nicholai 
Bennett, Mili 



18-2 



Hutchinson, Titus .... 

Isham, Piernoint, 

Jacob, Stephen 

Ivnigbt, Saniuel 

Kellogg, Daniel 

Ivittredge, William C. 



Barrett, James 1S4 Kellogg, Loyal Case 



1N4 



Beardsley, Herma 

Doolittle, Joel •-'••• 

Ravis, Charles 1S2 

Dunton, Walter C 18S 

Fay, David 1''^ 

Farrand, Daniel 178 

Hall, Lot 1"S 

Herrinton, Thcopliilus ITS 



Moseley, Increase. 

Olcott, Simeon i^ 

Olcott, Peter 174 

Porter, Thomas 174 

Paddock, Ephraiiu ISi] 

Pierpoint, Robert 183 

Pierpoiut, Joh n 183 



Prout, John 

Iledtield, Isaac Fletcher. . 
Redrteld, Timothy Parker. 

Spooner, Paul 

Smith, Noah 

-I I I' , I;. uj..rain Hinman. 
- h, John 

I .1. !. K.iv.ill!!'.'.!!".. .'.'.'.'. 

TuruiT, Bates 

Thompson, John C 

L^nderwood, Abel 

Woodbridge, Enoch 

Wilson, William U 



PART II. 



BIOGRAPHIES OF VERMONTERS, A. D. i892-'94. 



Ad.ams, Bailey F 1 

Adams, Edward P.ay8on 1 

Adams, Joseph - 

Adams, Andrew N 3 

Albee, John Mead 4 

Alexander, John K 4 

Allen, Charles Edwin o 

Allen, Ira R -J 

Amsden, Charles ? 

Atwood, John Andrews ^ 

Andrews, Sumner A. i 

AndroBs, Dudley Kimball ' 

Archibald, Henry t< » 

Arnold, Fenelon ■' 

Arnold, Fred « 

Atkins, Hiram ^ 

Atwood. Frank O W 

Austin, Orlo Henry 1" 

Bailey, Alden Lee JJ 

Bailey, Hor.ice Ward 11 

Bailey, John J- 

Bailey, Myron W Ij 

Baker, Austin S 13 

Baker, Joel Clarke ]■> 

Balch, William Everard 14 

Baldwin, Charles 14 

Baldwin, A. T W 

Baldwin, Frederick W 1' 

Ball, Fanklin P 17 

Ballard, Henry 1» 

Ballou, Hosea Berthler 19 

Barney, Herbert R 19 

Barrett, Byron Simeon 19 

Barstow, John L -0 

Barron, Lyman P -- 

Bates, Edward L -• 

Baxter, Edward K - 

Bean, Cromwell Phelps J I 

Beckett, George -' 

Bedell, Henry Edson ■-■:■ 

Benedict, Cieorge Granville '^o 

Benton, Josiah H -6 

Bennett, Edward Dewey 26 

Billings, Frederick 27 

Bisbee, Edward W 28 

Bingham, William H. H 28 

Bixby, ArmentuB Boyden 30 

Bishop, William H "■- 

Bissell, Edgar N 

Bissell, William H. A - 

Bixby, Hira L - 

Blaisdell, Edson G. 33 

Bliss, Joshua Isham 33 

Black, Henry Fayette 34 

Bogue. Homer A 34 

Bond, George Herbert 34 

Bolton, Plynn 35 

Booth, Isaac Phillips 3.i 

Booth, William W 36 

Bosworth, David 36 

Boyce, Osmore Baker 37 

Boyce, William A 37 

Boyden, Nelson L 38 

Boynton, Thomas Jefferson 3S 

Boynton, William Seward 39 

Brady, Charles N 39 

Bradford, Philander D 39 



Bragg, Azro D 40 

Branch, Charles F 40 

Brewster. George Benjamin 41 

Bri,I-ii-ni I> :iri, Jr 42 

Bri.'l > ' ' I Orson 42 

BriL'l .1 I, I.ncian 43 

Briin,, w iMiM, w alhice 44 

Brookui*. Ilarvi-v S 44 

Brown, Adna...'. 44 

Brown, Albert L 45 

Brown, Curtis 4ri 

Brown. Williiim A 4i-. 

Browiirll, l'lianiir<.v Wells Hi 

Brouiirll. ch.niiH'ei Wells 4T 

Brui-.-, (;,o,-e .\s:,' l^ 

Bugh,.,.., Herman 4'' 

Buckham, Matthew Henry 4' 

Bulklev, George c 

Bullock, Elmer J 4',' 

Bunker, Charles Albert 6ii 

Burdett, Jesse 51 

Burnell, Milo 8 51 

Butler, Fred Mason 51 

Butterlicld, Alfred Harvey 52 

Butterlield, Ezra Turner '. 52 

Buttertield, A. Augustine 53 

Bntterfleld, Frederick David 54 

Bntterdeld, Franklin George 64 

Camp, Erastus C 67 

Camp, Lyman L 57 

Campbell, Alfred H 57 

Campbell, Wallace H 58 

Cantield, Thomas Hawlev 68 

Carleton, Hiram ". 63 

Carnev. John Vose 64 

r.uiiMi'ii, Nr. W 64 

1. : I.I, Amos Bugbee 65 

' I . ::i ' liiirles Solomon 66 

' 1--1I . ' i.i.rge 66 

Cellev, William E. S 66 

Chafey, Martin Beard 67 

Chamberlin, Preston S 67 

Ch.andler, Frank 67 

Chapin, William 68 

Chase, Charles Sumner 68 

Chase, Charles M 69 

Chase, Edgar Merritt 69 

('111., Willlard 70 

' 1 I 'I , Goldthwait 70 

' liii '■• -iL;e Edward 71 

I I II I., 1. 1.1 Warren 71 

I'liirk, .l.ihn Galvin 72 

Clement, Percival W 72 

Clarke, Kanslure Weld 74 

Cleveland, James P.. Jr 74 

Clifford, Newell E 7.5 

Cobb, Nathan Bryant 75 

Coburn, James Allen 76 

Coffee, Robert John 76 

Colburn, Robert M 77 

Colton, Eben Pomeroy 78 

Conaut, Edward 78 

Conway, John 79 

Cook, John Bray 79 

Coolidge, John C 80 

Cooper, Alanson Lawrence 80 

Cotton, Joshua Franklin 81 



Cowles, Asahel Read 81 

Cowles, Elmer Eugene 82 

Craraton, John Willey 82 

Coyne, Peter M 84 

Crane, .Joseph Adolphus 84 

Croft, Leonard F 84 

Crossett, Janus 85 

Cudworth, Addison Edward 85 

Cummings, Harlan P 85 

Currier, John Winnick 86 

Curtis, John 87 

I'li-liiriL'. Daniel L 87 

iii-lnii_., Haves Porter 88 

Cii~liii..in, Henry T., 2d 89 

Ciitl. I. llriirv Ralph 89 

<nluii-, Hiram Adolphus 90 

I litliii-, iMiver B 91 

I ultiiiL... William B 91 

1)1.1... iie..rge N 92 

Damon, Charles 92 

Dana, Charles S 93 

Dana, M.arvin Hill 93 

Darling, Joseph Kimball 94 

Darling, J. R 94 

Davenport, Charles Newton 95 

Davison, Amory 96 

Davidson, Milton 96 

Davis, Dennison 97 

Davis, Frank E 97 

Diivis, Frank William 98 

Davis, George 98 

Davis, Gilbert A 99 

Davis, Samuel Ray 99 

Deavitt, John James 100 

Deming, Franklin 101 

Dewev, Charles 101 

Dewey, Charles Edward 102 

Dewey, Hiram Einne 103 

Dexter, Avery J 103 

Dexter, Charles D 104 

Dexter, Eleazer 104 

Dickey, Asa .M 105 

Dickenson, Albert Joyce 105 

Dillingham, William Paul 106 

Dillon, John W 106 

Diraick, George Washington 107 

Dix, Samuel Nevins 107 

Dodge, Andrew Jackson 108 

Dodge Harvey 108 

Dodge, John Locke 109 

Dodge, Prentiss Cutler 109 

Donnelly, John H 110 

Doty, George W 110 

Dowley, George .S "ill 

Draper, Joseph Ill 

Drew, Luman Augustus 112 

DuBois, William Henry 112 

Dunlap, Thomas Hiram 113 

Dunnett, Alexander 114 

Dunton, Charles H 114 

Dwinell, Frank A 115 

Dwinell, Joseph Elmer 116 

Eaton, Fred Laurine 117 

Eayres, George Nelson 117 

Edson, Ezra 118 

Edmunds, George Franklin US 

Eldredgc, Loyal D 120 



INDEX ']'0 lilOGKAI'llli:S. 



179 



Eldridee, Lovell JiickhOii 120 

Elliot. Lester Hall 121 

Ellis, Edward Dyer 121 

Ellsworth, John Clark 122 

Emery, Curtis Stauton 123 

Enright, Joseph Coruelhis 123 

Enright. .lohu J 124 

Estey, Jacob 124 

Estey, Julius J 12ii 

Fairbanks, Franklin I"-7 

Fairbanks, Henry 12S 

Fairbanks, Thaddeus 129 

Farman, Marcellus Winslow 13:; 

Faulkner, Shepherd D 134 

Farnham, Koswell 134 

Farrell, Patrick Joseph 13i; 

Field. Frederick Griswold 137 

I'-i.-hl. \lrnv\ iM-aiicia 137 

Ki-h, Iniiik l,.>lie 138 

Fi-I>. r. 11 ill r.itchelder 13S 

l-l lUL' t -. W 139 

Fl !■ - \\ .iii;.m Daua 140 

F II 1 Addison 140 

I- 1: i \l.iam 141 

F i -. 'I . _._- Spoouer 141 

Ford, SiiuiiRl W 142 

Foss, James M 142 

Foster, Alonzo M 143 

Foster, Austin Theophilus 143 

Foster, Wells A 144 

Francisco, M. Judson 144 

Frary, Solon Frauklin 146 

French, Warren Converse 14T 

Fuller. Henry 147 

Fuller, Levi K 148 

Fuller, Jonathan KiuKi-lev 1.50 

Fullington, Frederick H." 151 

Fulton, Robert Reed 131 

Furmau, Daniel G l.o2 

Gallup, O. M l.W 

Oage, Sydney 153 

Gardner, Abraham Brooks 153 

Gates, Amasa 1.54 

Giddings, William H 155 

Gill, Daniel Oscar 156 

Gleasou, Carlisle Joyslin 155 

Gleaeon, Henry Clay 156 

Gleason, Joseph Thomas 156 

Gleaeon, Richardson J 157 

Gleason, Samuel Mills 158 

Goodell, Jerome Winthrop 159 

Goodell, Tyler D 159 

Goodhue, Homer 160 

Goodenough, Jonas Eli 160 

Goodwin, Elam Marsh 161 

Goss, l^tory N 161 

Gove, Moses B 162 

Granger, Plinv Nye 162 

Greene. Olin D 163 

Grout, Don D 163 

Griffin, Benoni 164 

Grout, Josiah 165 

Grout, Selim E 163 

Grout, William W 166 

•Grout, Theophilus 168 

Hailc, Benjamin Harrison 169 

Hale, Harry 169 

HaU,Mark". 171 

Hale, Thomas 171 

Hale, Henry 171 

Hale, Safford Eddy 171 

Hale, Robert Safford 172 

Hale, Rev. John Gardner 172 

Hale, William Bainbridge 172 

Hale, Matthew 173 

Hale, Franklin D 173 

Hale, James Buchanan 174 

Hall, Alfred Allen !74 

Hall, Charles Taylor 174 

Hall, Emerson 175 

Hall, Isaac N 175 

Hall, Samuel Baker 176 

Hamilton, Joseph 177 

Hamilton, Merrill Thomas 177 

Hammond, Fred Burton 178 

Harahau, John David 178 

Hammond, Lowell G. 180 

Harmau, George Washington ISO 

Hardie, Robert Gordon LSI 

Harris, Broughton Davi,, 181 

Harris, Charles A 183 

Harris, John Edward 183 

Hartshorn, John Willard 184 

Harvey, Roney M 184 

Haselton, Seneca 185 

Hapkins, Kittredge 186 

Hastings, Jonathan Hammond 186 

Hastings, Stephen J 187 

Hatch, Royal A 1^7 

Hay, Barron 188 

Havward, Henry R 188 

Haieu, Lucius Downer 189 



Heath, Charles Henry 

Hcaton, Homer Wallace 

Hendec, George Whitman 

Hebard, Salmon B 

Henry, William Wirt 

Hewitt, Ale.vis B 

Hill, George W 

Hiil, Harlan Heurv 

Hitchcock, AaronCharlcs 

Hobart, John White 

Hobson, Samuel Decatur 

Holbrook. Arthur T 

Holbrook,.lohn 

ll"i!'I'-i,, l-l-.l.Tick 

Il'i ■!'■ , \V .li;iUl C 

11 ;.i. ,, . I , , , Heed 

II. '1.1. 11, .1,1... - Henry 

lloldcu, SylvanUB Marsh 

Holden, Orsemor S. 

Holden, John Stedman 

Holland, Emerson 

Holton, Charles O 

Holton, Henry Dwight 

Holton, Joel Huntington 

Hooker, George White 

Hooper, Marco B 

Horlon, Edwin 

Howard, Charles W 

Howard, Seymour 

Howard, Roger S 

Howard Walter E 

Howard, William Sumner 

Howe, Elhanan Winchester 

Howe, Luther I'roctor 

Howe. Miirshall Olis 

How laud, Frank George 

Hubbard, George A 

Huhliard. Lorenzo W 

Hulihcll. .Mvrun 14 

Hudson, ;?olMniun .■J 

Humphrey. Charles Timothy Allen 

Humphrey, Julius Augustus 

Hunter, Ellsworth M 

Huntley, Eber W 

Huse, Hiram Augustus 

Hutchinson, .James 

Ide, Henry Clay 

Jackm.an, A. M 

Jackman, Henry A 

James, John A 

Janes, Arthur Lee 

Jenne, James Nathaniel 

Jennings, Cyrus 

Jennings, Rev. Isaac 

Jennings, Frederic B 

Johnson, Leonard 

Johnson, Russell Thaver 

Johnson, William Edvvard 

Jones, Edwin Kent 

Jones, Henrv R 

Jones, Rollin J 

Jones, Walter Alouzo 

Jones, Walter Krank 

Joyce, Charles H 

Judevine, Harvev 

Kelton, Francis "p 

Keltuu, Truman Chittenden 

Kemp, Deau G ustavus 

Kenlield, F'rank 

Keniston, Nathan 

Keyes, Thomas C 

Kimball, Robert Jackson 

King, Aaron N 

King, Charles W 

King, Charles M 

King, Royal Daniel 

Kingsley, Jerome Orlando 

Ladd, Chester M 

Landon, Miles .1 

Landon , O . B 

Lane, Edwin 

Lane, Henry Clark 

Lane, Henrj' James 

Lathrop, Cyrus U 

Lavignc, Joseph 

Lawtou Shailer Emery 

Leach, Chester K 

Leach Moses J 

Leavenworth, Abel Edgar 

LeHarou, Isaac Newton 

Leland, George Farnham 

Lewis, Frank W 

Lewis, L. Halsey 

Lewis, Uodne}* M 

Lincoln, Benjamin Frauklin 

Livingston, Fred B 

Lockwood, Albert H 

Lvford, lloriicc W 

Lyman, Charles A 

Lynde, George W 

Lynde, .John 

Lyon, John Stanley 



PAGE 

Lund, Henrv W 251 

McFarland, Henry .Moses 261 

Mackie, (ieorge C 252 

Macoy, Byron Grafton 252 

Manchester, Hiram Levi 253 

Manley, Joseph E 253 

Mann, Charles David 254 

Mann, Hosea, Jr 255 

Marsh, Charles Phelps 255 

Marsh, Piatt T 256 

Marshall, Jesse 256 

Marshall, Oscar Azor 257 

Martin, .lor-eph (Jrav 057 

-M:'i"". F..i,iK J....: 557 

\l ,:t;,i, .1 ,,iM - Loreu 258 

\l .""'. Mill.." W 259 

M .111". » ■ili.iru 239 

M."l'". Will.Hd S 259 

M-'-"".'l-il..,~ W 260 

M,.lil...v, -,, h.irlcs \V.-: 280 

.\l.in,H,.„, wmi.uuP 260 

Matlison, Fred Lelaud 261 

May. Elisha 262 

McCullough, John Griflith «6" 

MeDnfl.e. Heurv Clav 21*4 

M..(M.UM, k. Felix William -2C3 

M' 1."". .1.'""- K 266 

Mil—". -\l'-il 266 

M.M.ii. . , \\ dliam l> -iB- 

M'V" ■•■ ■-. Al-onN 567 

\l. i.i. ]..i I , l-erguBon 26S 

M" I I ..Vr::;;;;:;.;:":::: 273 

\1 .....I I II. .than Washburn ....273 

M. I 1 III. li, -l.ihu Hastings 274 

Miles, Lorenzo Dow or. 

Miles, Willard Wcsbery 275 

Miller, Crosby o'o 

Miller, Joseph " o-,; 

Miller, Joseph Arms ..Th- 
inner, Harris M '>■;- 

Miller, Nurris Robinson '78 

Miller, Adiii Franklin 278 

Morrill, Justin t^inith 279 

Morse, George A 281 

Moultou, Clarence F 282 

Munson, Loveland 283 

Needham, Lewis Cass 284 

Nelson, Wilmot G 034 

Newell, Lyman MerriHeld '.'.'.'. 285 

Newton, William S .505 

Nichols, William Henry '.'.'.'..' 286 

Nimblelt, Oscar L 287 

Nortou. Luman Preston •>87 

Olmstead, AIner Allyn -jss 

Orvis, Frauklin Henry 289 

Osgood. Charles W -^90 

Owen, Clarence Philander 290 

Owen, Joseph -'oi 

Owen, Oscar Daniel •".'11 

Ormsbee, El.euezer Jolls ■':,-> 

Paine, .Milton Kendall -1^4 

Page, Oirroll .■^malley, 294 

Park, Trenor William ■^^6 

Parker, Charles S 298 

Parker, Harry Klwood 298 

Parker, Henry J 29^ 

Parker, Luther Fletcher 30O 

Partridge, Frank Charles 300 

Partridge, Heurv V 301 

Pearl, Isaac! 302 

Pease, Allen Luther .3112 

Peck, Cicero Goddard 303 

Peck, Marcus 304 

Peck, Theodore Safford 304 

Peckett, John Barron -Mb 

Pember, Eiumett K :iU6 

Perkins, Marsh Olin 306 

Perry, Elbridge 307 

Perry, James M 307 

Phelps, BrighamThoma, 305 

Phelps, Edward John 30s 

Phelps, Frederick B 310 

Philbrick, Jonathan 311 

Phillips, George Henry 311 

Phillips, WiDlield Scott 312 

Phinney, Truman C 312 

Pier, Frederick Baldwiu 313 

Pierce, Charles .\lexander 313 

IMerce, George W 313 

Pierson, .fames Smith 314 

I'ierpoint. Evelvu 314 

Pike, Paphro U" 315 

Pingree, Saiuuel K 315 

Pitkin, Perlev Peabodv 316 

Pitkin, John G ' :ils 

Piatt, .Mvron 319 

Pluiidev. Frank 319 

Plumlev. Frank il 320 

Poland, Joseph 321 



INDEX TO BI0C.R.4PHIES. 



Porter, Charles Wiilcott. 

Powers, Heman A 

Powers, Horace Henry.. 

Pralt, Daniel Stewart 

Pray, Uufus M. 



Ml' 



lM.>tlM-. 

.Iiilin i:, \V. 



RanO. ■■ . >> oi-1 

llaiiL-. w - I --.-ne 333 

Kav"! ■ ' 3S3 

lU-;..!, l.-..'>il MMii:,y 334 

Read, Carkli.ii W 334 

J{eed, MarcUB L 33.i 

Roberts, Daniel 33a 

Roberts, Ellis G 337 

Roberts, Elbert James 33S 

Robertson, John 338 

Robertson, William 338 

Robinson. Ileorar Wardsworth. . . . 339 

Robiii-t', .I'liii ' 3411 

Roi;.i- - 'i- '>:ill 34U 

Ro.ji.r \l I,.. 1 341 

Root, 11.-.; -" 341 

Ropes, .\rtlun- 34J 

Ross, Jonathan ■'■■>- 

Rowell, George Barker :;4 : 

RoweU,John W .34:; 

Royce, George Edmund 344 

Rugg, David Fleicher 345 

Russell, Chandler Miller 345 

Russell, George Kendal 34i> 

Russell, Julius \V 34o 

Rutherford, Joseph C 34: 

Ryther,Fred E ^s 

Sanborn, Isaac Wheeler -4^ 

Sargent, Caleb Cushing 34 - 

Sawyer, Edward Bertrand ; '■ 

Scarff, Charles Wayland 3-! 

Scott, Olin " 

Seuter, .John Henry '■-■^ 

Shattuck, Martin 3.. 

Shaw, Albert J : ■ 

Shaw. Henry Hatsic :; 

Willr.'il <■ - ' 



^kinntr, Richard Baxter 

-ii; ill. \ . Htadley Barlow 

- : , , \l.h die Earl 

- M I . ' ,,rli-s Carroll 

- . 'Ii, ' .iiient F 

-M. :l ■ li.ulfSF 

-:.,■ I. > . IU> H 

^iiiitli. Ki.MuVic Elijah'.-!.'.".! 

Smith. Mvion W 

Smitli. Walter Ferrin 

Spaffor.l, Henry W 

Spear, Victor I 

Stanley, Albert E 

Stanton, Zed S 

Start, Henry R 

Start, Simeon Gould 

Stearns, Charles H 

Stearns, John C 

Stevens, Alonzo Jackson 

Stevens, Charles 

Stevens, Charles Phelps 

Stevens, Jonas T 

Stevi'ns, .TaiucK V 

stri. ■ \ ! .■,, i;i;,Hding, ... 

siiri : J. Washington 

-tirl,ii> \ , .Ii.-riili I'rcadway . . 

-lilr-, iM.nii, W 

-:i!l-..ii, II. I, M I lard 

St..iM/. ClLillr- Mal>liall 

Stone, Arthur Fairbanks 

Ston e. Mason Serene 

Stowell, John Wesley 

Stranahan, F.arrand Stewart ., 

stun, Nam. Wilber R 

~:ill.iw:a , Lorenzo 



, Natha 



vey. 



Sha 

Shed, I, Wilh.i 

Sht'l.l.ili, <li:il 

She|.anl,.IM, 

Shep.M.i-. II. ■ 

Shi^r ' '- 

Shi-nii III - . 

ShilHii;i:i. l-,lii 

Shores. Ethan I'n-suott .. 

Shumway, John (iuincy 

Shurtleff, .lohn Taylor... 

Shurtleff, Stephen Curriei 

Stilsby, Wendell 

Silver, William Riley .... 
Siraonds, David Kendall. 
Skinner, Eliab Reed 



.i-u Edri.-k 


:•" 


"is I'age 


396 



362 T.iwie, Edwin Ruthve 

363 I Truax, Albert B 

363 I Trull, Daniel N 

363 Trnsaell, Jacob 



PAGE 

I Tucker, Melvin Ellis 403 

1 Turner, Edwin R 404 

Tuttle, Albert Henry 404 

Tyler, Erastus 40.i 

Tyler, James M 405 

Tyler, Royall 406 

Valentine, A. B 406 

Veazey, Wheelock Graves 408 

Vail. Homer W 410 

Viall, George Marcius 411 

Viall, William B 412 

Vincent, Walter H 412 

Wadleieh, Benjamin F 413 

Waite, Horace 413 

Wakefield, William Wallace 414 

Walbridae, John Hill 414 

! Wales, Torre.y Englesby 415 

i Walker, Daniel C 416 

Walker, Franklin William 416 

I Walker, William Harris 417 

i WalLace, James B 418 

Ward, Hiram Owen 418 

Wardwell, George Jdffords, 419 

I Warren, Charles Carleton 421 

Waterman, Eleazer L 421 

Watrrniiui, llnuan ,V 422 

Wil-.ih. .Ii.liii llnirv 422 

Wrt.li, .li.liii W . ,'. 423 

W.il.st,!-, Il;iii Trask-e 423 

Weeks, John E 424 

Wellman, Leigh Richmond 424 

Wells, Edward 425 

Weston, Eugene Sydney 425 

Wheeler, Charles Frederick 426 

Wheeler, Charles Wiilard 42B 

Wheeler, Hoyt Henry 427 

Wheelock. Edwin 428 

Wli.'cl.Hk. Martin W 428 

\Vlii|.|.l.. Kdward O 429 

\\ Intiiiiiili, Ervin Jackson 429 

Aliiiu, 1 lli.it G 430 

Willi,-, IKmau Allen 430 

Wliitr.H.C 431 

WiloiX. Henry Clay 431 

Wilkin-, i^forge 432 

Wi.lii I \iulrew Jackson 432 

,\ 1. I,, urge F. B 433 

\ II I' rank Clifton 434 

,\ . i,,i,,rge Aimer 434 

\\-||i,iiii-, .l.iiiK- I'l'to- 435 

W ll-iill, ,l:ill|r- IhM.L,!, 435 

Wilhiin, \I.-lMii \ 435 

Will-, ll.-.il;;,- \\:.-l.il.L't..ll 436 

Winslow, Don Averv 436 

Winslow, Samuel Dutton 437 

Withered, John H 438 

Woodbury, Urban Andrian 438 

Woodworth, Arthur Wellington ... 439 

Woolson , Amasa 439 

Wooster, Jay 440 

Wyman, Andrew A 440 

Wvman, Cyrus Warren 441 

Wyman, Martin L 441 

Young, John Stillraan 442 



P^RT III. 



SONS OF VERMONT. 



Albee, Burton H 1 

Abbott, George B 1 

Alford, Alonzo 3 

Alford, Albert Gallatin 4 

Allen, John Clayton 4 

A Hen , John Clarence 5 

Annis, Jere Wright 6 

Arthur, Chester A 6 

Arnold, Lemuel H 9 

Atwood, Harrison Henry 9 

Babcock, Joseph Weeks 10 

Baldwin, Melvin R 10 

Barber, J.Allen 10 

Barto, Alphonso 

Batcbelder, George W 11 

Baxter, Luther Loren 

Beaman, Fernando C 13 

Belcher, Isaac Sawyer 

Belcher, William C'. 13 

Beard, Alanson Wilder 14 

Bell, Hiram 

Benedict, Robert D 



Benjamin, Chauncey E 

Benton , Jacob 

Benton, Reuben Clark 

Blshee, Lewis H 

Blanchard, Charles 

Blanchard, John 

Blinn, Charles Henry 

Bliss, Neziah W. . . .' 

Boardman, Henry Eldcrkin Jewett. 

Boardman, Halsev J 

Boutin, Charles W 

Bradford, James Henry 

Brigham, Hosea Wheeler 

Brown, Orlando J 

Bruce, Eli Mansfield 

Butterfield. L. Alonzo 

Carpenter, Matthew Hale 

Camp, Isaac N 

Carter, Edmund H 

Caswell, Lucien B 

Gate, George W 

Chamberiaiu, Edsou J 



Ch,andle 



AUic 



30 



Chandler, William Wallace 34 

Chase, Lucien B 36 

Cheever, Dustin Grow 26 

Cheever, Silas Grow 37 

Chipman, John S 38 

Chittenden, L. E 38 

Cristy, Austin Phelps 38 

Clark, Chester Ward 38 

Clark, Ezra, Jr -39 

Clark, Frank G 39 

Clark, Jefferson 39 

Clark, William Bullock 40 

Clarke, Albert 40 

Clement, Austin 41 

Cotton, Alric Oswy 42 

Craein. Aaron H 42 

Croiby, Henry B 42 

Culver, Marshall Lyman 43 

Curtis, Edward 44 

Cushman, Sylvester 44 

Cutts, Marseua E 44 



, Ceoigo Wiirdeu. 



Don-I 
Drew, 
lliiiin, 


( 'harles Aarc 


El.l.i.! 
Elli- • 


'■••■ -■ •>\ i;i , 



Wesley. 



Oani.'M.. -,■]„.■,,,- 
(riltillan. .I,>h]i I!.....'.'.' 
Glazier, Nelson Newto 
Gleaeon, James Mellon 
Goodnough, Algernon ! 

Gos8, Ezra C 

Gould, Charles Gilbert. 

Gould, WillD 

Gray, Andrew Jackson, 

Gray, E.lL'ar H 

Gray, Mcivin I,, 

Gray, ll,.|ii v U iiliiuii.!! 

GreeQi', Kh-.t S 

Greeuleaf, Hall.ert Stevi 
Griuuell, Josiah B 
Griswold, William D.','! 

Hall, Alfred Stevens 

Hall, Christopher W ... 
Hatch, Egbert Benson., 

Hawley, JJavid 

Hayward,I.ewi8A 



■Herbert. 



Higley, Edwin" Half 
Hoard, Charles H,,. 



1 


VI 'lA- in IIIIKI 


•SAI'HIKS 


HolMi 
H,.h„ 
H..|,l. 
Ilopk 

iioVtV, 

llosfn 


nl, Willi,,,,, Hvn, 

>. i:ii..~ i:.,..," 
"•<'^.-|M , Phorna 
'-.'■."I,.,. Weslej 

l."-".'ll () 

'. \:.li-nli„e K... 
'I.J.-.l.-.llah 


1 
m 



iSi 



ae Kassou, John Adam 
■sed Kellogg, William Pitt.'. 
•16 Kidder, Jefferson P . 
?J KnaPP, Channcv h .... 
09 Kuapp, Dexter J 

IW Knapp, Lymau E ! 

fi? ^''?«'''°n.- ^'""'k Hall . 
62 Ladd, Charles Douglas. 
62 Landon, William Cham 

62 Lawrence, ( harles V, 

63 I Lee, John .Stcbbii 



Molten. . 




veil, Hen,yAII,o,t.".'." 
^Newton, Charles Jlarsl,;,ll 
■vton, William Hoiirv 
.. I ..^.vton, Daniel U 
6a Newton, John C 

"0 Newton, Moses.. 

Noble, Henry Smith..';.";;: 
-, ' ^^;"'""". ■'^■>eO 

I- ' ' ' ■ 'i rant. ;;;;;;;;' 

:■■ ;'"''. .^"Lilian, B 

^4 '.Ml, li.ihlv Wilfred 

.0 , Parker, A. X 

76 I Parker, George H . . 

77 Parker, Isaac Auguslus 
rs Parker, Myron M ..... 

rs Parmelee, Edwai-d Cai'roli 

9 Partridge, George.. 

iO Pearsons, Daniel Kimba'l',;; 

lO Perry, Aaron F 

'1 Perry, Daniel 

!1 Pettee, Lyman F 

i2 Pettigrew, Richard i'Vankii, 

3 Phelps, Charles E 

a Phelps, George llovey. ; ; ; ; ; 



l"n, David Nelson. 
l>''-"il)en 

:i <;,.<, ,■,_,,, Stewart, 



Stovons, Thaddeus.... 

Stone, Ashley 

Stone, Bvron .Ashley 
f^towoll. William H ii" 
~i -«. II, Walter Lester 
-I- .!;,.,,, , baj-lesC,..;; 

- ■■•''' « ;llis,,, 

' ■•'■"■ 11 A W.,., 



Weljlii 
White 
W hitf 



John..;;;; 

-Marshall Harve, 
11,' o Washington". 



Henry D. 
ArbaN. . 
".-tin H, . . 



■eorge W 

, James Arthur. 
. Jonadab Baker 



Wintlou , iU,r.,ci: ,Suei 
I Wood, Thomas W 
Woodruff, Charles .\ ' 
Woodward, Tyler, 
Wright, Cyrus Smith ; 
Wright, Riley E. , . , 
Young, John 



AUG -1 m,3 



\'is ^ 



